Stocking Stuffer

As you all know we recieved the most wonderful gift for Christmas this year. Baby Roy was given a stocking at the hospital to celebrate his arrival. We decided to take a few pictures of him with it.

Meme asking baby Roy if he'd like to participate in a photo shoot!
"This isn't exactly what I expected!"
Cute Christmas Baby
"Aren't I adorable!"
Another random shot for viewing pleasure.... I love my new baby brother!

Christmas Crafts!!

This year, as always, we did lots of fun Christmas crafts and homemade gifts. I wasn't on the ball enough to take a lot of pictures but here are a few.

Jess showed all of the kids how to make reindeer candy canes and they got creative and made up some others including a Santa and an angel.

I was able to get a bunch of tree trimmings from a neighbor and made a homemade wreath... I LOVE to make wreaths!
I also (with some help from the kids) made some swags to deliver to all of our neighbors. Then the kids went to deliver them.
We made peanut brittle again this year as well as muddie buddies and candy cane popcorn. This was for teachers and friends as well as family. We made homemade wooden ornaments for all of the cousins too but I forgot to take a picture. We hope you had fun making things for others this year, we sure did!!

The Night Before Christmas PJ's!!

It is a family tradition for us to open one gift on Christmas eve. The gift is always the same thing. The kids still get excited about it though. Here is the anticipation shot...
The "Yeah, PJ's" shot...
Everyone after showers in the new PJ's
Boys
Girls

I also made them all eye covers. If you know our family you would know why this was such a huge hit, and why it meant so much to the kids!

The whole event really wore some people out!!!

Christmas Concerts

This year we had two different Christmas concerts to attend. Jessica's was first on December 15th. It was a performance called "candle light" and it has been a part of the Ephraim Christmas celebration for 70 years! Jess did a great job at her part!!


Sarah, Carrie, and Sam had a traditional school Christmas concert on December 20th. Each grade sang a song and then the entire school sang one together. I love that it is a short and sweet performance. I actually sat longer before the concert (if you aren't there early you don't get a seat!!)

"The Christmas Eve Show"

On Christmas Eve this year our children gave us a wonderful gift. They put on a performance of a few different Christmas songs. They had been practicing for weeks. Part of the gift (for me) was the cooperation that they had been displaying for the entire month of December as they prepared for the "big night!" Here are a few snapshots of our show...

Sam, Jess and Sarah singing "Away in a Manger," "We wish you a Merry Christmas," and "Silent night" all of which Samantha hand wrote into their own song books.

Here is Jessica "helping" the boys sing "Jingle bells." Can you tell Wally is really into it!!
This was the main performance, the one practiced over and over (not that I overheard). The girls preformed "Rudolf the red nose Reindeer." Can you guess who Rudolf was played by? It was really cute and you could tell that they had so much fun doing it.
The final song was done by Jessica on her baritone. Sam makes a wonderful music stand don't you think!

Deric and I really enjoyed our show. It was indeed one of my favorite Christmas gifts. Having my children work together and have fun working to create a gift is such a wonderful thing. We are truly blessed!

Christmas Letter 2011

Happy Holiday

2011

This year we write in gratitude for:

Our Family. Deric is now working as an Assistant Manager at Little Cesars pizza while he continues to go to school full time at Snow College. He is doing very well in his studies! Muria has been busy with many school events and the PTA, church activities, teaching lactation classes and the overall busyness that six children bring!

We have been so blessed to have a house full of energy filled loving children. Each has grown and changed so much in the past year. Jessica is now eleven and in 6^th grade at the middle school. She is enjoying band and playing the baritone. Samantha, almost 10 is in fourth grade. She is very social and is always having fun with her friends and siblings. Sarah, who is seven and a half, is very focused on her next birthday and getting baptized in April! She is in second grade and her passion this year is books! Carrie, six next month, will be asking Santa for her two front teeth this year! She is LOVING being in kindergarten. Nelson, four on New Years, is full of fun and energy. He is turning out to be quite the artist this year as he colors and cuts and pastes picture after picture! Wally is indeed TWO and we will just say he lives up to what they say about two year olds!!! He is full of energy and mischief, but he also loves to snuggle and play with his siblings. Last is Roy… due to make his arrival on January 5^th. We can’t wait to meet him and enjoy his sweet spirit!!!

Our Home. After being in Ephraim, Utah for a year now and moving 5 times we are soooo grateful for our new home. We bought it and moved in September 1^st. It is cozy with plenty of room for us.

You. Our friends and family that light up our lives and support us in all that we do. Our lives are so much richer because you are a part of them. Near or far, if we see you often or not, we love you and are grateful for you.

Our Faith. This time of year we reflect on what really means the most. We are grateful for our savior and what his birth and death mean for us. We are grateful to be able to learn of his teachings all year long.

We pray this letter finds you well. There are so many blessings to reflect on, these are just a few. May you reflect on the blessings in your life and find many things to be grateful for this holiday season!

Love, Deric, Muria, Jessica, Samantha, Sarah, Carrie, Nelson, and Wally

Holiday Treats!

As a family this year we made most of our Christmas gifts. It was a lot of fun. This post will show you some of the yummy things that we made...

Surprise Kiss Cookies
I found this recipe on the Hershey's kiss bag. The cookie is a yummy pecan shortbread. They were so easy to make. This is what the kids took to their class Christmas party.
Whatchamacalit
Our neighbors were also having a homemade Christmas and I offered to help the girls make a special treat for their dad who loves whatchamacalit bars (sorry if I am spelling that wrong) . I totaly made this recipe up. The base is a rice crispy treat that we spread with peanut butter and then caramel. Lastly we dipped them all in melted chocolate. They were sooo yummy!
Orange/Clove ornaments
This isn't a treat we ate but they sure smelt great. Each of the kids made their own. We decorated them with ribbon and hung them in the windows.

Carrie and Nelson helped me many times during the day when the other kids were in school. Here they are helping me make pie crust. Honestly I made the crust and they are just playing but they really enjoyed using the rolling pin and getting the practice.


We made peanut brittle this year (and cashew brittle too) to give as family gifts. We were inspired by the recipe in the family fun magazine. I looked for the same recipe on line and this one is very close. Jess was my helper for this one.

It was really pretty easy and tasted good too!

The next two recipes came from the our best bites website. I will caution you ahead, this site has so many yummy things to make, you might become addicted!

Homemade marshmallows by Jessica


Cinnamon bun popcorn....yummy!! (This was my project and I am sure I ate most of it!!)
This is our little Wally Golly, enjoying some of the yummy treats!
I some how didn't get a picture of Sarah in the kitchen baking so I decided to use this one instead. She is out in the snow making her own little "cake". More than likely she ate it when she was done. All of the kids have enjoyed eating a little snow here and there. Who needs any of these fancy deserts and treats when you can eat some snow!!

Annual Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

There is something so wonderful about this time of year. The warmth that is felt when Christmas lights are lit. The sparkle of excitement in the children’s faces. And most importantly the peace that comes with the knowledge of our Saviors birth.

Our hearts are full with the anticipation of the holidays and with memories of the year that has passed. We have, of course, been very busy. Our lives have been full with church, school, and many family activities. As many of you know we moved in October from California to Utah. We went from city to country and we are enjoying the slower pace. By far our favorite part of Utah, so far, is the SNOW!

Our biggest adventure this year was our drive across country to spend five weeks in New Hampshire. It was time well spent hiking, swimming, biking, horseback riding, camping, and of course spending time with family and friends. We drove 9,000 miles and visited many historic and educational sites including places in Burlington VT, Nauvoo IL, New York NY, and Washington DC. It was an amazing summer!

The children are growing so fast. Jessica, 10, is in the fifth grade and is really enjoying our new pastime of geocaching. Samantha, our third grader and comedian, turned eight and was baptized this year. Sarah, our budding artist, is six and loves first grade. Carrie, almost 5, LOVES being the oldest at home! Nelson, almost 3, is ever energetic and curious. And our cute charmer Wally just turned one in October, boy how the time flies.

It is our wish for you that you reflect on the joys in your life this holiday. Remember the most important things at this time when we celebrate our greatest gift, our Savior Jesus Christ. We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Joy and Peace filled New Year!

Love,

Deric Muria Jessica Samantha Sarah Carrie Nelson and Wally Everitt

Christmas 2010

P.S. Due to ever tightening purse strings, and an ever increasing Christmas mailing list (well over 200), AND our ever advancing technology, we are sending our Christmas letter via e-mail/blog/face book. If you are reading this via blog or face book and didn’t get an e-mail please let us know so we can update our list, THANKS!!

Luke 2

Since we have moved to Ephraim we have tried to be as involved as we possibly can. So when our neighbors (also new to Ephraim, also with six children) signed our families up to do the Nativity at our church Christmas party, we jumped at the chance!

We worked hard to get everything just right (in a very short amount of time). All of our children participated, except for little Wally. At the last minute the other two youngest decided it was too much for them too!

Jessica was the Narrator and she read the story straight out of the bible, Luke chapter 2 verses 1-12.
Mary and Joseph traveled across the stage to the Inn, where there was no room. All of these parts were played by the other family.


Mary brought fourth a child. Meanwhile shepherds (Sarah was one) were visited by an angel (our Samantha), while they tended their flocks (Carrie was the lone sheep since Nelson and the other little girl were too tired from practice!)

"Away in a Manger"

The children really did an amazing job. It was really fun watching them, and it really brought the real reason for the holiday to life for my kids!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

We were so excited to be able to go and cut down our Christmas tree this year. We went one afternoon and drove up the canyon and into the national forest (We bought a tree permit). The road was only plowed to the edge of the forest land and the higher we went the deeper the snow was (of course!), so eventually we stopped to put chains on the van (something Deric and I have NEVER done before!!)
The view was amazing!!
We finally parked and headed up into the woods to find a "perfect" tree. And by perfect I mean that it was good sized and was OK looking!! The snow was too the kids knees in spots!

Finally we found the one and everyone (except for Wally) had a turn with the saw!Then we hauled it back to the van and tied it on top! It isn't as dark as this picture makes it seem, but it was by the time we started driving back down! (Sarah is upset because she is could... imagine why? We did ask her to zip up her coat!!)

The next day we decorated! I love putting up Christmas lights and decorations. It makes everything feel so warm! I love this time of year.
The kids posed for a picture for my mom. They are holding up the ornaments that she sent to them!!