Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas at our house.

 The boys helped decorate the tree.

 They took it pretty seriously.

 And here's the finished product.

 We saw the lights at temple square.

 And went into the visitors center for a little while too.

 I hit the 20 week mark. And the big, official 20-week ultrasound revealed that it's still a girl and that she is growing and developing right on track. Such great news.

 Here are the boys on Christmas morning. They can't wait to open presents...

 And make the living room look like this.

Here they are with their cousin Sophie at grandma and grandpa's house.

We got all of the major traditions in, but had to pass on some of the little things. We had lots of sick kids in December which made it a challenge to even get all of the shopping done. So we didn't make gingerbread houses or cookies, we didn't make goodies for neighbors or teachers, and we didn't make it to the kids' Christmas programs at school. But we were so glad to have everyone feeling good when Christmas morning came.

Christmas Pictures

I took some pictures of the kids in their new church clothes the Sunday after Christmas. These are some of the better shots. With Casey's help, and some really cute subjects, I didn't do too bad this time. But don't worry, I'm not going to quit my day job to be a photographer anytime soon.

(I like how you can see their reflections on the glass in front of the fireplace on this one.)

Christmas Highlights 2008

Our Christmas was wonderful, I really should have posted about it sooner. We spent both Christmas eve and Christmas day with family and the kids were totally spoiled as usual. They got presents from Santa, Casey and me, and from grandparents on both sides as well as presents from aunts, uncles and cousins. They even picked presents to give each other.

I really need to learn how to make one of those photo collage things so I don't have to download so many pictures at once. But here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying Christmas. (I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.)



(Disclaimer: I never thought I would buy toy guns for my kids but Camden is so obsessed with them that I caved and got him one; and he loves it. In fact before he had a toy gun he made everything else into guns. He shot everyone with toy lizards, pieces of hot wheels tracks, books and even his own body parts.)

Christmas Wishes

Just a quick post to wish all of you and your families a wonderful Christmas filled with all the joy, peace and happiness you could ever hope for.

Best Santa Ever

My kids got to see Santa at a family Christmas party we went to this past week.

I wasn't sure how Alek would react to Santa but luckily he didn't cry. He wouldn't smile though either.


Camden gave me a classic Camden "cheese" after giving Santa's beard a little tug. It's real alright.


And my cute Jace knew that all he needed to do was give a nice smile for the camera so he could run off and open his present. One picture and he was done.
The kids had so much fun with it; and I loved it because now the kids and I don't have to stand in line at the mall for a picture with Santa. Thanks Uncle Carl, you are the best Santa ever!

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. It just isn't as fun to open a present when it's in a bag.
2. Real tree or artificial tree? Real this year but we've used a fake one in the past.
3. When do you put up your tree? We don't have a specific day we get tree up every year. We usually try to get it up sometime during the first week of December.
4. When do you take the tree down? Between Christmas and New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but only in small increments and it has to be "watered" down with milk.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I was four or five years old and it was a Strawberry Shortcake doll that gave off a strawberry smell from her mouth when you squeezed her stomach. So I guess it was a burping doll?
7. Hardest person to buy for? It's a tie between my dad and my brother.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I have two of them but only one is out. It's a Fisher-Price one and the kids love it. I don't have anywhere to put my other one where my kids can't get to it.
10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? I have mailed Christmas cards in the past but I'm not very consistent with it. Probably not going to happen this year.
11. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story; you know, the one with Ralphie.
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I usually do it all in December. Maybe one of these years I'll be organized and get it done early.
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so but I know we recycled some of our wedding gifts.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Pumpkin cookies. But they are a year-round favorite for me. So...my favorite thing to eat at Christmas would have to be...homemade toffee. I also really love Christmas cookies and my mom's almond poppy seed cake with orange glaze. Mmmmm.
15. Lights on the tree? Actually, at the moment we don't have any lights on the tree. Our tree is a lot bigger this year than the one we had last year and we need to get some more lights for it.
16. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay Home
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen; and, of course, Rudolph. Yup!
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? I want a star for the tree but I haven't found the perfect one yet, so right now we don't have anything on top.
20. Do you open Presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? We let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve but everything else is saved for Christmas Day.
21. The most annoying thing about this time of year? People's intolerance of those not of their religion celebrating a holiday.
22. Favorite ornament theme and color? Simple, classic, old-fashioned. I like the tree to be really colorful but I especially like the way red ornaments look against the green tree.
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? My brother makes a fantastic deep fried turkey injected with spicy seasonings.
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Snow
25. Favorite Christmas tradition? It's so hard to decide, definitely something with the kids; maybe making Christmas cookies or going to see the Christmas lights. (I may come back and change this one if I think of something better.)

I'm going to tag my cousins on this one. Tiffanee, Mckelle, Monica, Pam and Carlye

PS: Did anyone else notice there's no question number 8?