Christmas Eve

This year, we did Christmas Eve with our neighbors. We had a little party with lots of food, a fun game and pajamas. Delvonie made a delicious ham and we all brought something to share. It was a fun and relaxed evening with family and friends.

Tim and some of the kids.

Cole...don't be fooled, he wouldn't hurt a fly.

Some people have a tradition of giving jammies each Christmas Eve...we don't. However, we might now. The Kidders and the Youngs both do it and since we were going to be together when they were giving out their jammies, we gave our kids some too. Luckily, my Mom had already bought them and they were wrapped under our tree for Christmas morning. The kids just opened them a couple hours early. All of the kids were excited and they put them on and wore them for the rest of the party.

Talon, Kaden, Keaton, Me (helping Coby), Coby and Kaleb.

My boys...Coby, Talon, Kaleb.

All of the kids in their pajamas.

We played the candy bar game at this shin dig. You roll the dice, pick a candy bar and put it in your bag. After all of the candy is gone, if you can remember what everyone else had, you can steal candy. We all had fun playing and in the end we went home with some yummy candy.

Me and Kaleb...enjoying the game.

When we got home, Coby must have been hungry because he polished off this box of Wheat Thins. Funny kid!

To finish off the night, we put together Santa's plate of cookie and some goodies for the reindeer. A plate of lettuce and carrots and a bowl of water.

Coby, Talon and Kaleb

Tying Flies

Josh tied some flies for his Aunt so that she could give them to her grandson for Christmas. While he was working on them, Tal asked if he could make some flies too. Josh gave Talon some foam and he started drawing his own flies on it, and then he cut them out. We think he did a marvelous job on his flies. Nice work Tal!!

Talon and his flies.

Lights at Temple Square

If you've never seen the lights at Temple Square, you need to go. It's amazing. They wrap each tree branch with lights and just about every tree is decorated. Our kids had never been to see it and neither had Matthew, so we took everyone. When we got to Salt Lake, we parked a few miles from Temple Square so that we could ride the train (TRAX) up. We all had a great time. The train ride was fun and the lights were beautiful!

Kaleb, Coby and Talon sitting with Uncle Matthew on the train.

Me and Josh on TRAX.

Talon and Matthew

Josh and Mollie

Mollie, Coby, Kaleb, Talon and Matthew. Check out those gorgeous trees.

Salt Lake City Temple

Talon, Matthew and Mollie

The whole gang in front of another beautiful tree.

Josh and Kaleb on the way back to the car.

Santa

The library in our town does "Storytime" each week and the kids love to go. The last one before Christmas ended with a visit from Santa. The kids were so excited! They sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas. They each got a candy cane and then they played with their friends until it was time to go. We love Storytime!!

Kaleb and Santa

Coby and Santa

Talon and Santa

Some of the kids that come to storytime. Coby, Parker, Kaleb and Talon

Luke

Luke, Kaleb, Addie and Tess

The Crack...

This morning Talon was asking me if he could go play in the snow with the neighbors. I told him it was too early and that none of the other kids got up at the "crack of dawn" like he and his brothers do. This is what he told me..."Kenyon and Isaac are up. They get up at the same "crack" we do!" He makes me laugh.

This is a picture of Tal with his blanket zipped up into his jammies. He loves to feel soft things on his face and his belly, so he wanted his soft blankie right next to his tummy skin this morning when he got up. It's hard to tell, but there is a bit more of Talon there than usual.

Christmas Tree and Sugar Cookies

This year we decorated the tree for Family Home Evening and let the boys help. I'm sold!! The tree was decorated in about 7 minutes FLAT! Josh took care of the top half and the boys did the bottom. I think it looks pretty good and since it gets re-decorated everyday...no need to be fussy about the way the ornaments went on.

Here are the boys hard at work!

All done! Mollie, Kaleb, Talon, Josh and Coby

Talon and Kaleb...so proud.

Coby, Talon and Kaleb. They were quite excited to put up the tree and help with the decorations.

After we decorated the tree (and put Coby to bed) Talon, Kaleb and I made sugar cookies. You have to have a treat right? They were good helpers and of course, they loved using the cookie cutters.

Kaleb and Talon

Mmmm...enjoying his cookie.

Talon wanted to cut out more cookies than he wanted to eat.

Kaleb was looking for "his" snowman cookie and watching it bake.

There were about 4 snowmen in this batch, so I pointed out which one was his and we watched it bake.

Tal...still cutting out cookies.

Kaleb...still eating cookies...3 at a time!

Nothing better than cookies in milk!

Thanksgiving in the Great Northwest

This year we went to Vancouver, Washington for Thanksgiving. It was so fun! I don't think I've spent Thanksgiving at my Mom and Dad's since before Josh and I were married. We got to see our new cute niece too. That made the trip even more special. She is growing so fast. I'm sad to live so far away where I won't be able to watch her grow. I'll just have to make the most of every trip home. Here are a few pics from the journey...

Kaleb and Talon entertaining themselves during the 16 hour drive. Luckily, the kids are SUPER good in the car.

Coby had enough and went to sleep.

This is a picture of the Columbia River. I'm pretty sure I've never seen it this glassy and beautiful in the gorge before.

I-84...so pretty. Last time we made this drive there was 2' of snow on those trees and all over the road.

Mt. Hood and the Columbia River. The Northwest is so beautiful!

The day after we got there, my Dad wanted to take us (well, Josh and the boys especially) to the airport to watch the fighter jets take off. They leave every morning at about the same time. We can see and hear them from my Mom and Dad's house, but there is nothing like being right there. We were standing about 75 yards from the end of the runway. It was so loud and breath-taking and as they passed us, they tipped their wings. It was absolutely AMAZING!

The boys with their new cousin. Do you think they love her or what?

Bobby, Aunt Idie and Uncle Nazim came from Carson City, NV to have Thanksgiving with us also. It was fun to see them again!

My Mom the crafter and Coby checking out what Nana is doing. Thanks for helping me with my projects Mom (and Dad for the frame).

Coby rearranging the paint drawer.

Me!

My sister Kelly with Frances. Precious baby!

Uncle Josh and Tal

Me and sweet Franny! I love being an Aunt!

Me, Frances and Kelly

While we were in Washington we had our family pictures taken. We hadn't had one with the WHOLE family since before Josh and I had kids. Here are 2 that I have. I'll post a few more when I get the cd.

Had to throw this one in. The kids are so good at entertaining themselves in the car. On the way home, Josh turned around to find the kids with their chicken nuggets between their toes. Silly kids!