Christmas 2008

We had a very nice Christmas. The kids didn't even wake up until 7:30 a.m. Wow that was sure nice! They were all excited to see that Santa had brought them the special things that they asked for. It was so fun for us to see how excited they were. We let the kids go at their own pace on opening gifts this year. It was great......they actually took a long time to do everything. They played with the Santa gifts and then opened the other things..........they took their time playing/ looking at what they got. Santa brought Keaton a digital camera (he has been Mr. camera man), Talon got a Bumble Bee transformer, and Carter got a little keyboard.

Here they are checking out what Santa put into their stockings. Carter couldn't figure out what was going on with all of us.......he had a good time though. Rick decided to take his own picture.

We gave Keaton a Batman house (he was crossing his fingers he would get this), Talon got

Gorilla Mountain (he was screaming......Gorilla Mountain, Gorilla Mountain, Gorilla Mountain!!!!)

and Carter got a cute little bike (he had more fun walking with it than riding it). Rick is sporting hi Super Hero comic jammies.The older boys made Rick and I gifts at school. Keaton made a wreath ornament out of puzzle pieces that were painted green. Talon made us a self portrait. What sweet little gifts, they are always my favorites!!

Rick's parents also came over to share Christmas breakfast with us. We had a nice visit with them.

Christmas Eve

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...........Rick has a tradition of reading The Night Before Christmas to the boys on Christmas Eve.

We get a new family game to unwrap and play. This year the game was Cootie. We invited our neighbor Mae over to share Christmas Eve with us. We ended up staying up much later than normal........she was enjoying herself so much that we just continued on and had fun.

We also have a tradition of getting new Christmas jammies. The boys are sporting theirs. Before playing our new game we had hot chocolate and I told the story of our Savior's birth with our nativity set. Then we talked about why we celebrate Christmas and what it means to us.

Before heading to bed the boys made sure they took good care of Santa and his reindeer. They left out yummy gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate, a carrot, and letters. We had a great night : )

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!

I am so excited for Christmas! I just finished making a breakfast casserole, a swiss cheese ball, and some lasagna. Whew! That was a marathon of a morning. Rick and the boys are downstairs watching Star Wars. Talon is always begging Keaton to watch it again and usually he says how about another time.....but.....since he is trying to be extra good because Santa is coming he said SURE!!! It would be nice to pull out the Santa card everyday wouldn't it : )
Well, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Thanks for being so wonderful!
I couldn't resist posting this picture of Talon (typical of him isn't it, always being a little ham!!).

Carter's new snow hat.

Rick just loves how cute Carter looks in his new snow hat from Aunt Amber. Carter has so much fun trying to put in on/off his head over and over again.

What a sweet little boy!

The kids have had so much fun playing out in the snow. We have been getting lots of it! : )

Holy Toledo...................

Holy Toledo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have been a busy family lately. I am playing catch up on my blog so tonight I have a ton of things to post..................happy reading : )

My whole family is finally feeling well. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Can you believe Christmas is only days away..........crazy isn't it.

What we did today.............

This morning Talon was able to open his gift from our Christmas party last night that he missed due to being sick. (from Grandpa and Nanna) He was so excited!!! He is feeling better today. Yeah!!!! Then I put together Carter's gift also from Grandpa and Nanna. Isn't that the cutest little rocker ever. He loves it!


Then, tonight I made some cookies for the neighbors. When I was done I let the boys make sugar cookies. They had a great time. We get to decorate them in the morning. The kitchen looked like a bomb hit once we were done with our cookies!!! Messy but fun!

After we ate dinner tonight we met up with some neighbors for our annual Christmas Caroling night. We all had to bundle up extra well since it snowed a ton this morning. Talon was so happy to be out of the house and play in the snow. After caroling we went to our neighbors and had hot chocolate and doughnuts. We have such great neighbors in our area.....I just love them!

Sunday evening.......

On Sunday evening we had a family Christmas party at my parents house. We had such a great time! Poor little Talon missed out on the parties on Sat/Sun due to being sick : ( We sure missed him.......Daddy was a sport and stayed home with him so that the rest of us could go.

We had a great Mexican dinner and then we had a program. The kids were all so good and didn't even ask about the presents.....they had a great time playing together. For my talent I used my moms nativity set and told the story of Christ's birth. It brought such a great spirit into the home and the kids loved it. I debated on whether doing it or not....I am so glad that I did, it turned out so well for the kids.

Then later on we opened gifts. The kids were all so appreciative of the gifts that their Grandparents gave to them. My sisters and I gave our parents home made cards that said they are invited each of our homes for a meal with our families. I think liked that since they have everything.
Thanks mom and Dan for the great night that you created for us. This was my favorite Christmas party ever. I think that all of the kids will treasure the night also.

Saturday night/ Mr. and Mrs. Claus

Saturday night my parents put on their annual Christmas open house. Keaton was old enough to be an elf this year and he was so excited. He did such a great job. They sit outside in their driveway all suited up for anyone that would like to stop by. The give out toys to all of the children and ask that people bring donations for the Utah Food Bank. It is always such a great night for our family. I think they are so great and generous to put this on year after year.

This is picture of all of the elves that got to help them out this year. Keaton is in the middle. They are in charge of greeting guests, directing them to the guest book - cookies- drinks and choosing age appropriate toys for the children. At the end of the night my parents present each of the elves a nutcracker. Keaton is so excited to have his very own now.

What we did on Saturday

On Saturday we celebrated my Dad's 60th Birthday. We had the yummiest layered Chocolate cake. The kids all got to eat cupcakes. The kids that picked the blue cupcakes had blue mouths from the frosting....it was a hit! Wow, I can't believe my dad has hit the 60 mark. It just doesn't seem possible. My sisters and I gave him a card that said we would take him to dinner and set up a time for us to have are picture taken with him. I think he is happy that we will be getting a photo taken since the last one that we have of him I think I was 12 or so.....anyway, many moons ago!

Then....we had our family Christmas party at my Grandparents home. This year we decided not to exchange gifts and put on a program instead. The kids had a lot of fun. We had a good time watching them. We even got my Uncle Brent to sing (I think that was my favorite part).

Later on we just hung out and talked. Carter enjoyed being "passed around" all night. He is such a sweet little guy. Some of the cousins played with a little Smurf set that my Grandma has had around for years. They hadn't seen it before and thought it was the coolest toy ever : )