I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! By far, best time of the year-hands down! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! Growing up, we did SO many fun things around Christmas time, and now that I am not by my family any more, I can't mooch off of them for my Christmas fun, so I have to try and start my own! Here's just a few things that we have done in the past few days.
~We TRIED to go to the zoo lights on an absolutely perfect night for it! It was snowing really hard, the kids were SO pumped, Lincoln just got a new snow suit (for Christmas of course), and we had Hot Chocolate and fresh cookies all baked and ready to go! We got up to the gate and they informed us that the lights didn't actually start for another couple of days, and that there was a private party going on! What is THAT all about! Oops, on my part. Forgot to check that out! So, we decided that we would go to the mall instead and see if we couldn't get a peek at Santa. And get a peek we DID! I wanted to take some pictures, but my ghetto camera battery of COURSE was out, and we opted out of the $50 package that they were so kindly offering and just decided on the visit. Lincoln was a little bit leary at first, but I whispered to him in his ear that THIS is the guy you ask for your gifts! He wiggled right out of my arms and promptly climbed onto Santa's lap and asked him for all the trains that he could think of! He then proceeded to tell Santa that Payton wanted some trains for Lincoln to play with to! Such a thoughtful bro. Payton, of course, was enthralled with Santa's beard and kept trying to pull it. It was real so it wouldn't have made TOO much of a difference, but hey, we can't let our kids do EVERYTHING right? Like I stated earlier, my camera was out of batteries, so maybe it was a good thing that they didnt' let us into zoo lights. That would have been sad to have no pictures!
(Scroll down for MORE posts about Christmas going-on's)
December 15, 2008
Gingerbread Success
Another fun family tradition that we won't be able to participate in this year is decorating Gingerbread houses with my family. My wonderful mother gave my sister and I the same gingerbread mold that she has for Christmas last year, and I was SO excited to try it out! MAN they take a long time to bake, but they sure were fun! We had a few friends over for a little bit of soup, and then some gingerbread house making, and it was a great success! We had such a fun time. I wish that we could have had tons more people over, but just not possible you know?! It was a little bit hectic to say the least with four 2 year olds and three under (or slightly over in Paytons case) the age of one! There was a lot of time out happenin at our house:) I was hoping that the children would really enjoy this exercise, and Lincoln didn't disappoint! He LOVED it! He really enjoyed coming every now and then, eating a few pieces of candy, and then putting a few more onto the house our the grounds surrounding. Here are a few pictures of those involved, and their marvelous houses.
The boys muchin on some Mac n' cheese. We were missing Carson, but that's because he only ate like 2 bites. Better than nothin eh? Warren, Calvin and Lincoln
HIM on the other hand...He ate more than all 4 boys, maybe even combined! Maybe it's because of his cute little hippo pegs! Can you spot them?
All the loot before we started the construction process.
Lincoln and Cole getting started. If you can't tell, Lincoln's mouth is CHUCK FULL of candy!
Our finished product
Jonny and Lindsay Moss contemplating where to go from there.
Hello...sweet little Edy didn't make a peep the whole night! SO CUTE!
The Moss's finished product.
Taylor and Steph Dix- Taylor couldn't (wouldn't) look at me because he was focusing on the walls:)
Finished product...They even had a guy roasting marshmallows in the front yard, AND a llama!
What the boys did most of the time. Bless this train table!
Anna was flying solo that night because Chris had to go and study for his finals! Thanks for coming Anna!
Picture of perfection-as always!
Tim, Laura and Carson Cronin getting started. Carson had a mouth full of candy as well! They were all bouncing off the walls!
Thanks for the sweet smile Tim! Told you it would make the blog:)
The ladies with the finished products. We all decided that they were much like our own houses in some ways! Mine being cluttered, and with WAY to much on it!:) Well, that's the way I roll I guess! Thanks for the INCREDIBLY fun night guys! You are all the best.
The boys muchin on some Mac n' cheese. We were missing Carson, but that's because he only ate like 2 bites. Better than nothin eh? Warren, Calvin and Lincoln
HIM on the other hand...He ate more than all 4 boys, maybe even combined! Maybe it's because of his cute little hippo pegs! Can you spot them?
All the loot before we started the construction process.
Lincoln and Cole getting started. If you can't tell, Lincoln's mouth is CHUCK FULL of candy!
Our finished product
Jonny and Lindsay Moss contemplating where to go from there.
Hello...sweet little Edy didn't make a peep the whole night! SO CUTE!
The Moss's finished product.
Taylor and Steph Dix- Taylor couldn't (wouldn't) look at me because he was focusing on the walls:)
Finished product...They even had a guy roasting marshmallows in the front yard, AND a llama!
What the boys did most of the time. Bless this train table!
Anna was flying solo that night because Chris had to go and study for his finals! Thanks for coming Anna!
Picture of perfection-as always!
Tim, Laura and Carson Cronin getting started. Carson had a mouth full of candy as well! They were all bouncing off the walls!
Thanks for the sweet smile Tim! Told you it would make the blog:)
The ladies with the finished products. We all decided that they were much like our own houses in some ways! Mine being cluttered, and with WAY to much on it!:) Well, that's the way I roll I guess! Thanks for the INCREDIBLY fun night guys! You are all the best.
Freshly fallen snow
Oh how I LOVE the snow. I don't think there is anything better than when the snow is falling and you can either just sit and watch it, or you can actually go out and play in it! Such a Christmasy feeling too, and we all know how I feel about Christmas! So it snowed on Sunday morning, and before church, Lincoln was able to go out with Cole in the frigid cold and shovel the snow. This kid LOVES the snow, and he loves to shovel, and he also loves his dad! So it was all in all, a great morning for him! He is donning his new snow suit, and lovin it!
Handsome boys! Payton can't WAIT to be joining them. He was trying to crawl out the door the whole time!
Hard at work. His favorite is going to the neighbors house and trying to shovel their snow. Little service man!
Cheese! He is getting really good at that!
Handsome boys! Payton can't WAIT to be joining them. He was trying to crawl out the door the whole time!
Hard at work. His favorite is going to the neighbors house and trying to shovel their snow. Little service man!
Cheese! He is getting really good at that!
Fondue Dinner
Since we are with the Smith Family for Christmas Eve this year, I decided that I would carry on my most favorite Christmas Tradition of all with my own family since we will be missing it with the Miles family, and that is to have a fun Fondue Dinner! It didn't even hold a candle to my mothers, but we ate like KINGS! (Well, three of us at least! Lincoln decided that he just wanted bread) I bought some yummy steaks, fresh shrimp, and chicken and fondued it all up! It was SO delish. I tried for the dimmed lights to help with the ambiance, but Cole didn't like that one bit! SCROOGE! :) Just kidding. Here are a few shots of the fun night.
The YUMMY feast!
Hello! Isn't he the handsomest in the land?!
Enjoying our feast in the BITTER cold! Outside I mean...it was a whopping 5 degrees when we were eating!
The YUMMY feast!
Hello! Isn't he the handsomest in the land?!
Enjoying our feast in the BITTER cold! Outside I mean...it was a whopping 5 degrees when we were eating!
December 3, 2008
Thanksgiving and Trip to Utah
SO, after LOTS and LOTS of driving, we finally made it to and from Utah for Thanksgiving! IT was way worth it! We had so much fun with everyone, and are so glad that we were able to go! Plus, with teh gas prices so low, it wasn't such a hit on the old pocket book to go! The drive to Utah wasn't too bad, because we left at 4 in the afternoon, and only had to stop once to eat, and then the boys (and myself) were out and Cole and I were able to listen to a book on tape to help the drive go by faster! We made it in an astonishing 8 1/2 hours! GO COLE! We had so much fun at both of our families houses. While in Bountiful, we were able to do lots of fun stuff. We had Thanksgiving up at the Midway cabin, and had 83 people there according to my Grandfather who is the numbers man! It was CRAZY! It always is. Cole and I felt pretty proud of ourselves though, because we really didn't eat too much! You can't really though when you have two little squirts to take care of! Payton had Jell-o smeared EVERYWHERE along with everything else, and Lincoln was constantly needing more BUTTER for his roll. He is so flippin cute. Loves his butter! Cole had fun playing football, and I had a blast just hangin with the girls. I even got to see TWILIGHT which i LOVED! Of course, it wasn't as good as the book, but what movie is? What director could do as good of a job as my imagination? You find that guy, and I will go and see all his movies! I am excited for the second one, that is for sure.
The day after Thanksgiving, Cole was able to go hunting with my dad and all the dudes on the Miles side of the family and had SO much fun! He loves to do that, and I am glad that he does. He is sort of the "hunter-gatherer" type I would say! Manly man for sure. That night, we were able to go to the Jazz game with the fam, thanks to my angelic mother who stayed home with ALL FIVE grandkids! Bless her heart! Best Grandma ever...seriously! So thanks Mama.
The next morning, COle headed up to Richmond with the boys, and I stayed in Bountiful for a wedding shower for Mal and Ty! It was so much fun. We are SOOOOOO flippin excited for Mallory to become part of our family. We love her, and think that she is a perfect match for Ty (aka. the Golden Boy- love ya ty!) After the shower, I headed up to Logan and we had a wonderful birthday party for Payton, and a post Thanksgiving dinner too. We love it up there, and Lincoln was again in hog heaven because Grandpa took him on the four wheeler, tractor, and everything else it takes to do all the chores. He LOVED it! We had fun up in Richmond just relaxing and chatting and eating and everything else.
The drive back was a different story than the way here. We drove during the day and the boys were a bit cranky! They were so sick of the car, and I don't blame them! Finally, at like 8:45, 20 minutes before pulling into our driveway, Lincoln and Payton were asleep for the night! Thank heavens! But we are happy to be back home, but are looking forward to coming back in just a few short weeks! So we'll keep you posted until then! I have about a ZILLION things to do before we get to go home so we'll see if it all happens! CHAO!!!
Cleaning and playing in the leaves a little bit before we left.
While we were up at Midway, we had to see the cows, and this is Lincoln and Drew who are usually boxing each others ears! We HAD to document this for future posterity! What cute little dudes.
My sweet little boy
Riding on the four wheeler with Grandpa Smith....look at that SWEET hat! I seriously LOVE it!
The two supermodels at the Jazz game...we should be the Jazz dancers don't you think?
Watchin the game
Rock sportin his new hat for the jazz. GO JAZZ!!
All 5 of my mom's Grandbabies! SO FLIPPIN CUTE! I can't believe they were all smiling!
The day after Thanksgiving, Cole was able to go hunting with my dad and all the dudes on the Miles side of the family and had SO much fun! He loves to do that, and I am glad that he does. He is sort of the "hunter-gatherer" type I would say! Manly man for sure. That night, we were able to go to the Jazz game with the fam, thanks to my angelic mother who stayed home with ALL FIVE grandkids! Bless her heart! Best Grandma ever...seriously! So thanks Mama.
The next morning, COle headed up to Richmond with the boys, and I stayed in Bountiful for a wedding shower for Mal and Ty! It was so much fun. We are SOOOOOO flippin excited for Mallory to become part of our family. We love her, and think that she is a perfect match for Ty (aka. the Golden Boy- love ya ty!) After the shower, I headed up to Logan and we had a wonderful birthday party for Payton, and a post Thanksgiving dinner too. We love it up there, and Lincoln was again in hog heaven because Grandpa took him on the four wheeler, tractor, and everything else it takes to do all the chores. He LOVED it! We had fun up in Richmond just relaxing and chatting and eating and everything else.
The drive back was a different story than the way here. We drove during the day and the boys were a bit cranky! They were so sick of the car, and I don't blame them! Finally, at like 8:45, 20 minutes before pulling into our driveway, Lincoln and Payton were asleep for the night! Thank heavens! But we are happy to be back home, but are looking forward to coming back in just a few short weeks! So we'll keep you posted until then! I have about a ZILLION things to do before we get to go home so we'll see if it all happens! CHAO!!!
Cleaning and playing in the leaves a little bit before we left.
While we were up at Midway, we had to see the cows, and this is Lincoln and Drew who are usually boxing each others ears! We HAD to document this for future posterity! What cute little dudes.
My sweet little boy
Riding on the four wheeler with Grandpa Smith....look at that SWEET hat! I seriously LOVE it!
The two supermodels at the Jazz game...we should be the Jazz dancers don't you think?
Watchin the game
Rock sportin his new hat for the jazz. GO JAZZ!!
All 5 of my mom's Grandbabies! SO FLIPPIN CUTE! I can't believe they were all smiling!
My little ONE year old!! WHAT!!!
So this past Sunday was Paytons BIRTHDAY!! ahh! I can't believe that he is already one! that was seriously the fastest year ever. He is such a blessing in our lives. He is the sweetest, cutest, most loving little guy. He LOVES everything around him...mostly food-thank heavens! That little guy can EAT! He LOVES his brother and always wants to be around him. I love him and I am so grateful that he is a part of my life.
For his birthday, we were actually in Utah, so we were able to have two parties with each side of the family! We got into Bountiful and had a party with the Miles side of the family where we made him a caterpillar cake and let him dig into it like it was his job! He didn't have quite the apprehension that Lincoln had, probably because he has already had so many sweets! OOPS-bad mom alert! He loved opening his presents, as did his brother who "helped" him with each one! Then we had a party up in Richmond where all of Cole's family was, and BOY was that a fun one too! He has so many cousins that take great care of him up there, and just loves them all! He had some pumpkin pie for his cake there, and loved that too! Poor little guy woke up in the middle of the night with a tummy ache, but it was worth it right? Thanks to all who were there to celebrate with us. We love you all, especially Payton!
He was so funny with his cake! He had every part of his body covered in cake, but when it would touch his foot, he would lift it up way high so that it wouldn't get all over him! :) So cute.
Munchin away!
Payton with his little present opening helper
The big man with all his loot!
Opening p resents at Grandma Smiths
Eating the coveted Punkin pie...
For his birthday, we were actually in Utah, so we were able to have two parties with each side of the family! We got into Bountiful and had a party with the Miles side of the family where we made him a caterpillar cake and let him dig into it like it was his job! He didn't have quite the apprehension that Lincoln had, probably because he has already had so many sweets! OOPS-bad mom alert! He loved opening his presents, as did his brother who "helped" him with each one! Then we had a party up in Richmond where all of Cole's family was, and BOY was that a fun one too! He has so many cousins that take great care of him up there, and just loves them all! He had some pumpkin pie for his cake there, and loved that too! Poor little guy woke up in the middle of the night with a tummy ache, but it was worth it right? Thanks to all who were there to celebrate with us. We love you all, especially Payton!
He was so funny with his cake! He had every part of his body covered in cake, but when it would touch his foot, he would lift it up way high so that it wouldn't get all over him! :) So cute.
Munchin away!
Payton with his little present opening helper
The big man with all his loot!
Opening p resents at Grandma Smiths
Eating the coveted Punkin pie...
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