Georgetown Christmas Train!

Something that Cole and I have been wanting to do with our kids for YEARS is some sort of Christmas Train!  So when a Groupon came up for a train in Georgetown, we hopped right on it!  (Pun intended- of course!) The day finally came and the kids were SOO excited!  We pulled Lincoln out of school a little bit early and took the 2 hour or so car ride up to Georgetown.  The best part of this all was that it started SNOWING as soon as we almost reached Georgetown!  It was so magical and wonderful!  It was all that I could have asked for. It just isn't Christmas time without snow.  I LOVE the snow- and I LOVE Christmas! :) 
   The train was SOOOOOOO much fun! The kids LOVED it, and it was one of the most fun things that we have done.  We had so much fun together.  The kids even got some Hot Chocolate before!  They loved it.  But the beat all and end all was that Santa and Mrs. Claus were on the train!  The REAL ONES!  It was SO awesome!  The kids were totally pumped about it.  It really was magical.  It was so wonderful!  Merry Christmas to all!

SO pumped about the Hot Chocolate!  Even better- it was FREE!!!

Getting excited to start the ride!

Also excited about the Hot C!

Such a charming little train!  It was so neat!

This kid is a goof!  He was really into having his ears stick out.  For EVERY picture in the past year or so that Lincoln has taken of him, he is ALWAYS making a face!  What a nut. 

  Hello Blue Eyes!

SO Magical

Morgan was NOT so thrilled about Santa...

Payton talked to him for almost a full minute!  NOT scared. :)

Stockton was clearly not thrilled either!  He did NOT believe in Santa at this time!

Is that not a leery face?!  So awesome! 

DEFINITELY something we will be doing again! 

December Photo Dump

We had a fantastic December!  December is the BEST month of the year!  I love doing all of the Christmas stuff!  It is always so magical for me.  The kids love all of our traditions that we have been doing, and have been having a lot of fun starting new ones as well!  It is so much fun to spend so much time together.  The weather was impeccable in December- hardly ANY snow!  So, the traditions of sledding and playing in the snow/building forts and stuff like that were not feasible, but we didn't let that stop us!  We had plenty of fun without the snow.  Here's a photo diary of our fun month!

Lincoln's BIG into coloring at the moment- and he can pretty much do it in ANY monkey position! 

One night, hidden in the box, was the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  So, we got all snuggled up on the couch and I made some GRINCH PUNCH and we had a wonderful time!  The kids were having so much fun they couldn't BEAR to look away from the T.V. for too long.

I LOVE this baby!

This little lady LOVES to be in the kitchen with me!  if I am in the kitchen doing ANYTHING, she has to be right there up on her little perch with me.  And in December, we do a LOT of cookin!

We went downtown for the Parade of Lights!  We didn't really get there early enough, so we couldn't see because we were like 4 people deep watching the parade!  But we sure had a fun time.  Notice we aren't even in any sort of warm clothes!  Stockton has his hat on, but he was totally hot and sweaty!  It was awesome.  I love my boys!

We brought Cosette and Elias Rogers with us, and they are so adorable.  My boys love them both! 

Figgy Pudding (our friendly Elf on the Shelf) was a little bit crazy this year!  He did lots of crazy stuff!  Here he is reading a story to all of the Nativity characters!

After a particularly rough day at home, Figgy left a note...Lincoln, Payton, Morgan, Stockton- Remember- BE GOOD!!!  I'm watching you!  Silly Figgy!

Another day of the Box, the kids got all new Coloring Books, and they had SO much fun!  I love watching these cute kids do stuff like this together!  They are just starting to really play well together for pretty long periods of time.  Day depending, of course! So cute!

Here's my little Mixed up SuperHero!  We call him Mr. America fire blocking snow ball throwing crazy man!

Again- there is NO one that can make Stockton laugh as hard as his big brother Payton!

We had a really fun Gingerbread house making party this year!  We invited a few friends- the Lands family, the Leons',  and the Naandi's.  We all had SOO much fun, and it was so great to be all together having fun!

CRAZY Figgy :)

Here's our beautiful Christmas Tree!  Complete with Brown paper Packages tied up with strings...

Here's Figgy's farewell stunt!  I love that Figgy...and so do the children!

MERRY CHRISTMAS MONTH!!!!  I love Christmas- I don't know if you knew. :)

Paytons actual Birthday!

On Paytons actual birthday, the 30th of November, we laid pretty low!  We had a great day, and are sure glad this cute little stinker is in our family! What a cute little joy.  He is so full of energy, and excited about life, and happy to be alive!  He is SUCH a help to me (when he wants to, and for the most part!) and I am so grateful for that!  He is really quick to get ready in the morning, and does things right when I ask him, for the most part!  He LOVES to do anything active, but also loves to watch a good show every now and then!  He's REALLY into Ninja's right now, and loves to look at Ninjago books and play with Ninjago legos.  He doesn't really love to build the actual Lego sets, just play with the guys quickly disassembling them whenever he gets the chance!  He is so loving, and absolutely LOVES his siblings!  He wants them to play with him all of the time, and gets quite put out when they don't want to play with him!  He is always quick to give a hug/kiss/snuggle/anything that you ask for.  We sure love this boy and can't imagine life without him!  Happy FIFTH Birthday Buddy!

He thought Breakfast in Bed was the BEST!  Love his bony little back.

He's a breakfast guy!  Well, he's an EATING guy- all day long!  One of his favorite things to eat is scrambled eggs, and much like Gaston, would consume 4 dozen if I let him!

He has the best reactions when he opens his presents!  So cute.

We got him this cool fire/police station that he has LOVED playing with!  He is really into playing with figurines and does so for hours!  So this is a welcome addition to the toy factory.

He's LOST it!

Lincoln's tooth has been hanging from a thread for quite some time now!  And at school he finally lost it!  He's so funny.  I went to pick him up from his after school activity, and was talking to him, and noticed that he lost his tooth and kind of freaked out (with excitement of course!) and he didn't even seem that excited about it!  He said "Oh, yeah.  I lost it sometime today." then went right on with the story that he was telling me!  Silly boy.  Then I asked him to show me his tooth, and he said he LOST it!  Ah nuts!  The school nurse had given him a new tooth box (they do that for every first tooth lost! So cute. ) and he had it in his box, but then lost it.  He wasn't too bummed about it though-so I told him we could write the tooth fairy a note.  He forgot.  Haha.  Silly boy!  The next day though, at school, he found his tooth!  So, we put it under his pillow that night- the tooth fairy, I think, did a great job remembering to visit him- writing him a nice note and leaving some money along with it!- and the next morning, he FORGOT again!  Isn't this supposed to be so exciting!?  I remember losing my first tooth, and I was so stoked!  No biggie to this dude.  Maybe it's because he has a job already, and doesn't so much mind about the money.  Whatever the reason, he is so funny and cute!  It's so weird to see my baby boy grow up so fast ! Congrats Linc!  We are excited for you to start losing your teeth!

Not the best pic, but you do what you can with a phone camera right?!

Payton turns FIVE!!!!

My little buddy turned FIVE on the 30th of November!  I can't BELIEVE that he is five already! It seems like we JUST moved out here, and I was pregnant with him!  Payton is SUCH a joy to our little family!  He has endless energy, and is always so happy and wonderful!  He has quite a feisty streak in him, but we love him for that all the more!  We wouldn't want him any other way!  Because the whole fam was out here for Thanksgiving, we decided to do his party while everyone was here, because he would rather his cousins and aunts/uncles come to his party than anything!  So it worked out just nicely!  The only problem was- MOST of the family was sick during the party!  SO SAD!  But we had the funnest time anyways.  Payton is REALLY into Ninjas right now, so he opted for a nice ninja party, and it did NOT disappoint!  It was so much fun!  It had been the nicest weather the whole week, so we planned a fun obstacle course outside- but it ended up being pretty cold!  So that was kind of a bummer- and we had some blue lipped ninjas, but we had a great time anyways.  The kids all came dressed as ninjas (in black, or FULL ninja garb- thanks Kai!) and we gave them some of their very own ninja headbands and a pair of nun-chucks.  They went over REALLY well, and I think that the kids had a fun time with the obstacle course that Cole came up with! 
     The best part about the whole party was the food!  We let the kids choose their own food for their parties, and it's always so funny what Payton chooses!  His #1 choice for the food was breaded Panko Shrimp!  Ha!  What a funny dude.  So, I got a box at Costco, and he went DOWN on them!  He is always the last one to be eating- even though he is so excited to be with his friends.  He chose Ninjago cupcakes, and so we had a great time making them!  All of his little friends are SO cute, and it was a fun birthday party.  We sure love this BIG dude, and are so glad that he is a part of our family! Our family would NOT be the same without him! Happy Birthday Payton!  Love you so much!

Thankfully Uncle Bryson wasn't sick!!!

Mia Hreinsen- This is Paytons little girlfriend from church!  They are the cutest! 

Happy Drewsie!

Poor Sick Unca-Ty!

The kids watching and receiving instruction on how to do the "Ninja Training Course"

Sensei Cole

Payton had the BEST time on the obstacle couse!  It was hilarious!

Ruby- on the other hand- Not so much.  :)

Practicing their sweet nun-chuck skills

Mylie did some sweet tricks on the tramp

The boys good buddy Kai- all sorts of dressed up in his Ninja Garb.  It helps that his name is the same as one of the Lego Ninjago guys!  The boys think he is so cool! :)

Mia also doing some sweet tricks on the tramp.  It was getting a bit nippy outside, so she asked to wear Lincolns coat.

Captain America- the resemblance is uncanny.

These masks were from the Derricks, and Payton has LOVED them so much!

The crazy crew getting some nourishment.

Ninja Cupcake tower. Pretty sweet if I do say so myself!

I LOVE this picture of Paytons face blowing out the candles!  What a stud!

Happy Birthday party Payton!  We love you so much- and are SO glad that you are a part of our family!