Big Boy Bike - Update!

The training wheels didn't even last a day, this kid was serious about it being a big boy bike!  hahaha.  He said to Patrick "Training wheels!?!? I don't need training wheels Dad. Just give me my big boy bike that Santa gave me so I can ride it".  And so, that's exactly what he did.  :)

He is such a big boy! We're proud of you buddy! 

Very Merry Christmas!

I have to start by saying that I was really grateful for the chance to go to church first thing Christmas morning!  I hadn't been too excited about the idea of getting up at 6 am and getting everyone ready and leaving with kids crying about leaving their presents.  But it didn't really go as I had expected.  It was so much better!  We had to wake our kids up... they aren't early risers by choice... it's genetic.  Got everyone dressed so nice, with smiles on their faces!  They did peek in the living room to make sure Santa had come, but there wasn't much whining as we left for church.  We got to sit and listen and sing, and spend the first part of our day thinking about and celebrating the reason for the season, Jesus Christ.  It was wonderful!  Nothing melts this moms' heart like her kids singing about the Savior!  And they looked so stinking cute!  

And then when we got home, the Santa fun began!  :)  They were very excited about everything they got!  (And they got A LOT, mostly due to all the presents we received from family and friends!)  They were so funny to watch, even though I am pretty sure I was more excited than they were! haha. (Kids totally make holidays SO much more fun!) 

More noisy toys that I love so much!  Yeah! ;) Truthfully, it's pretty stinkin cool that she's actually playing with stuff like this!  She got an enormous round of applause as she started banging away!  We are so proud!  :)

These boys love stuffed animals!  Jackson is more of a collector, he likes the Webkinz.  His polar bear he named Pole, he's endangered, so naturally he has to sleep with Jackson for extra protection!  haha.

Harrison likes BIG!  And Sharks!  So that's what he got... a shark the size of him!  haha.  He also sleeps with him, he's the perfect toothy body pillow.  :)

Probably the only little girl I know who got balls for Christmas!  haha.  She loves them!

First big boy bike EVER!

And of course we had to try it out... in the house!

He has been begging for Mario Kart!  He was VERY excited!  :)

Reagan found the best gift of all... the garbage!  :)

Within minutes it looked like this...

Patrick and I have a bad habit of liking to spoil the other one for Christmas, even though we sent a budget amount every year... every year we ignore it!  He is so good to me!  :) 

Yep, folks, that's a Kindle Fire!  Which explains my absence from the world since Christmas!  hahaha. I'm pretty sure he regretted buying it within hours of me opening it! (And I realize I look exhausted, I really really was! :)

The rest of the day went like this: play, eat, sleep, play, sleep, play, eat...  hahaha.  There was at least one person sleeping at our house all day long between 11 am and 6 pm.  It was a wonderful relaxing Christmas! 

I think I can speak for our whole family when I say that this year the spirit of Christmas was very close to our hearts!  It was all around us in the amazing kindness of others and service to those who needed it.  I learned so much this year about the gift of giving.  And I became especially aware of my gratitude for our Savior, for His life and His sacrifice!  And for the gift of eternal families!  We are so blessed to be together, to have each other, and to feel so much love at this amazing time of year!  We hope you all felt it too!  :) 

Merry, Merry Christmas!  

Christmas Eve

Well, nothing says "Merry Christmas" like pummeling someone in the face with a ball!  Right?!  hahahaha.  Some fantastic friends in our ward organized a dinner for Christmas Eve and we were lucky enough to get an invite!  It was wonderful... with SO much good food!  They also organized a Dodge Ball game.  :)  We met up with several families at the nearby high school... and the violence ensued!  ...Ok, so it wasn't that violent.  There were a lot of kids, so for the most part it stayed pretty mellow.  Competitive... but mellow.  :)  We had SO much fun! And I was laughing pretty stinking hard most of the time too!  Hilarious!

Then afterwards, we went back to our friends' house for dessert and chimes.  I just want to note that it should be ok to eat your weight in food on Christmas, it just should!! Because I'm pretty sure that I did!  hahaha.  But the chimes... were very cool!  They played about 8 or so Christmas songs.  I loved the looks on their faces, the level of concentration was very high... and serious!  hahaha.

We finished with the Christmas story out of the scriptures, and then we cleaned up and headed home.  It was so much fun for us to get to be apart of their fun night, especially since we usually celebrate without our families! 

We got home and hurried to put out the reindeer food. 

Then we hurried to get kids to bed, it was about 10:00 pm when we got home and we had early church in the morning. (We have to get up at 6am for church around here.) They were so warn out, they actually wanted to go to bed!  :) 

I don't think we've had a Christmas Eve this fun since we moved away!  It will definitely be one we remember for a long time!  Thanks to all of you who made it so special for us!  And to our families and friends far away, who made us feel very loved!

Merry Eve of Christmas!

"All aboard..."

Part of Christmas this year for our kids was a very special trip on the one-and-only Polar Express!  :)  We kept it secret until we pulled in the parking lot!  (Which is really saying something, it's a 5 hour drive from our house! hahaha.)  And the minute they saw the train, we knew all the whining and bathroom stops and stress and crying (mostly by Reagan) had been worth it!  :)  (Although they were truthfully just as excited about the snow!  hahaha.  We probably could have just stopped at that!)  They were elated about all of it!  We got checked in, ate dinner and the ride just couldn't come fast enough, they were so excited!

Here we are in line to get on.

In our seats, ready to go!

These were the looks on their faces the entire time! 

Reagan liked it too!  She was SO tired, but she loved the train... and the dancing chefs!  :)

She was being so funny!  Practicing her scowls!  :)

We got our tickets punched, listened to the Polar Express story and had hot chocolate and cookies.

Then... we made it to the North Pole.  And someone joined us on the train as we headed back... When Harrison realized Santa was on the train, I seriously thought he was going to start crying... out of shear joy!  :)  The looks on their faces were priceless!  In Patrick's own words "Watching Harrison dang near made me BELIEVE!". 

There were magic bells too...

"I believe.  I believe.  I Believe!"

It was an amazing experience!  And it was so much fun to bring the magic of the story to life! (A story that both of our boys truly love!) 

And, like I said, they loved the snow too!  :)

We got some pics of the "real" Polar Express engine before we headed back home.  It SO much fun!  And a really great way to get us in the holiday spirit!