Graduation...

From Nursery, that is. It was too funny! He is such a handsome boy and he was so excited about his hat! lol! I cannot believe he is old enough to be in Primary! Look out Sunbeams, here he comes! (I mean that literally, he is going to be a very cute handful! That poor teacher gets 5 boys and 2 girls next week!) Congratulations Jackson!

MeRRy CHRiSTMaS!

Santa was good to the Swain house! The one at the north pole and the one in BFE New Mexico! Patrick has apparently mastered the art of online shopping, and managed to remember everything I told him I wanted! It was impressive! The boys were not complaining either! Trains, Star Wars, dinosaurs, swords and of course a couple of magic bells! And this year, we added a couple of people to our Christmas morning since we were short one very important person! Patrick's brothers Kenny and Eric were kind enough to spend the night, help me wrap and be photographers! You guys are the best!

That is Kenny!

And that would be Eric helping Harrison! I'm not sure what the deal was with the hoods, I think they were a little insecure about their hair! lol! Which is funny for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I was sporting a bath robe, no makeup and a pony tail. (Of course, I didn't post any pictures of me, so maybe they had good reason to be worried!)
He wouldn't put them down! (A better shot of the new black eye!) And he is amazingly accurate with his swing ...big brother beware!

The best gift of all....the garbage! This was his space helmet.
"I believe! ...I Believe!" Polar Express is his favorite Christmas movie! I have no idea how many times I was forced to watch it this month!

Patrick's parents joined us a little later for more presents and our new traditional Christmas morning breakfast that is usually followed by a movie. Spoiled kids, I have! And then later we were off to Christmas lunch with all of Patrick's family! They are always a riot, and we ate ourselves sick! It was awesome!

There was also a giant dog, it is as big as Harrison and they are kindred spirits! He can barely move it, but he loves it! Thanks Great Grandma & Papa.
Merry Christmas to all of you and we wish you a very happy and hopeful new year! And a very special Merry Christmas to the love of my life who is so far away! I hope you enjoyed what Santa sent you! I know it didn't feel like Christmas, but it will, just give it about 57 more days! :) We will make it up to you! I love you SO much!

Christmas Eve Choas! (But in a good way!)

We always do Christmas Eve with our Salisbury family at my parents house! Dinner, presents, playing, etc. It's awesome! And probably one of my most favorite traditions, might I add. The boys had SO much fun! Jackson did his "naked dance" for everyone. (That is what he named it. Yes he has to be naked or in his underwear! And yes we have to see it twice a day!) Harrison only hit his head twice! (Considering everything that was going on, it could have been much worse! Although, one was an eye, so he got a black eye for Christmas too!)

The kids (and Jake) all watching The Grinch while waiting for dinner.

Opening up their pj's from Grandma and Papa.

Presents.
Presents.

More presents, and a good shot of the two confrontations Harrison's head had with random objects! The dent in his forehead and the puffy left eye! To his credit, he takes those hits like a champ! LOL!Thanks mom and dad and family, it was a great night!

My HaNSoMe Boys! (well, 2 of them)

They looked so cute for church in their Christmas cloths! I have to show them off! Plus, they are only ever this clean with their hair combed for about 10 minutes before church! Lol!

3 Down, 9 To Go!

It has been 3 weeks now since Patrick left! It has gone by fast but it feels like a LOT longer than that! (If that makes sense!) But Jackson still asks where he is everyday and prays for him every night! He loves to color pictures to send! (He signs all of his artwork with his full name!) He is always building or making something for dad! It's actually very sweet!

Harrison, fortunately, is a little more oblivious to things and time! But he smiles whenever you say the word "dad" and he says it all the time! He thinks it is pretty funny when he hears him on the phone! He is very laid back, and for my own sanity, I am SO grateful!

So here is to hoping that time continues to fly! And that our house will sell in time for us to join him! Thanks again to all of our family and friends who have given SO much support and help and love!! And to Patrick, we LOVE YOU SO MUCH! And thank you for everything that you do for us! That goes for both the sacrifice you are currently making and the things you have always done! (And I apologize for having let some of those things go unnoticed!) Good luck! And we are counting the days!!

SNoW, snOw & More SNOW!

I should have just held out and said that the snow was from Santa! Jackson would have been completely satisfied with that and nothing else for Christmas! He begins begging to go outside first thing in the morning and it continues until well after dark!

And if it is snowing outside, we HAVE to be watching it! (Harrison likes that part too!)

Snow angels are his speciality! He's admiring his work!

I let him loose in the backyard as much I dare! He goes out and plays with Oakley and jumps on the tramp (that is actually very funny and probably very dangerous!) until he is frozen solid and I force him to come in! He has been having so much fun in it, I actually feel kind of bad that this will probably be his last winter for a while with snow! I have to admit, there isn't a whole lot of me that will miss it! But watching him have so much fun in it reminds me of how much we loved it as kids! ...Oh well, guess that just means it'll be that much more exciting when we come to visit! lol!

Ward CHRiSTMaS PaRTy!

To say I am behind on my blogging would be an understatement! But I blame it on the following: reoccurring illness in all members of the household, Christmas chaos, and being a single parent for the time being! Yep, that sums it up! So if my blogging is spotty for a while, you know why!

Anyway, to catch up a little! We had our Ward Christmas Party on the 5th, Mom and Dad Swain tagged along for the fun. Complete with food, a talent show, Christmas carols and of course Santa! And of course neither one of my kids wanted to get too close to him! Harrison would "talk" to him as long as I was holding him, and there was a candy bribe involved so his heart was softened! He just watched him forever! (This is the ONLY picture I have of either one of my kids with Santa this year!)

Jackson on the other hand was more freaked out by Santa's Elf! He has since decided that writing to Santa is more his style! (This is him sitting on the floor below the stage trying to decide for the second time if he should try it!)

Harrison had a lot of fun entertaining himself and anyone who would watch! Always the cheese! (No, I don't beat my child! He has a big brother for that!) And Jackson, our social butterfly, was anywhere there happened to be kids! We had a lot of fun, and at least they got to see Santa!

PiCTuReS for Patrick

The boys were trying to help me decorate earlier this week, and while doing so they discovered that they fit into the cupboard of my little entry way cabinet! ...This went on and on for about 30 minutes! (Oddly enough, Jackson hates small spaces!)

Harrison has discovered that he can fit in between our basement couches, he just can't get out! I'm not even sure how he got in, but it took me forever to figure out where the whining was coming from! He was sitting down in the hole waiting for help, I didn't find him until he stood up! So I left him there long enough to run and get my camera!

And Jackson said we have to include a picture of the Christmas tree! He "helped" me decorate it! So there you go! (It even has all of the new ornaments on it!)

We love you and miss you and we are sending you a package on Monday! It will have a few surprises in it! :)