Christmas

I took these pictures after we did our magic & before we went to bed. We were in bed by 11:00. Not too bad. I love this part & thinking about the excitement from the boys in the morning. Just makes me smile.

Crew got a big boy bike with training wheels. He will need to grow into it for sure.

Tanner's bike that he got from santa & the tag that was attached.

Remote control dinosaur that was Carson's santa gift.

These boys were so excited when they woke up. I couldn't get to the living room fast enough. They kept telling us to hurry. "I got a bike"....."we got a wii" ....."cool"....."look carson"
Tanner took charge and passed out the gifts to open. I just sat in the chair with my camera and watched. I loved it. I probably love this part more. Watching them, the smiles, the thank yous, & the hugs. It makes it all worth it.

The big boys helping Crew get on his bike.
Crew kept saying "ho ho ho" about his bike. He knew santa brought it to him.

Carson was in LOVE with D-Rex. Later in the day he renamed it C-Rex. Then it later changed to T-Rex. He even went to bed last night with his new buddy.

We had such a nice day. The boys were in heaven. The house was a mess with lots of new things to play with. And nobody getting after them to clean up their toys. Paul, Jean, Jessica, Eric & the boys came over in the morning. We exchanged gifts & then played the wii. I think we are going to have to have a wii party soon.
Then we went to Poppa & Grammie's house to eat lunch & exchange our gifts. Then we came home. I took a nap. Crew did not. We stayed home the rest of the night. All 4 of us played bowling on the wii. I won the first game & then Brian the 2nd.

I almost forgot......this was my christmas present that I picked out myself. I had to fake being surprised because the boys thought I didn't know about it.

It was a good Christmas!

Last few days & one more day left

These last few days we have been busy.

*Last day of school was friday. Went to Tanner's award assembly. He received an attendance award. (For only missing one day of school.) I think I have expressed my feelings about "this" award. I think it is pretty silly if you ask me.

* I had my work christmas party. It was at lunch time at BJ's. Good food and good company!

* We also had our Santiago dinner. This year we stayed at their house for a really nice dinner that Paul & Jean made. People who were there: Paul, Jean, Brian & I, Jess, Eric, grandma Rachel, grandpa Larry, aunt Marie & Chris. No kids!!

They made it really nice. Not only did they cook, but they served us too. We ate on the nice china, the table was decorated so nice and of course the meal was so good. They really did a good job this year. One I know that I will always remember. This was our bill that Paul gave us at the end of the meal. I thought it was funny.


* Finished all my wrapping, baking, delivering. And it feels good.

* Carson schooled me on who the "real" Santa is. He is very smart & one observant little boy. I kinda just played it off and told him that yes mom's and dad's do help santa.

With only one more day till Santa comes we are going to just relax. Well maybe do some launrdy and cleaning. If you call that relaxing. Nothing big is planned for christmas eve. Maybe watch some christmas movies, read some christmas stories, play don't eat pete.

I hope everyone has a nice Christmas!!

Christmas card

I love getting christmas cards in the mail! It has been fun to see all of our family & friends. I love to see the recent family pictures and to read the letters too. Thanks to everyone who thought of us this year.

Our 2008 Christmas card.

Snow in Las Vegas!!

It started to snow at our house this afternoon, but it wasn't sticking. I loaded the boys in the truck & we went for a little drive. Just when we got closer to Hollywood it was all over the place. We went by the temple. And then up Lake Mead a little bit. I pulled over & let the boys get out.
Tanner was having a blast. Carson was till his hands were too frozen & he said they were hot. And Crew didn't really care for it at all. He didn't like the snow getting in his eyes. Then by the time we came home it was all over the place. Our grass was covered. The neighbors were outside (the whole family) having a snowball fight. We played with them for a little bit. Then we came in to warm up. This has been such a crazy weather day for las vegas. We have had so much fun. I can't wait to see what sunrise mountain looks like!

A few things that made me smile today

* All my christmas cards are in the mail.

* (Actually this one made laugh out loud.) This old lady outside the store was waiting for her husband to pick her up. I was walking by right as she opened the door and was yelling at him. She said...."Can't you drive any faster?"
That gave me a good laugh. It made me think if this is how Brian & I will be when we get old.

*The bottom of my receipt. I saved $532.01!! This is a xmas present for myself & yes I picked it out. (I will share after I open it for christmas.)

Today

* I got to hang out with Crew while the big boys were at school. Just me & him. We played with his baby. Rolled around on the bed. He followed me around & was wearing my shoes. The morning was all about him.

* Carson made a friendship necklace at preschool. He restrung it a few times today. Each time with a different pattern. Now all the beads are all over the floor in the family room.

* Tanner came home from school & I asked him how his day was. He said "really good". I asked him "really? What did you do?" he just said "nothing...it was just a good day."

*Carson & Crew ate macaroni & cheese for lunch. Then we watched Shreck the third. Crew fell asleep in the corner on the couch. This is his new favorite spot. He likes to have all 3 throw pillows on top of him.

* I called Brian & told him that I wished that neither one of us had to work & we could just hang out with the boys all day everyday. Nothing scheduled to do. Just to hang out. How cool would that be? Just to be?

*I picked out a picture for our christmas cards. Here are a couple that I loved but neither one of these were chosen. (that's a surprise.) Thanks again Heather!!

Don't you love how kids can recite infomercials word for word.
And it is pretty convincing coming from a 7 & 5 year old.

The new one lately is the "Snuggie".....(so stupid!)

* I love*

**That Kmart has black bags. Little eyes can't see in them. I love it. Whoever thought of that is brilliant!

**I love this idea! We are getting some stuff together. It will be nice to help out. Great idea Brooke! :)

** That Crew takes baby Jesus with him EVERYWHERE. He sleeps with him & will share his meals with him too.

** Having friends over for dinner.

** My living room this time of year.

**Being reminded of this talk. I want to remember this : "come what may, and love it."
The way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.

It's beginning.....

.....to look like Christmas around here. We set up the tree yesterday after church. I just wanted to set the tree up & then decorate it later. But the boys were so excited and was not going for that. We ended up decorating the tree and getting everything else out too. I am kind of happy that we did. It feels good to have it all done. Now if I can teach Crew that the decorations are NOT balls. I think he broke 4 already!!

The boys helped me with all my nativities.
Here are a couple new ones that I bought last year after Christmas.
This makes my count to: 34.

I bought myself a sewing machine on black friday. I am a little excited to learn how to sew. I want to sew new stockings. I haven't been able to find any that I love. So I think this will be a good 1st sewing project!

This is the little people nativity that we bought and I love it. It is the only one that I let the kids play with. We just leave it out on the coffee table and I don't even yell at them when they throw them across the room. Crew has been carrying around baby jesus since last night.