Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas this year.  It was just the 5 of us this year with no extended family.  But, we ended up having a very nice Christmas despite that.  (This is probably our 4th or 5th Christmas with just us, so we're getting used to it.)  On Christmas eve, the boys decorated gingerbread houses, which has been a tradition of ours for the past few years.  Here are the masterpieces.  (The boys decorated them all on their own with no help from us, as you can tell from how beautiful they are!)

Then, that night, we had Christmas Eve dinner with some friends, the McBrides and Fitgeralds.  We had a nice dinner and then let the kids act out the nativity as we read the story from the Bible.  They did really well and it was very cute!  Landen was Joseph and Nathan was a shepherd.  Carter was going to be baby Jesus, but he was asleep and we didn't want to wake him up.  So, luckily, Cole (who is only 2 days older than Carter) stepped in performed the role rather nicely!  The three dads were very good sports and played the wise men.  After the nativity, we had a white elephant gift exchange.  We are grateful to have such good friends to spend Christmas Eve with.  Thank you McBrides for having us over!

Top L: Nathan and Tessa as Shepherds, Top R: Landen and Anna and Cole, Bottom L: the whole cast, Bottom R: Tessa, Landen, Anna, and Nathan

The boys in their new Christmas PJ's that Nana and Grandpa Matt gave them.

Christmas morning- Checking out what Santa brought.

Here is Carter after opening presents.  I guess all the excitement made him tired!

Boys showing off what Santa brought them.

Carter's First Christmas!

We were so lucky that it snowed most of Christmas Eve a and then stayed around till Christmas day.  So, we had a white Christmas.  I haven't had one of those in a while, and it reminded me of home!  It was great!  So, we took advantage of the snow (while it lasted- we had to hurry!) and played in it.  The boys loved it.  They had a snowball fight, made snow angels and built a snowman (if you can call it that).

The world's smallest snowman!
Not everything is bigger in Texas!

Handsome Boys!

Here are some pictures of the boys in their Christmas outfits for Church.  I think they look so handsome, so I had to share the pictures!  

Landen's Kindergarten Holiday Party

I'm a room mom in Landen's Kindergarten Class this year. Today, we had our "Winter Party".  It turned out great and the kids had a lot of fun!  We did a little craft with the kids (made holiday mugs), then played bingo and had lots of yummy food.  One down- two more to go!

Miles, Landen, and Aidan

Landen and his teacher Mrs. Jackson

Me and Landen with his teacher, Mrs. Jackson, and the other room mom Betsy and her daughter, Allison.

Santa's Christmas Village

Last night, the boys and I (Phil was sick, so he stayed home with Carter) went to Santa's Village in Richardson.  There's a whole little village set up and in each house, there's an activity for the kids:  the pet shop had little puppies and kittens, you could write Santa letters at the post office, Mrs. Claus gave out cookies at her bakery, you got your nose painted red like Rudolph at the Reindeer shed, etc.  It's super cute and the boys loved it!

Six Flags Holiday in the Park

Last weekend, we went to Six Flags Holiday in the park.  We went with my cousin Summer and her family, my cousin Eric and his family, my Uncle Brad, Aunt Mary Ann, my cousin Brandon, Curt and his wife Whitney.  It was so much fun.  The kids had a blast!  We stayed for about 4 hours and rode rides non-stop.  They were able to pretty much walk on all the rides.  It was pretty cold- but we all bundled up and it wasn't too bad.  I was really worried about Carter freezing- but he was such a champ.  He didn't make a peep the whole night!  After we were all tapped out on the rides, we headed over to a BBQ restaurant in Southlake for dinner.  It was a great night.  I love being able to get together with the family that we have here in Texas!  It makes me miss my family in Utah less.  

   This is how Carter spent the night.

Happy 6th Birthday Landen!

Landen had a friend party this year for his 6th Birthday.  He got to invite six friends and he had it at Allen Bowl.  They got to all bowl for an hour (which was equivalent to one game) and then we had cake and ice cream and opened presents.  Landen requested a BYU cake this year (much to his Dad's delight), so I attempted to make one.  Luckily my kids aren't too picky, which is good, since their mother isn't too skilled in the cake making department.  Bakugans were the hit present for Landen this year.  He had a great time at his party and I loved it because I didn't have to do anything but make a cake!  That's the best kind of party!

Our 6 year old!  I still can't believe he is so big!
This picture is from our little family party we had on Sunday, the 13th, his actual birthday.

Bottom left: Landen and Jackson, Bottom right: Landen and Jacob, Top right: Landen and Allison.

The final scores.  Notice that Nathan was in 2nd place.  He only lost by 4 points to a bunch of 6 year olds.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Eat Up Carter!

Since Carter is now 4 months old (well 4 1/2 months actually) we started him on rice cereal today.  He actually seemed to like it pretty well and ate all of it.  Here's the play by play.

                               First bite.

Not too sure about it.

OK, this is gross!

Well, maybe this is OK.

Yeah, I like this!

Let it Snow!

When the boys were eating breakfast this morning, Nate looked out the window and said, "Mom, what is all that white stuff?"  SNOW!!!  I can't believe Nate didn't know what snow was.  How sad is that.  But, when you've only lived in Phoenix and Dallas your whole life, I guess you wouldn't know.  It was so pretty to see the snow.  It made it seem so much more Christmassy (even if it was only for a few hours).  But, it  made me miss Utah a bit. The boys went outside and played in it for a while before school.  Of course, we had to get pictures of it, since it's a pretty rare event.

Nate wasn't so sure of the snow at first.

Ok, now he's liking it!

Just another Saturday at Our House!

GO COUGARS!!!!

Thanksgiving 2009

For Thanksgiving this year, my sister Leah and her husband Mike and their girls Addy and Brooklyn came to visit.  We had such a great time with them.  We packed about as much as we could into their visit and really "painted the town".  The kids all had so much fun together.  Addy even said that she wanted to stay at our house even though her parents were going home.  (That was quite a compliment coming from Addy- she's pretty attached to her mother.)

On Wednesday, we went to this cute play area in Allen.  It has all these little play houses and a train and a maze made out of hedges.  The kids loved it.

Brooklyn and Carter (only a month apart)

All the kids!

Nathan (3), Addy (3) and Brooklyn (5 months), Landen (5) and Carter (4 months)

This was the first time Phil and I had ever cooked a Thanksgiving meal.  It was A LOT of work, but kind of fun.  I was a bit nervous about the whole thing.  Either everything would turn out or nothing would.  But, luckily everything did turn out great! (well, all except the Pecan Pie I made and didn't cook long enough, so it didn't set up- oh well, still not too bad, I'd say!)

Then on Friday, we went to the park in the morning. (it was 70 degrees- PERFECT!)  Then, we made the trek to Denton to Rudy's BBQ for lunch with my cousin Summer and her family, Uncle Brad, Aunt Mary Ann and my cousin Brandon, who just got back from his mission to Russia.  It was a lot of fun to see all of them and hang out.  After that, we all went to the Rec Center and went swimming.  The kids had a blast!
(Isn't Brooklyn just the cutest thing in that bikini?  All those rolls and the big belly- got to love it!)

Goodbye Granny

Last weekend, Carter and I flew up to Utah for my Great Grandma, Granny's funeral. Granny died on November 13th at 98 years old. Granny was such a great grandma. She was always so sweet and smiling. I remember going to California to visit and going to Disneyland with her. She was so great to remember us and send us cards for every holiday. She was always on the go and had so much energy- we nick named her "the energizer bunny." Up until a few month before she died- she still lived on her own.

The funeral was held in Brigham City where she grew up. It was great to be able to see all our family and be together to remember Granny and celebrate her wonderful life. We sure love you Granny and will miss you!

Some pictures from the funeral.

Top far L: Garrett, my mom and Leah with Carter, Top L: My mom and Carter, Bottom L: Maegan, Austin and Addy, Top R: Me and Brooklyn, Bottom R: Uncle Jerry, my dad, and Uncle Vaughn, Bottom far R: Aunt Caryn, Grandma, Aunt Jan.

Picture from the Graveside Service.  This is how Carter enjoyed the service.

After the funeral, we all went to a restaurant in Brigham City for Lunch.

Landen's Thanksgiving Play

On November 20th, Landen's Kindergarten put on a Thanksgiving play. It was so cute and they all did such a great job! Landen was a pilgrim for the play and he did and awesome job on all his lines and the songs. Here's a few pictures and a video clip of one of the songs.

Will the Real Roley Poley Baby Please Stand Up?

I posted a picture of Carter and all his roles a few weeks ago. But, I was looking through some of Landen's baby pictures and found this:

Carter has nothing on Landen. The number of roles on Carter's arms may be more, but look at the fat on Landen's roles! He's a mini Michelin Man!

Both at 12 weeks old. I think Landen had about 5 pounds on Carter and it's all in his cheeks and arms!