Tis The Season

...to need a little stress relief. Laughter really does help. And this little girl is always good at getting me to smile:

I should probably put these pictures in their own post since they are completely unrelated to this holiday post but I'mm too lazy to make two separate posts.

I love this picture Alexander took of his sister:

Breahna went to the doctor for a checkup. I set her on a rocking toy just to see what she would do. She loved it and instantly knew just how to hold on. She was being so funny as she squealed with excitement.

..Tis the Season ... for picture overload. Not many words are needed to showcase the fun we've had this past week. But, there are lots of picture that show the fun:

We left our stockings that were hung with care at our house and headed South to spend Christmas with a lot of family

 Our first stop was my parents house where we got to spend 4 wonderful days.
We got our white Christmas just in time. The boys were very excited when they woke up and saw how much it had snowed, and it was still snowing. They loved sitting on the window sill watching the snow fall:

I loved helping my niece finish decorating the house for Christmas.
Here are a few of my favorite things:

my parents have a lot of house to decorate so we had fun going crazy and decorating every floor, nook and cranny of the house.

I filled the many stockings that hung with care, up and down the stairway. I even added two more stockings after this picture was taken! I think I had 34 or 35 stockings to fill this year and as many places to set for Christmas Eve dinner:

We provided a rib-eye roast that was big enough to feed the crowd of family. My dad carved the meat and we all dove in eating until our bellies were round

Breahna got corn and sweet potatoes for dinner. She didn't seem to realize she was missing out.

One of my nieces, Penelope. Her family calls her Peanut. Whenever someone asks big sister Sabine what little sisters name is Sabine tells them - Peanut - "and what's her real name?"
"yellow pee" - then the person asking is even more confused. What were her parents thinking? Well, that's what you get when asking a 4 year old to say Penelope.

yeah, yeah, I know, another picture of Breahna eating ... she was just so cute!

Most everyone broke tradition and left after dinner, rather than the usual massive sleep-over.
Due to everyone leaving we decided to pass out stockings after dinner. It was mass chaos, and so much fun!

my dad had the right idea:

my mom also wanted the kids to open her presents since we wouldn't be seeing her the next day:

Breahna loved her first present. The paper was very tasty:

a grandma's love is special indeed

Penny again ... how is she the only one that keeps ending up in my pictures?

We thought we were going to be snowed in and not able to travel North to the Stevens but we ventured out and slowly made our way there.
It was late so we quickly got the kids snuggled in bed then Santa Claus got to work creating Christmas magic.
There were more stocking to fill and presents to place around the tree.
Christmas!
Stockings were first. Alexander didn't need anything else after is stocking present:

Breahna got a fun puppet, that she analyzed then tested it out:

Lots of cousin fun!

Alexander's big present was a camera ... his very own camera! He was so excited.

After present chaos we made a big breakfast. I made pumpkin cinnamon bread that was then used for french toast, plus cinnamon rolls, hash browns, bacon, eggs, and more food than I can remember.
Kaleb wanted hi favorite part ... scrambled eggs:

Alexander loved this alphabet toy grandma Stevens gave him

And Kaleb's favorite present was an $8 PVC pipe. Jake cut off the bottom then cut it into sections so Kaleb could have tunnels for his cars. Kaleb was always driving his cars under the oven, couch, etc. I wanted him to have his very own garage and tunnels.

Alexander testing out if the long tube from the middle of the rug is useful for anything else:

I decided to make a few last minute homemade gifts for the boys. I think they turned out pretty good. I was proud of them, quirks and all.
Jake was quick to point out a major flaw with my numbering. I didn't care enough to take everything apart to fix it:

 all rolled up and ready to go

I also made Kaleb a garage out of a shoebox:

 I made Alexander an art portfolio. It has two pockets inside. I put a coloring book in one and a small sketchbook in the other:

 And this was my favorite gift from Grandma Stevens ... a seriously cute puppet book!

 Alexander took over picture taking for a bit:

Grandpa Mc

Then grandma wanted to see how a digital camera worked:

Breahna with her grandma and great-grandpa and grandma

The boys love visiting grandma and grandpa Stevens. They have two dogs!

The boys went out to play in the snow

Alexander had a lot of fun throwing snow for Tucker

Grandma and grandpa had to get back home where it was warmer and work was calling. They didn't get to stay nearly long enough to play. But we loved having the one day to spend with them.
We stayed a few more days to play:
I think this will be a new yearly tradition; take the train downtown to see the lights on Temple Square:

It was a chilly and snowy evening but we still enjoyed the lights and playing in the snow

That night Alexander got to wear his new Star Wars pajamas. He really scored in the Star Wars department this year. Slippers from grandma Scofield, pajamas from Grandma Stevens and a light saber in his stocking!

Kaleb also got slippers:

Eventually it was time to pack up and head home. It's a good thing we have a huge car now or we would have been hauling a trailer home with our small car:

Now we are trying to organize all our new stuff and enjoying our new toys:

We got the family a Wii - something fun for all of us to enjoy together:

Taking advantage of the snow:

Breahna got to ride in style

big brother Alexander was more than happy to give her a ride:

We stopped to play at the park. For once we had it all to ourselves

It was really bright and sunny

We are ready to get back into the daily routine of life. Jake starts school in a week which he isn't too sure about. It's going to be a tough semester but I know he'll do great, as he alway does.

To end on a random note ... Breahna can sit up on her own now, when she's laying down on her back or front. And she's starting to wave, a little bit, sometimes. She still won't quite crawl, but she's so close.
This morning I got everyone ready for church then ran in to brush my teeth ... this is what I came out to find:

Thank you big brothers for sharing licorice with your little sister. I keep stressing sharing, I guess it finally caught on, when I didn't want it to. Of course she was all ready for church.
Sadly everyone woke up with a cold so we have to cancel the New Years Eve party we had planned and invited all the neighbors to attend. Today Jake and I spoke in church about Charity. We sat up front so we could take turns with the kids then soon as we were done we ran home with everyone. Don't want to be spreading germs around!
I hope you are all healthy and well. Enjoy ringing in the new year ... I'm pretty sure we'll be sound asleep by midnight.