Christmas Morning 2011...

We had a great Christmas this year. Of course the kids got spoiled getting Christmas both at my house as well as Steve's.

My brother Shawn was able to spend Christmas with us and Santa made sure he had a gift under the tree as well.

Rich was also there and we exchanged gifts and Santa made sure to leave a stocking for me and Rich's favorite candy for him :)

Sunday 12/25/11

Christmas Eve...

It has become a tradition to let the kids open pajamas on Christmas Eve...

Avery got her first nightgown and Maddy got Transformer pajamas...

They were also excited to both get their first pair of house slippers this year...

... And they've been wearing them every day since.

After the kids opened their pajamas we went back up to Salt Lake for Rich's immediate family Christmas party. Once again more good food, gifts and fun. Didn't get any pictures though :) 

Saturday 12/24/11

Christmas Eve Eve...

On December 23 the kids and I went with Rich to his Dad's extended family Christmas party in Salt Lake. We ate yummy food, played a fun (long) round of Bunco and had a great time chatting. Rich was behind the camera so of course there are no pictures of him... (Rich's parents, two sisters and one of his nieces pictured above-he also has two brothers and many more nieces and nephews.)

Rich's brother-in-law Kodi and I hanging out...

There was no shortage of kids and they had a blast (didn't get a picture of Maddy though)...

Rich's sister Jessica (she recently had knee surgery.)

Deep in thought I guess...

Goodbye hugs...

Friday 12/23/11

Maddox's 6th Birthday...

I seriously can't believe how fast time flies! I can't believe Maddy is already six! Crazy! He's been counting down the days to his birthday for quite a while and wanted to have a Transformers birthday party this year.

Of course he had to open the presents from Avery, Rich and I first thing in the morning. He got more Beyblade stuff of course :)

We ended up inviting 24 kids and 16 made it (plus family) so it was a pretty full crazy house.

Of course he got spoiled with lots of nice gifts...

Steve was able to come and help out so of course I put him in charge of the pinata...

The kids also played Maddy's version of "Simon Says" which was "Optimus Prime says" and it ended up taking quite a while to get it down to two winners.

Aren't these two the cutest...

Maddy's cousins from Texas McKayla and Carlee were able to come and so Maddy was excited about that!

Here is a video of us singing Happy Birthday to him before having cake and ice cream...

Happy Birthday Maddy! I can't believe how fast you are growing up and how smart you are already! I just love you to pieces! Love you forever and ever and ever... Mom

Friday 12/16/11

School Christmas Sing...

Maddy's Elementary school has a Christmas sing shortly before Christmas. Avery and I went and I loved hearing all the kids sing. Here is a video of the songs Maddy's Kindergarten class sang...

This is a video of some of the songs the entire school sang (it's a bit long)...

Thursday 12/15/11

Christmas in the Village...

Every year Avery's preschool has a really neat Christmas party. The kids sing, Santa comes, there are crafts for the kids and they have tons of yummy food. Steve waited in the Santa line with the kids and snapped these pictures while I waited in the food line... priorities people! HA!

"I want lots of Hello Kitty stuff..."

"I want a DS(i), a new bike for Dad's house, Transformers..."

The kids got to make their own little hot chocolate mix complete with marshmallows and candy cane.

Wednesday 12/7/11

Live Nativity...

My sister Stacy told me about this really neat Live Nativity in Highland, so Rich and I decided to take the kids. It was a bit cold but we bundled up really good. We got right through and you could spend as much or as little time as you wanted at the various scenes. There were fires along the way to keep you warm and at the end they served hot chocolate (which we decided not to wait in line for.)

"Have you come to pay your taxes?"

Steve has lots of dogs and Avery has turned into quite the animal lover... she loved feeding the animals.

The reason for the season...
Tuesday 12/6/11