Ho! Ho! Ho!

We really had the most wonderful Christmas morning. Liam woke up at about 5am I think. He went down to Nana and Papa until we woke up. We had to wake up Miss Addy.  Anyway, you can imagine what excitement there was around here!  Liam got the Rumbling Gold Mine he had asked for from Santa. Addy got a Little People tree house, Daddy got shoes that Mommy doesn't care for that he REALLLLY wanted (he was very surprised) as well as new pots and pans and Mommy got a Schwinn! Nana got a new printer and Papa got a Kindle fire. I'd say Santa was veryyyy good to us this year!











We made Papa some scrapbook layouts of Wes's antelope hunting adventure and Liam learning to shoot with Papa.





Trying out Liam's new karate helmet.

Our sweet neighbor, Mr. Price, makes gorgeous bird houses.  We got one for my mom and my sister this year, and the Prices gave us one as well. They really are spectacular pieces of art and so neat!



She almost got lost in all the wrapping!



Time to play!

Addy looooves to cook in her new Minnie pots and pans from Mom and Dad

Stockings are always saved for last at our house-- and they are always so much fun!  My boys always get new ties from Santa in their stockings and lots of other good stuff!



One of my favorite gifts was the baker's twine in EVERY color. I *love* it!  (yes, this is the crafting dork in me).

See all the pretty colors?

I had to take my new Schwinn for a spin. It rides pretty swell. I *love* it.




We really had a LOT of fun and are so thankful for such an abundant Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve

We had Christmas Eve day and night all to ourselves as our little family. As much as we LOVE being around family, it was nice to do our own little traditions, etc.  We started out the morning delivering little gifts and goodies to our friends and family and visiting Brent and Elise Adams, our good friends.  We decided to head up to the temple to look at the beautiful nativity and talk some more about what Christmas is all about.  I love taking my children to the temple.  It's so peaceful and I love the feelings and reminders of the eternal nature of families only made possible through the birth and atonement of Jesus Christ.







Christmas Eve night we did our tradition of opening new PJs (Liam got Mater ones and Addy got hot cocoa and cookies) from our cans and watched The Polar Express followed by reading The Night Before Christmas and reading the story of the nativity. Liam wrote a note to Santa, put out some cookies and carrots, and headed to bed. He had tracked Santa on Norad all evening and was soooo excited when he got to the US. He told us that we all needed to go to bed and NOT get out otherwise Santa wouldn't come.











Well, Santa did come and it appears that he had a very heavy bag bringing gifts for our little family, as well as Nana and Papa.




I really think that I almost like Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day. I love the excitement, anticipation, feeling of the gifts all wrapped ready to be opened and being with my family.

Learning New Things

I can't believe how much Addy has been learning and growing lately. She has now mastered the ring stacker, which is usually a tough one! She also can say quite a few words in proper context now: 'ouch' 'hi' 'dada' 'bubu' 'thank you' (sounds more like 'you') and nods her head yes and no appropriately. She is also quite the kiss blower and says "MWAH" as loud as she can when she blows them. She loves to snuggle her babies and give them kisses. She runs like crazy and is such a busy, but sweet and fun girl. This girl really loves her Bubba (brother), too! We love our Addy!



Don't mind the crazy hair-- she likes to pull out her piggies.

Christmas Best

I'm a sucker for my children in their Christmas best in front of the tree. I think I usually take a few photos like this each year, but this one really turned out exceptionally well. Pretty sure I have the cutest kids on the planet.

St. Nickolaus Tag

I didn't really have my act together this year, so we celebrated St. Nick's Day one day late-- oh well. The kids didn't know the difference!  We had been good, so we got some yummy treats and Addy got some new tights!  Thanks, St. Nick!

Sugar cookies and Duck (and quail) Hunting!

Interesting combination isn't it?  The weekend before Christmas we headed down to Y-town for a little sugar cookie decorating and duck hunting. The men had a successful duck hunting extravaganza and we were very successful in our cookie decorating endeavors, which was surprising to me since we have a one year old, but said one year old decided to take a REALLY long nap which let us get a double batch all decorated. She woke up just in time to 'help' and especially enjoyed the green frosting! Liam made beautiful cookies this year and labeled a few with an 'L' so we'd know which ones he decorated.  He also learned how to frost- what a talented baker!!  We ended up with seriously adorable adorable cookies. The next day we baked some eggnog snickerdoodles and cherry chocolate shortbread, both of which turned out great! I'd say we had a successful weekend!

All ready with the sprinkles!
















Papa cleaning frosting off the floor.








Taking a break to rock




Quails! (PS- strict supervision was enforced here.)






And little Miss learned to fold her arms for prayer-- sweetest thing ever!