Christmas 2009

Well, another fantastic Christmas has come and gone. For Christmas Eve this year we had all of Josh's family over for our Christmas program. The evening included hot cocoa, egg nog, lots of yummy food, singing, games and of course the nativity scene. Oh, and later that night the kids had a surprise visitor from the big guy himself. Santa! And just before bed the kids got their annual p.j.s from Mrs. Clause. It was a great night.

Then came Christmas morning. I put in a request for the kids to please not wake any earlier than 7:00 a.m. They were very accomodating.

Katelyn got a camera this year! Which was a big surprise for her! Maybe now she'll stay off of everybody else's!

Emma got new rollerblades. Which she's been riding up and down our hallway and kitchen non-stop.

Mason got all kinds of fun "boy stuff" including a Transformer.

Riley's most favorite present was from Grandma Evans, her Dora doll.

And Landon, well...he just enjoyed playing in the all the wrapping paper. Runny nose and all. He was pretty sick on Christmas. There's always someone.

But one of the highlights of the morning was Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw's present to our family. They are taking all of us and all of Josh's siblings and their kids to Disneyland this coming summer!! We are all very excited!

The morning festivities wrapped up with some yummy ham and egg puff and some sticky buns. Soooo good!

A few days later we made a trip to Salt Lake. We took the kids to temple square to see the lights. Being there reminded me of when I was a kid. There's nothing quite like temple square at Christmas time--the lights, the lightly drifting snow, the nativity scene, the music...the parking ticket on our windshield. Yes, we got a parking ticket while taking in some religious, feel-good moments with the kids. Go figure.

We spent a lot of time swimming in the hotel pool and hot tub....

We saw the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie....

But the highlight of the trip was taking Katelyn and Emma to see the "Savior of the World" play at the Conference Center. It was so good. It was nice for Josh and I to have the one on one time with just them. (And a big thanks to Aunt Teri and Aunt Caroline for watching the little ones!)

This year's Christmas season proved to be a good one. Despite a few setbacks we are all happy and healthy and so grateful for good friends and family to share the holiday season with.

And the Stockings Were Hung...

When I bought this stockings holder about 8 years ago, it seemed so far away to actually have all five hooks filled. But I always knew I wanted them all filled. Now I look at it and can't believe every one of them is full. It makes me happy and a little sad at the same time.

Christmas Festivities

Well, December is almost gone and we've been busy. Not quite ready for Christmas, but getting there. It seems like every year I leave quite a bit to the last second. I guess I work well under pressure. Oh, and it's been freezing here lately! Quite a bit colder than freezing actually. We had a week where we were lucky to be above 0! On those not so cold days the kids have had fun playing in the snow. Here's Mason and his cousins Parker and Joshua. They had fun tackling each other in the snow. It's always fun till someone's in tears.

Then the other day Riley had her Christmas dance performance. Her dance class performed to Jingle Bells and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause, which Riley has been singing non-stop around the house. So cute. She did very well. Afterwards, her class got to decorate Christmas cookies.

Then just tonight Katelyn and Emma had their Christmas Piano recital. This was Emma's first. Katelyn played Silver Bells and Emma played Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. They did great, with no mess ups! They were excited to have Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw come to watch. And I was so happy the girls let me get them matching Christmas skirts. You know I never know if this is going to be the year where they decide they are too old to match. They kinda pulled that with the Easter dresses this year, but didn't say anything about these. So glad! But Katelyn did inform me that she is soooo over the tights thing. Well, pardon me. But they did look so cute!

Then here's Landon grabbing at the Christmas tree. Next year Landon is going to be at that age where you wonder why you even put up the tree. But for now, he pretty much just sits and stares. Yes, I said sit. He can sit up now!!

Every night this week there's been something going on. Party after performance after recital. And I don't see any signs of slowing down. Often times I'm so busy I can't wait for things to slow down. But at Christmas time I don't mind that kind of busy for some reason. For me it's almost a fun kind of busy. Maybe because it doesn't last for very long. But anyway...looking forward to next week!!

My baby boy

A couple photos of my little Landon bug....I just love him.

The Wrong Kind of Christmas "Wrap"

To anyone who happened to open my blog in the last couple of days and out blarred some rap music....my apologies. Somehow some ghetto rap song ended up in my Christmas song playlist?! As I was reading someone else's blog today, this song came through my speakers and I was thinking how I couldn't believe this person would actually put this song on their blog!! Then when I closed out of it, I realized it was coming from mine!! No idea, how it got there, but my sincere apologies.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house. I had all of my family here. My parents and brother and sister came up from California and they picked up my grandparents from St. George on the way. And my sister and her family came from Utah, and I have another sister that lives here in town. So it was a full house! But we managed to pull it all together, with a little help from neighbors ovens, without a hitch.












After our most excellent meal, came one of the highlights of the day. Dessert! My 4 sisters and my mom and I decided to mix things up a bit with some friendly competition and have a pie contest. So fun! My grandparents were originally suppose to judge, but then last second were afraid of hurting anyone's feelings. They're so cute.

So we opted to have to have a secret ballot. My mom and I tied for first. Here's a picture of my award winning coconut cream pie. ALL of the pies were soooo yummy!


The next day we celebrated my grandparent's birthdays. My grandpa turned 85 and my grandma turned 79. It was so great to be able to share a special day with them. And another excuse to share some yummy treats!


It was a busy and fun weekend. I don't think I've had Thanksgiving with my entire family since I was in high school. So it was so nice for all of us to be together.
But as our family is only getting bigger, room gets tighter. It happens. But it was a fantastic few days and was so happy to have all of my family here. I have much to be thankful for.

Way to Go Emma!

My little Emma came home with her first report card from 2nd grade...straight A's! I had to commemorate the moment. I'm so proud of her. Hopefully it's the first of many. How did I get such smart kids? They definitely didn't get it from me. I love this girl.