Christmas Eve 2012

We had such a fun Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Todd and I were so excited to be in our new house and celebrate with so many friends and family. Even better that we were able to host Todd's parent along with my parents and Elizabeth, Scott and Owen. We considered this so special to have both sets of Grandparents together for the holidays for Payson and Dillon. Owen has officially made Payson his idol - he was so excited to see him and followed him around all week.

We had to run to the grocery store early in the morning and Payson informed me that he was only going to survive the grocery store with Starbucks!

We attended the Children's program at St. Luke's Methodist Church. It.was.awesome. They do a great children's program using large puppets and even managed to use the hit song Call Me Maybe. All the kids were dancing in their seats.

Cheers to having our first official "kids" table.

After a delicious Christmas Eve dinner it was time to decorate cookies for Santa.

Owen testing for quality control.

Santa is going to be so happy at our house!

After cookies I had one special surprise for the three boys - one early present to open - MATCHING JAMMIES!

Now - my horrible attempt at getting a photo of the boys by the tree.

And to all a Good Night....

Boys Gift Exchange - 2012 Edition

A great tradition continues with our boys gift exchange. Even better, there is one girl in the group, and as Reese gets older she continues to become the leader. Payson and Dillon love exchanging gifts with Hudson, Grayson, Zane and Reese. This year Hudson and Grayson had the pleasure of hosting this wild event! Dinner started out crazy with the new straw glasses. I think it made everyone look like Harry Potter.

After dinner and before presents, it was time for a Dance Party. These kids can DANCE. First Dillon and Reese started off with a slow dance.

But, it quickly turned into a wild and crazy dance party.

Here is the attempt at a group shot before present time.

All the gifts were a hit, but bottom line is - these boys are best of friends!

Christmas Preparations

Like many people I have become addicted to searching Pinterest for great ideas. This was especially the case for Christmas cookies this year. Luckily I had two helpers that always wanted to jump in and assist me. Especially if it meant chocolate! These reindeer pops were fun to share with our friends. Payson was my official marshmellow taster.

The next morning while still in jammies we made some chocolate covered oreos - YUMMY!

Not bad - makes me hungry just looking at them. The round chocolate cookies are Andes Mint Cookies - the best! Might be my new favorite cookie!

Here are some pics of the house all decorated for Christmas. Disney loved the tree and was often found napping on the chair close to the tree.

Here is our little cowboy Christmas tree and the decor on our new mantle.

St. Luke's Little School Christmas Program 2012

Payson had been practicing his songs for weeks, and we were all excited to attend the St. Luke's Little School Christmas Program. Nana, Grandad, Dillon, Daddy and I all packed into the packed church! Over 150 kids on stage at the same time. It wasn't hard to find Payson, ,it was just hard to find a way to get his picture around the other parents all holding up their cameras also!

After the show Nana and I took the boys to the Santa Claus Shop to pick out their annual ornaments. It was a tough decision, but they both decided on cowboy ornaments, then we spend a long time checking out all of the Christmas villages in the store.

Ended the morning with a lunch at McDonalds - what a great day!

Christmas Randoms

Like everyone, the holiday season is crazy. Always have somewhere to go or something to do. I am not complaining - I love it. I try to capture everything with the camera because you just never know what type of picture you are going to get. For example...this photo of Payson.

Too funny. This was at a holiday party for Payson's preschool class. The had to make antlers out of balloons and tights. Both Payson and Dillon had a blast at this party. Decorating cookies and being with friends was their favorite part!

One night Daddy came home from work with the gift he received at his office's White Elephant exchange. It was a stocking bigger then Dillon filled with the most random stuff. Dillon had not trouble finding the huge lollipop stuck inside.

Never having a dining room in our old house, it has been fun to get ready to entertain for the holidays in our new dining room. One night I was testing out the look of some new things, and the boys wanted to pretend they were at a restaurant. They loved having me wait on them and pretended to order a ton of things at their new restaurant!

A visit from Santa and Mrs. Clause

We have been in our house for about 6 months now and have made some great friends with a few of the neighbors. We were thrilled to be invited to a Christmas party up the street. Scott and McKinley have become good friends to Todd and I, and they have two kiddos - Hannah (6) and Jack (3). This summer we spent many hours riding bikes outside with Hannah and Jack, but with the colder weather we have not seen them very much, so the boys were excited to go to their house for a party. Even more exciting, we had not been there very long before two very special guests arrived. Santa and Mrs. Clause came by to read stories and sing songs with all of the little party guests!

Dillon loved that Jack had the exact Spiderman that he wanted, so he was able to show him exactly what it was he was asking for!

Santa read The Night Before Christmas, and then Mrs. Clause sang some songs with everyone.

After everyone had a turn talking to Santa, Payson still had a few questions, so he and Todd went to go ask the additional questions. Payson asked Santa how fast his sleigh could fly and Santa informed him 47,000 mph. Payson was shocked, he responded that was faster then a rocket!

Todd felt like he needed to get in a few words with Santa - I think he is worried he is not going to get anything.

A great family photo with Santa!