Holiday Wrap Up

Boxing Day the whole family went to my mom's.  It was great to spend time together and the cousins loved playing together.  We opened family stockings from mom, the kids opened presents from Grandma and the adults exchanged gifts.

We had a wonderful turkey dinner with christmas pudding for dessert.

The next day we headed to Cardston to visit Jason's family.  All of his siblings and nieces and nephews were there except for Trevor and Jessica.  We had a great time together, exchanged gifts and had a yummy dinner.

The rest of the holiday we spent at home.  We had a nice quiet New Year's eve at home.  We put on a delicious spread and watched a movie with the boys.  I was fading but the boys were wide awake and made it til midnight.

Cheers to 2014!  I hope it is great year for all of us!!

Old Habits Die Hard

When Ashton was a baby I was always finding him hanging out in baskets, buckets, laundry baskets etc.  I'm not sure why he liked it so much - but he did it all the time.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised where I found him doing his homework the other day.

Old habits die hard!!

Jason's Birthday Weekend

This past weekend Jason turned "40".  We started the celebrations by throwing a little party in his honor on Friday night.

A couple of weeks ago I sent invitations out to some of our friends.

We had a few couples over for snacks and games.  A great time was had by all.  We served 2 types of chicken wings, weiners wrapped in bacon, sausage, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, crackers with cheese and red pepper chili jelly, chips and salsa and for dessert mini cheesecakes, cream puffs, homemade chocolates and english toffees.

We put up a few decorations.  Here is the centerpiece I made!

Everyone arrived around 7:00 p.m. and we chatted and ate.

Then we played some "minute to win it" games.  I don't have pictures of all of them - but here are a few.

Jason and David playing "Hanky Panky" - the first one to empty their tissue box using only one hand wins.  It was a close competition with David finishing 3 tissues before Jason!

John barely beat Candace in blowing his cups off the table with the air from a blown up balloon.

Shelley and I stacking 5 dice on top of a popsicle stick held in the mouth.  I still can't believe I won this one!

John beat David in bouncing ping pong balls into cups by one ball and cup.

Candace and Joy transferring mini marshmallows only using a straw - Joy beat Candace by ONE marshmallow!

Joy and John attempting to retrieve pennies from the bottom of each leg of pantyhose using only their hands.  This one was hilarious to watch - Joy won this competition as well.

One of the toughest games was picking up 5 pieces of penne pasta using a piece of spaghetti held in the mouth.  Joy won again!!

Our "Minute to Win It" Champion - Joy!!

Jason had a few gifts to open.  Just to emphasize how "old" he is getting one of the gifts was a large key computer keyboard.

It was a great night and we're grateful for good friends!

Saturday morning was actually Jason's birthday.  Jason and I were sleeping in and about 8:00 a.m. the boys came in our room with breakfast in bed for Jason.  They had gotten up and made pancakes for him.

My three handsome boys complete with bedhead!!

After breakfast we headed to the mall.  I wanted to get Jason a table saw for his birthday but wanted him to pick it out.  He found one he liked and which also happened to be on sale at Sears.  We picked that up and then went to Chili's for a birthday lunch.

Happy "40th" Birthday to the best husband!  The boys and I are so lucky to have him.  He is such a great dad and the most loving husband to me.  I hope this next year is your best yet!

Christmas Day 2013

As a special treat we got to stay home all Christmas Day.  We love our families, and love to get together with them but it was really nice to have a slow paced, relaxing, do whatever we want Christmas this year.  We told the boys they weren't allowed to come out of their rooms until 7:00 a.m. to wake us up to open presents.  Starting at about 3:30 a.m. we heard Ashton hit his alarm clock light to see what time it was about ever 1/2 hour.  He's as bad as I was as a kid.  7:00 a.m. sharp we heard Ashton waking up Bowen and then coming to get us up.

Everyone loved their presents and we had a great morning.  What takes so long to prepare and organize took 20 minutes to open.

Presents from Santa were a big hit!

While I started preparing dinner the boys had fun playing with their new stuff.  Bowen got the 2nd Edition Axis and Allies from Santa and he was quick to start setting up his board.

We got Ashton a voice activated R2D2 and he spent the day learning commands.

Later that day we had a delicious Christmas dinner.  Turkey, stuffing,  mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, butternut squash, buns, and pumpkin pie for dessert.

After cleaning up from supper the boys played some more, and Bowen put together his lego.  We put in a movie and I worked on a craft I was making for my mother in law and sister in laws.

What a great day to see the joy of Christmas through my children's eyes.  I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Summary

Christmas came and went like a whirlwind this year.  Christmas Eve was a busy, but really fun day.  We spent it at home as a family.  It started with some backing for me.  I made buns for Christmas dinner and cinnamon buns to eat Christmas morning.

While I was baking the boys worked on a gingerbread house.

Then we decorated sugar cookies.

For supper that night we had a cheese fondue with bread cubes and veggies, and a chocolate fondue with fruit.  The boys love fondue and I think we'll make this a Christmas tradition - it was a huge hit!!

We did our last advents.  The boys have their treat advent on their tree in little stockings, and this year for a spiritual advent we read a scripture each night describing traits Jesus displayed and then opened an ornament or decoration that went with the scripture.

Then it was time to open Christmas eve presents.  New pajamas of course and slippers.  Ashton got a die cast car, and Bowen a book (which he finished in a couple of days).

After leaving treats for Santa the boys were off to bed.  Jason and I were up until 3:00 a.m. (it took forever to put the foosball table together).  A busy but super fun day!