Christmas Morning 2009

Christmas was such a great day for us. I must say, it was one of those days you just want to bottle up because everything went so well. I just had so much fun watching the kids get so excited about everything. It was nice to just relax all day and play, play, play!! I stayed in my pj's all day long. I got most of our packing done for Utah on the 23rd for that very reason, so I could relax and enjoy the day. I always feel sad when Christmas day is over, I want it to come sooner than 365 days later!

Daven was exstatic when he saw what Santa brought him. The Lego Star Wars X-Wing. He changed his mind a few weeks before Christmas claiming to want a DS. (I think a few of his friends were asking for DS's). But, he seemed really excited. Later he told me, "I think Santa must have known that some other kids needed a DS, so he brought me the X-wing instead. I'm really glad." Boy, Santa sure is smart.

Avery got the cutest little stroller/walker you've ever seen in your life and a baby doll.

Logan's still a bit groggy in this picture.

Here he's perked up. He got a fire station. And played with it All.Day.Long!

Papa Pehrson. For some reason, I don't have any pictures from last Christmas of him, so I had to be sure to get some this year!

Avery opening her first present. She was over-whelmed after the Santa toys. She didn't know what was going on. She was a little fussy that morning because of it.

Logan playing with his fire station. Serioulsy, Santa is soooo smart!!

Mike is the designated Lego person. I think the boys get tired of me helping them with Legos. They are always saying, "mom, you're doing it wrong." So I gave up a long time ago. Mike helped Daven put together the X-Wing. It didn't take 5 hours like the Police Headquarters Legos from last year. PHEW!

Ta-Da!

We took the kids out to ride their new scooters in the Moore's culdesac right by our house. Avery rode the little bike. She surprised us at being mobile on it. That girl is a wild woman.

The boys loved their scooters.

If you look closely, you can see Daven's toungue sticking out as he's concentrating so hard.

The Moore's came out to say hello. I had to take a picture of Ashlyn in her pink shoes, pink purse and cell-phone. Although, Shauna's girls kept falling down because my kids were getting them all riled up. I felt so bad. But, it was still fun to see them for a few minutes.

Kayla testing out the scooter. Sorry Shauna for all the bruises.

The day was a huge success. This is my favorite picture. Logan fell asleep around 9 p.m. on Papa's lap. He just couldn't stay awake any longer after a day of so much fun.

The Brooke's came over for dinner. But, somehow, I don't have any pictures of that. Sorry. But I am still feeling so thankful for such a great day.

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve was lots of fun. We started the day off by making some cookies for Santa. I love how the cookies always end up with mounds of sprinkles. I think Santa must really like those :)

She's just cute, what can I say?

My dad came in that afternoon. We ate chicken-noodle soup and rolls. 

The kids opened up their new Christmas jammies. I was so excited about Daven's...they were Lego Star Wars jammies. Perfect for him. Logan got Lightning McQueen and Avery reindeer and polka-dots. What is it about jammies, I just love them so much. I think I could spend more money on them than clothes.

Ornaments came next: 

Daven got a personalized ornament of a little boy going to school. It said Daven on the hat & his Elementary School on the front. His face lit up when he saw it.

Logan got a fire-engine ornament which pretty much sums up his focus this year.

Avery got a cute baby and a Stork.

Then, we did the flannel board nativity story that we usually do and sang some songs. 

Here's trouble.

Santa gets chocolate milk at our house.

The boys went to bed around 8:30 p.m. But Avery bug was wide awake. She was our little Christmas helper elf :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

I am so sad that Christmas is over....There is something so magical about it. I just don't want it to end. But, now it is a new year & I thought I'd write about our Christmas celebrations this year. It was a great Chrismas. Perfect in so many ways. I was so grateful that we were all healthy and just got to enjoy the season together. Watching the kids have so much fun & get so excited was icing on the cake.

Here are the kids all dressed up for the holidays.

Avery's spunky red polka-dot skirt and red tights stole my heart.

Avery loves to help empty the dishwasher. I just had to put this one in here. She is pulling up on everything. She bonks her head several times a day because she gets into trouble pulling up on stuff.

The famous cookie exchange. I got invited to a fun cookie exchange. Everyone had to make nine dozen cookies. But, then, this is what we came home with. Crazy, I know. But, it was lots of fun.

Avery is all bundled up to go see the lights at the Mesa, Arizona temple. We must be getting too used to the weather here. It felt very cold to us. But, the Brooks family came with us. They showed up in flip-flops!

The kids loved the temple lights. 

Hay-ride fun. Above are Daven and his buddy, Nate.

This is the first time ever the boys have wanted to ride on horses. We had to snap photos. Here are Logan and his friend Elise.

Family Pictures

So we got our family pictures taken again this week with Liz. I was so happy with how they turned out. She goes to a church close by that has a grove of trees out back. It didn't look that pretty from the outside, but once you got in there, it was gorgeous.  

Here they are, well at least some of my favorites. I will save the Christmas card photo for a surprise. The only thing was I didn't like many shots of our whole family together. My hair was doing something awful. I tried to fluff it right before, but in the pictures, it looks like I hairsprayed out the side like we used to do in the 80's. It looks so BAD. So, needless to say, I will NOT be going out on the Christmas cards. Oh-well, the kids are cuter anyways :)

10 years coming up on December 18th! I can't believe it. I was glad she had us do a few shots together at the very end. It's been a long time since we've done that.

My all-time favorite!!!!

Avery loves doing tricks with Daddy. This has been one of her favorites since she was a few months old. She laughs everytime Mike does this. As Liz was snapping this photo she started making monkey sounds. It was hillarious. Glad we captured it on film.

So That's What Bumper Pads are For

To my credit, in the Baby Your Baby classes we teach at the hospital we always talk about bumper pads. We discuss how technically they could be a suffocation hazard, although in the beginning, baby isn't going to roll around so the risk is minimal. But, we suggest removing them once baby can pull themselves up for sure. I guess some kiddos use them as a stepping stool to climb out of the crib.

So, I'm just trying to practice what I preach. Perhaps this is why she has trouble sleeping???