Christmas '09

Christmas is always low key for us. The closest family we have is 4 hours away. Our last Christmas spent with family was 5 years ago. While it is fun to see family, we love being in our own home for the holidays. Our kids get to sleep in their own beds and play with their toys in their own surroundings. We like not having to bounce from one house to the next to visit. We're homebodies and we're proud of that!! Plus, traveling in the winter isn't fun.

Christmas Eve, we let the girls open a present and then we loaded into the car to go look at lights. I knew they were getting pjs from my mom so that is what they got to open. Inside the box, along with their jammies, were sock monkeys!! Each one has a little bracelet stitched on so that the girls can keep track of their monkey.

Here they are, hanging out in their undies, filled with excitement.

There was a lot of this going on. Sometimes it helps you know what's in the box if you stand on it.

A pained expression from Jovie. It's her smile. A smile that she gives any time I whip out the camera.

Tearing into the box. I later found a red centipede on that box. It scared the crap out of me. And I know it came from my mom's because we don't have those little critters running around these parts.

Clearly she loves it. Let's go check on Oaks.

She's finally understanding how to open gifts.

Both girls loved their monkeys (or gibbons as they like to call them).

Here, Jovie sports her new jammies and...LOOK WHAT SANTA BROUGHT!! A LITTLE KITCHEN!

The girls have loved their kitchen (thanks SANTA!) and the play food and tea set that you see in the pic.

They also received princess candy canes and clung to them ALL day.

Oakley managed to open a few on her own.

Jovie gave Jared a great gift: DVDs that have old cartoons on them (think Mighty Mouse and Popeye), and in return she got a hug.

I hope everyone had a great day. I hope you got the gifts you wanted and ate too much. Get ready to lose the holiday weight and put your gifts to good use!

The Final Installment

Seriously, guys. I have been home from my travels for almost a month and I am just now getting the last of the photos up. Then I have to try and get caught up with the rest of the pics on my memory card. Does anyone else have this problem? I just can't keep up with it. Maybe that should be a new year resolution. That and lose the holiday weight. I'm not sure which resolution is going to be the hardest!

I love this picture. She looks so funny running around!

Oakley spent about 80% of the trip in my heels. I wonder what she'll find on Christmas morning!

Decorating one of my parents trees.

Hayley, my sister, sung at the Festival of Trees. We went to support her. The trees are so much fun to look at. Ours is white trash. Could I display that at the Festival of Trees?

I'm thinkin' my mom put lip stick on Jovie.

And on Oakley.

Hayley making her grand entrance.

See her waving?

Notice how some of the people really get into the dancing and Hayley is keepin' it simple with her hands practically in her lap.

Snugglin' up with Santa.

Refusing to snuggle up with Santa. She prefers Hayley. They are BFFs. Have I told you that Oakley carries around a framed photo of Hayley? Yeah, they're close.

This is my niece, Kennedy. She's a hoot.

Taking a break to eat a candy cane.

This is my other niece, Lilah. She scoots on her butt to get around.

Beautiful tree. I love all of the colors. So fun!

A tradition at grandma Connie's is to dance on the table. They like Soul Sister Soul (Lady Marmalade).

Oakley had had the stomach flu. Then I got it. Then Jovie got it. Nightmare!! It's hard being sick and taking care of the sick! Jovie had gone a few hours without puking so my mom got a cake. This is also another tradition. We always get a cake at grandma Connie's.

The hat Oakley is wearing cracks me up.

Making cake balls on Turkey Day.

Rolling around in the snow.

Visiting the goats. This is also another thing we do at grandma's. We make a special trip to go see great grandma and to see the goats.

Oakley fell and Uncle Lane was there to help!

She ran from the goats and hung onto Lane.

I always take a photo of me with a goat and they always eat my hair.

Dinner time!

We had such a fun time and I am totally pooped now from all of those pics. If you haven't helped me with my book list, please do!!

Ward Christmas Party

Last weekend was our ward Christmas party. My friend Angee took photos of me and the girls. Thanks again!

I spent the day running errands and baking cookies for the party. I also managed to squeeze in a little time to cut my bangs. They were getting long and annoying!

Jared and I helped make some of the snowflakes that are hanging in the gym. Paper snowflakes are not my forte.

The kids sat on the stage for the program which kept them quiet.

Santa asked Jovie what she wanted and she said, " A train." WHAT?!?! She has never once mentioned that. I don't know if she heard someone else say it but she has no desire for a train.

The girls and I with Santa. After the party, Jovie said," That was a great party. Thank you so much for taking me!"

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If you haven't made any suggestions on reading material...please do so in the previous post. Thanks!

Suggestions

Gather round kids. I need some suggestions. I want to make a book list. Something similar to 52 books in 52 weeks but I'm not going to actually do that many books. I don't want to set myself up for failure. I'm a mom of two and don't have a ton of time to read. But I could do about 30...maybe more but we'll start with 30.

So tell me your favorite books and help me make this list before January 1st!! Thanks!!

Silent Night

We attended church today and heard the beautiful words spoken about Christmas. At the end of one meeting, we sang Silent Night. Tears welled in my eyes when I heard my little 3 year old daughter sing the first verse, word for word. It was so beautiful. I'll never forget this day.

This is it...

...for the Canada pictures. I really only brought the camera out when the girls rode horses. Now I get to tackle the pics from my 2 week stay with my family.

Look at the little cowgirl. She rides the horse one handed.

Jared got his turn on the horse. He's pretending to ride a buckin' bronco.

There is nothing more attractive than seeing a grown man on a horse being led by his father.

Then I had my turn. I hadn't been on a horse in a long time. The horse was a little skittish so that is why my father in law is leading. Jovie almost got bucked off and the horse was making a crazy move when I was on it. There were a lot of pictures of me and the horse...and they were all of my butt. Clearly Jared was the photographer. I had to delete them all. I figured no one wanted to see my hiney.

Only one week until Christmas. I have a lot to do. I like to leave things until the last minute. I work better under pressure. Good luck to all of you finishing up your shopping!!

Some Randoms From the Trip