Snowman and Snow Fort!

They day after Christmas we had a huge blizzard.  It started snowing at about midnight and snowed the whole day.  It was pretty fun!

Later after the blizzard, my dad took the kids outside and helped them make a snowman and snow fort.  I've said it before, but my dad is just so awesome.  Seriously, what a great Grandpa.  The kids love their snowman and fort.

And while they were all outside in the cold, my mom and I were in the house painting all the wooden animals my dad made for me.  I had asked him to make me a Noah's Arc, complete with animals, for Christmas--which besides them visiting for Christmas, was my ultimate favorite gift.  My mom didn't have time to paint them before Christmas, so she and I got to do it together.  They aren't finished yet, but as soon as I'm done painting them, I'll post pictures.  In the meantime, here are the ones we do have:

You can't tell, but Derrick's cheeks are so rosy!

Christmas!!

For some reason, most of our Christmas morning pictures are blurry, I put on the few that were clear.

Christmas started at about 7 am this year.  Bo and I got the kids a bounce house this year, and instead of letting them unwrap the gift, we had it all set out, minus the air, and ready for them.  They immediately recognized what it was and were ready to jump in it!  Seriously.  If you look at the first two pictures, you'll se that the presents are still wrapped and under the tree.

After the glory of the bounce house faded a bit, they were ready to get down to business and open some presents.  It was awesome having Carter being able to read the name tags and hand out the gifts.  One perk to him getting older so quickly.

Megs received a Rapunzel dress, a princess carriage, some clothes, pots and pans, and a doll crib, among other fun things.  Derrick's big gifts were a new car seat (sooo exciting, I know), and a basketball hoop.  Carter got a pogo stick, some ninjago guys, the game Operation, and his favorite gift was his Uncle Dallin's Nintendo DS--on loan while Dallin is serving a mission.

Bo and I were spoiled with treats, jackets, shirts, gift cards, books, and a fun race car track.  My favorite gift would have to be the fact that my parents were there.  Bo had to work all of Christmas week, including most of Christmas day, so with my parents here to keep me company, Christmas wasn't as depressing as it could have been.  I'm seriously so glad they came.  The kids were thrilled to have them there too, and if my parents are to be believed, they say it was one of their most favorite Christmas's.  I hope so!

The rest of Christmas was spent with the kids jumping on the bounce house, eating yummy food, and watching movies.  Oh yeah, and some naps.  What a wonderful day. 

And of course, we are so grateful for our Savior and for the miracle of his birth. We really tried to drill into our kids the true meaning of Christmas this year, and I hope they got it.  Our lives are blessed because of Jesus Christ; his example, his sacrifice, and his love. 

Merry Christmas!! 

 

Christmas Eve

My parent's came to visit for Christmas this year!  It was so much fun, and I am sooooo glad they came.  They drove in from Texas (visiting Whitney) on Christmas Eve.  We had a yummy dinner of clam chowder, shrimp, caesar salad, bread sticks, deviled eggs, and some sparkling cider.  That's right, sparkling cider.  We hold nothing back here. :)

Just before bedtime, Bo stumbled upon this cute scene and shot a few pics.  I'm so glad he did, isn't it tender???

My dad is such a great grandpa.  He's reading a Christmas book to Derrick.  Derrick is currently OBSESSED with books. 

Notice the nice clean house/floor?  Wait till you see Christmas morning.... 

 

Family Christmas Pictures!

Here are some pictures we took of our family in our sort-of matching Christmas outfits.  I think we look quite darling.

 

Three kids!  We have THREE KIDS!  Crazy.... 

 I love this one.  You can't tell, but Derrick is yelling at Carter in this one. hahahaa.  Carter kept trying to tickle Derrick's neck and Derrick was yelling at him to stop.  :)  And Meg, she just keeps on smiling and posing. 

 



First Snow!!!

The week before Christmas we had our first snow!!  Luckily Bo and I had just bought the kids snow gear, so they were ready, and warm enough, to go outside!! 

When Carter woke, at 7 am, and saw the snow, he woke me up and began begging to go outside.  I told him he had to wait till daylight.  He did, but barely. :)

The kids got all bundled up and off they went.  Bo and I sat watching them for awhile, before I took pity on Carter trying his hardest to pull Megan in the sled, and ran and slipped on a coat and shoes, still wearing the pj's, and went out to play too.  I mean, c'mon, who can deny fresh snow!

It was really fun, but I didn't last long.  It's hard pulling three kids in a sled with shoes that have no traction! Megan didn't last much longer then me. :)

Since then it has snowed a bunch more, and now even Bo and I are prepared, snow boots and all!  Bring it on!

 

 They were heavy!!!

 

Here is Meg's crying because she fell off the sled and her hands got covered in snow. She did not like that one.bit. 

After I quit and was walking inside, I turned around and saw Carter pulling Derrick in the sled.  Seriously, what a cute big brother!!  I can't tell if Derrick enjoyed it or not.  He pretty much laid down and stayed still and expressionless, as you can see from the picture below. :)

Megan's Dance Recital

Starting in September, Megan has been going weekly to a dance class, where she is learning both tap and ballet.  I absolutely love taking her and watching her twirl and tap.  She is just so darn cute! This is definitely one of the perks to having a girl! She is in the class with her friends Layna and Eliza, and is having the greatest time.  She looks forward to her next dance class the moment the one she was just in finishes.  Seriously.  She's even been picking up on the dance lingo.  In October she went around the house saying "shuffle, step."  Now she goes leaping around the house singing "saute, saute!"  I'm in love, she's in love. :)

The dance company owner's husband was diagnosed with leukemia this past summer, so because she's been so busy dealing with that, along with running the company, she didn't have the time to put on a full blown dance recital this winter.  Instead she held mini-recitals, where each class learned their own dance and then just did their own recital to only their class and the parents.  I don't blame the owner and I was happy to just sit for 15 min and watch my little Meg's dance.  She was sooooooooo cute too.  They tapped to "Up on the Rooftop." Megan had been practicing at home for weeks, so she had most of it down pretty good.  At the end they did cute bows and then parents went crazy with pictures. 

I'm so proud of my little Megan.  She really loves dancing and music. She did great at the recital and didn't get shy once.  I wish I could put the video on the blog, but it's super long and won't load.  Maybe I'll get Bo to crop it and put it up.  Either way, she looks darling enough in the pictures below!  (Edit: the video should now be below for all the die-hard readers who made it down this far in the blog)

 

 

Layna and Megan.

 

Megan, Eliza, and Layna

 

Meg's "Field Trip" to the Children's Muesum

In December Meg's/my little preschool group took a "field trip" to our Children's Museum.  In December the museum busts out it's Christmas decor and transforms the place into "Jolly Days," complete with a yule slide.

For some reason I didn't take any pictures of the whole group of kids, but I did get some of Megs and her friend, Eliza.  I may have also included a shot of Derrick and me racing Eliza's mom, Alli, down the slide.  We won. :)

 

In the Jolly Days section they have a little room where you can go and see Santa, free, and even get to take your own pictures.  This picture shows just about how close to Santa she was willing to get. :)



Cookie Exchange

Some of the wives/significant-others of Bo's coworkers came over to my house during this past month to do a fun dinner and cookie exchange.  We all brought like 5 dozen cookies each and exchanged them amongst each other.

This was lots of fun.  The cookies were yummy, the company was lots of fun, and the kids all had fun together. I love this group of ladies.  Since our husbands all have the same job, it's fun to talk/complain :) /compare about our lives, the job, and our futures. They are just so fun to be with and I'm lucky to know them!

 

Forget the Gingerbread House!

This year, instead of doing a Gingerbread House, we decided to do a Rice Krispie Train!!!

The kids had lots of fun both decorating AND eating this thing.

I love this idea and am happy that the molds are reusable, making this a thing we will be doing more often!