Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 was different for us as we stayed here. In our 6 years of being married, 3 Christmases were spent in Texas, one in Alaska, and one in the Caribbean on a cruise. We were excited to really enjoy our time together and get our lives in order to welcome baby Kimball. There was so much time to just relax, play, and enjoy each other.

Carter hard at work on his gingerbread house

Taylee's finished product

All the creations together

Opening Christmas Eve pjs..."It's my ballet!" (Taylee REALLY wants to be a ballerina and take dance class)

Comfy & happy in new jammies

You can't see...but we had cool BYU slippers as well

The nativity story from the bible & book of mormon with puppets

and little people pieces

After the kids went to bed, Santa's helpers were hard at work building new beds

and they were so sneaky, they moved both kids into their new beds without them waking

They both woke up in the morning totally confused about why they were in new beds...and how Santa got them there

Christmas morning was spent opening presents

dressing up

playing with games

and new toys

resting

and eating yummy food

The best part for me was finally getting to nest & organize the rooms and the new toys

and to see my little family so happy

Christmas evening we had a wonderful dinner with Jamin & Shanda & kids and Carter & Tay were able to play to their heart's content with their cousins and then have them sleepover that night

It was a Christmas to remember.

And Santa did remember Carter's request...

a ball of string to do whatever he wanted

and I've been suffering the consequences ever since

EVERYTHING gets covered in string

and tied in knots

navigating through the house is an obstacle course...but he is one happy kid

Bring on the New Year!

Just like Christmas, we had a small New Years Eve with the four of us-but had so much fun together. We started out by visiting the Church History Museum and Family Search Library. Tyson has really gotten into family history lately and he and Carter spent more time in the library than Taylee was willing, so she and I hung out outside. Both kids loved the I am a Child of God exhibit @ the Church History Museum. When we finished with both buildings, it still wasn't dark enough for lights, so we went to the Conference Center Theater for a broadway tunes singalong. Ty & I both love to sing, so this was a fun (and warm) way to pass the time...for us at least...the kids didn't think it was so cool. At least they had our Iphones to play games on :)
When the singalong ended, we walked around Temple Square to see the lights and then headed home for treats & shows.

Tabernacle podium @ the museum

I am a child of God exhibit

With Carter's namesake, President McKay

and one of Kimball's namesakes

Yummy treats and drinks for the kids

and an AWESOME cheese platter for Ty & I...Harmons in Draper has such great selection...and Ty got to use his new cheese knives (thanks Mom & Dad!)

On New Years Day, Jamin/Shanda/Jared/Braden/Sadie came over for games, food, playing, whatever. They spent the night and we spent the next day celebrating, playing, and relaxing as well.

Tay and Sadie made themselves a picnic of chocolate covered raisins while the adults played games

There was a lot of lounging

and a little bit of sleeping

The holidays have been so relaxing and it's been fun to be just the four of us for the short while we have left and also to hang out as much as we can with Jamin & Shanda before they move. Our kids will definitely miss having cousins around.

Hope your holidays are filled with JOY & LOVE

Oh yeah...

And we had our sixth anniversary in December. Don't know how I spaced it...because it was a really fun day. I'll blame it on pregnancy brain. We started out with a ward breakfast with Santa at the church, then dropped the kids off at Jamin & Shanda's (thanks guys!) and attended a wonderful session at the temple, and then dropped the kids off at Bryon & Sherry's (thanks guys!) and had an INCREDIBLE experience/14 course meal at Forage Restaurant in SLC. Pics are on Ty's IPhone. It was wonderful day with my best friend and better half. Here's to many more!

December in recall

Started off the month by saying goodbye...and then welcome home to Daddy who went on a retreat to Cabo.

Opened numerous Christmas packages from Grandma

Met Santa (and had to have a heart-to-heart with Carter about how the exact thing he asked for just doesn't exist...good thing he was just as excited about asking for string instead...yes, just a ball of string)

Dressed up for church

We obviously don't know how to use the self-timer

More playing in snow...and after the snowstorm that blew in today, we will definitely have a white and blustery Christmas

More fun hairdos...Tay and I called this the "Christmas Tree"

All I want for Christmas...

There is so much hippo paraphernalia floating around our house...this was bound to happen. Having two Christmas ornaments that sing this little jingle just sped things along.