Merry Christmas 2012

Every year I feel so blessed for the family I have. I often feel underserving of such a wonderful husband and three fabulous kids. Every day they keep me laughing, on my toes, and happy. At Christmas time these feelings ring even truer. I feel like a lot of it is about presents and who is getting what, but my favorite part is being with my family all together for a few days. This Christmas was no exception. Ryan was able to take a break from work and spend extra time with us.

To start this Christmas off, I was able to attend a Christmas party for Tyler's preschool. It is so fun to see him experience all kinds of fun things. His favorite was talking to Santa and making a gingerbread house.

The weekend before Christmas we were able to go down to Salem and have an early Christmas with Grammy and Papa. We went to a live nativity at their Stake Center, and the kids still loved seeing the camel Nigel, as well as all of the other animals in the stable. It was a sweet night, focused on that first Christmas night over thousand years ago.

The next day, we opened presents from Grammy and Papa and had a great time together. Sydney loves her beads and her bag that she got to decorate. Tyler loves his Lego table and new Spiderman car. Brady loves his construction ride-on truck and building blocks. Ryan and I LOVE our new iPad and bench that will go in our front entryway. That night we were able to hang out with Grammy and Papa and enjoy time with them. It was a great way to start our Christmas Season.

The night before we went to Utah, we were able to see Katie and spend time with her. She gave us the games of Pictionary and Twister for Christmas, and we had a great time playing it. Twister was especially fun - the kids thought it was hilarious.

Our flight out to Utah was uneventful - which makes for a good flight. When we got to Utah we were able to get some last minute shopping done and see lots of family. Ryan and I even saw two movies! We were able to spend time with Brendon and Shay and little Hudson. Hudson wasn't sure about all the attention from his cousins, but they loved playing with him and sharing our gifts to them.

Christmas Eve we had a big dinner and had a special visitor come, SANTA CLAUSE! The kids were in heaven, except for Brady. Sydney wanted a dog with a pink collar, Tyler wanted Legos and Brady wanted nothing to do with Santa. It was a great time.

Christmas morning came and the first thing that Sydney asked for was, "can I play the iTouch?", as opposed to "can we go upstairs yet to see if Santa came?" So the kids all played games on the iTouch while we waited for parents to wake up and shower. Once they got upstairs they were super excited! After we saw what Santa brought, we got ready for church. My Dad and I played Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," and did a pretty good job. It was fun to be able to do that with him. That afternoon we were able to go out and see the Didenhovers new house (which is just about finished, and beautiful!). Then we went back to my parents' house and opened presents to and from all of the family. The kids all got remote control cars from Grandma and Grandpa. They light up and do lots of tricks. It was fun to be able to see them all playing and laughing. Ryan got some new shirts and things for his garage. And we love the remote control helicopter. I got the gift of sight through lazer eye surgery earlier in the month. It was a fabulous Christmas. What a blessing it was to be able to spend time with family and enjoy everything the Christmas season brings.

Thanksgiving 2011

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to do something out of the ordinary and take a big trip to Disneyland! First we flew to Utah to visit with family and see Beauty and the Beast musical at my Dad's high school. The kids LOVED being able to meet Belle and the Beast. It was so fun to be able to enjoy that time with my family. We also were able to see Katie, Brendon, Shay and "baby Hudson." Although he isn't much of a baby anymore! The kids love being able to see cousins, aunts and uncles in Utah.

Utah was a short trip because we flew in on Wednesday and started our drive to California on Saturday. We went on the trip with my Mom, Dad, my sister Alisa and her husband Kurt and two boys Jake and Josh. We ended up staying the night in Las Vegas with my Grandma Saturday night and continued our drive on Sunday down to California. It was fun being able to hang out in the car and watch movies with my kids. I got to sit in the back seat with them and enjoy every minute with them. Monday we went to Legoland. The kids liked seeing all the things built out of legos. Their favorite part was driving the lego cars. It was a fun start to the week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we went to Disneyland. There we were joined by my brother Rob and his wife Aubrey, and my littlest brother Jeff. We got in early and did Fantasyland with all the rides. The kids loved the all the rides! Sydney got to do her favorite, the Carousel. Tyler enjoyed all the roller-coasters. It was so fun to be able to do the bigger rides with my daredevil. In fact we were standing in line for a ride and Tyler said, "Mom when are we going on more roller-coasters?" Brady was just happy being with his cousins and grandparents. He was especially happy to be hanging out with Daddy. He is a little bit of a Daddy's boy and absolutely loves being with Daddy. The second day we did a little in Disneyland and then went over to California Adventure Land. Once again Sydney LOVED the Carousel, especially since it was Ariel. But Tyler did not like the Tower of Terror. It was his idea to ride it, but he did not like it at the end. It was mine and Ryan's favorite ride. But I also liked the California Screamer.

Thursday was my favorite day! We went to Disneyland and it was all decked out with the Christmas decorations - it had been the first two days we went also but this time on Main Street we walked down and everyone waved and said hello. Also the characters were all out for the kids to meet. It was fantastic!! The kids loved seeing everyone out and saying hello. We went on a few rides and did some shopping. And then for Thanksgiving dinner we ate at Goofy's Kitchen. It is a buffet and so yummy! The kids had a very different Thanksgiving dinner of corn dogs, fries, peaches, gummy worms in "dirt", and lots of treats. Ryan and I stuck with some of the more traditional turkey and potatoes. Our favorite part was meeting all the characters there. Sydney's favorite princess is Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. She was there and Sydney was so excited!! There was also Captain Hook who Tyler really liked, and Brady's favorite was the Fairy Godmother. He loved her and was such a flirt. She came over and he pulled up his shirt and showed him his "chub chubs." So cute!!

It was so fun to be there with all the family and spend a Thanksgiving dinner with the characters. A memory that I will treasure forever. I love my little family and love being able to see life through my little kids eyes.