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.
Tyler took a T-ball class with his friend Jack. He loved T-ball. He had a great coach and learned a lot. He loved playing Sharks and Minnows. He ran around the whole gym. It helped get some winter energy out him. I think we'll sign up again soon. 
This year we had a great Valentines Day. Ryan and I had heart attacked their door with hearts and sayings written on them. The kids were super excited for a busy day. Both Sydney and Tyler had school parties. Tyler is loving preschool. They had kids yoga planned. Although Yoga is not Tylers favorite thing, he did enjoy decorating the cookies and making hand print poems. He loves his teacher Ms. Ackerman. Sydney's party was in the afternoon. They played Valentine BINGO and also made hand print poems. She loves school and especially loves when they get a holiday party. Earlier in the week Grammy had brought up Krispie Kreme Valentines donuts that were delicious!
