Christmas Day!

I have to start by saying I was just as excited getting everything ready Christmas eve night as I was going to bed as a child waiting for the next morning. I loved creating the magic of Christmas. This was the first Christmas morning we did at our house and it was so fun!
Christmas morning we got up and Derrick went down stairs to get my present first (a new camera). It didn't have a memory card so I only got 2 ten second videos and two pictures but I was really happy because I have wanted a new camera for well over a year. While we were still upstairs Brynn kept saying, "Let's see if Santa got his bell." (Since he left it there the night before--see previous post)
We saw Santa did take his bell, the carrots, cookies and milk (Here's where the video gets cut off because of the lack of memory).

The kids were patient to open their presents until after I took a picture. We got this tree for free from one of Derrick's co-workers because the lights were broken. I took off all the lights (it took about 2 hours) and now we have a great tree. I totally made Christmas seem more real.

We got lots of fun presents. Brynn's favorites were her Rapunzel, Flynn and Cinderella dolls, nail polish and Frozen book. Caleb loved his jet airplane from the movie Planes and Legos. The biggest present Santa got the kids was an air hockey table. I was most excited about them getting this one.

Then we went to Paul and Lynne's house. We ate brunch, opened presents, went to the church to play basketball, had lasagna for dinner, played games and just hung out. It was a lot of fun.

 
Everyone had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was so fun. In the morning we went to Dimpledell and swam. We think we will make it a tradition because hardly anyone was at the pool and the kids had a blast. Brynn kept saying the rest of the day that we should go back again to splash.

The afternoon was busy getting ready for family coming that night. Derrick took some time to play with Caleb in the snow. Derrick built an awesome fort!

That evening we had dinner at our house with Paul, Lynne, Rudy, Ruth, Scott, Julianne, Kent and Lisa. Santa (Rudy) came and the kids were surprised  for sure. Brynn was a little scared but she knows he's a good guy so even though she is scared you can tell she is trying not to be. Caleb was a little nervous but overall, excited.

 

After Santa left we played songs with bells. I played hymns on the piano and Lynne passed out bells for everyone to play. This has been a tradition in Derrick's family in the past and Lynne wanted to start it up again. I'm happy she did because it was really fun. We also played games.
Before the kids went to bed they left out cookies, milk and carrots for the reindeer. Santa forgot his bell at our house so we left it out as well.

Christmas Fun!

Two weeks ago we bought Stockings and each day throughout the week I decorated one. Caleb picked baby Jesus for his stocking and Brynn picked reindeer. Derrick's is the Santa and mine is the angel. Caleb was so excited about them. The day we first hung them all up he had Derrick close his eyes when he came home from work and open them to see the stockings.

Sunday was crazy. After church we were backing out of our parking spot and Derrick noticed the truck right behind us was coming out at the same time. Derrick stopped and beeped the horn but they kept coming and hit us. The tailgate and bumper were both damaged. We dealt with that for a half hour before Derrick ran off to home teaching. He was out for about an hour and as soon as he came back I ran off to choir. While at choir a friend came in and told me Caleb got hurt and Derrick was on his way to the ER with Caleb. I left choir and went home with Brynn (a neighbor stayed at our house until I got home). I later found out Caleb was putting his jacket away when he slipped on the tile floor and just landed on his chin wrong. He held a towel on his chin while crying on the way to the ER. When they got there Caleb got some gauze with anesthetic on it and he calmed down. While waiting, Derrick turned Despicable Me 2 on his phone and Caleb said, "This isn't a Sunday movie." Derrick told him it was ok if you were really hurt to help you feel better. After waiting about 3 hours Caleb finally got stitches. Derrick said Caleb was really brave. When they were giving him a shot he stayed stone still but little tears were leaking out of his eyes. Caleb came home and seemed totally normal.
Monday we took the kids to see Santa at the outlet mall near our house. The kids were both timid but not scared. Caleb stayed a step away from Santa and I kept bringing him closer to talk. Brynn hid her face in Derrick's arm at first but eventually kept her head up to talk to him. He asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas. Caleb brought a paper with pictures of toys he wanted from the Toys-R-Us booklet. Santa told Caleb to put it in his mailbox outside and he'd remember to get Caleb what he wanted. Brynn said she wanted candy for Christmas. At the end he gave them an activity pad with coloring pages and games. Afterward Brynn kept saying, " I like Santa. He's a good guy. We should see him again sometime." Because you had to pay for pics with Santa we just took a picture outside his house in front of this awesome tree.

Thursday was Caleb's preschool Christmas performance. He did a great job on his part and singing. The night before I told him Grandma was coming but Grandpa had to work. When we showed up Lisa was there, which made them excited. Lynne told me she was running late so the performance started and half way through Paul and Lynne walked in. Caleb saw them and said loudly, so the whole room heard, "Grandpa's here!" It was cute.

 After the program we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house where the kids watched Christmas movies, decorated gingerbread men, played in the snow and had fun with family. We had dinner together that night with Derrick joining us after work.

Stories:

• Derrick was telling Caleb he thinks about the kids at work and he loves to look at the pictures on his desk of them. I told Caleb that it was so nice of him to give those pictures to Daddy for Father's Day because it makes Daddy happy. Caleb asked, "When will it be Son's Day?" It took me a minute to realize what he was saying. I thought Sunday before I realized he said Son's Day. We had to explain there was no Son's Day, we celebrate birthdays instead.
• When I told Caleb about Grandpa not coming to his Christmas performance because he had to work Caleb responded, "Grandpa has to work everyday until he dies!" We then explained about retirement.

Snowed in but having Fun!

After a warm Thanksgiving week we had a freezing week of snow. We still found ways to have fun.
On Monday I had a doctor appointment (the one with a glucose test). Because this appointment would take a little longer than normal I told the kids if they were good we would stop at Deseret Industries on the way home and they could each pick out a toy. Well, they did great so we stopped by DI. Caleb picked out a four wheeler and Brynn found a pony. She had been playing with ponies at Grandma and Grandpa's house a lot and when she saw the pony she was so excited (it had a few markings on it and the hair was kind of ratted but she didn't care). She has spent much time in the tub giving her pony a bath in a 13x9 pan. Her pony is very clean. Brynn says all the time, "I love my pony." Here's what her fun looks like:

 On Friday we went to see Frozen. When I told the kids the day before we were going to the movie theaters they were so excited. At the movie theater they found these cutouts and they asked me to take their picture.

Stories:

• Caleb asked me this week if the baby in my tummy could hear things. I told him they can hear their mom's talking and if someone gets close to the mommy's tummy the baby can hear it. He went right next to my tummy and said hi to the baby. The next morning he did it again saying, "I'm glad you're a girl. You'll be my sister." It was so cute.
• I made stockings this week for the family and Caleb would get so excited every time I finished one. On Friday the stocking holders came in the mail so we hung up all four stockings. When Derrick got home from work Caleb said, "Close your eyes Daddy." He told Derrick to open them to see the stockings. Like I said, Caleb was excited.
• On Friday night we helped clean the church building. I really like when we do this because it teaches the kids the importance of Heavenly Father's house. First Brynn and I gathered the trash from every room and put in new trash bags. Brynn would push the big trash can all over the church, following me. Then Caleb, Brynn and I each got a feather duster and we dusted the baseboards and picture frames. The kids loved doing that too. It makes me happy to see them finding joy in service.
• The night before we went to see Frozen Derrick told Caleb he should tell Daddy about the movie when he got home from work. Caleb said told Derrick, "I will. And if I can't remember something, Mommy can tell you." I thought it was funny he knew he doesn't always remember things like that.
• I put together a little flower for a headband for Brynn. Caleb picked it up and asked how it worked. I told him you had to stick a headband through the loop. Next thing I knew Caleb said, "Mommy look!" Caleb had gone upstairs to get Brynn's headband, he put the flower on it and then put the headband on Brynn.

Thanksgiving Week

What a great Thanksgiving week! My parents were able to get in on Tuesday instead of Wednesday which worked out well for lots of reasons. First off, James was flying in Tuesday morning. We didn't tell Mom and Dad he was coming. Second, it allowed us to get tickets to the Carl Block art exhibit at BYU. So, on Tuesday I get James from the airport and we come back to our house. In the afternoon we headed over to the art museum at BYU to meet my parents. When we got there James waited outside and I went in with the kids. I told the parents that Caleb and Brynn had a surprise for them outside. They didn't seem to think anything of it. When we walked out James started walking toward us but Mom and Dad didn't notice him until he was right in front of them. The look on their faces was priceless. Mom cried and Dad looked amazed. It was a fun moment.
Wednesday the kids went to the park with Gram and Jenna. Then Pop and Uncle James took them to Arctic Circle for a milkshake and play place while Mom, Jenna and I went to see Catching Fire (it was just as good the second time).
For Thanksgiving Day the boys played football with the ward in the morning. In the early afternoon we went to Paul and Lynne's house for our Thanksgiving meal. The food was so good! Derrick took pictures:

Then we played games and hung out for the rest of the day.
Friday the parents saw some friends in Salt Lake City in the morning so the rest of us went to Hogle Zoo. Caleb's favorite part was the statues. He would look at the animals for one brief second before trying to get us to go on to the next thing. Brynn however, was fascinated with all the animals. She wanted to stop and look at them and watch them play or walk around. It was really sweet. When we were at the giraffes Brynn said, "He's looking at me. He likes me."

That night we saw the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving Point. A Santa and a polar bear light display each were waving. Brynn would say, "He's waving at me."
Saturday morning we went to the dinosaur museum. After Brynn's nap the parents took James to the airport. We then met them at the Clark Planetarium and saw the things they had there, which wasn't very much so we walked over to Barnes and Noble and let the kids play a little bit. Then we went to dinner at Chin Wah's. It was a yummy last dinner with family.
We then went home and Mom and Dad packed up and left. The kids had so much fun all week. They loved always having someone to play with and spoil them.

Story:

• Caleb and I cleaned the whole house for a few days before family got here. One of Caleb's jobs was wiping the light switches, doors and walls (he likes this job because he can really see those things getting cleaner). Derrick saw Caleb after dinner spill some milk down the front of the dishwasher to which he said, "I just cleaned that up!" three times with a little fist action. Caleb then got a paper towel and cleaned it up. He's even seen places on the walls or doors that he's missed and clean those up too. It's neat to see him take pride in his work and want to make sure he did do a good job.