A Christmas First

We had a Christmas first this year...I forgot to take any pictures or video of the kids opening their presents! I realized this AFTER all the presents had been opened:( I can't believe it because I am obsessed with taking pictures. Anyways, we had a great Christmas with lots of smiles and sweetness. I did manage to take some Christmas Eve pictures and of course our traditional "look at all my presents" pictures.

We went ice skating again this year for Christmas Eve. The kids did a great job, but after about an hour we were thoroughly exhausted.

After skating, we decided to go up to the temple and see the Christmas lights. It was beautiful and I thought how appropriate it was to be at the temple on Christmas Eve...maybe we'll have to make it a tradition:)

Here's the pictures of the kids with their loot! Gotta love Christmas...especially when you make the "nice" list:)

AND we can't forget...Christmas dinner!! Mike handed Tyson a whole turkey leg and he wasn't sure what to do with it:)

What a wonderful Christmas we had! I think next year our extended family needs to fly down to join us...then it would be absolutely perfect:)

Kya's New DO!

Kya has been asking for this haircut for a while now...we finally got it done and I think it looks BEAUTIFUL!!

Traditional Christmas Pictures

Every year I try to get 2 special pictures (okay, it's way more than 2 but here's 2 of the "many"): 1 with Santa & 1 on Christmas Sunday.

This one was actually taken at our ward party, so it saved me $20 AND Mike and I made it in the shot--bonus!!

I was really hesitant to ask my Mom if she had time to make new Christmas dressed this year (because I know she has 14 grandchildren who she is constantly making stuff for), but she agreed. Then, in about 2 days Mom called me and said they were in the mail!! Amazing. I think this is the best Christmas Sunday picture I've ever taken (I guess it helps that it was a beautiful 70+ degrees outside).

TEN YEARS

Yesterday Mike and I celebrated our TEN year wedding anniversary! We went to Disneyland (with no kids) and had a blast (of course I DID forget my camera). We talked about all our favorite (and least favorite--this was Mike's idea) memories from the past ten years. We both ended the evening feeling lucky to have each other! Marriage is hard work...but it is also one of life's greatest blessings. What would I do without someone to go on Splash Mountain with me:)

Soakin' it all in

I love Christmas time more than any other time of year (even more than summer...and anyone who knows me, knows how much I LOVE summer). With less than 2 weeks until the big day, we are doing as much as we can to "soak it all in"!!!

The girls got their Christmas dresses in the mail and have already got to wear them to church once. This year we are going to have them wear their Christmas dresses when we go see Santa...hopefully it'll make for a better picture:)

I made my Nanamo bars a little early this year. They turned out pretty well, except I messed up on melting the chocolate yet again this year...darn that chocolate--I can NEVER get it right!!

We've made a few crafts, including these colorful stables. Miley thought she'd like to drink the paint water...forgetting that she ISN'T allowed on the table!

Mike actually put up lights outside this year! So far it's just one strand of white lights, but we'll build up our collection one after-Christmas sale at a time:)AND the MOST exciting thing...we put up our tree this past weekend!!! It was Tyson's turn to put the star on AND the kids did a beautiful job of decorating the rest of the tree. I LOVE it:)

Christmas Memories

One of my favorite things to do is look at pictures. I sometimes pick the month we're in and look at the picture folder from that same month only past years. It's especially fun to do at Christmas time!

Kya and Dad 2008

Tyson 2007

Jordan, Tyson and Kya 2006

Tyson, Jordan, Kya 2005

Kya 2004

Jordan and Kya 2003

Switcheroo

Last weekend we did something I thought we'd never do...we switched the kids rooms! Jordan and Kya have been fighting A LOT! I thought maybe they needed some space, so when they came to me with the idea of Tyson and Kya sharing a room and Jordan having Tyson's room, I decided we'd try it. So now Jordan has her own room and Kya and Tyson share. So far so good! I have a little bit more decorating and organizing to do, but here's what it looks like so far:

Kya is now on the TOP BUNK--very exciting!!

Here's Jordan's new room...it just needs a new rug (she didn't want Tyson red train rug) and a few pictures up.

Jordan's first night in her own room! I think she was a little lonely...but Miley kept her company:)