Service Christmas Countdown

I found this wonderful idea on Sugar Doodle!! I LOVE that site!! Anyways, I printed a copy of the tree and had it on my fridge for most of the month of December. It was fun to work on with the boys. Next year I plan on printing a tree for each of us to work on separately.

Top 5 gifts!!

Here is everyone 's Top 5 gifts they received for Christmas...

Will - iPod Touch, Call of Duty Wii games (Black Ops and Modern Warfare), basketball hoop with ball, and a Chess set.

Jackson- iPod nano, air soft gun and mask, Webkins plush, Guardians of Ga'hoole books, DVD, and DS game, and Lego's.

Tyler- Airsoft mask and gun, a punching bag, flashlight with a laser, webkins plush, and a football.

Gavin- Quad, Train table and train sets, Buzz Lightyear and Woody dolls and games, a Dump Truck and a Nintendo DS with games.

Brigham- Quad, train table and train sets, Buzz Lightyear and Woody dolls and games, a Tractor and a Buzz Lightyear Scooter.

Nathan- Weebles Wobble, a monkey plush, a bouncy ball, a pop up game and any other toys laying around!

Scott received an Invicta watch, some books (one of which was written by one of Scott's favorite LDS authors, Brad Wilcox. I had Brad write a message to Scott inside!), clothes, a Joseph Smith and Hyrum statue (called "The Martyrs") and some handmade treasures from the boys.

I received a bunch of fun new kitchen stuff like a pizza stone, glass cake holder, frosting spatula, hand mixer, and a deep dish ceramic pan. Scott got me perfume, tickets to some musicals, and some jewelry.

We had a great Christmas. It was a lot of fun having Nana and Papa here. We continued some traditions and made some new ones as well.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas Morning

 The boys were instructed not to open anything until mom, dad, Nana, and Papa were all awake and ready to watch the craziness. Scott and I woke up at 8:30 on our own. I can't believe we didn't hear them downstairs! They opened their stockings first and then the rest of the gifts. As you can see in the above picture there are a bunch of presents under and around the tree. On the left hand side of the tree are a bunch of large presents that we and Santa didn't wrap. On the right side you can see a bunch of boxes. Those are presents my mom and Bill sent to us!

It was a very MERRY Christmas! We had a blast opening the gifts and seeing what everyone received!
Thank you Nana and Papa and thank you Santa!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Christmas Eve at Temple Square

 Next we went to Temple Square and walked around to see the lights.

 Yes, Scott has Gavin on his shoulders and Nathan in the backpack on his back!

My mom hasn't been to the temple during the holidays in too many years. Papa Bill has never gone before. It was a wonderful experience for us all!

The Grand America Hotel

 On Christmas Eve we drove around the neighborhood and looked at lights and Christmas decorations. There is a street that has a ton of lights. It was fun to drive down. There is another street where each yard has this huge book and you read a page from each yard about the story of Jesus' birth. That too was wonderful.

Next we went to The Grand America Hotel to go on a treasure hunt. They have these lavish window designs inside the hotel that you have to find hidden letters about Christmas. There are apothecary jars all over the hotel filled with candy and gum balls. Below is a Gingerbread house of some beautiful buildings in Moscow.

The hotel is gorgeous and the treasure hunt was a lot of fun. At the end we handed in our papers with the answers and received a yummy sugar cookie and a cute Christmas card.

Jeana and other cousins

 My cousin Jeana, and her family, came into town during the holidays all the way from Alaska! So, we had a party! My mom and Bill were in town and then we invited a bunch of cousins over. 30 wonderful cousins!
And guess who else came by for a visit?

 Everyone took turns sitting on Santa's lap to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Look how sweet my little cousin Katie is?! She looks like a doll with her perfect porcelain face!

Santa is trying to find out the scoop of when Zac and Brynnlee are getting hitched....They wouldn't even give him a clue!
After, Santa and I walked around our neighborhood to visit other children. It was such a fun surprise!

Dessert Party

 On Wednesday I hosted a dessert party with 3 of my extra special friends from Santa Barbara. I've know Jennica and Michelle since primary and Steve a few years before that. We have all remained super close friends. Between us four friends we have added 19 children! How wonderful!

  Scott holding Jennica's 4 month old twins and Nathan!

Best friends for life! I love you ladies!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Rosecrest Choir

Will and Jackson are in the school choir at school and they had their Christmas program on Tuesday. Jackson and Will both had speaking parts, as well as sang every song. I taught the group sign language for "Over the Rainbow", and it was beautiful!

Great job boys! I am very proud of you both!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hug Pillow

 This is the gift I made my mom this year for Christmas. I completed this craft a while ago, but I know she checks my blog regularly and I didn't want her to see it! (She's here in SLC now and won't be on the computer!)I traced the boys hands and ironed on the double sided infusable paper stuff. Cut the hands out and ironed them onto the material. I then did a cute zig-zag stick around each hand. She'll love it! I can't wait till she opens it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Nana and Papa are here!!

 The little boys ran when they saw their Nana and Papa! It was so cute. Nathan waited back a bit...

 ...and then finally walked over to them both for a little lovin'. And Brig's is always there to lift something heavy. Two years old!