Our skimpy picture taking Christmas

I was so excited to upload photos tonight and see all the fun we had this Christmas relived in print. When the upload was done, there were a whopping 10 pictures! What is wrong with me?!?!?! I guess I was too busy having fun to take any pictures. I got a few of our nice evening with David and Kristi and fam on Christmas eve, then a few of Christmas morning and nothing beyond that. No documentation of Twin falls or anything. So Jessica, when you read this, yes I need pictures again. I know I never posted Thanksgiving's pictures that you sent me but I do enjoy them for memories sake! So pretty please send me some!
With that said, here are a few of the pathetic pictures I took...






It really was a great Christmas.

We're elves!!

The kids LOVE doing these every year. Here are our favorites.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Bunkbeds

We finally got these assembled and Sam was so excited we had to let him sleep in his new bed last night. I was nervous since he hasn't been out of his crib yet. I was very smart to be nervous. Bedtime was at 8:00. My little sweethearts (note the sarcasm) finally fell asleep around 10:00. That was after countless trips up the stairs, numerous threats made... including bodily harm, and 15 minutes spent screaming back in the crib. Oh the joys.

Big 5 year old

My little boy is 5. Crazy how time creeps up on you like that. It's seems like such a milestone birthday in many respects, yet at the same time, Rex has been acting like a 5 year old for months. He's always been mature for his age, as well as extremely tall so I often would forget how young he really was. He plays with kids that are almost all older than him, some by even a year. Then the fact that he lost his first tooth and has a permanent tooth already peeking through, this child just seems like such a big kid now. I love all the new stages as he grows, yet find myself longing for the time when he was all mine and his world extended no further than his dad and I. That has definitely changed. This child will not be a homebody, he loves to be out and he loves adventure. Almost daily he asks to go to a friends house. Pretty soon he will be out playing all day with his buddies. It makes me realize I need to cherish the moments I have with him. It sounds so cliche, but it seriously is crazy how time flies and before you know it, they have grown up. Obviously Rex still has a lot of growing up to do and I hope I can be a huge part of that. More than anything though, he has helped me grow up. I have learned so much in the last 5 years and become a much more patient, relaxed person. I have made many mistakes and as the oldest, Rex has been a part of most of them but he loves me still. Unconditionally. That amazes me. I love my stubborn little boy who challenges me and makes me laugh all at the same time. Happy Birthday yesterday buddy! Don't grow up too fast.
This is Rex opening up his Grandparent gifts the morning of his birthday. As well as his Batman cake.


When Rex was 3, he went to a big party at a place called "Jump on It". It was one of those inflatable toy areas where the kids could run around a play as much as they want. He asked me then if he could have a party there. I promised him he could have a big party like that when he turned 5. Sadly, "Jump on It" went out of business. Luckily, Rex didn't remember that he just remembered that he would have a big party. I kept asking where he wanted to do it and the only thing he could ever think of was Chuck E Cheese. My memories of Chuck E Cheese were of a dark, dirty, semi-ghetto place so I wasn't sure, but we visited our local Chuck E Cheese one day and I was very pleasantly surprised. It is actually really clean, bright and a lot of fun. So that is what we did and he and his friends had a great time. Sam and Mark thought it was pretty awesome too. Here are the MANY pictures.

Christmas events

Rex had his Preschool Christmas program last week. It was really cute. I love that he goes to a Christian preschool because they really focus on Jesus with the kids this time of year. It was pretty cute and he did a good job. He was really nervous because we were out of town all week and so he missed out on lots of the practicing they did, but he did it and seemed happy afterward. It's weird when they get old enough to start worrying about stuff like that and "feeling stupid".




Last weekend was our ward Christmas party. Always a fun time! It was a HUGE turnout with lots of yummy food and they even kept the kids entertained for awhile while they did a "program". We didn't stick around for Santa because the line wasn't moving and well Sam cut our evening short. You can see why in the last picture...

Santa Claus came to town.

Right after we got home last weekend, we had the opportunity of going to our neighbors for a Christmas party! It was super fun and the best part was that Santa shows up! Our kids love it and talk about it every year. Although Rex told me this year that he isn't the real Santa. I had to agree that Santa needs lots of helpers to visit all the boys and girls before Christmas. Sam told Santa very loudly that he wants a red whistle for Christmas. Anyone know where I could find a red whistle????

Lost tooth

I know it's been awhile. Not only have I been gestating (yep I said it), but we also spent almost 2 weeks in Denver. And I forgot my camera. That's how pregnancy and Denver are connected. Only my pregnant brain would forget the camera. I am hoping my SIL sends me some pics but in the meantime, I guess I will post about things I can take a picture of now that I am home.
While we were in Denver, we went out to dinner with my dad and Liz and Ben, Jessica and Jack. They love this little mexican place in Golden and it did not disappoint. As we were enjoying our meal, Rex suddenly squealed and had a really panicked look on his face. In investigating the issue, I notice his tooth, sitting on the table and blood coming out of him mouth. My 4 year old (5 in a week and a half) lost his FIRST TOOTH!! I couldn't believe it. We didn't even know it was loose. Crazy thing is, I haven't prepared him for it since he is so young and since we didn't know it was loose that it TOTALLY freaked him out! He was crying and asking me to please put his tooth back. It was so sad! He perked up though when he realized he would be receiving a monetary reward from the tooth fairy that night. I shouldn't have been surprised since this is my child who cut his first tooth at 3 months old. He already has a permanent tooth poking up in it's place.
I am feeling really old.

Princess castle!

Mandy asked me to decorate a cake for Avery's 3rd birthday last week. It was so fun. Took a lot of time, but I love doing girly things! I think it turned out pretty good. Happy Birthday Avery.


Rex says Avery is his girlfriend and he is going to marry her some day. This kid has started early and knows what he wants!
Hopefully this baby cooking right now is a girl. Yes, I said it, I am pregnant. Happy, but sick, but happy.

Mark's birthday, a little late...

We had a party for Mark's birthday a couple weeks ago. Sadly, I am just getting to posting about it! I'll explain in the next post why that is, but needless to say I have no motivation right now.
Since Mark and my niece Michelle's birthday are in the same week we had a joint dinner and party at our house one Sunday. I wanted to make Mark a fish cake since he loves fishing so much, but didn't think Michelle would love that, so I made red velvet cupcakes for her. They all turned out pretty cute. Sadly, while I was chopping the lettuce for dinner, I also chopped off the tip of my finger!! It sucked. It looked way worse than it was though and I didn't want to miss dinner or have an ER bill so I just dealt with it! It's healed really nicely and I don't think I will be to permanently deformed.
Mark got the new Android phone for his birthday. He was stoked. Sadly, he knew exactly what he was getting because Rex has an impossible time keeping a secret.
Happy birthday babe, we love you!! Even if you are becoming an old man... ;)

Family pics

Kim did a great job again. We decided to go up by the river in Eagle and the location did not disappoint. It was beautiful. What did disappoint was that Rex would not do anything but a creepy forced smile!! I swear that child. He is Jekyll and Hyde, sweet as pie one minute and ornery as can be another minute. Oh well, they still turned out pretty well. Now I just need to figure out which one to use for the Christmas card...