Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year.  We invited Devin and Barb to sleep over at our house on Christmas Eve.  I made a ham and potato dinner, then we headed up to Zac's Aunt's house for dessert and Santa.  Aubrey has been asking Santa over and over for some roller skates this year.  She was thrilled was Santa gave them to her on Christmas Eve.

I don't know where Eric got that Santa hat from.  We don't own one, and I didn't see anyone else with it.  Hmmmm.  He was excited to get some Spy Gear Laser Trip Wire from Santa.

Jennifer LOVES santa.  When he called her name she bolted up to the front so fast.  Zac didn't have enough time to get a close up picture of her.  She lost her Barbie phone in Walmart over a year ago, and was thrilled when Santa got her a new one.

Lily's not too sure about Santa this year.  She wasn't interested in the present or Santa.

Here are the kids in their Christmas pajamas before they went to bed.

Christmas morning, Zac took pictures of the kids coming down the stairs.

Nice bed head.

Jennifer was very emotional Christmas morning.  I think she didn't get enough sleep.  I don't even know why she is crying.

Barb brought over her new kitten to sleep over.  The cats got along great.  They played with each other the entire time.  They would pounce and chase each other the entire time.

We got an Elf on the Shelf this year for the kids.  They have loved it.  For journaling purposes (so I can remember next year) the Elf did the following for the kids:

Snow angel out of flour; lined up 20 matchbox cars; made a lego santa chair; made snowflakes; made funny faces on our Christmas card; took a marshmellow bath; made smores out of mini-marshmellows over a tea light; made paper airplanes and took a ride; made a zipline and went down it holding onto a candy cane; took a ride with helium balloons; read a story to Aubrey's dolls; Eric's lego guys captured him and wrapped him up in string; put all the kids underwear on the Christmas tree; made a swing out of paddle board; spilled all the wheat on the kitchen counter; decorated the light in ribbon and got stuck; watched tv, held the remote and had popcorn; made a sign out of toilet paper; made a fruit loop necklace; took a nap in the kleenex box; ate chocolate chip cookies and had a messy face.

I really wish I would have taken pictures of all of these.  I know I missed some of the things, these are what I could remember.  The kids have been so fun with the Elf.  Jennifer especially.  She got so excited every single morning to find out what our Elf did.  Eric would send notes with Elf to give to Santa, and I caught both him and Aubrey tattling on each other to the Elf so he could tell Santa.  It was a lot of work to remember and come up with stuff, but it was so worth it.

Aubrey's Christmas Program

Again, I have some random pictures.  I think Zac wanted to show how messy Lily gets when she feeds herself.  She loves to eat with a fork or spoon, she's just not very good at it yet.

Zac took this picture of Egg Nog for Matt.  I think he meant to send it to him, and forgot.  So Matt, here's a picture for you a month late!

Newman loves to sleep in front of the fire.  It is way too warm to lay there, but he will sleep there most of the day.  When I put the up Christmas tree, Newman climbed it immediately.  He and Lily became a team.  He would climb up to the top of the tree, and bat with his hands the ornaments until they fell on the ground.  Lily would pick up the ornaments off the ground and throw them down the stairs.  He got pretty good at climbing the tree, he could almost make it to the top.  The tree shakes when he climbs it, it will probably tip over next year if he attempts it again.

Aubrey had her 1st grade Christmas program.  She needed to bring a ski hat and sunglasses to wear during one of the songs.  Aubrey had been practicing her songs for WEEKS before the program.  She was so excited.  Dad and Diane were able to make it to the program and cheer her on.  It gets so packed at the school.  We got there 1 hour early, and were still about 20 rows back.

Aubrey was the spotlight of the week in November.  On one of the days, she got to bring a book for her "friend" to read.  This "friend" is either a parent, grandparent, etc.  The time for reading the book was right during Lily's naptime.  Aubrey knew this, and was so sad that she wouldn't have anyone there.  I kept it a surprise from her that Dad and Diane were going to show up.

Dad said she squealed when they walked in the door.  She was so surprised.  The book she picked to read was "Walter the Farting Dog."  Now, her teacher doesn't allow them to say the word "fart" so Dad would have to call it "toots."  The kids loved the book and thought it was so funny.  After the book reading, Dad and Diane stayed and ate lunch with Aubrey.  They let them go through the cafeteria line with her, and eat back in her classroom.  She had the BEST time.  Thank you so much Dad and Diane for going and sharing this day with her. 

Time out for Women

On Veteran's Day weekend I headed down to St. George with Diane and her girls, Amy, Becky and Heidi to attend the Time Out for Women conference.  Diane's Mom let us stay in her condo.  It was such a good weekend!  The weather was great.  We got to St. George late Thursday night. We all pretty much went straight to bed.  In the morning, we all got up and went running.  It is so beautiful to run in St. George.  We circled the temple and ran back to the condo.  After a quick bite to eat, we all headed up to Snow Canyon and hiked up 2 miles.  I was so excited when we pulled into Snow Canyon and saw "The Biggest Loser" van parked.  No, we didn't see Bob or any cameras.  I think it was people who were staying at the resort.

After the hike we went back and showered and ate lunch.  We then spent the next several hours shopping at the outlets.  Friday night was the 1st night of the conference.  The speakers were great! 

The next day, Amy and I went running again in the morning, then came back and we all headed back to the conference for a full day.  The speakers were amazing and the music was phenomenal!  We all left feeling so good, and inspired to be better mothers.  That night Diane treated us to dinner at Anasazi.  We had a cheese fondue for an appetizer and a chocolate fondue for dessert.  For the entree, they bring out the raw meat and you cook it on a stone.  It was delicious!

It was a great weekend!  I really hope we can do it again every year.  It was great to get to know my "new" family better and have some memories together.  I really enjoy spending time with them.  The weekend went by way too fast!

Newman

I have a lot of catching up on my posts.  Some of these pictures are random, and I will try to remember what they are about.  I think Zac wanted to take a picture of his beard before he shaved it.

We got a new kitten, Newman, the first week of November.  Our poor cat Buster came up missing a couple nights after Halloween.  He still hasn't returned home.  I really hope some of the kids in our neighborhood didn't get him and torture him.  I hope it was more humane, like a cougar or hawk.  I know that sounds horrible.

The kids were devastated when Buster wasn't coming home.  So we loaded them all up and went and got Newman.  He was 6 weeks old.  He is seriously, the Best. Cat. Ever.  I don't like cats, but this one is pretty good.  He plays amazing with all the kids, even Lily, lets them all hold him, and loves being around us.  He eats anything you put in front of him.  Seriously.  He stole a Dorito chip out of Lily's hand and ate it.  Lily pretty much chokes him when she carries him, and he doesn't scratch her.  He loves the water - like the shower.  He pounces on us all the time. 

Funny story about Newman's first week.  He is extremely curious.  Aubrey got cereal in the morning, along with the milk.  About 30-40 minutes later, Zac came downstairs and went to the pantry.  As he walked by the fridge he heard a noise.  Then again.  Then again.  He opened up the fridge and Newman was on the top shelf of the fridge and sandwiched himself between 2 packages of hotdog buns.

Since October, I have been running almost every morning.  Since it is so cold, I have been running on the treadmill.  Newman became very curious about the treadmill.  I kept on telling him, "Don't do it, Newman."  I saw the inevitable coming.  I ran with my legs apart sideways, and he took a quick ride down the entire treadmill and slammed into the back wall.  All you heard was a quiet yelp.

As sad as it is to have Buster gone, Newman has been a welcome member of our household.