Merry Christmas 2010

After a very late night, Santa finally got everything set up and ready for the boys to come down to in the morning!

Once everyone was up and Jon and I dragged ourselves out of bed, it was time to go downstairs and see what Santa brought! We have them line up youngest to oldest so Max was the first one to round the corner and see his pile of gifts.

Nathan got some car sets, a play school set, a magic set and lots of other random surprises.

Jake got a new barn with animals to play with, a car ramp set, lots of sticker books and much more!

Max got lots of sports equipment including new golf clubs, a tennis racket, a baseball bat, tons of balls and a car parking lot thing.

Santa loved the cookies and milk that the boys left for him and left them a note telling them thanks!

Nathan really wanted stacker boxes since I wouldn't let him play with my nice decoration ones. So he was really excited when he opened the big box and realized that there was a smaller box wrapped inside and then 2 more boxes after that!

He finally made it to the new watch that was wrapped in the smallest box, though I think he was more excited about the box than he was about the watch!

Everyone got a new game that we had fun playing together throughout the next week.

Max loves Dora and was excited to get a new Dora movie for the car.

Jake loved the remote control car that Grandma Lorelei sent for him.

Nathan picked out this alarm clock for Jon since his old one was broken and was hard to see. This one has big, bright, red numbers that no one can miss!

Jon took the boys to Target to pick out gifts for me and apparently they all picked out jewelry!

Santa also left each of the boys a gift in the backyard. Jake got a climbing dome...

Max got a soccer net...

and Nathan got a new basketball hoop.

Jake loves animals and puzzles so this gift from Aunt Annie was perfect for him!

That afternoon we headed over to my parent's house for the big adult gift exchange and to get more presents from Grandma and Grandpa! Max got this cool tricycle motorcycle bike that's the perfect size for him.

Jake and Nathan got a Wii and let's just say that it has gotten some really good use over the past month or so! Their favorite games are Super Mario Brothers and Mario Kart. We've had a lot of fun playing as a family as well!

The cousins all pick a name out of a hat and buy a gift for that person. Trevor had Nathan and got him Connect 4 and a new basketball.

Abbey had Jake and got him some big animals and a little truck.

Rob and Bethany had us and Bethany got me some really cute jewelry that Jake modeled for me!

Rob and Zac got new shotguns so when my dad got this cool 'golf' hat he had to strike a pose with one of the guns! The funny thing is that he actually wore the hat to the Rose Parade the next week!

My parents got me a new stroller/carseat combo for the baby which I really needed since we got rid of our old one.

Jon got a back inversion thing where you hang upside down and it stretches out your back. Dentistry is really hard on his back so he's hoping that this will help.

After all of the presents were open we had dinner and hung out and then went back home so the kids could play with all of their new toys!

I'm usually sad when Christmas is over, but this year it just meant that I'm that much closer to getting this baby here! I now only have 2 more weeks to go and I'm still determined to get caught up on my blog so we'll see how it goes!

Christmas Eve

So we decided to spend Christmas Eve day at home just hanging out in our pajamas and doing fun family activities. We started the day by each of the boys wrapping the presents that they picked out for each other and for Jon and me. Nathan even bought a gift for baby Maggie and is waiting for her to get here so she can open it!

We then played 'Pin the Nose on the Snowman' and I think Nathan got the closest, but it's debatable whether or not he could see!

Throughout the whole month of December Christopher Pop-in-kins was at our house watching the kids to see if they were being naughty or nice. Every night he would pop to a new hiding spot in the house and the kids would wake up first thing in the morning and find him. On Christmas Eve, Christopher Pop-in-kins decided to 'pop' around the house every 20 minutes or so throughout the day! Everytime the kids would turn around he would be gone again and they would have to go find him! They thought this was hilarious! He even popped to my parent's house and around the car on the way home. The kids were so perplexed which made it all the more fun!

We finally got around to making our gingerbread house and tree and the boys did a pretty good job this year!

That evening we got dressed and headed over to my parent's for dinner and our annual Christmas Eve program.

Every family has to do some sort of 'talent' (and I use the term loosely)! The Packs sang some Christmas songs and actually sounded pretty good!

The Freestones did some diaper tasting that grossed everyone out until we realized that it wasn't really poop he was tasting!

Nathan and Max demonstrated their Taekwondo skills. Even though Max isn't actually in Taekwondo, he's picked up a lot just from watching them each week. He can't wait until he's old enough to be a part of it!

We also played Jingle Bells with chimes and the boys did a great job!

The Thomases danced and rocked out to a Christmas song- they've got some real talent!

The Warnicks did a skit on Obama and and ended it with a song about him. It was hilarious!

My mom and dad and Carli and Justin sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer complete with actions.

Samantha played a song on the piano- she's really good!

The Daytons sang and danced to a Christmas song while Hadley played along on her guitar.

After the talent show it was time for the nativity. Jacob, Nathan and Max were all shepherds this year and they did a great job!

After the nativity it was time for dessert. I made a chocolate trifle and a strawberry trifle and I must admit that both were delicious and so easy to make!

The time finally came for the kids to open their Christmas pajamas. This is almost all of the 22 cousins (I think Ben had already gone to bed). I can't believe how big they're all getting! It was fun to have everyone together!

The only thing left to do was to wait for Santa's knock on the window letting everyone know that he's in the neighborhood and they better get to bed fast or he'll skip their house. So the boys ran to our car and went straight to bed as soon as we got home! This is seriously one of my favorite Christmas traditions!!!

Ten Year Anniversary!

(Please try not to notice how horrible all of these pictures are!)

Even though we went to Hawaii in March to celebrate our ten year anniversary because I wanted to go before I got pregnant, we still had to do something fun on the actual day which was December 22nd. So Jon planned to have us go up to LA for the night. He found this really nice hotel kind of off of the beaten path called the Chamberlain. We checked into our hotel and then went to dinner. We then headed over to the Pantages Theater to see West Side Story. I must admit that I tried really hard to stay awake, but being pregnant and worn out didn't help and I slept through the entire first half of the play. Jon actually slept through a lot of it as well so I didn't feel quite as bad!

After the play we got some ice cream and then went back to our hotel. It was so nice to be able to sleep in the next morning and get a little break from the kids waking us up early.

We got up and got ready and headed over to the LA temple to do a session, but we got there at 11:00 and apparently the last session that day was at 10:30. Who would have known? So we went to breakfast and then drove back home to relieve Wendy and Derek who were at our house watching the kids. It was so nice of them to babysit for us, especially during their vacation!

I really am SO lucky to be married to Jon. He treats me so well- better than I deserve. I can't imagine being married to someone that didn't tell me everyday how much he loves me and who always puts my happiness before his own. He is always helpful, especially with the kids and never expects dinner to be ready or the house to be clean when he gets home, but appreciates when it is. I love him more than anything and love that we have been able to do so many fun things together over the past 10 years. Our life definitely has not been without challenges, but there is no one I'd rather go through them with than him. I look forward to what life has in store for us!

Happy Anniversary, Jon!!!

More Christmas Fun!

We always love going to Follow the Star and seeing the live nativity and walking around and seeing the creche exhibit. This year was extra special since my sister-in-law, Bethany, got to be Mary and Becky's baby, Asher, got to be baby Jesus.

The boys had fun petting the animals after the performance.

I volunteered at Nathan's school Christmas party where they did lots of fun crafts and decorated sugar cookies. Nathan loaded his cookie up with all sorts of sugar and had no problem eating the whole thing!

Nathan with his teacher, Mrs. Standley- We love her!

The first 3 days of winter break Nathan did a basketball camp with his friend, Bryson. It was his first time ever playing basketball and learning the rules and he seemed to really like it. I need to sign him up to play on a team now so he can follow both of his parents footsteps!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting the mail everyday and seeing what Christmas cards we got! Thank you to everyone who thought of us this year and sent us a card!