New Year's Eve

The kids and I spent the night at my mom's.  We had our traditional Chinese Dinner and then played games and visited until almost midnight.  Bert was over at his family's playing games and then we met up at home right before midnight.

Can It Really Be December?

I am loving this weather.  It was a nice enough day for them to be outside playing! 

Minnie Mouse

Santa brought Rylee a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal and she is really loving it.  She likes to chew on the nose.  I was shaking it in front of her and she was just jabbering away and then out of nowhere she giggled a few times.  Apparently Minnie is really funny!

Hedbanz

Nick gave the boys a game called Hedbanz for Christmas and we cannot get enough of it!

Lego's

Bert and Jacks spent the day putting together his Lego Space Shuttle that Santa brought. 

Christmas

Ready to walk out and see what Santa brought.

Santa brought Cooper a Batman helicopter and Cars 2.

Santa brought Jacks a Lego spaceship and a PS3 game called Disney Universe.

I made Cooper an apron for Christmas because he is always wanting to be in the kitchen helping.  Mostly he wants to help when I am making cookies so he can sample them.  He was excited about it!

Ry hung out in the bumbo and watched the boys unwrap until her diaper leaked all over and then she had to go get in the bath.

We opened presents at home and then got ready for church.  Our church was at 10.  Afterward we headed over to Nana and Papa's to open more presents over there...

Jacks and Cooper got new sleds from Erin's family.

 

Bert got a new Weed Whacker because his wouldn't start this last summer.

In the evening we headed over to Grandma Keele's to open even more presents.

Peggy and Terri made these quilts for all of the couples.  They pieced together Don's old shirts and made quilts for all of us.  It's fun to look and remember the shirts he wore the most often.

It was a great Christmas!  We were definitely spoiled! 

Christmas Eve

We have a tradition of going to a movie on Christmas Eve and this year we saw Arthur Christmas.  It was a cute show.  Rylee was so good during the movie.  She sat and watched for a while, then I fed her, and then she fell asleep.

  

 My grandpa started the tradition of reading The Other Wise Man on Christmas Eve to my dad's family.  My grandma carried on the tradition with my dad's family and now my dad has carried on the tradition with us.  I have always liked that story and I'm glad my kids get to hear it now!

 

Opening their Christmas jammies.

Family picture right before we packed up and headed home.  It was a nice night!

Christmas Can Finally Come

I spent most of the day wrapping and picking up some last minute things at the store.  I think I am finally ready for Christmas!

4 Month Check-up

Rylee had her 4 month check-up today.  She is growing so fast.  Here are her stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. - 85%
Length: 24.5 in. - 70%
Head: 16 in. - 50%

She did not like the shots and was sad about them for a while afterward.  She would just start crying again out of nowhere and it was a sad cry like "how could you let them do that to me mom?"

RS Dinner

We had our Relief Society Dinner tonight and I am on the board.  Melissa Hooley and I were put in charge of the decorations and I have been stressing about everything for the last week, but it all turned out SO NICE!  I am so bummed that I forgot to take my camera.  It was a fun night with good food!  Glad it's over though and now I can focus on finishing up my last minute Christmas stuff.

Progressive Dinner

My family has a tradition of having a Progressive Dinner at Christmas time.  We each take a part of the meal and we visit everyone's houses and see their decorations and eat yummy food.  Tiff had appetizers and I was supposed to have salad, but Cooper woke up with a fever and a headache that stayed with him all day so he had to stay home with Bert and we skipped our house.  Ben and Becky had the main dish and Erin had dessert.  My mom read the kids a Christmas story while we were at Erin's house.  It's always a fun night!

Silly Boy

Letters to Santa

The boys finished their letters to Santa today and mailed them out.  We can't wait for Christmas!!

Christmas Concert

Peggy and Shirley belong to a choir named The Chauntenettes and every year they put on a Christmas concert.  They always do such a good job and it's fun to hear all the different songs they sing.

Polar Express Day

Today was Polar Express Day for the 1st grade.  He got to wear his pajamas and do Polar Express activities.  He said Santa came and told him he was on the nice list!

Tongue Tied Again

Still really into her tongue! 

The Nutcracker

The 1st Grade went on a field trip today to see the Nutcracker Ballet.  I thought it seemed like a bad idea to take a bunch of 6-7 year olds to a ballet but Jacks said he liked it.

Twins

Rylee (3 mo.)                                                                                   Jackson (3 mo.)

When the doctor handed Rylee to me right after she was born, I immediately thought she looked just like Jacks.  Bert and I couldn't get over how much she looked like him.  Ben comments just about every time he sees her that she looks just like Jacks did when he was a baby.  

Jacks Van Gogh

Jacks drew and painted this in Art.  I love it!

4-Wheelin'

Our neighbor, Mike Zamora, was out riding his 4-wheeler today and offered the boys a ride.  Jacks jumped at the idea but Cooper was nervous, until he saw how much fun Jacks had and then he wanted a turn too.

The Roof

Bert had a Christmas work party tonight at The Roof in Salt Lake.  It's a nice restaurant that is on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and looks out over the temple grounds.  The boys went to Steph's to play and Lauren babysat Rylee for us.  It was a fun night to get out and visit with friends!

Holding Hands

Rylee has always loved holding hands!  It comforts her in the car.  Cooper will tell me sometimes that all he had to do was hold her hand and she went to sleep.  Cooper loves it too and will follow me around the house trying to hold her hand.

Bumbo

I got the bumbo out and she is really liking it.  If someone asked me what my favorite baby gear is and what I couldn't live without, I would definitely say the boppy and the bumbo.  I use them both so much!

"Baby It's Cold Outside"

It's getting cold here!  Rylee got this hat from her Boise cousins and she looks so adorable in it!

Finger Lickin' Good

Rylee has never really liked her pacifier. I tried and tried to get her to like it because Cooper was a 'binky baby' and I loved that.  But, she has a mind of her own and would push it out about every time.  She has now started sucking on her first 2 fingers and I'm liking that even better because she can put those in herself and I'm not reaching back behind me while I'm driving trying to hold her pacifier in!

Birthday Girl

I woke up to some beautiful flowers this morning.  He snuck them in the house on Saturday sometime and hid them in the bathtub with the curtain closed.  It was a very relaxing day (since it was a Sunday).  It was nice to have everyone home with me.  We went over to my mom's for dinner.  I got 4 new scarves and some new jewelry.  My family knows me so well!

Jackson                                                                                               Cooper

The boys drew these pictures for me.  It was a nice day!  My last birthday in the twenties.  Next year will be a little depressing!

Snowflakes

We have a tradition of making snowflakes together as a family and displaying them throughout the winter.  Our house definitely looks festive and wintery.

Sewing Queen

I spent most of the day at my mom's house sewing Christmas presents for the boys.  It's a lot of work and time consuming but it definitely feels very rewarding to create something yourself.  I hope they like them!

Helping Nana

We've been spending a lot of time at my mom's house these past couple of weeks.  She had knee replacement surgery and so we've been going down to help her out.  It's nice having her around during the day and makes me really look forward to when she retires in the spring!