Christmas 2011

I know this post should have come before the New Years one, but I am a bit slow with pics and the new format on blogger.  Sorry.  

This was our favorite Christmas yet!  This was our first year ever doing Christmas alone at home.  It was so nice!  I love having extended family around during the holidays, but it is so nice to be able to stay at home and go at your own pace, do your own traditions, and wake up in your own beds.  It was wonderful!  The other reason why this turned out to be our favorite year to date, is the fact that it was on a Sunday and we had church services to remember the day of our Saviors birth.  We thought it might be kind of frustrating in the morning with the kids having them stop opening their gifts to go to church, but it turned out to be perfect, and it was a beautiful service.  The kids didn’t mind one bit, and it allowed them to remember the real reason as to why we celebrate Christmas.  I wish this holiday fell on a Sunday every year.

Getting ready for Christmas with a ghetto gingerbread house.  Come on...its pretty rockin.  The kids were home, it was cold outside, and in my pantry lay a brand new box of graham crackers and a bin of halloween candy.  SCORE!

Check out the pile of nerds.  Sydney was more a fan of dumping rather than spreading.

This pic is more for the wall of awesome art that my kids made throughout the month.  I LOVE having this art display. (If you check out the bell to the left it only has 2 more rings on it till Christmas!)


Christmas Eve and Grandma and Grandpa's house: dinner, gift exchange, and a white elephant gift exchange.  It was super fun!  I LOVE living close to family…it makes holidays so much more fun and  meaningful.  My nieces and nephews are awesome…when they aren’t piling on top of each other ;)

Two pees in a pod.  Casey and Dylan could not be any cuter together.

Watching the Christmas story was a lot easier on the kids than listening to it being read aloud. It is a lot quieter and I think they definitely got more out of it.

The kids sang the "12 sayings of Grandpa" to him that night.  My favorite: "why's the fence around the cemetery?" and "platter!"

Grandpa dogpile!  "Not the camera!"

                     Look at these sweet girls together.  Maddie is such a good friend to her cousin!  

 Shoot, we didn't get any of Dylan opening his rad Darth Vader alarm clock.  I think daddy was a bit jealous!

The boys...they are SO OLD!  This is one of their last Christmas's at home before their missions.  Wow...that is insane!

Dylan made some great clay magnets for grandma and grandpa.

The girls got some great musical books that they are obsessed with at the moment.  Also, check out the rad PJ's!  Thanks Uncle Timmy!  Dylan LOVES Finn from the Cars movie, and of course the girls are in love with princesses. Great job Westies!

Christmas Morning:

Obscene?  Yes!  Worth it?  Heck yes!

Syd got some things for her kitchen! The kids like to play "Grocery Store" and "Restaurant" together. (ALL THREE OF THEM!)  Two people are the customers and the thrid is the cash register or cook.  I love watching them play together.

Dylan got lots of legos stuff this year.  e also made daddy a light saber  pen for work.  Saweet!

Pardon my morning puffy face, but aren't these kids the sweetest?  

Yes this is a cardboard box that I decided to turn into a puppet theater at 10 pm 2 nights before Christmas.  It turned out great huh!?  I went through my craft closet and whalah!  A work of art! The kids LOVE it and use it everyday! 

We woke Macey up about 30 minutes after the kids to get her ready for church.  Shes a cuddle bug in the mornings

She opened her stocking before church.  Pop tarts!  YUMM!

Santa Baby

Syd's baby and me dress up set...Thanks grandma Minnie!  She is in LOVE with princess Tiana...she wore this dress all morning.

Aunt Karen sent the greatest books for the kids!  We haven't gone one night without reading a story out of every book that she sent.  The Bersnstein Bears, and Little Critter books are classics.  I love them...and my kids are totally learning from the messages in them.  Thanks Aunt Karen!  Dylan and I are going to start the Boxcar books this week once school gets back in! 

Grammer and Grandpa sent 3 huge boxes of my childhood stuff.  It could not have been more fun to go through those.  Here are some of the favorites:

Teddy Ruxpin and Grubby with 8 books and cassette tapes.  Sydney is obsessed with these guys, and occasionally tries to ride Grubby.  I can't believe they still work, and I can't believe they are in my living room!  SO FUN!

DRESS UP!

Dylan had fun with the wigs.  This wig in particular was on the ground after we had cleaned up and Sydney started crying and freaking out screaming, "Marely's hair, oh no, Marleys hair!" Poor girl thought it had all fallen off our dog.

I could not have been more stoked when we pulled these out of the boxes.  This was my space girl costume as a kid.  Syd rocks it well!  Dylan of course loves the dragon too.  My mom made these for us kids.  Aren't they awesome!?

Here are some pics that we took throughout the day:

Sydney's lined up her  friends in a meet and greet and started introducing them all to each other

These princesses I got at a consignment store for 3 bucks each! They are perfect for syd's little tea party.  She wakes up to a tea party and goes to sleep to a tea party (I'm not kidding...at this very moment she has the tea set at the bottom of her feet in bed (since she sleeps on the floor)  

Santa brought Dylan the only thing he really wanted!  A jeep battery for his broken down jeep! The excitement when he opened that gift was amazing....BEST...VALIDATOR...EVER! The kids live for that thing.  They can all ride together!

Its the hill to the polar express!

And last but definitely not least:

This blanket marks out ten year anniversary together.  My mother who suffers with MS designed this and made it all. The fabrics are from the tables of our wedding.  We had theme tables and these were the tablecloths.  Let me see if I can remember the tables: First date, kids, Shakespeare, Broadway, kids, DP (our high school), cow, candy, Simpsons, Temple (wedding), volleyball, NY,  and our proposal table.  Each table had goodies, and things on it that represented both of us.  It was a wedding that displayed our love for each other and each others interests. It was a fun idea, and definitely represented our personalities well.  We don't ever take ourselves too seriously, and we have a LOT of fun!  I love you mom for doing this.  I LOVE it and know that it will be an heirloom in our family for generations. It is truly amazing!!!

This blanket above is what made my Christmas!  The love and time that went into that is beyond me and I was in awe of it.  On top of this, Cameron gave me a Kindle Fire! I love it! And by love I mean, LOVE!  I am a bit obsessed with it and have read 3 books in the last 6 days.  I was definitely spoiled this year.  A blanket, some jewelry, shoes, and heirloom, and a kindle...wow.  I am one lucky girl!

It was a fabulous Christmas with lots of gifts, food, and smiling faces.  I can't wait another 365 days till we can do it again.  In the meantime, I have 2 upcoming birthday parties to prepare for.  UGH!