Christmas

I was so excited for Christmas this year! We were going to spend it with family in the snow and the kids were both finally at an age where they really understood what was going on. It seems like every day up until Christmas we would have to sit and look at all of the presents. By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, both of them knew who every present was for and they even had their own ideas of what was in each one. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas spent with family. On Christmas day we were able to go to my parent's branch to celebrate Christ's birth with a lovely program and then we were off to visit most of my Dad's family including my sweet Grandma. She is so darling! She crocheted each one of my children a blanket (including baby no. 3) and made an additional 3 baby blankets for the baby. I love you Grandma! The kids LOVE their blankets!

Cooper opening his Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.

Daddy and Kamryn putting out the stockings for Santa.

Grandma and Cooper preparing the milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

Kamryn opening her first present on Christmas morning . . . no we did not get her baggies:) She opened a doll and when she followed the big red ribbon around the house, she found . . .

A NEW dollhouse! She was so excited and loves it!

And Cooper found a NEW Leap Pad. He also loves it and it came in quite handy for our long drive home.

Skiing with Dad

Ever since my parent's have lived up in the Mountains they have wanted to take one of their grandkids skiing. It never really worked out with my sister's kids so when we realized that Cooper was old enough to go this year, Mike and my parent's were really excited. I wasn't sure we could even get Cooper to go, but with everyone talking about it he too became very excited and it became the only thing he would talk about. After getting all of the gear, the boys were off. I was really excited to see Cooper's first time skiing so my mom, Kamryn and I headed over to the lodge to watch and take pictures. Cooper had so much FUN! Mike was great with him and held on to him the entire time. When he was comfortable going down the hill, Mike attached him to a harness in order to give him a little more freedom and to teach him some more skills. I'm so proud of my boys!

Cooper's face after his first run!

Love his face in all of these pictures!

Here is a picture of them coming down the hill . . . can you find them? They are in between the trees at the top of the picture. (If I knew how to photoshop I would put a little arrow, but I'm not that talented.)

Fun in the Snow

We had so much fun while we were up in Utah. Although it didn't snow much, my parent's still had plenty of snow for the kids to enjoy. They loved getting all dressed up in the snow gear in order to play outside. They climbed up and down the snow drifts and were constantly sledding down the street. I'm so glad we decided to spend our Christmas in the snow. I know these are memories our kids will never forget.

Cooper and a face full of snow . . . still loving it.

This year Kamryn actually enjoyed being outside in the snow. Although she didn't ever last as long as Cooper, she was a trooper and did almost everything Cooper did.

Another cheese ball grin.

Fun sledding . . . this is literally right outside my parent's house on the street. I can't tell you how nice it was to have a fun place for them to play that was so close!

Cooper loved sledding.

Our friends the Becks were even able to come up one afternoon to share in the sledding fun. The kids had so much fun playing together. You could tell that they missed eachother.

Kamryn and Addie having fun!

Christmas Activities

This year, it feels like we did a lot to get excited for Christmas. From decorating the tree to decorating Christmas cookies and gingerbread houses to posing for the Christmas card photo, we were busy. Here are some of the cute pictures we captured.

One of our first attempts at the Christmas card photo. We tried on two separate occasions to take the kids to see Santa and boy was that a mistake. By the time we actually got up to see him, they cried and wouldn't talk to him or even stand next to him. Maybe our next child will like him or even sit on his lap.

Decorating the gingerbread house. This year the kids did two: one at our house and one up in Utah at Grandma and Grandpa's house. On both occasions, they ate most of the candy and were done after 5 minutes leaving the rest of the decorating to me:) Let me just say that I have gotten pretty good at decorating those babies!

And then there was the decorating of the tree. Cooper loves to put the star on top with Dad's help . . .

Of course after seeing this, cute number two had to do it too!

And our Christmas would not be complete without the decorating of the sugar cookies.

Kamryn didn't do much decorating as you can see but she sure loved every minute!

Lastly, we decided to visit Seaworld. They had an area with snow that the kids loved and didn't want to leave. There was a lot of slippery snow and even sledding for the big kids.

Cooper tried to act cool and keep a straight face as he was going down, but he just couldn't do it. He had too much fun!

Preparing for the Snow

Before going up to Utah for Christmas we decided we needed to go through the kids snow clothes from last year to see what still fit them. Because my parents live up in the mountains, snow clothes are a must. Luckily for us, everything from last year fit! The kids were so excited to try on all of the clothes that they insisted on putting everything on including the hats, boots and gloves. Then they proceeded to run around outside and play in their snow clothes. At least it was a cool day and in the backyard because I am sure if any of our neighbors saw this, they would think we were crazy!