Christmas 2009

We started out Christmas Eve by having dinner with some good friends. After dinner we went on a fun little excursion (which I will blog about later), and then rushed home to get ready for Santa! First we all picked out which present to open.

They had such a hard time deciding, but Jackson and Megan finally chose to open the gifts they had bought for each other, and Sadie opened one from Grandma and Grandpa. Jackson wanted Eric and I to open the gifts he bought for us, so of course we did. He bought Eric a watch and me some bubble bath. He made sure to tell me he looked for the biggest bottle he could find.

My little creative spirit, Megan, made this outfit out of wrapping paper and declared herself, "The Christmassy Lamanite."

We also tracked Santa on the computer.

And of course left him pictures, cookies and milk.

After reading The Christmas Story from The Bible, the kids were off to bed, and Eric and I were off to wrap gifts. 4 hours later, we emerged victorious and were off to bed. There is nothing like procrastinating until Christmas Eve. Don't judge me, I have been busy this year.

One of my very favorite parts of Christmas is when the kids come in my room, after seeing the tree, and say so excitedly, "Mom, Santa came!"

Then we opened presents!

We spent all day the rest of the day playing. It was great, and very messy.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!

Who Needs A Sleigh

This weekend our neighborhood Santa paid us a visit, and brought his 4 wheeler along. Really, who needs a sleigh when you have an all-terrain vehicle! It is just what Santa needs. I can't think of anything better to get him through all that snow. But... I am sure it is much harder to fly and it seems to have a lot less space for gifts. Such a quandary. It is a good thing Santa is magic, and doesn't have to worry about these things.

English Influence

Megan remarked after seeing Sadie dressed for church, "Mom, she looks rather English today, doesn't she?"

I don't know about English, but the plaid definitely gives her a bit of an Irish lass look. If only she had the red hair. On further review, I suppose Scotland is a bit more famous for plaid, but the term Irish lass is just too cute not to use.

Extra Treaty

Jackson had 2 parties to go to today. One was at school this morning, and the other was at a friend's house this afternoon. As of 4 o'clock today, this is what he remembers eating:

Captain Crunch
2 Juice Boxes
4 Oreos
1 Sugar Cookie
2 Marshmallows
Cherry Jello
2 Chocolate Chip Cookies
M & M 's
Hot Chocolate
Gummy Bears

It's good Christmas time only comes once a year. But he was able to make loads of cool stuff, including this gingerbread house. I'm sure it almost makes up for his stomachache.

By the way, when I informed Jackson he didn't have to eat all of those things, he replied, rather condescendingly I might add, "Mom, That's what parties are: extra treaty."

Crazy Hair Day & Good Kids

A while back it was crazy hair day at school! You know Megan would choose to wear her hair crazy everyday, so she was eager to participate.


We also finished the first trimester at school. Megan received an award for Great Attendance, and also for Principal's Honor Roll. On her report card, among other things, her teacher wrote, "Megan has a great personality and is a very responsible student. Having her in class is a gift and I know that I can always count of Megan to participate, help others and have a smile." I took this comment as a gift, and I hope Megan does too. She works hard to get good grades, and I am very proud of her for it, but I am equally, if not more proud that she is kind to others.

Jackson was also quite excited to participate in crazy hair day.

However, when he got to school and realized no one in his class had crazy hair (what's up with that?), I think he was a bit embarrassed and pushed his hair down.

Jackson also received his report card and did extremely well. Although they do not receive awards in Kindergarten, his teacher said, "Jackson is a considerate classmate, who is always willing to lend a helping hand. When something need to be completed you know that he will successfully get the job done."

Sadie Said

The other night before bed,

I said: "Sadie, time for night-night."

Sadie said: , "No night-night. I want to watch football on T.V." (said in 23-month talk as, "I anna atch football on t.t.")

I of course thought this was just a stall technique but it appears I was wrong. Just tonight, Eric and Sadie sat down on the couch, and she once again requested football. This time saying, "Dad, let's atch football on T.T." You can just imagine Eric's happiness.

Also said today,

Me: "Hi, Sadie, Sade."

Sadie: "Hi, Mommy Mom."

A Buggin' Anniversary Gift

A few days before our 10-year anniversary Eric mentioned to me that he had gotten me a gift. I went into a slight panic because I didn't think we were getting each other gifts. For the record I happily receive gifts on my birthday and Christmas, but holidays like Valentine's Day and anniversaries seem so contrived to me, so I prefer to get a home-made gift or just a really great heart-felt card. Anyway, I put my thinking cap on and came up with a gift for Eric (picture a home-made heart-felt thingy, which I will not document because when you see his gift to me, you would think mine was majorly lame).

I walked out of the house the other morning to take the kids to school and noticed Eric taking pictures.

I had no idea why he was hiding behind our tree taking pictures, but figured he wanted some of our kids before we left on our anniversary trip.

Here I am walking around the corner, which is when I discovered the reason for the picture taking.

And finally, here I am as I realize just exactly what was waiting for me. And it did take me a minute. I did a double-take and then almost passed out! Because what was waiting for me was a big surprise. No, I should say huge surprise. A surprise like no other surprise I have ever had. And what was it? It was:

The first car I ever owned!!! A 1978 convertible Superbeatle. I loved this car. I have missed this car. I thought this car was long gone. I thought I would never see it again. But here it was, in my own driveway. My wonderful husband and Marty (my wonderful father figure) made this happen and I couldn't be happier. In fact, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face all weekend. It was quite the 10-year anniversary gift, and I couldn't be more thankful for it.

On my first 100 things about me list, number 94 stated, "My first car was a 1978 convertible Superbeatle. I secretly hope that one day Eric will buy me one for my birthday. Hint, hint." Of course, I wrote this in a joking manner, but by putting it out there, it looks as if the universe was listening. Or at least my husband was.

A Big Bear Anniversary

10 years ago Eric and I spent our honeymoon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For our 10-year anniversary, Jackson Hole seemed too far away, so instead we decided to head up to Big Bear, California. And I have to tell you, Big Bear is just like Jackson Hole, only better because it has a beautiful lake to go with the beautiful ski resorts.

Upon arriving into town on Thursday we decided to check out the alpine slide. It was a blast. For the record Eric beat me down the mountain but only because I was trying to take a picture, and it slowed me down considerably.

Then we went to check into our cabin. It was super spacious, with two bedrooms, a huge jacuzzi tub, a kitchenette, wood-burning fireplace, rocking chairs, and even had an adorable little Christmas tree. It exceeded my expectations and was perfect.

On sight they have llamas to take for walks, and bunnies to pet.

On Friday, which was our actual anniversary, we checked out Big Bear Lake. It was beautiful and I could have spent all day there just hiking around. But alas, we had skiing to get to, so we only admired it for a short while.

We decided to only ski half-day. Thank goodness we did, because I am pretty sure my body couldn't have made it an entire day since I haven't skied for at least 15 years! On our honeymoon Eric and I were both snowboarders, but I have finally accepted the fact that I don't enjoy snowboarding, even though I think it is super cool. Oh and, I am not very good at it. So I decided to ski, and Eric decided to join me. Thank goodness he did, because I would say at least 90% of everyone there was snowboarding! What happened to all the skiers out there?

It was so cool to ski down the mountain and have an amazing view of Big Bear Lake at the same time.

We also ate at some great restaurants, watched some movies, and played some games. All of which Eric won! We had a really wonderful time, and so did my kids, since they were able to stay with Grandma! Thanks, Mom!!