Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!

We love Christmas! We had such a blast. Christmas Eve we spent at my husband's parents house. His brother got a surprise puppy! He is so cute. We will love this new member to the family. And the best part is I don't have to clean up the doggy messes! We had a nice dinner and the cousins got to play.


"Duke" the boy's new cousin.


The Boys with their cute cousins!

Christmas morning was so fun. The kids were so excited, and J-wa was up way too early! He was full-on awake by 6am, and at 6:30 we gave up and decided we could go start the presents. The kids got really fun stockings to start it off with. They also got a new Webkins each and a movie. Uncle Dave scored with Captain Rex helmets for each of them! Those were a hit! Jon got some clothes, books, new headphones and trendy shoes (which I am trying to push on him. He thinks I am trying to turn him into a teenager). I was surprised with a hot pink ipod! I love it! I also got some yummy perfume, clothes and shoes.


Christmas morning!


My new hot ipod!


"Captain D-la" and "Captain J-wa"

The family got a Wii. That was the most exciting item of the day! Jake was only slightly dissapointed it wasn't an xbox. But he loves the Wii and wouldn't trade it for anything. We have been having fun playing some games as a family. Star Wars Lego (of course), Wii Sports (golf is the obvious favorite at our house), Mario Galaxy (my personal favorite) and MarioKart! We are having lots of fun! Now we need to come up with rules on how much Wii they can play, or it will take over their lives! For anyone who wants to play ... come play with us!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Amazing Book!

I fell in love with this book. I started it last month, but only got a couple chapters in before the holiday craziness began. I put it down and didn't pick it up again until two days ago. Needless to say I was addicted to it till the end.

It is a heart breaking story about two Afghani women. It follows their lives from the late 70's until about 2004. It has a lot of Afghani history and culture mixed in with the stories of these women. I loved the characters, and I also thought that this book was loaded with emotion. I laughed. I cried. I was angry. I was happy. I felt everything reading this.

So, I think everyone should read this book with an open mind. I think you will love it!

Feeling the Christmas Spirit

I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the lights, the treats (I love those a little too much), the carols, the shopping, and the Spirit that feels the air this time of year. I was visiting with my visiting teachers the other day, and we were talking about how special this time of year is. It really is a special time like no other. I don't know about you, but I feel like my Christmas boxes have packed in them a special kind of magic. When I break them out and trim the house, the Christmas Spirit is suddenly here. And then all these things I love so much seem to disappear when I pack up after Christmas. It's almost like that act takes away the magic of Christmas. Anyway, I love when it is Christmas time again so I can feel this way again.

These last few days have been especially fun. We are getting into the Spirit of things. J-wa had his Christmas program at school. That was fun to go see. He sings, but he doesn't really get into all the action and hand movements. He puts little effort into those things. His sentiments on performances was made clear at the ward Christmas party. A children's singing and dance group came and performed a few pieces after dinner. He said: "I am not going in there. Some kids just sing way too loud, and when I heard them, I thought...I'm outta here!"




We will definitely have a white Christmas in Logan. Last week we got pounded on, and the kids really played in the snow for the first time this year. They had a blast! That is until D-la found his face in the snow and his gloves fell off!






We also spent some time this weekend with my hubby's* family in Centerville. The kids got to play with thier cousins. They built the cutest little gingerbread houses. D-la ate so much candy that he threw it all up a little later that night. He felt better after the fact and stayed up late with cousins and J-wa. They finally feel asleep after 11:00. Oh well...at least they had fun!







*I am under strict orders not to talk about him in my blog! I guess sometimes he is going to have to come up! I am only married to him.

"I'll ask Santa for it"

Does your Santa have a budget? It's kind-of cute how kids really believe some big, nice man in a suit brings all kids presents on Christmas. He's so nice in fact, that he will bring multiple really nice presents to every kid on Christmas. Well, we finally made official letters to Santa yesterday, and I had to explain that Santa might not bring everything on the list. My six-year old is especially expectant. His list would include: an xbox ($250) with multiple games (about $150), a Darth Maul lightsaber (can you even buy those?), the Republic Gunship Star Wars lego set ($115), Prince Caspian DVD ($20), Star Wars action figure set ($30), and a football ($10). I don't know about you, but this Santa is on a budget.

This has been a good opportunity to teach my kids about saving and earning the things we get to enjoy. J-la told me that he understands, and he will be okay if he doesn't get all things things he wants. I am happy about that. I'm sure they will be pleased with Christmas ... we started buying early this year (in the summer), so it made it a lot easier to plan a nice Christmas.