'Tis the Season

A post about all things Christmas

The holiday open house at the dance studio...

Miss Nora

Miss Tess

The nativity play at Grandma Conna's...

New PJs on Christmas Eve...

The booby trap for Christmas morning...this way the kids can't come upstairs from their bedrooms without alerting us. (We wouldn't want a repeat of Christmas 2006 when Tess opened all the presents before the rest of us even woke up.)

The high-tech computer that Santa brought for the kids. Check out the depth on that monitor. Only the best for our kiddos.

Christmas morning...

Relaxing after a long day...

Seeing the lights at Temple Square...Also known as the night Nora almost got frostbite. :(

Ice skating...

Hope you all had a splendid holiday!

DISNEYLAND

Yes, we did go.

We went with the extended family...Nate's brother and sister, Scott and Kristy, and their families. Grandma Conna (Nate's stepmom) also joined us which was a HUGE help and so fun to have her along. This past November marked the 10-year anniversary of the car accident that killed Nate's dad, brother Brian and sister April. We wanted to get away and honor their memories with some family fun and togetherness.

Some highlights:

The tag that saved David's life. (We put this tape on the back of all the kids' shirts.) David wandered off just once and hid in a store "to get away from the bad guys." Luckily a worker found him and called us...after only about 5 minutes of panic.

Nora eating an entire cube of butter for breakfast. Do you think that's what her doctor meant when he said to increase the calories and fat in her diet??
Tess deciding she got to choose who was invited on the day's activities based on her feelings toward you at that moment. (Uploaded sideways...why does it do that??)

It was a GREAT trip. We'll have to do it again soon! :)

Dec 21- David turns 4

Opening Presents...

As you can see, Will is just as excited as David.

His "rhinosaurus"

The Party...

David couldn't decide on a theme. First it was race cars, then Transformers. Because we are awesome parents, we accommodated his every whim.

He even got a visit from Spiderman.

This is the real Spiderman! Not convinced? Just ask the kids.

Things I never want to forget...

... about 4 year-old Davey:

• Whenever he's changing his clothes he has to take a moment to run around the house and sing "Naked Underwear Pants." (Man I wish I had a video.)



• He has the conversational skills of an adult, regularly engaging perfect strangers in lengthy discussions. (not the safest thing, but very endearing)



• He sleeps with an entire army of stuffed animals. Probably to ward off the octopus that he's convinced lives in the closet.




• He regularly gets his head stuck in the back of the chairs at church. He also likes to take off his shoes at church. And his socks. And occasionally his shirt.



• He loves to destroy. It's how he plays. He must take everything apart.



• He can recognize letters but he thinks they are all "D." For example, when you point to a 'W' and say, "What's this David?" He'll say, "That's D for William." An N is "D for Nora." And when asked what his full name is he'll say, "It's like D as in David."

• He has a great tackle...

• ...and a heart of gold (He always helps you up after knocking you to the ground and asks if you're okay.)



• He's a total mama's boy. All of my other children prefer their dad because, well, he's the "fun" parent. You can hardly blame them. But David has attached himself to me. Only his mom can sing him a goodnight song. Only mom can walk next to him and hold his hand. (Mmm- soft squishy hands. I'll cry when he grows out of those.) What can I say? He loves his mom...

...And we love our David!

Quotes of the Night

Nate and I just got back from our date night. My bro Wyatt and his wife, Chelsea, babysat for us. Here is the note that sat waiting for us upon our return:

QUOTES of the NIGHT

• Tess: Will! Help! Go get the gun!
• Chelsea: No kicking in the face, okay Tess?
• Tess (to Wyatt after tying his wrists together): Tonight you can stay in the dungeon (corner of the playroom). Tomorrow you can be our servant.
• Tess: When our parents were in Thailand they got their butts rubbed.
  

Physical evidence on that last one:

A HUGE thanks to Wy and Chels for putting up with our motley crew. They love love love when you guys come over.

Sorry ladies....he's taken

So I have several things that I need to blog about, but right now I need to take a moment to gloat.

This is my guy.

Mmm- I love him.

On Christmas Eve he gave me soft, warm, fluffy footed pajamas. So cozy. I reluctantly take them off only to go out into public.


Then on Christmas morning he presented me with this gift:

(For some reason it's uploading this picture sideways. No idea.)


What is it? Only the best present in the history of the world! In that box are 101 things he loves about me, typed up on individual pieces of curly paper. And they aren't generic things that guys say just because they know girls like to hear them. They are well thought out reasons. Things I have never heard him say before. Things like this:

• I love the way you look when you're asleep.
• I love the tone of your voice - it is just right - perfectly comfortable to me.
• I love that you've put up with driving a red minivan for 4 years.
• I love that you can enjoy a good burger.
• I love how you've come to terms with not being perfect.
• I love that you don't have to be fashionable.
• I love how I can never put anything over on you - you always have me figured.
• I love how level-headed you are and how you're not afraid to tell me when I'm not.
• I love the way you move; even your walk is graceful.
• I love that you are moved to tears by other's suffering.
• I love how I feel when I kiss you. It is still exciting.

Okay I'll stop. But really, am I not the luckiest girl? Especially when you consider that the final paper read this:

• I love that you will love this gift: I promise to do the dishes every night for an entire year.

Now that's love.

Still swooning.

Help

Okay all my blogging wizard friends. I need your help. I am trying to give this here blog a makeover but there is one thing that is really stumping me. How the heck (and I'm really tempted to swear right there because I have been trying to figure this out for about an hour now) do I get rid of the 2 inch margins on either side of my blog???? I don't want it all squished in the middle. I want it to fill the whole page, left to right, like so many of your lovely blogs. But how do I do it???

You won't convince him otherwise

Will is pretty sure that this particular area of the Christmas tree needs more apples.

Don't try to tell him differently. Don't even try.