White Stuff

I LOVE the snow!

Sure, sometimes it's a bit scary to drive in but those times are usually few and far between and 4 wheel drive comes in handy.

Sure, it's a pain to shovel but having a snowblower makes it a breeze.

Sure, the streets get narrower and narrower as the winter goes on, but then the machinery moves in and creates snow walls {taller than your car} on either side of the road and you feel like you're in a snow tunnel.

Sure, the kids' can never seem to remember to take off their boots and snow clothes before coming inside and inevitably have frozen snot stuck to their face, but they love playing in the snow so much that it doesn't really matter!

I love living where we do. It's not for everyone {as I'm reminded again and again by various "snow haters" and the like} but it's definitely for me.

Christmas Day In The Morning

Christmas morning was fabulous, and we were all spoiled as usual! Kensie wanted a Barbie house and Santa did not disappoint. We were all relieved that Lincoln didn't even mention the fact that Santa forgot to bring his mini Cadillac Escalade {taking your kids to Costco during the holiday season only leads to trouble}. He's been talking about the thing non-stop, and if we even suggested that he might ask Santa for something else he'd say "No. I want the car for boys and girls to ride on the grass". Luckily, on Christmas morning he was satisfied with his Batman race track. Whew!!

Lincoln has also become a big fan of Superman. He begs to go to Grandpa Young's to have a sleepover and watch the Superman movie! Grandma gave him his own superhero gear, and he's been wearing it ever since!

I mentioned us being spoiled. Here's why:

The kids {and us adults!} were so excited to open the gift from G-ma & G-pa Holbrook. It's "The Wii"!! We've been having non-stop fun with it & can't wait to get more games to play. Matt & I also get to go on a cruise with Matt's family in March which we are sooooo excited about!


More spoiling was done by my family later that morning {after we dug ourselves out of a few feet of snow and made it to their house- which was no easy feat}. Among my favorite gifts were things from my Grandma & Grandpa Eddington's house. You can't put a price on these things, but they mean so much to me. My Grandma's sewing basket, my stocking that Grandpa would hang at his house {with one of his paint brushes inside}, and a pictograph with awesome photos from 1904 including some from Nauvoo, Carthage, Rome, and even Joseph F. Smith were some of my favorites.

Kensie entertained us with some Christmas songs on the piano, we had a yummy lunch, played with cousins and enjoyed being together.

What a great day!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house. The Hallman's attended as well, as is tradition. We always have fun spending time together, and of course the highlight is the yearly performance of the Christmas Nativity. Parts and players always vary {except for Matt's- he's always the donkey}, which makes for a unique and interesting play! This year Jackson played the role of baby Jesus {again} which he is SO over! He was not about to be swaddled, and ran around with a pirate hook making slashing noises during most of the performance. But luckily next year we'll have another baby to play the part......from my brother Spencer and his wife!!! Their announcement during dinner turned into a fiasco involving a baby stocking, a poem that ended with "baby Young", and everyone looking at me! Hello! My last name is not Young!! I've known since the beginning of December and was glad to have it out in the open, though I did enjoy the brief secret-keeping.

I didn't have to play Mary this year!

baby Jesus cameo

The Angels

The Wise "Men"

The Shepherds

The Cast



New slippers for me

New jammies for them

Pre-Christmas Festivities

We've really been enjoying the Christmas season this year, and have had fun attending parties, going to programs, being with family, & making yummy goodies. The week before Christmas included these activities/events:

Matt's mom and dad came to visit {really it was mostly Marla. Rich is traveling a lot for work & was in and out. BUT, we get to see him more often in Utah thanks to his jet-setting which we love}. The week was filled with parties and get-togethers for all of us, but we had fun in the time we did get to spend together. We always love to have them visit!

Kensie's school Christmas program was on the 19th. Kensie had a special part {as you'll see in the video} and was super cute as usual! Sorry for the blurry video- something's wrong with the auto focus.....

I also got to help at Kensie and Lincoln's school parties. Of course I forgot my camera at Lincoln's, but we had fun riding the Polar Express and stopping of at Shape Land, Craftville, and Story Town & enjoyed hot chocolate! The kids made gingerbread houses at Kensie's party and more of the candy ended up in their bellies than on the houses!


We've made our fair share of gingerbread houses this year thanks to both sets of grandparents! The kids' love it, but it's hard for me to let go of my OCD tendencies and let them do what they want. I always want to jump in and tell them what to do so it doesn't look like a total disaster, but this year I controlled myself :) And they did a great job!!

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a night at The Nutcracker performed by Ballet West. This has been a wonderful tradition in my family with all the girls, but this year {and this year only} the boys were invited as well! I worked at Capitol Theatre while I was in college, so I can't even count the number of times I've seen The Nutcracker- and I NEVER get sick of it! I still have pretty much the whole ballet memorized. It was fun having the guys there, but I'm sure they didn't enjoy it as much as the girls! This comment says it all...."I'm fine with ballet until the guys in tights come out"!

Matt being silly as usual!

We {or I} have been making lots of goodies for Christmas, including the standard sugar cookies for Santa. The kids' always have fun helping and once again I have to let go of my OCDness! It's good times!!

I've enjoyed having Kensie home during Christmas break. We have fun doing puzzles and doing "girl stuff" while the boys are napping.

We're also enjoying our "Winter Wonderland".............

as long as we don't have anywhere to be! We've got a TON of snow!!

Stalking Santa

I'm always looking for new Christmas movies {not that I don't enjoy watching A Christmas Story 24-7 on TBS} & thought I'd share this one {not so new but maybe new to you}. I find it super funny and clever {plus if you're a Utah native and also a C-Jane reader you'll see some familiar faces}. I'd recommend watching it sans kids, mostly because it's a documentary format & not too entertaining for the young ones. But I think it's a fun one!

A Christmas Story

by Kensie

No, I Have Not Fallen Off The Face Of The Earth

Christmas is fast approaching & life is super busy!

Here's what I've been {and still am} up to:

• Wrapping gifts
• Making holiday goodies
• Eating holiday goodies
• Attending fabulous parties
• Staying up late with girlfriends
• Hangin' with the in-laws
• Playing real estate agent
• Practicing a trio for the Christmas program
• Threatening children with tales of naughty kids & coal
• Snowblowing
• Getting pumped for The Nutcracker

We've got more parties to attend, more programs to perform in, more fun to be had! I love this time of year!! Stay tuned. In the mean time......

Christmas Funnies

The boys & I took a trip to the downtown library today while Kensie was at dance. As we were walking out Jackson spotted a homeless man with a white beard sitting on a bench {not Chinese Bum. I wish!} and proceeded to point and yell "ho ho ho" at the man, who {luckily} just smiled and waved.

".....Bells on cocktails ring" - Kensie singing Jingle Bells today.

Maybe Christmas, Perhaps, Means A Little Bit More

Getting caught up in "the world's" interpretation of Christmas {or should I say "The Holidays"} seems almost inevitable. I have to say that this year I am "letting go" {thanks, Brooke!} of a lot of things, partly out of necessity and partly because I'm getting tired of it all. I love spending time with family, doing fun things with the kids, creating traditions. These things are more important to me than presents. This is the time to remember the birth of our Savior, not trample someone to death trying to get that "must-have" toy. Wouldn't it be great to have a Christmas without presents?! I may try it....although I DO love seeing the magic of Christmas in the kids' eyes on Christmas morning and would never want them to miss out on that. I love giving gifts to the people I love, but I'm done with the "will they really like this? maybe i should have done this. i need to add more. is this enough?" conversation that goes on in my head. I know that everything I receive is icing on the cake for me, and I need to have a little more faith in those who receive my gifts. It's my own insecurities talking. Anyway, I'm all about focusing on what really matters this Christmas, and keeping the true spirit of Christmas in my home and in my heart. Want to catch the spirit? Read this. {thanks again, brooke!}

Toto - Christmas Style

They're Back

and they brought the white stuff with them {finally!}