Go Vote!

My Christmas card is a finalist in the Tip Junkie Christmas Card Contest!! GO HERE and vote for me {pretty please? i'll love you forever!}!!

I'm number 17 :)

p.s. don't be offended when you don't receive one in the mail.....i made this card back when i didn't have 3 kids and actually had time to cut, glue, and embellish!

The Sounds Of Christmas

Oh, how I love Christmas music! There's nothing like sitting by a glowing tree, watching the snow fall & listening to wonderful Christmas songs. There are many albums and songs that I MUST listen to throughout the holidays {none of which are country}. I have Christmas music on all day long {i have to get my fix before Matt comes home. he's so sick of Christmas music by the time he comes home from work}. I listen to everything from The Cambridge Singers to Run D.M.C. I love it all {unless its country. blech.}

These are a few of my favs:

That's right, you saw N'SYNC & 98 Degrees. Your eyes are not deceiving you. They're good. Serious.

Seeing Santa & Sundry Christmasy Photos

This morning Santa visited SunCrest. I'm surprised he had the time {he does have all those elves to do the work, though. i'm sure that frees him up for social engagements}. We're all certain that he was definitely the real Santa. None of that "mall Santa" nonsense with the fake beards, etc. He was the real deal! He was even wearing a gold CTR ring on his pinky, which was all the proof Kensie needed. Jackson wouldn't sit on his lap alone {of course}, but I got some great shots of the kids.

This one's my absolute favorite!

Our Friendly Neighborhood Deer

Who needs cheesy fake deer lawn ornaments?
*if you have cheesy fake deer lawn ornaments, my apologies. they're just not for me.

Forgive the terrible photos! I wanted to get some pics of them before they left the yard, and my camera was nowhere to be found....hence the crappy camera phone photos. The deer will be back, and next time I'll be ready!!

Tradition!

Tradition!

{watched Fiddler On The Roof lately? I haven't, but whatever.}

I love Christmas time. One of my favorite things about Christmas is fun traditions {ones that I grew up with & ones that we have started with our family}.

• Advent calendars are big in our house. If I had time and money I'd make and buy as many as I could. The kids love it when it's their turn to open/hang/move.
  

• Eddie The Elf came back to visit this year. The kids are beyond excited, as you can see. So am I {"Eddie's watching....."}

  
  
  

• We started a new tradition this year, thanks to an early Christmas gift from my Aunt Anita. The Magic Christmas Blanket.The kids get to take turns with it every day. When it's their day they can do whatever {well, almost} they want with it....cuddle, make a fort, wear it as a cape....They get to sleep with it that night, and it's a proven fact that you have the best Christmas dreams when you sleep with the magic blanket!

• Christmas movies are also big at our house. Some of our favorites include:

Miracle on 34th Street

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

White Christmas

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Polar Express

The Santa Clause trilogy

Scrooge {the Albert Finney version}

A Muppet Christmas Carol

A Christmas Story

• Of course I can't forget the Christmas books! The kids love to find the book box amid all the Christmas stuff. We read one Christmas book every night until Christmas {and many in between!}. My mom gives us a new Christmas book each year and we love adding to the collection!

These are a few of our traditions. What are yours?

18 Months

Can you believe my baby's 18 months old?! Neither can I. Oh, I just love him!! He's at such a fun age. Learning lots and lots!!

He still tolerates being dressed up as Elton John, much to the delight of his sister and her friends!
{he's usually wearing Mr. Potato Head glasses to complete the ensemble}

He LOVES to make silly faces and make people laugh.

He's perfected his impersonation of Bruce Bogtrotter

{boy, does he love to eat! yes, he's wearing a pink bib. get over it.}

18 month stats:

Weight: 25 pounds

Height: 32 inches

For your viewing pleasure:

{pardon the bosoms in the background....lincoln had to become the videographer. he did a pretty good job!}

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

1917-2008

“Come what may, and love it.”

We'll miss you!

Deseret News Obituary

I Had To...

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Thanksgiving Day

a.k.a. enjoy spending time with Matt because it's the last time you'll see him 'till Christmas. {okay, not really. but it feels like it!}

As I mentioned before, we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Eve feast ala Snoopy. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever to eat jelly beans for dinner. They laughed through the whole meal!

Thanksgiving morning was spent decorating the house for Christmas {and making some yummy dishes for dinner}. The kids' favorite part is always decorating the tree.

After all the tree decorating was done, they made a fort with the Christmas boxes and left the rest to me.

Since that day, Jackson has been UN-decorating the tree for me. SUPER helpful! Whenever I hear "ball" I know that he's got another treasure for me, which usually means I spend the next 15 minutes on my hands and knees searching for a missing hook. A fence around the Christmas tree isn't sounding so ridiculous at the moment.

We stopped by the May's {after some confusion about when dinner would be served at the Young's} & had fun visiting with Matt's fam and playing with the "cousins". Then we were off to my parents house for a fabulous dinner & some great company!

After dinner Kensie performed a puppet show. She wrote her own Thanksgiving story {which we left there so I'll post later} and read it while I held up the puppets. Then we sang a few songs that Lincoln learned in preschool. The kids' had so much fun!

The day after Thanksgiving we avoided Black Friday like the plague {while Matt went to work at 4 am}. We finished decorating, read Christmas books, worked on Christmas presents, and of course did a lot of dancing to Christmas music!

Christmas Time Is Here!