Christmas Morning

Claire tries out her new Rody, the first thing she saw.
This picture sums up Paige's reaction to pretty much every present she opened.

This picture is to show Sparkles, Paige's pink and purple unicorn pillow-pet.
It's her favorite gift. Also, it's the only picture I'm in.

Daddy helping Claire open one of her gifts.
I recall she was saying, "Ooooooooooooo."

Claire and Juliette enjoying the Rodys

Cute babies!
It was a very merry Christmas morning followed by a delicious brunch of (among other things) oranges off of Grandma's tree, avocado on sourdough toast, and the most delicious orange rolls you can imagine. And brunch was followed by a lot of lounging about reading, talking, and playing with our new toys. A great end to a great year.

Christmas Eve

Like many families on Christmas Eve we have a reading (by Grandma) from the bible of Jesus' birth and this year was no exception. However we were a little lame this year as far as participation and costumes go. Claire was not too thrilled about being baby Jesus. Paige was ecstatic to be a cow in the manger (really she was), and Ben was happy to be one of only two wise men.


After the nativity, Honey read aloud 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and we all recited the poem right along with her.

Then the kids got to open their first gift (pajamas, always pajamas), everyone changed, and we sang Christmas carols.


I LOVE these traditions we've done since I was tiny.

Somewhere there's a picture of me, my siblings and cousins in our
pajamas on these same stairs from every Christmas we were growing up.

The only cousins not pictured are William - he was already in bed,
and Allie - she had to be responsible and go back home for work.

Disneyland!

We had Christmas with my grandparents in California this year along with my parents, every single one of my siblings, the spouses, and all of our kids. It was so fun!

The Wednesday before Christmas Honey & Papa (my parents) treated us all to Disneyland. I think there were 28 of us, and it was super crowded since it was the first day of sunshine after almost a week of rain in southern California, but

We had a blast!

I don't have too many pictures, but here are the best of what I took. I remember to take my camera everywhere, I just forget to use it.

Paige, Anna, & Maggie - the 3-4 yr old girls - in their matching outfits.

Paige coming through the turnstile, upright this time.

Our little family out front. Can you believe we didn't try to get a picture of all 28 of us?

We were able to ride almost every ride we wanted to without having to wait long at all thanks to some very serious planning. And Paige rode the Matterhorn! She said she liked it and that it wasn't scary, but when I asked if she wanted to ride again with Dad (we were using the rider switch passes) she said, "No, it was a little bit scary."

Here's a video of us waiting in line for the Matterhorn.

We also had great curbside seats to watch the Christmas Parade. I really liked the toy soldiers, the kids were enthralled with all of it (including Santa at the end) and we all agreed that it was well worth the wait!previous picture downloaded from the internet here

Honey & Papa let each of the grandkids pick one souvenir. Paige choose a Rapunzel doll (we saw the movie just the day before) and ohmygosh, the hair is INSANE. You know how awesome barbie doll hair looks after not too long? Imagine 17" of it. Tangled is accurate, but maybe not a strong enough word.
And I chose this on Claire's behalf. I love Silhouettes.

On our way out of the park we stopped to take a few final pictures in front of Disneyland's tree:

Maggie and Paige with Honey & Papa

We had been there longer than 10 hours and still had huge smiles on our faces!

Thank you Honey & Papa!

They're Home!

My parents came home from their mission to South Carolina at the beginning of December. We all congregated in St. George to welcome them back, hear their homecoming talks, and decorate gingerbread houses. It was so good to be together again!

Honey with Paige and Miller. Miller was born while Honey & Papa were away.

Helping P with her house.

Paige with her gingerbread house. She sat and decorated that house for a long time - as long as any of the adults. And she was very proud of it.

Me and Claire with mine. Claire is eating a slice of cheese. She wasn't feeling well that weekend and since Ben didn't come with me
(he had to stay home for drill and finals) I had to hold her the entire time.

My sister Noelle and I carpooled down there and back with our kids. We stopped somewhere at a McDonald's on the way home where they have the tiniest little kids cones. Paige didn't want hers and Claire was happy to take it off her hands. Here's a video of Claire eating her first ice cream cone and cousin Miller is next to her eating his very first french fry.

Happy 34th!

To celebrate Ben's birthday we had a yummy breakfast at home this morning after he opened his gift. Paige kept telling me he needed more - one gift is not enough, and where we're all his balloons? She must have told him "happy birthday" at least twenty times today, followed quickly by "I love you" and a hug. She was also so excited to surprise him with a cake-plate full of cupcakes when he got home from class. This evening we left the girls at home with a sitter and went out to dinner by ourselves. That feels like such a luxury these days, and so much fun to spend some time together - just the two of us.
Happy Birthday, Ben!

Kids Village Christmas Party

Paige's preschool held their annual Christmas in the Village open house tonight. I have to say I was very impressed. We had a great time eating yummy food, meeting Santa, making a special snack for the reindeer for Christmas Eve (which Paige already ate herself), and listening to the children sing. On our way out the door we were also given a little present from our child's class. Paige's class made cookbooks.

Here's a video of Claire and Paige with Santa. This was Claire's first time meeting Santa. I was surprised she didn't cry. This was the first time Paige was excited to see him.



This is an excerpt of the kids' performance. The cute blond next to Paige is her cousin, Anna. I like the beginning when Paige is trying to keep a littler kid from leaving the stage and the end where Paige looks very concerned when a much bigger kid stands right in front of her. Paige cooperated with the performance much better this time. I was happy not to have a repeat of Halloween.



And here is Paige's entry in the class cookbook. So cute.