Christmas 2007

I realized that I hadn't posted anything about Christmas - which may show what a boring time we had. Actually it was jammed packed with fun and excitement, that I am still recuperating from the whole experience. Here's a brief description of how the trip went.



Dec. 15th - Flew into Las Vegas. My parents surprised Todd and I with two tickets to Celine Dion's last concert in Vegas that night. They took the boys to their home in Utah while Todd & I got to pretend that it was just the two of us again. What I enjoyed most? Being able to walk to places without turning and waiting for Roger to catch up while trying to get William out of the cold - strange the things you learn to appreciate.



Dec. 17th - Went on a walking Christmas party, where we stopped at several spots to learn about what the prophets had testified of Christ's coming. Afterwards we went on a short hay ride. Mikey loved this. We were there with some older kids, who sang Christmas carols. Since Thanksgiving I had been playing Christmas music in our home, so Mikey knew a lot of the songs. I think he really enjoyed feeling like he belonged to some kind of club because he knew the words.



Dec. 18th - Went to Delta, Utah (a really big and happening place in Utah) to watch my sister, LeNae, play basketball. It's really good that I did, 'cause she's a senior this year, and last week she had a snowboarding accident that will probably prevent her playing the rest of the season.





Dec. 19th - Went on the "Polar Express" with my whole family. It was a lot of fun, and very anticipated. I had shown the boys the book and movie weeks ago in preparation for this experience, and they were excited for the trip. I think they were a little disappointed that the waiters didn't dance around and do flips, but they did love getting "the first gift of Christmas" and who doesn't love riding a train?



Dec. 21 -We celebrated my brother's birthday at a "no kids allowed" dinner, which was great. Then later I went to a party where I got to meet up with my friends from high school. A lot of the people I hadn't seen since high school, so it was kind of weird going and realizing that we're not as young or hip as we use to be - oh, well.
This is a picture of me and my family - minus my brother that is on a mission. Todd always teases me saying he got the "short one", in this picture, I understand what he is saying. The only one shorter than I am is twelve years old!


Me & my sisters in front of the Disney Castle!

Dec. 22 - Went to Disneyland!! It was amazing, and very crowded. The boys loved it and were so interested in all of the sights and sounds. They loved driving a car, riding a train, spinning in the tea cups, and most of all, riding a roller coaster! Who are these kids? As a kid I always loved Disneyland and the magic it holds, but I love even more watching my kids love it.

Almost a complete family picture

Look at that joy - or confusion

William's First Christmas!!
Dec. 24,25 - Celebrated Christmas with my family. Lots of food, fun, chaos, and love. The most interesting part was watching the boys open starbursts. Yes, starbursts as in the candy. Mikey would not even try opening them up by himself, and would complain if we even suggested that he try to do it himself. Roger, on the other hand, refused to allow us to help him. He would open them himself and would complain if we even offered to help him. He started feeding some to William because he was unwrapping too many too fast. This is just one example of how different Mikey and Roger are from each other. Definitely fun to see.

The boys with all their cousins. See if you can pick my boys out

Yep, that's Roger opening his candy, and Todd opening Mikey's

William's favorite part - sucking on a clementine




Sugar crash later


Dec. 26 - Went to the Jazz game. It was so much fun! Being outside of Utah, I don't keep up with them much, but there were some familiar players - like Matt Harpring!!! He is Superman to me.


Dec. 27 - My sister went through the temple for the first time. It was an awesome experience, and I got to see a lot of my extended family. I do believe there were more people there than at my wedding, but who's counting?


Dec. 29 - We regrettably returned home - but we did bring back with us my 12 year-old sister. She is amazing! This also allowed me the opportunity to get back into the swing of things by going grocery shopping (you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to go with 3 kids), unpacking, cleaning, and all else.

My sister and Mikey

We also were able to see one of my favorite people, my cousin Natalie, her husband Nick, and their boy Weston. Nick's parents live near us, so they were visiting for Christmas.

Mikey & Roger with their 2nd cousin, Weston. (Notice my kids have their clothes on - look how on top of things I am - or maybe they just slept in their clothes)

So, even though it took me a while to post how our Christmas went, it wasn't because it was too boring, it was because there wasn't a lot of down time. We had a great time seeing family and sharing experiences with my kids.