Santa, Parties, and Christmas

Wow has it been a busy December. The kids were lucky enough to have a visit with Santa 3 times before Christmas. I think they enjoyed each one.
This first visit was put on by the Lion's Club here in Coalville. He came riding in on a Fire truck to the station. He gave them a little sack of candy along with an orange.

It took Zander a little convincing, but once I told him he would get candy if he sat on his lap, he was all for it!

This next visit was at our Ward Christmas party. It was crazy-too many kids pushing to get there, but we were one of the first ones since my kids are still little.

I spent all morning Christmas Eve making cookies with the kids. They chose the colors...surprised they didn't choose red.

The last visit came Christmas Eve. We had the Jones' Christmas party at my Casey's sisters house and we somehow always get Santa to show up for a short visit. He brings all the kids a small present and they love it.
Zander sat on his lap pulling pieces of paper off his present and handing them to Santa until he had the whole gift unwrapped. It was hilarious.

Zoey is at such a fun age. She finally gets it this year.

Maizy of course believes it all. She had to make sure she told his what she wanted. So cute!

Christmas morning Zander got the Toy Story dinosaur...he LOVED it. My mom barely got it out of the box before he grabbed it and started loving on it. He also fed it waffles for breakfast that morning.

Maizy had me taking so many pictures of her holding different things. Both the girls got this Rapunzel soft doll. They were so cute.

Here is Zoey trying to hold as many Princess barbies that she can. My brother got the girls a pack of 7 Princess barbies to share...they were in heaven.

I am so thankful for our our kids and our families. They all mean so much to us. This season is truly magical. We have had a fabulous Christmas and hope each and every one of you did as well.

Update for Halloween and part of December

The Elementary school always does a Halloween parade. When I was a kid, we used to walk through town and all the businesses would hand out candy to us as we walked by. Now that is considered "unsafe" so they parade around the football field with us in the stands. Not quite the same, but it is fun to see all the kids dressed up. Maizy is in the white fairy costume.

Maizy made such a cute fairy. Unfortunately it was cold so we had to have warm clothes on under her costume.

Zoey was the prettiest Snow White I have ever seen. She absolutely loves being a princess-I hope she grows out of that soon!

Zander was the transformer Bumblebee but he would not wear the mask for anything. I attempted to put some face paint on, but who am I kidding...he is 2!

We spend Halloween at my friend Cindy's house. She is always a great hostess, the kids have a blast, and we always have great food.

This is the first of the attempts to get a good family picture to send out with our Christmas cards. It was a beautiful day and we had matching shirts. The second we went outside Zoey started whining about it being cold...and then I sat her in snow. It was all downhill from there. We tried a few pictures but she was just bawling. Needless to say-STRIKE ONE!

I thought since it was cold outside according to Zoey standards that I would try a few inside. The lighting wasn't good, the kids wouldn't all look the same direction, and our tree just wasn't big enough to get the shot I wanted...STRIKE TWO!

The 3rd attempt I said screw it to the matching shirts and decided to just do coats. It was another beautiful day. I like this picture, but the lighting wasn't very good.

This was also a pretty good shot, but not the money maker I wanted it to be.


Jackpot! I love this picture of our cute family.

This is our cat Tigger. He loves to climb on my piano...ggrrrrr...and sit on the lights since they are warm. He doesn't realize in the mean time that he has knocked over multiple things to get there. It looks like a giant cat has destroyed the town. Godzilla is back!

I love the Christmas season. Even though November and December are so chaotic with a lot of parties and get togethers to mix in with work and kids, it is still a magical season. I look forward to having my kids sit on Santa's lap and see their surprised faces on Christmas morning.

Long Update

I am really starting to suck at this whole blogging thing! So much has happened and as usual it has been chaos at our house.

Maizy played soccer for the first time and loved it. For having never played before, she caught on quickly and did a great job, even scoring goals. I think she may take after her mom and love sports...I can only hope!



September was also full of birthday party after birthday party which included Zander's and 2 of the 3 friends who were born within 15 days of him.
Mandy's little Evalynn had a fun party at a park. She is the one who shares the day with Zander. They had fun testing out her new power scooter together. It was adorable.

I attempted to make yet again another cake. I think if turned out pretty cute. I was happy when my nephew though I had bought it at a store...thanks Jake!

Zander is continuing to surpass what I ever expected him to be. He is such a cute little boy, but he has so much energy and a naughty side to him just like his sisters. We have our good moments and our bad moments, but the good out weigh the bad and I love him to pieces. His vocabulary is awesome for his age. He, unlike Zoey, copies EVERYTHING you say. It is hilarious to hear him say "thank you much" all the time. Although he is a big kid, he still manages to scale cupboards, tables and even dressers-scary. He loves to "vroom, vroom" his trucks and throw balls. I think we have a true boy on our hands.
Here are his stats for 2 years old:
Wt: 35.27 lbs 98%
Ht: 38.58 in 100%
OFC: 19.9 in 90%
My doctor, who usually asks if we are making sure he is getting 30 minutes of good physical activity every day said instead that it would be a shame if he didn't play sports!

Jami's daughter Anna had a cute "Old McDonald" party. We were able to get a cute picture of all our kids on the hay stack. That was a challenge. I am so glad that I have great friends that I am close to. We always have a good time no matter what the event.
Every year we also try to get the 4 kids together for a picture. It was at the end of the night so they were filthy but cute!

October was chaotic packing, driving, walking, driving, and unpacking during our DisneyLand vacation. I am so glad we were able to take the kids for their first time. They had a blast, but I am happy to report that it will be a few years (at least 2 but probably more) before we attempt it again. They loved it. We had the opportunity to get lots of pictures with characters. They rode ride after ride and loved every minute. Maizy at 5 years old, even rode Screamin'! If you are not familiar with it, it is the roller coaster that does the upside down loop. Let's just say she did it once and never steeped foot on it again, but I am extremely proud of her for going on it once. On our last day, we hit the beach. It was cloudy and slightly chilly so we didn't stay long, but the girls loved it. Zander wasn't so sure. We were finally able to convince him to walk in the sand without sandles, which was a feat in itself.
I was glad to spend some time with my brother and his family and have my parents join us for the last 4 days of the trip. I love being close with my parents and hope to get closer to my brother like it used to be. Plus, our kids have a blast together!

We of course had to go to the Princess Fantasy Fair so the girls could meet some princesses.
We waited in line FOREVER!

We tracked down Mickey-had to get this picture on their first ever trip!

Maizy scared to ride Screamin'.

Fun with cousins!

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids.

Kids first Mickey ears.

Zander couldn't ride some rides so while we waited we found characters for him to meet.

The last day we waited in line forever to see Tinkerbell.

Newport Beach.

It has been a little rough getting home and back into our routine, especially since a lot of us have come down with a cold-YUCK! We are preparing for Halloween this next week, although I am lazy and haven't put up ANY decorations...my poor kids!