I vant to suck your blood...

Matthew had been quietly sitting in the backseat today (which is very rare) when he said, "Dad, what are vampires?" Tim said that they were imaginary monsters. I added that they have sharp teeth and don't like the sun, but also added that they are not real. Then I asked where he had heard about vampires. "The Holy Ghost told me about them." I would have loved to listen in on that conversation.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas this year. Matthew got all the presents he wanted and James finally got to get those chubby little hands on some wrapping paper and ribbon. Matthew wanted a "reindeer shooting game" (which is a deer/elk/bear hunting game that comes with a rifle you plug into the TV). I wasn't sure about this game at first. I didn't like the guns and shooting, but you're not shooting people and you actually learn gun safety. And besides, my dad is a hunter, and he's a pretty normal guy. For the most part ;) I'm sure there are many 3 year olds out there that asked for their own "reindeer shooting game." It is all Matthew wanted and when asked, it is his favorite present. Santa did not disappoint.

Matthew was so excited that Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. It was really cute. He bypassed his presents to see if the cookies were gone. Santa even left snowy footprints at our house.

(Sorry, some of our pictures turned out blurry!)


(I think Matthew looks like he is a poster child for the NRA or a group of crazy white people.)
We hope you all had a very joyous Christmas! We wish you peace, happiness and love in the new year to come!

Christmas Eve

We had such a great Christmas Eve. We did our traditional Christmas Eve fondue dinner and had Ted, Martha, Kristen, and Donavon over. We had a great time. We also got to open our C.E. presents together and took a fun group pic with our new pj's. Afterwards, we read the Christmas story and sang "Silent Night" along to Tim on the guitar. Then we went out and looked at Christmas lights and even ran into the Grinch. It was a great night and one we will remember always.

Matthew and I made cookies for Santa. He LOVED his cookies. This was Matthew's idea for a pose. It worked. Kristen made these Santa aprons. They are so cute!
James is opening his very first Christmas Eve present. I wonder what it is?
Pajamas! (Ignore all that beautiful wiring in the back. I had a few extra lights on the string.)
Cute pajamas!

California, here we come! Right back where we started from.

Okay, so neither one of us started out in California, but I like that song. It looks like we're headed to California after graduation. Tim has just accepted an offer with Hensel Phelps Construction Co. We are very excited and looking forward to this next phase in our lives. Although we will be sad to leave our friends and family, we'll only be 6 hours away. And Tim is sad to leave his current job at Hardison/Downey. They have been so good to him. It was a hard choice, but a lot of thought and prayer went into this decision. Tim starts working with Hensel Phelps in a few weeks. Unless he decides Phoenix is a better fit, we're packing up and heading out to SoCal late May/early June.

Gingerbread Houses...

For FHE we decorated a gingerbread house. We gave Matthew total design control of the house. He did a really good job. The boys had lots of fun with it. Can you tell what Matthew's favorite part was? Candy!

Just some cute stories about Matthew...

So, I'm pretty sure I have one of, if not the, cutest 3 year-old around. On Saturday, while Tim was busy in his workshop, I decided to make his Christmas present. While I was working on it, Matthew asked me what I was doing. "I'm making Dad a blanket for Christmas, but you can't tell him. It's a surprise." I said. Later that night, Matthew said to Tim, "Dad, mom is making you a blanket. You are going to like it and you will be happy." He may have ruined the surprise, but at least he's making sure Tim appreciates my work. He's lookin' out for his mom.

Yesterday, during Sacrament, Ted gave a talk. In his talk he asked, who can administer good unto all of us, like the angels in the Bible. Matthew, happily, and without skipping a beat said, "Santa!" I'm so glad he's learned the true meaning of Christmas.

In the Jungle, the Wild Jungle...

Saturday night we went to Zoo Lights with some friends from Gilbert. It was so crowded and freezing cold. I'm sure we are cold weather wimps, but my toes were numb by the end of the night. We had our kids wrapped in blankets almost the whole time. It was fun to see cute little Cooper and Ella. I didn't get any pics of them, though. Maybe next time. The one with Matthew plugging his ears is a funny story. We spotted this little area that was set up for storytime, and just our luck, the show was just starting. Oh. My. Goodness. It was lame. When a 3 year-old plugs his ears and is begging to leave, you know it's bad.

Random Post

Okay, so to use a term created by Jamie, I've been a slogger. I'm sure there are so many of you out there in the blogosphere that have been very disappointed. I was in charge of our Relief Society Christmas Dinner on Tuesday and have now just recovered. Anyway, here are some random photos to keep you up to date with my little stinkers.

Here's a photo from our trip to see the temple lights. Isn't he so cute?

For my birthday, Lindsey sent me a really pretty cake plate that can also be used as a trifle dish. When did I start to go ga-ga over things like this? I'm a real live grown-up! Well, the box it was packaged in was full of a trillion peanuts. I thought it would be fun to pretend that the peanuts were snow. Does anyone out there know how easily they fall apart, stick to your clothes, and are impossible to clean up? I know and I now remember why I hate them. It's not worth winning mom of the year to play snow angels in those styrofoam peanuts from Hell. It took me about an hour to clean them up. And today, about a week later, I am still finding them. At least Matthew had fun.

Don't you just want to pinch that little tush? James is so stinkin' cute. I can't get enough of those chunks. And he has finally decided to commit to crawling. But I need someone to remind me why I was excited for him to crawl.

I hope everyone was able to get their Matthew and James fix for the day. I promise to do better from now on.

Not so silent night...

Last night we went to Bill and Katie's for dinner. We had breakfast for dinner. Yum! Matthew loved playing with Ruby, Betsy and Cannon. They are crazy kids when they get together. Lots of running and screaming. Afterwards, we went to the temple to see the Christmas lights and Nativity. It was so pretty.

The kids spent the majority of the night running on and jumping off this bench. Matthew and Betsy are standing on it and Ruby and Cannon are twirling into the photo. They kind of look like deranged albinos. Especially with Cannon trying to take a bite out of Ruby. I guess you can't see the bench in this picture. You'll just have to take my word for it then.

Matthew kept his hood up the whole time. It was really cute. This pic was taken just before Matthew tried to dump James.Kristen took most of the picures of the night with her camera, so maybe I'll post some of those later.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Hello! The Christmas season is here and it's time to get those Christmas cards out. I would love if everyone could please send me their addresses, so I can get our family card out to you all. My email is to the right. Thank you!

*This means EVERYONE (we know) that visits our blog.