I didn't realize it had been a month since I posted last. Oops.

Tonight we hung up ornaments and the kids loved it. I couldn't decide what pictures to post, so I put them all up.

This is James' "irresistible" smile. Or so he thinks. I don't have the heart to tell him it's more of a teeth bearing grimace. Hmmm... maybe it's working.

Here it is again. Look at that cute picture crasher back there.

Can you tell we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner? Apparently I don't wipe my kids' faces off or put on bibs.

This is the face Jacob makes when you tell him to say, "cheese."

I love this season! I can't wait for the next 25 days. Except I'm always sad when Christmas arrives because that means it's all over. So I better enjoy it while it lasts!

Sledding

We just spent one fun-filled week in Utah for Christmas and Martha and Ted's wedding anniversary. Our kids have never played in the snow. It's sad, I know. They loved it. We spent three days sledding. Matthew never wanted to quit, James did about 30 minutes in.

Yesterday we went to Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa. Look how excited the boys are. They could barely contain it.

Funny thing is, afterwards Matthew could not stop talking about his Q & A with Santa. It consisted of two questions.

S: Have you been good this year?

M: (just nods his head)

S: What do you want for Christmas?

M: (shrugs)

However, as time goes on and according to Matthew, the answers actually become verbal ones.

James would frequently inject, "I miss Santa" into every conversation.

We went with Amy and Colin. Colin was Santa's mini-me. The boys had lots of fun with their cousin. We had some lunch at the restaurant, hit up the shooting range, went up and down the elevator, sunk a few putts, saw a giant catfish, and followed animal prints throughout the store. Such a fun day.

My birthday is in 2 days! Remember how I spent it last year? Well, the boys have pink eye again! And I think I might have it, too. Gross.

Christmas morning...

Christmas snuck up on me this year.  It came way too fast.  But here are a few pics.  

Did you know that if you do not have a chimney, Santa uses his magic and makes one appear in your house.  This way he can get in and out without ringing the doorbell.  (Thanks to "The Santa Clause" for teaching us that).  And look, he left foot prints again.

Tim got Madden football for the Wii.  All the boys loved playing it.  James just kept repeating over and over, "foo-bawl" and pointing to the TV.  What a cutie.  And I'm not sure if you knew this, but playing Wii is apparently hazardous, check out Tim's head wear.

My parents got James this b-ball hoop and he loves it.  He plays basketball everyday, no exaggeration.  

The only thing Matthew wanted for Christmas was a car or motorcycle.  He wanted nothing else.  Luckily, Santa came through and delivered.  At the same moment Matthew saw the jeep, he saw a bottle of bubble bath by his stocking.  He promptly ran to the bubble bath and scooped it up and studied it.  "How did Santa know I like bubble baths?"  he asked gleefully.  Uh yeah, bubble bath, great.  Did you notice the car parked right next to it?  Who knew how simple Christmas could have been?!

Vroom vroom.  Unfortunately, it rained all Christmas day.  But the next day we got to take his sweet ride out for a test drive.  I even tried it out.  So much fun and he loves it.

It's Almost Christmas!

Yesterday we went to the Nutcracker at the Mesa Art Center.  The boys loved it.  Matthew's favorite part was when the rats fought the toy soldiers.  Cute little Ruby Hughes was a sassy little mouse in the ballet and did a great job.  That's her just behind Cannon.  Afterwards, we had the Hughes, Wrights and Ted and Martha over for an almost Christmas dinner.  The biggest hit?  The chocolate fountain.  By the end of the night, the kids were covered in chocolate.

James actually preferred whole strawberries, but took his chocolate on the side.

This was our kitchen afterwards.  The picture does not do it justice.  There was chocolate on every surface, including the floor (which was a bummer because my mop literally broke just as we were about to mop, so we were on our hands and knees scrubbing).  It took us 2 hours to clean up.  Of course, the mess was worth having family visit.  And we're just glad we have a big enough house to have everyone over.

When Matthew was supposed to be in bed, he was helping us "clean up" the chocolate.  He was in heaven.  

Car Crashes and Knee Pads

Today Matthew had a Christmas party at school and got to wear his pajamas to class.  He got a big kick out of that.  This morning on the way to school we were listening to Christmas music and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" was playing (probably my least favorite holiday song)  and when the song was over Matthew said, "I wish something was wrong with our car and we would crash into other cars."  Perplexed and a little disturbed, I asked, "Why would you want something like that to happen?"  "Because then somebody would write a song about it," he so matter-of-factly replied.  "Oh, like the song about the grandma being run over?"  I asked, a little relieved.  "Yeah, like that."

James will NOT stay in his blankets at night, and although we live in Arizona, it does get cold at night.  So I bought him some pajamas with the feet on them.  He absolutely loves them.  Like my mom put it, they have built in shoes.  What's not to love?  

He has also developed another fashion trend, knee pads on his arms.  He wears them around all day and I seriously think he believes they make him tougher.  

Sweet Home Alabama

We have been in Alabama now for just over a week and have been having a great time. Tim had to leave Wednesday and we miss him, but had tons of fun while he was here. Back to the grind for him.

Matthew thinks Christmas is great. You get to open presents on 3 separate occasions. The morning after we got into Birmingham, the boys got to open their presents from Grandpa James and Grandma.

This is the crib I slept in when I was a baby, and snuck into after Lindsey was born (I was only 18 months old when I started sleeping in a big bed). We would play in the crib all morning. It's fun that my kids get to stay in it when we come to visit.

I love having such a happy baby. This kid is almost always content.

I might be a little biased, but I think I have the cutest niece around.

It is so fun to see the cousins all together. James and Laney love all the same toys, especially the ones that we don't have two of. Laney is 10 weeks younger than James, but about the same size. Every where we go, people ask if they are twins. They do look an awful lot alike. I love this pic, it looks like they are having a conversation.

Cutie

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!

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!