Christmas Morning 2012

 Christmas morning came quick! Berkley woke up at 3:00, 4:00 and then again at 7:00.  Ledger was up at 6:30 while Brody and Case got up at 7:00.  

 Unlike last year, the kids were ready to get out to the family room to see what Santa brought them.  They pulled Jeremy and I out of bed the minute they woke up.  We were slow moving this morning since we had only gotten into bed a few hours earlier!

 In our house on Christmas morning, we make our kids wait in our bedroom until we get the lights on the tree turned on and get all the cameras working.  Its pure torture for the kids but Jeremy and I love it.   When we finally tell them they can come out of our room, it is a mad rush!  

    Finding presents.

 Hello Kitty make-up for Miss B.

 Nerf Dart Guns for Case

 Spiderman Web Shooter for Ledger.

 Lego Mindstorms for Brody

 Cupcake game for Miss B.

 Chess set for Brody.

 Microphone for the rock star!

 After we finished opening presents inside, we headed outside to see if Santa had left anything.  Sure enough there were bikes for Case, Ledger and Berkley.  Brody got a cool new longboard.

 Santa forgot that Ledger doesn't ride a bike with training wheels anymore.

 But Miss B. does.  After about 5 minutes of learning to ride a bike, she was off and riding all over the neighborhood.

 H and Nicole arrived for breakfast and more gifts.

 Presley showing off her necklace that Sugar brought her from Italy.

Christmas morning bliss.

Merry Christmas!

 Front of card

Back of card

Christmas Eve 2012

 Every year on Christmas eve we head over to Nanny and Papas house for dinner and gifts.  This year was as exciting as the rest with the big cousins.  

 Getting ready for dinner.  We were an hour late and Nanny was not happy with us.  Sorry Nanny!

 Ledger getting the tickle torture from Cole.

 Miss B. waiting so patiently for her presents.

 Ledger could hardly wait to see what Nanny and Papa got him for Christmas.

 Miss B. was so happy when she opened her Bitty Baby.

 Case loved his hockey sticks and net.

 Aunt Missy gave Miss B. "Tangled" pajamas and a crown.  She was in heaven!

 Nanny Sears and Papa.

 Ledger got the Madagascar movie and wig.

 Not sure where Brody got this horse head but it was hilarious!

 After the party at Nanny and Papas house, we headed home and opened our pajamas and books.  We then loaded up in the ranger and went to look at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood.  It was bitter cold on Christmas eve but we enjoyed our ride around the neighborhood.  

When we got back home, we quickly made cookies for Santa.  Luckily for us, my cute friend Ellen brought over a complete cookie decorating kit ready to use.  This was a huge lifesaver since we never got around to making cookies for Santa.  Then it was off to bed for the kiddos so that Mr. Claus and I could finish getting ready for the big day.  Although we were up till about 1:00 am wrapping and still shopping (yes it pays to know the owner of Freedom Board Shop of Christmas eve) we got it all done and got a little sleep!

Christmas Tradition

The other day at ward council, Bishop had us go around and tell one of our favorite Christmas traditions.  Being that it was early in the morning and I was sleep deprived, I couldn't think of my favorite Christmas tradition.  I opted for the easy temple light tradition without giving much thought to the question.  As the day went on and I thought about this, I realized that one of my favorite Christmas traditions is the cemetery visit with my kids. After church on Sunday, we headed over to the cemetery to decorate my Dad's headstone. I hadn't been to the cemetery all month and was surprised to see that there were not many Christmas decorations this year.  In years past there have been large wreaths on easel type stands surrounding the cemetery.  Not this year.  There were also not many people at the cemetery as there have been in years past.  We decorated a nice tree on my Dad's headstone and then walked around enjoying the quiet winter day. I thought about what Christmas would be like if my Dad were still here.  Would we have carried on with our same traditions or would we have made new ones now that we have kids of our own.  I wondered if we would still load up in the back of my Dad's truck during the weeks leading up to Christmas to pick oranges and deliver them to our family friends?  It was one of my favorite childhood memories.  After we would pick the oranges, my Dad would hand us a black Sharpie marker and let us draw faces on the top few oranges in the bag.  We would then drop off overflowing grocery sacks of oranges to our dearest friends. How excited they must have been when we showed up.  I thought about the Sunkist gummy orange slices that my Dad would get from The Mesa Citrus Growers.  They were a HUGE treat with friends because for whatever reason, my dad was the only one who could get them.  We would devour them every December.  I can't help but wonder if these things would still be tradition for us if my Dad were still here.  My hope is that my kids would be the lucky ones enjoying these traditions with my Dad.  If only they could have known him here on earth.  They wold have loved his dusty dirty truck and plaid shirts.  They would have enjoyed meeting him at Elmer's for lunch on a work day.  They would have loved picking oranges and working on farm equipment at the Greenfield and Brown house.  Hopefully they would have been on Posse rides with their Grandpa Harvey while learning the simple life of a cowboy.  Now all I am left with is memories to share with my kids.  Hopefully one day they will understand the kind of father he was and they will be like him with their own kids.  

Ledger's Winter Sing

 Today Jeremy, Berkley and I, Sugar and Jim, Nanny and GG Sears all headed over to the school to watch Ledger perform in his Winter Sing.  He looked so cute standing on the stage waiting for the performance to start.  It is hard to believe that my baby boy is in kindergarten.

 Ledger was super excited for today.  Being that his 2 brothers had their winter sing last week, he was excited to show us what he has been practicing all year.  
 And then....as we were waiting for the program to start, the boy right behind him threw up all over the place and they had to call the janitor to come in and clean it up.

 Then the kindergartners sang their 4 songs.

Love this cute little reindeer.

Berkley's Christmas Dance Recital (Squeal!)

I'm just warning you right now that this post is going to be a picture overload!
 On Monday, Jeremy and I were able to attend our first dance recital for Berkley.  We were so excited for this that we could hardly contain ourselves.  When we arrived at the dance studio, Berkley changed into a sparkly red costume.  We could have stopped right there and just played in the costume for an hour because she was giddy with excitement.  She twirled and spun, giggled and shook.  She was in heaven.

Then it was time for the "recital."  This girl was hilarious!  She talked to her teacher Miss Jennifer for the entire hour.  She fell on the ground every time she was supposed to do, "shuffle step."  She talked to the girls next to her.  We have determined that she is ADHD because honestly she was all over the place. Here she is doing, "boogie, woogie."

 "Heel together."

A little, "shuffle step" mishap.

 "rock back and forth."

 Here she is showing us her, "SUPER SPIN!"

 "bounce"

 Oh goodness!  Where's Miss B.?
We forgot her ballet slippers that day so she danced barefoot.

"Teddy Bear, I will Always Love You."

 Doing the teddy bear dance.

 Yelling, "Santa Claus Is Coming!"

 All pretty dancers need flowers from their daddy!

 So cute!

  Miss Jennifer is the best!  Her daughter Shea was in my class way back in the day.