Christmas Wrap up

Warning - This will be a long post of pictures, but I have been slacking off lately and need to catch up. Christmas started on the night of the 23rd. My sister and her family came up from Smithfield and we had a nice dinner, the kids favorite BINGO, and presents at Grandma and Grandpa's. Once again the kids were spoiled by the grandparents, but they were excited to get a jump start on gifts and Christmas.

The girls and their new Legos.

The boys got new Leapsters ("gameys"). They have been without for awhile since all three of the old ones broke. Grandma and Grandpa made their day. On Christmas Eve we headed back up to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a yummy breakfast and then the kids got to decorate and eat sugar cookies. My favorite was Aiden. Every cookie he decorated he thought he had to eat. So he was taking bites out of all of them. I put a stop to that and he wasn't to thrilled, but he stuck with the decorating anyways. There were some pretty darn good decorating skills displayed, but the boys get the award for most sprinkles used.

On Christmas Eve, we had a nice dinner together at home and then the kids opened their Christmas Eve gift, pj's. After they got all ready for bed, we watched a movie of all of our pictures and memories of the past year. They thought that was fun. Then off to bed to await the arrival of Santa Claus. Everyone but Paige fell right to sleep, Paige struggled, but she finally gave up.

The kids woke up bright and early on Christmas Day. They were so excited to get downstairs to see what Santa had brought them. Good old Santa came through and they all got what they had asked for. Paige an art set, Kayla a Barbie Princess and the Popstar castle, Aiden a Thomas the Train James train set, Brock a Thomas the Train set and Collin a Thomas the Train Percy train set. They were so excited.

Brock's favorite were his new Baby Einstein DVD and CD. He was so excited when he opened that. Aiden loved his Little Einsteins movie also.

Collin had been asking for a green airplane so he was thrilled to finally get one.

We had a great Christmas and the kids once again got spoiled but they had a great day. The boys asked me the few days after Christmas how many days to Christmas and I told them they had a whole year to wait. I am glad they finally quit asking.

Temple Square and Christmas Party

We headed back down to Utah last weekend for the Nielson family Christmas Party. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Christmas Concert at the Conference Center. Matt and I decided to take the girls this year. We went a little early and walked around (in the rain) and saw the lights on Temple Square. The girls haven't been for a few years, so it was fun for them. The concert was so good. It featured Alfie Boe and Tom Brokaw. The music was incredible. It was a fun time.

(It is nice to finally have someone old enough to take a decent picture of Matt and I together.) Saturday was the family party. We started with the guys and Paige playing some basketball. Then the kids got to frost sugar cookies and do a pinata. We had a yummy lunch and then we had a visit from Santa Claus. The kids put on the Nativity play and then the cousins exchanged gifts as well as the adults and we had a lot of fun. It was fun to see all of Matt's family, except for one nephew who is on a mission. It was really fun and made the kids alot more excited for Christmas.

The line up of cousins waiting to hit the pinata.

My cute angel, Mary, shepards and wise man.

Monday night we took the kids to the carosel to see Santa and go for a ride on the horses. It was fun for them and they loved seeing Santa.

The countdown is down to five days left. The kids are super excited and the girls only have one more day of school until their break. It will be fun having them home for a week. Matt also has some vacation to use, so that will be fun be home all together. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our friends and family.

Gingerbread houses

I made a mistake this year by taking the boys with me when I bought our gingerbread house. The second we got home they wanted to decorate them. I was able to hold them off a few days by hiding the box and they forgot about it. They were each able to decorate their own this year and the boys absolutely loved it. Brock's is by far the winner of the most candy used and Collin was very picky as to where he put his candy. It is fun to see their personalities come out in how they decorated their house.

Thanksgiving

This year we were able to head down to Utah and spend a few days with Matt's family. Thanksgiving day there was only us, Matt's parents and his sister Angela's family. It was really nice and fun to see all of them. We were able to go to the new James Bond movie "Skyfall" with Matt's brother Shaun and his wife. It was fun. The kids loved all of the cousin time and the fun sleepovers. I was also able to do some Black Friday shopping and I got most everything I wanted and I didn't even go out until 9 a.m. All in all it was a really fun weekend. The weather was gorgeous in Utah too, that is why the kids have bare feet in the picture.

The boys were so funny. They were into playing games on the Kindle with their cousin Noah.

Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween. I decided to sew the kids costumes this year. Paige was easy. I had made an indian costume for her for a school program, so she just wore that. Simple.

Kayla started as a witch. I made her a cute cape and we had striped tights and the works. One problem. Her hat wouldn't stay on. So, for the first dress up (for the trunk-or-treat the night before) she was a witch. For Halloween she was a black cat. It was cute on her and she didn't seem to mind that she had to switch costumes.

I had a theme that I wanted to do for the boys, M & M's, and I thought they could each be a different color. That was perfect for Aiden and Brock because they were really excited about this. Collin on the other hand had a different idea. He got into his head that he wanted to be Peter Pan. I tried and tried to change his mind, but he wasn't buying that. After no convincing, he got his Peter Pan costume. When all was said and done I actually think I liked Peter Pan the best.

We carved pumpkins on Monday and the kids loved it. The boys got to use stickers and markers and they were definately very creative. They all had a lot of fun and I think we got some pretty cute pumpkins.

Between the trunk-or-treat at the church and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, the kids got a lot of candy. They are in heaven. I am trying to control the intake of the candy, but that doesn't always happen. I am kind of glad Halloween is over, now we can look forward to the rest of the holidays.

Family Pictures

We were able to get new family pictures a few weeks ago. The turned out pretty good. The boys lately squint their eyes and have weird smiles, so the family picture could have been better, but it isn't horrible. We got them taken up at the College Gardens and it was so pretty up there. As I have been looking through these, I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up.

Coeur d'Alene

A few weeks ago Matt and I were able to go to Coeur d'Alene. He had meetings with work, so I tagged along and just relaxed and didn't do much. I did some shopping, reading, and nothing. I met up with my good friend Tara. She lives in Spokane and came over one afternoon. We met at the Coeur d'Alene Resort and went to lunch, had pedicures and then went and got a Gooey. A very fun day and a fun time talking and catching up with Tara.

The kids were able to stay at my mom and dad's for the week and they had a really fun time. Sometimes it is really nice to get away. I was glad to get back to the kiddos though and they really missed us.