Christmas Morning 2013

The pictures of Christmas morning are pretty sparse. Eric and I traded off taking video and holding the baby, so the pictures came at the end, kind of an after thought. It was so fun seeing the kids get excited about their gifts. I wish I could make them that happy every day. Glad we have video to relive it throughout the year. It was definitely a merry Christmas.

 We love Frozen around these parts.  This girl has been working on memorizing the soundtrack.

 Henry loves to take his gun outside and practice on moving targets like Max or birds, etc.  This has been a well-used present.

 Santa's big gifts this year was new bikes.  Lillie's doesn't have training wheels and doesn't know how to ride it...yet!  We need to keep working on it.

 Glow pets are great gifts for kids afraid of the dark.  It is surprisingly bright.

 Ian is modeling his new bib.  A much needed gift.  He also got some clothes and toys.  Not very exciting for him this year, maybe next year sweetheart.

 Mega Block Barbie house from the grandparents.  Lillie and I had fun this week putting it together.

 Henry wanted superhero stuff this year.  Capt. America dress up was a big hit.

 Monster slippers from the Beus' were not the best bike riding foot wear but he wore them all day!

Eric's big gift from Santa was this Seahawks jacket.  He actually really likes it and didn't know what it was before hand, so that is a successful year for Santa.  Phew.

And that is it for pictures.  I should have taken one of all the mess that opening presents left behind.  It took a couple of days to clear all the trash out and to find places for all our new treasures.  I had to completely reorganize the kids room to fit it all in.  I don't have any pictures of myself unfortunately, but I did get an electric pressure cooker and a fancy watch, so I must have been pretty good this year. 

Christmas Eve

We spent the daytime hours of Christmas Eve in Solvang and while we were there, Lillie started to act strange.  She wouldn't eat any of her brunch, crepes with powdered sugar and syrup, which she loves.  And she was really lagging behind as we walked from shop to shop.  She complained of being really tired so we headed home.  We had stayed up late partying the night before, so I thought that was the reason, but when we got home she laid in bed and napped.  And that girl NEVER naps, unless she's sick, so we knew something was up.  When she woke up 2 1/2 hours later, she had a fever of 101.4, so we called our friends who we were planning on having dinner with and canceled.  Luckily we had gotten a ham and so we had that in addition to the potatoes and rolls that we had already made for that night.  Lillie didn't take a single bite.  She laid on the couch for the rest of the night.  We still managed to squeeze in making cookies for santa, with extras for us to eat with hot cocoa while we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  We finished off the night acting out Luke 2 with just our little family.  Eric and Henry had to play multiple roles, but it was a success.  It was not the night that we had originally planned, but it was actually really nice to have a low-key night to really focus on our family and the birth of the Savior.

 Snuggling with Dad while watching the Grinch.

 Enjoying warm chocolate chip cookies with hot cocoa, Santa's favorite.

 Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, at least we had the 3 most important roles covered

Ian played his part so well!

Solvang and Ebelskivers

No Christmas on the central coast is complete without a trip to Solvang. The city was all decked out with Christmas décor which was great since it was mid-70's on Christmas Eve and wouldn't have felt right otherwise. We visited the Christmas store which is amazing, gawked at the prices of the wooden candle fan nativity thingys (not sure what it is really called, but we want one) before heading to another place to purchase our ebelskiver pan. We realized a few months ago that we needed a new pan and took one home this trip. Sooo glad we did too, they are so delicious. It was the perfect activity for Christmas Eve.

 

Christmas Party 2013

The Thomases, Isaacsons, Heaths and our family got together for a Christmas party.  We played Christmas themed Minute to Win It games, the kids ran around crazy and we ate lots of yummy appetizers and treats.  It was the hardest I'd laughed in a long time, so much fun!

Lillie's Gingerbread House and Christmas Projects

I was able to go to Lillie's class to help her decorate her gingerbread house of the last day of school before Winter Break. She would put one piece of candy on the house and then two in her mouth, but eventually the house was decorated and her sweet tooth was satisfied. Unfortunately, on the walk to the car, the gingerbread house slid off the plate and onto the dirt. She cried so hard, you'd think she was close to death. She did eat the parts not covered in dirt and Henry didn't mind a little grit and so most of the house was devoured. Also pictured are some of the projects that she completed at school this year.

Father Son Skydiving

One morning Eric casually mentioned that he and his dad should go skydiving. His dad didn't say no, didn't say much of anything and so Eric went ahead calling to see if they were going that day and scheduled an appointment for them at 1 that afternoon. Lyle didn't seem excited to go, but never said no or backed out and so they went! This was his dad's first jump and Eric's second. We didn't know which jumpers they were, until we heard a yell from way up in the sky. We knew it must be them. I think they had fun, although Eric's dad did say that Eric was the only one that could get him to do that. I think the fact that it was such a spur of the moment thing, kept them from getting too nervous about it. Definitely a bonding moment and one that they'll never forget!

 

Ian's Blessing

 

 

 

 

While Eric's parents were here, we blessed Ian.  It was kind of a last minute planned event, such is life with your third child, but was a wonderful, low-key day.  I hadn't tried Henry's blessing clothes on Ian until Saturday night, and they didn't fit.  Not even close!  So luckily my sister Julee had given me this white button up and he had some grey corduroy's that were Henry's that did fit.  So that was his blessing outfit!  But he looked handsome, we love this sweet baby.  We had asked a couple friends to be the circle the night before, but one didn't get the text and was late to church and the other is a dentist and had a dental emergency to attend to that morning, so it was just Eric, Lyle and two members of the bishopric.  But that's okay.  The blessing was nice, such a special event.  Ian is such a wonderful addition to our family.