Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Christmas 2015

Each year I think Christmas could not get any better, and then this year came around and it has become my favorite Christmas thus far!

Christmas Eve

We took the kids to Lowe's Extreme Airports with my sister's and brother Todd's families. Despite being the most crowded it has ever been when we've been there, the kids had a blast and got out some of their energy.

Dressed in their Christmas pjs and ready for bed!

White chocolate covered Oreos for Santa, carrots for reindeer, and a note from Jackson telling Santa to thank "Sweet Cheeks" (the elf) for writing to him at school :)

Jackson had a bit of trouble falling asleep from all of his excitement, but when he finally did, Santa came!


Christmas morning

We had some pretty excited boys who woke up around 7am and were ready to open gifts!





Bode's big gift he wanted this year was an RC monster truck. Jackson was SO excited he got the Xbox One and the game Forza Motorsports

Davis wasn't quite sure what exactly was going on, but he was in a great mood and loved all the excitement.

I was excited to give my family the denim quilt I have been working on for the past few months. I have always wanted to make one and have been saving old jeans forever, and I finally did it! It was a ton of work, but I am so happy with it. I envision it being used for many future sporting events and picnics.

One of my favorite gifts I received came from Sean. He gave me this onesie for our little girl. It is so soft and it means so much to me that he picked it out as a surprise. He got it in the size that should work for her to wear for the Fourth of July. I immediately thought of how cute she'll look wearing this with a red bow :)

The aftermath!

One of the things that made this Christmas so special was waking up to a foot of fresh new snow. It snowed all night long and was so beautiful. It felt so festive and it was a lot of fun since it is the most snow we've had in a really long time, and maybe ever since I've lived in Utah. We pulled the boys on the sled behind the car in the afternoon, and it was fun being holed up in our warm house with the fire going the rest of the day.


The sunset on Christmas was beautiful.

Our family likes to do a nice dinner on Christmas Day, and I look forward to this dinner all year long!

I am very proud of how the prime rib turned out this year. My best yet! It was SO good.

My other favorite: homemade white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry sauce. 

We really did have such an amazing day together as a family. It was so nice not having anywhere we had to be and just relaxing and enjoying Christmas. When we went to bed that night, I was emotional thinking about how lucky I am and what a great Christmas it had been.

The day after Christmas we headed up to Idaho to spend my mom's birthday with her. We went up to the cabin the following day and stayed a few days. On the way to Island Park we had  great view of the Tetons.

I really didn't take many pictures while at the cabin. It was a lot of relaxing, time in the hot tub (for the boys), a trip into West Yellowstone to go to the rock shop (the boys' favorite place), and more sledding.

Davis was really into pinball this trip.

Sledding behind grandpa's truck

And now, here we are. Home, Christmas all put away, and another birthday behind us (Jackson's 7th). It was the best Christmas we could ever hope for, and I am so grateful!

Christmas happenings

Before Christmas we made our annual gingerbread houses and proudly displayed them on the counter. Sylvia was visiting, so she got to join in on the fun!

Davis LOVED having easy access to all of the candy options!

Finished products! From left to right: Nana and Bode, Jenny, Davis and Sean, Jackson

This year we did a Lego advent calendar, which was a huge hit with the boys.

Jackson's first grade school sing! After looking like he might pass out last year, he smiled just like this the entire time this year. It was so cute!

Bode's preschool Christmas program was a lot of fun also. Here he is with one of his buddies from class :)

Lucky for us, we've had a lot of snow so far this winter. The boys and I had a lot of fun one afternoon building this snowman, dubbed "King Bob" by Bode. This was one of my very favorite things we did in all of December.

We also continued our tradition of eating breakfast with my parents at Little America one morning and then checking out the decorated windows and giant gingerbread house and the Grand.

There is never a shortage of things to do in December. Even though it felt crazy busy at times, we had a really great time this year!

Christmas card 2015



Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Davis turns 2!

This year Davis's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving, so we got to spend the day with lots of family. We kept things very low key this year. We went to see "The Good Dinosaur" earlier in the day with cousins and headed to pizza that evening. 

We had to wait forever for our food, but Bode wearing his mustache from the quarter machine helped entertain us for awhile.

 After pizza we headed to my parents' house and opened presents and had cake. 


It was a whole bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles from both sides of the family, and it made it so fun. I'm so grateful for everyone who came to celebrate with us.

He was so cute opening this Mickey Mouse. I'm happy I caught it on camera.

I didn't even entertain the notion of making Davis's cake this year. No regrets about it whatsoever. The cake was darling, tasted great, and I didn't have to make it! I think I liked decorating/making cakes more when I had fewer kids and more time! ;)

All that really mattered was this Mickey Mouse obsessed boy loved it!

Singing to the birthday boy!

Happy birthday to this sweet boy!
Stats at 2 years old:
Weight: 33.8 lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 35.8" (89th percentile)
Some notes about Davis at 2:
-Still loves his pacifier and calls it "mimi" just like Bode did
-Has turned into quite the independent little dude. Doesn't like you to do anything for him! Won't hold your hand, wants to open everything on his own, feed himself, etc. He doesn't even like you to hand him his cup sometimes because he wants to get it! Funny sometimes, frustrating others!
-Can definitely hold his own with his brothers and tries to copy everything they do
-Loves to sing and his favorite songs are "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "We Will Rock You" by Queen
-Mickey Mouse obsessed. Gets VERY excited when he sees a Mickey or we turn on the show
-Still loves racing across the house. Starts at the pantry and says "Ready, set, go!" and runs to the chair in the family room
-Chatting up a storm and tries to mimic anything you say
-Loves watching basketball
-Walks around the house with as many Hot Wheels in his hands as he can hold. It isn't uncommon for him to be holding 3 in each hand at a time
-Can navigate a phone and touch screen crazy well and is obsessed with cell phones. We basically have to keep them away from him
-Favorite movie is "Wreck-It Ralph" by far
-Loves Vespa rides
-Takes long naps every afternoon
-Our pickiest eater so far
-Loves all of his grandparents and is always so excited to see/talk to them
-Even with as independent as he is, he is a great snuggler and gives the best hugs!

My favorite photos of Davis ages 1-2

Here is my annual birthday post of my favorite pictures of Davis since his last birthday. It always takes so long to compile, but it is worth it to me and a good chance to reflect on the past year with this guy!

December 2014







January 2015







February 2015




March 2015












April 2015



June 2015

July 2015






















August 2015





















September 2015




October 2015
























November 2015