Christmas happenings

We've been able to do lots of festive things this month!

Lights at temple square with the Morris fam

Miss Belle

 Ashton striking a pose

Jackson had zero interest in having his picture taken that night.

Jackson and his buddy Dax at a neighborhood gingerbread house party.

 

Making our annual family gingerbread house. I decided to simplify this year and bought a gingerbread house kit from bountiful baskets. I highly recommend it-- still homemade, just not by me! :)

Bode's new favorite thing. One of those mesh food holder things. He LOVES it.

Try not to be too jealous of our gingerbread decorating skills. This year's is a beaut!

It wouldn't be Christmas for the Whittington side of the family without breakfast at the Little America coffee shop in Salt Lake. My parents stay there every year and this year we were able to spend a night there also. We all (minus Thomas and Megan) were able to go to the Motab Christmas concert either Friday or Saturday. I always look forward to the concert and enjoyed it again this year.

Jackson and Sean sleeping in 

Breakfast! 

Swimming in what I still consider one of the best hotel pools ever.

We walked over to the Grand America and checked out their holiday window displays. They have a fun game for the kids that goes along with the displays and at the end they each get a sticker and cookie from the sweet shop.  The kids (and adults) all loved this one in the new Jou Jou toy shop window. It's one of those ball maze type things-- very impressive and on sale for a mere $10,000!

Life-sized gingerbread house

Sean's parents are visiting for Christmas and we were lucky enough to have them stay with us for a few nights. It was great to spend some time with them and the boys were so excited to have them here.

A few random pictures

I call this hat the "Better Off Dead Hat" because it reminds me of Ricky. :)

Bode fell asleep on me awhile back and Sean snapped this picture. 

 

I love this sweet little face.

Christmas has been a lot of fun this year with Jackson. He is really into it and is loving everything-- reading the Christmas story, nativities, the music, lights, Santa, Christmas movies, sweets, etc. His favorite songs are "Sleigh Ride" (instrumental version) or "the horsey song" as he calls it and "Jingle Bells." His lyrics often include, "Jingle bells, poo poo smells…" hmmm… wonder who taught him that? He's asked Santa for a train set this year and is pretty excited about it. Naturally, his favorite movie is "Express" (Polar Express). He's also a big fan of "Mickey's Christmas Carol" and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." He calls our stockings "costumes" for some reason and I've given up trying to keep the tree looking nice. He loves moving the ornaments around and we even found a big stash of bells inside the hole in our bedroom door (you know, the hole he punched in our door with his forehead eight months ago…). Along with all of the fun, we've made a big effort to teach him about Christ and explain to him He is the whole reason we celebrate Christmas and get to do all of these fun things. In his prayer a few nights ago he said, "Please bless Jesus and Santa will come to my house." :) 

I think we're ready for Christmas!

Family pictures

We had some new family pictures taken awhile back. My friend Ashley took them for us again and I am so happy with how they turned out! 

Watch out, ladies! ;)

This picture may be my favorite!

Ashley, you rock! Thank you so much! 

http://irresistiblephotography.com/

Santa and a new stocking

The boys got to sit on the big guy's lap today. Jackson was so excited and has been asking me about going to see Santa all week. He ran right up to him and said his line he has been practicing-- "I want a train set, please!"

 I didn't have the camera in focus yet, but I thought this picture was still so cute.

Bode grabbing Santa's beard to make sure he is legit! ;)

 He is!

 We all got a good laugh and thankfully there were no tears or hesitation this year.

On another note, I realized we needed a stocking for Bode. I made some for Sean, Jackson, and I a few years ago and copied some designs I liked out of Crate & Barrel. I looked to them again for inspiration and found these cute ornaments:

I used the sledding one as my guide to create Bode's stocking.

I thought it turned out really cute!

Glad Bode now has a stocking ready for Santa :)

Every year when I take out our "J-O-Y" stocking holders it causes me to pause and be grateful. I bought them after Christmas several years ago with the anticipation of having our first child by the next Christmas and needing three holders. We didn't have a child by that next Christmas-- or the one after that. Those Christmases where the stocking holders remained in their packaging were difficult. The following Christmas, I was about to give birth to our sweet Jackson. Having to buy an extra holder this year because we have expanded to a family of four is very humbling and a sweet reminder of how grateful I am for our little boys.

Thanksgiving 2011

My parents had a full house this Thanksgiving! All four of us siblings and our families were able to celebrate together this year. It was a really nice holiday and so much fun having everyone together. We also were able to spend time with Sean's sisters and families and a few of my uncles and aunts. I am grateful we could spend Thanksgiving with many (not all!) of the people we are most grateful for. 

The whole family

It is no secret my mom is a great cook. Her turkey was awesome this year, as well as all of the rest of the food. Her rolls are renowned and we needed two batches-- one for Thanksgiving dinner, and one for leftover turkey sandwiches :) My contribution was the sweet potatoes of holy goodness (thank you Erin for the recipe) and a few pies-- gf pumpkin and a coconut cream pie with a chocolate crust that Sean and I love. We also got to indulge in some very yummy pies at Erin's house. My niece Riley made the prettiest pecan pie I have ever seen!

We didn't venture out too much while we were home (no 1 a.m. Black Friday shoppers here), but we did make a quick trip to the mall and saw the movie "Arthur Christmas" friday afternoon. I thought the movie was cute and it was fun to go with the kids-- even if Jackson lost interest halfway through and started crying and yelling about needing to go to the bathroom :)

These guys had a great time together

These are all of the cousins on the Whittington side. Thomas and Megan will be adding a new little one in March!

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving.

We have a lot to be thankful for.