Merry Christmas 2012!

We had a wonderful Christmas and I just have to say that having little kids during Christmastime is so awesome!  The spirit is so strong and the excitement is great!  We were able to have a Christmas here at home with my parents on December 21, 2012

Ellie helped pass out all the presents.  She was a really good and helped Gavin open his presents too;)

My mom surprised me with an awesome straight iron so I can try to curl my hair more often

We got my mom a new printer that scans so she can do more of her genealogy

And my dad some nice shirts

Patrick got a new Xbox game from my parents

I just love how happy Gavin is in this picture.  We got him the jumparoo and he was excited to be able to be up and looking at everyone without being held

Ellie with all her presents.  The Lorax, Doc McStuffins with Lamby, a dr kit and the spinning thing you sit on and turn

Gavin with his gifts.  He was more interested in sucking on everything then seeing what he actually got...Jammies, Jumparoo, a toy truck, and a poppin dino

We then headed up to Layton to spend some days with Patrick's family.

December 24, 2012: All the boys watching cartoons in the morning

 We had the annual family get together for Christmas Eve.  It's always so great with yummy food and a program.

It even started to snow and Ellie got to get all decked out and make a snow angel.

Christmas Day!

Santa came and left his footprints all over the carpet.  Ellie was super excited!

 He brought presents

 And ate his milk and cookies

 When all of the presents were being handed out Gavin was getting a little lost.

 We found him.

 Last year Ellie loved all the bows.  This year we had to convince her to let us take a picture with just one bow.  She is so cute!

Here is Gavin in my stocking that Grandma Cassity made.  We have a picture of Ellie in her stocking and needed to get Gavin too.  He was not happy at all about being shoved in the sock...

 Gavin and all his loot:Clothes,bibs, balls, plate and bowl, soft blocks, books, a blow up panda bear you can punch, a picture book with the alphabet and church themes, car books, cow and football rattles and a truck.

 Ellie with all hers: Princess castle and 7 princesses, bath toys, toothbrush holder with cup, candy land, barbie Cinderella, alphabet church book, look and find books, clothes, princess squinkies, candy, books and oranges.

  We had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending all the time together.  So glad we have family so close and can see them a lot.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts and Fun

I love Christmas and always have!  I really love all of the traditions that people do and ways to make it fun and bring the spirit.  I remember growing up we always did fun things, whether it was making yummy food, shopping, going to see Christmas lights or doing the 12 days of Christmas, it was always really great.  I decided this year that I needed to just have some little crafts to help Ellie get excited and to keep her from getting bored(since we didn't want to take Gavin out in the cold too much)  We found lots of ideas on Pinterest and went to work.  It was fun to be able to watch her create and see the fun ideas she has!  I love her so much!

November 25, 2012-Gumdrop Snowflakes This one was a little harder for her.  The toothpicks kept breaking, but she still had fun

November 30, 2012-Marshmallow Snowman She was so careful to put each marshmallow on the lines and loved painting with them.  She may have eaten a few also:)

 

 December 1, 2012-Live Nativity

We went to a really cool live nativity this year in Alpine.  It was so much fun and I think it helped Ellie to see how it would have been.  We took a hayride to the place.

  They had real animals which Ellie loved seeing.

 They had a marketplace where they showed things that would have been going on in that time period. 

 They even had guards that would come and talk to you.  They came and asked about our baby boy and Ellie was a little scared.

The wise men told all about there gifts.  Ellie listed so good!

We wore Gavin out.

Then you could walk in and see baby Jesus.  It was so peaceful and had a really special feeling. 

 Christmas Calendars 

We made our Christmas Calendars for FHE.

19th Here is Ellie getting her candy for the day-She loved it!

December 4, 2012-Gingerbread Cookies

I loved doing this as a kid and had fun being able to see Ellie decorate. 

These two make me laugh so much!  Same facial expressions all the time!

Love having Grandma play with us!

 

Gavin had a good time too:)

She especially loved the sprinkles and really enjoyed licking all the frosting off:)

 

Soooo Goooooood!

 December 10, 2012-Elf Mail

We had an Elf that brought a present to Ellie each night, so in the morning she would run downstairs to the little mailbox to see what he left.  It was so much fun to see her get so excited.  I didn't take any pictures:(  but he brought tons of fun things.  Princess shoes, snow globe, chapstick, candy, pens, snowman plates, a cool snap bracelet, hair clips, and these water paintings.

 Santa Countdown-We had this hanging on the fridge with a little baggie that had cotton balls and a glue stick.  It was fun to be able to put a piece of Santa's beard on each morning.  We will probably keep this one going each year too.

December 11, 2012-Letters to Santa

I love how focused she was.

Whenever I asked Ellie what she wanted she would just say presents and toys.  She is pretty easy going still and will be happy with anything:)  I love this age

Fun Snowman Lunch with bananas and pretzels.  She ate them all!

 December 14, 2012-Layton City Lights and Santa

 We have been to look at the city lights for a couple years and this year decided it would be fun to take a hay ride through.  It was FREEZING!  I think it would have been fun, but it was really, really cold and raining!  We still had a good time.

 Thanks Uncle D and Uncle Eric for braving the storm with us.

 Grandma and Grandpa took Gavin with them in the car so he would be nice and cozy.  Then they played at home:)

We stopped and got some dinner and Santa was there.

December 17, 2012-Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees

Once again she loved licking the frosting and sprinkles:)

 

Nativity Family Home Evening Scavenger Hunt-I saw an idea of reading the nativity scene and doing a little scavenger hunt for each item.  Ellie really enjoyed this and it helped to learn what each person did and represented.  I think this will become a tradition

December 22, 2012-Candy Cane Fruit and Snowman Donuts

 

 We have had such a great month!  I love my cute family!