Bread Bears!

I remember when I was younger my mom and I made bread bears.  She got the dough all ready and my friend, Sherry, and I made them into bears.  We also made alligators one time.  It is such a fun memory that I wanted to make them with Ellie.  She was a bit little, but still did great and most importantly had a fun time making them.

They turned out really great and were delicious!

Gavin was a little upset because he just wanted to eat his and not have a picture taken:)

I'm so glad for a mom who did things with me and made me have the desire to make those memories with my kids!

Bathtime Fun!

These 2 are my everything.  I love the so much and can't imagine life without them.  I love seeing the joy that comes from little things....like playing in the bath!  They love to play in the bath...especially when bubbles are involved!

 Being Santa

Horsie Ridin'

One night at Patrick's family this happened!  It was so late and so funny.  I love this family that I married into!

Gavin 16 Months

Here are some things Gavin is up to at 16 Months!

• Gavin of course loves to play with anything that is Ellie's and be like her.  He likes to carry around her baby and she is so good to share with him....most of the time:)  I also love how kids sit like this on there feet.  They are just so cute and tiny:)  Dec 9
  
• He is saying so many new words this month.  Some of them are, spike-when Grandpa Brown touched his hair and called him spike, he touched his hair and says spike now and giggles. He says cheese for pictures, all done, milk, more, bink(binky), door, hello, bye, bed and bath
• Gavin is a smart little guy.  He went to shut some doors in the living room and one had the diaper bag on them, so it wouldn't shut after he had already shut the other one.  He was smart and opened them both up and shut the one with that bag first.  Dec 10
• Gavin likes to fall asleep in his bed, but every once in a while I get some snuggles. And I LOVE it. Dec 11
  
• He thinks it's hilarious to wear big socks.  Tonight he was sporting daddy's socks around. Dec 19
  
• Gavin loves to climb.  I have a feeling he is going to be into everything.  He has always had a hard time at Classic Fun Center, but today was able to climb more than he had and make it up things he couldn't before.  Dec 20
  
  
• Gavin loves smoothies!  Dec 21
  

I absolutely love this little guy and his fun sweet personality!

Happy 8 Year Anniversary

For our anniversary this year, Patrick and I were pretty lame:)  We dropped the kids off at Grandma Judy and Grandpa Cassity's for the night, Dec 27, and headed to Salt Lake.  We found a deal to stay at the Radisson and when we got there we immediately went to take a nap.  However, as we climbed into bed, there was a dirty rag that smelled like Windex!  So not cool!  We called the front desk and they said they would come and change the bedding, so we decided to head to the Gateway for a movie and dinner.  We tried Z'tejas,

which was delicious and then honestly we just went to another movie...I know I said we were lame, but it was so fun to just be together and be able not worry about anything.  We had walked to the Gateway from our hotel and this winter has been bitter cold, so after the late movie we froze on our way home.  We did stop at Starbucks for some hot chocolate though and it helped a ton!  We thought our room was hilarious because it has these little spot lights next to the bed.

The next day we walked around City Creek and relaxed.  Then headed to a restaurant called Flat Bread Pizza that was also soooo yummy!  It was so nice to spend time with just Patrick and I.  Happy 8th Anniversary babe!

Merry Christmas

Santa Came!

But when will these 2 kiddos wake up!
Growing up Santa always left footprints at Patrick's house.  I LOVE this and we started doing it ourselves this year.  It was so fun to watch the kids see Santa's footprints and squeal with excitement.

This year Ellie asked for a Clip Clop Castle from Santa.  He didn't disappoint and she was so happy.

Gavin didn't really understand quite yet but got a basketball hoop and I can tell this will be a fun thing for him for a long time!

Ellie was so excited to keep reaching in her stocking to see all she got.  She got some EOS chapstick and thought that was so awesome!

It was hard to get a picture of either of the kids not blurry because they wouldn't stop moving from all the excitement.
I took the kids(with Aunt Krista's help) to Color Me Mine and had them make some mugs for grandparents with their hand prints on them.  They turned out amazing!

They also made an awesome picture frame for Patrick

Ellie is her Snow White dress

Gavin figuring out how to get the paper off of his block train.

Didn't take too long and he was ripping it off.

Ellie is an expert at unwrapping:)

I got Patrick a Shiatsu massage chair-he's wanted one for a long time!

 Gavin found a box to enjoy:)

Fun animal noise toy.

Ellie and her unicorn light up pillow.

Grandma and Grandpa got Gavin a Jake ship-he kept examining it really closely until we got it all the way out of the box.  He was so happy.

Ellie got the Strawberry Shortcake dolls from Grandma and Grandpa and was equally excited!

 Aunt Krista with a new purse.

 We had our yummy Christmas breakfast casserole and tried a new recipe of monkey bread that was delicious.  Also, fresh squeezed orange juice-my favorite!

We had such a great Christmas morning!

 

Ellie's haul!

 Gavin's haul!

Christmas Card 2013

Christmas Eve

We had a really great Christmas Eve day and eve.  We started out the morning with yummy reindeer pancakes.  I think they turned out really cute and the kids loved them.  This may need to become a tradition.

We had our Christmas dinner tonight because we are headed up to Layton tomorrow afternoon so we can talk to Uncle Eric while he's on his mission.  We always have roast and yorkshire pudding for Christmas and I LOVE it.  Patrick is not a huge fan of yorkshire, but maybe one day he will like it as much as me....probably not though:)

Gavin enjoyed his dinner:)

Then we got our cookies, carrots and milk all ready for the Santa to come

Ellie loved being able to help with everything!

Then read Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Luckily Ellie and Gavin are still small enough that they went to bed pretty good without being kept awake from excitement.

I really love being able to be a mom and watch all the fun that this holiday brings to my children.  It is so much more fun now to be able to plan and watch their excitement on Christmas morning.  Can't wait for tomorrow!