Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas 2009

This year Christmas was lovely for the most part . It really does make a huge difference having your own children to enjoy it with. It was fab watching Jack get so excited on Christmas morning. He was up first at about 8am and I took him up stairs to look over the presents for just a few moments. He was desperate to get crackin' on the presents, but we waited until Pete and Ryan were awake.
Both of the boys got pretty spoiled. I had done quite a bit of shopping on Black Friday. I totally stayed within our budget, but the kids got more for their buck I guess, due to the sales.
Jack was in charge of giving each person a gift to open when it was their turn. And he took that opportunity to help you along with the opening process as well. He was very sweet.

After the gifts I cooked a deliciously unhealthy breakfast. It was all going great until about noon, when Jack suddenly had a fever. If you know Jack you know that nothing slows that kid down. Well, I picked him up and within about a minute he was asleep in my arms. He slept for about 2 hours, woke up with a raging fever, wouldn't eat anything and then went back to bed for another 5 hours. It was so sad that he was unwell on Christmas, but he did get to enjoy the morning at least. Pete was fine thankfully and had great fun playing with wrapping paper for most of the day.

At about 2pm Ryan's family came up to our house. We exchanged some more gifts and then had dinner at about 5pm. Having never made the Christmas dinner before, I felt a little bit of pressure with all the family there, but it all went off without a hitch. I decided on a ham which was a nice change. Ryan's aunt Julie told me she thought it would all go great so long as I wasn't cooking a haggis! Ha. Maybe I should have. I did have a lovely Scottish table cloth and some christmas crackers from home on the table.

Here are a couple of cute pictures of my wee pete to start off with. I love this wee guy so much. He just started on some 1st foods, cut his 3rd tooth, is sitting up great, and is beginning to edge forward a little bit. I am hoping that he does not start walking at 8 months like Jack did. I love the sitting phase, he is so happy and content with just a couple of small toys and he loves to watch Jack running circles around him.

My wee chunky cutie
Jack taking a quick look at the presents on Christmas morning
Jack with his stocking stuffers
Pete's first gift
Jack in his Thomas hideaway tent
Mummy and Jack
Jack with his Thomas carnival track
Jack wasn't too happy about this picture getting taken
Pete with his 'Rex'
After his first nap...poor wee guy was still so unwell
I felt way less homesick this year than I previously have at Christmas time. I don't know if it's because we were in our own house this year or what. But it is so nice having our own home to start some family traditions in.

Friday, December 18, 2009

December 18th 2004


Ryan and I were married in the Orlando Florida Temple 5 years ago today.

My wee brother Neal

My grandpa Clark on the pipes

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RYAN! IT'S BEEN A WONDERFUL 5 YEARS!



Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Getting in the Christmas spirit

On Saturday we had Ryan's work Christmas Party at the Lake Oswego Country club. It's very fancy. We enjoyed a delicious brunch, caught up with Ryan's old buddies from the Utah office, and even had a visit from Santa. Jack was petrified of Santa. He cried when he arrived and wouldn't go any where near him. Consequently, we don't have any pics of him with Father Christmas. Pete, on the other hand, was brilliant! He grabbed hold of his beard and grinned from ear to ear. It was so funny. We'll see how he acts next year.
Jack decorated a christmas cookie after the brunch, but only ate the MM's and then tossed it. What a surprise. Both boys got a present from Santa and now Jack is getting even more excited for Christmas day. I'm pretty excited too. It's so much more fun with wee children.
Here are Ryan and Jack decorating the Christmas Tree last week for Family Home Evening.

We took this one ourselves with the timer, so it ain't great. But we want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!