Our Christmas 2010

This Christmas was the first year we have been completely alone as a wee family. As much as I love both our families it was kinda perfect and lovely having it just be us.

I've so enjoyed starting new and adopting traditions that we will continue each Christmas time.

We began Christmas Eve with the traditional drive to see Christmas lights. We found a neighbourhood about 10 mins from us that had the best house lights I have ever beheld. Blew my mind for reals.

Once we returned home, the wee ones opened their new p.j's before sitting down for some mediocre chocolate mousse....I will attempt to perfect it by next year.

Whoever found the sweetie in their mousse won a prize that the family could enjoy.

(Setting out Santa's cookies and the carrots for the reindeer)

And oh did the whole family enjoy! We had a brilliant time playing 'Hungry Hungry Hippos'. It has become a nightly ritual before bedtime since then.

On Christmas morning the wee ones arose around 8am. Decent time....I was very grateful. I can only assume it will get earlier in the next few years as they become more and more excited about their presents. Jack was very excited this year though...so much so that on a couple of occasions he couldn't stand how slowly Peter was opening his presents and so took over. Ryan and I made sure Pete got his gifts back and I could tell Jack was having a little trouble being patient. In my family growing up we each had our own pile that we attacked on Christmas morning and then we looked to see what everyone else had gotten after....I never had a problem with it and still don't...it was plenty fun. However, we decided to do it Ryan's families way and each take turns opening a gift. Someone is assigned the role of 'Santa' and finds each person a gift of theirs to open from under the tree when it's their turn. It's way fun this way too. Jack was our wee 'Santa' this year.

(Helping and then taking over unwrapping Pete's gift)

As I have mentioned before Peter is obsessed with Toy Story, specifically Buzz...so in his stocking he got Jessie and Woody. He walked around with all three in his arms for most of the day.

Peter main gift was the mega block pirate ship.

Jack's main gift was the Batcave, he really loves it.

We had a pretty yummy dinner, which after hours of preparation is always over way too soon, but it's always worth the effort.

Each year I make sure we have Christmas crackers to pull at the dinner table...a tradition from home I will never give up...it's brilliant fun.

The crackers were a hit with the wee ones, especially the hats, or the "crown" as Jack called it. Peter kept his on for the entire dinner...amazing, eh?!

An Anniversary

This isn't a very recent picture, but it's one of my favourites of Ryan.

6 years today with this guy.

He's pretty great.

It's Christmas time!

I feel a little pressure to update the blog. So, here it goes. These past few months have been busy, but really great. I so loved having my sister and brother in law here with us for 2 weeks...and I miss them terribly. I always have the hardest time in the few weeks after family leaves, but thankfully I had enough distractions this time around to keep my mind off of my Scotland home.

A group of girls from my ward and I started a preschool co-op. There are six of us involved and so far it's going fairly well. The children are beginning to adjust to the structure of it and getting along with each other pretty good for the most part. It's so nice to have a little more one on one with with Peter for a couple of hours twice a week and I actually quite enjoyed preparing for the short lessons when it was my turn to teach. It's reminding me of my teaching days and even though I thought for a minute "aww I kinda miss this", I really don't and I'm much happier at home with the wee ones.

For Thanksgiving this year, we were invited by Ryan's aunt and uncle to come out to Reno,Nevada. Their son, Jake, was getting ready to go on his mission to the West Indies and they thought it would be nice to gather the family for the holiday before he headed into the MTC.

I dreaded the thought of the 10+ hour drive out there, but we broke it up on the way out and stopped in Medford for a night(5 hours away) before tackling the remaining 5 or so hours the following morning. Peter hates his car seat and always has, so he successfully made the trip to Medford miserable for everyone, but thankfully he slept most of the morning/afternoon the following day. We didn't hit any major snowfall which made for a smooth trip all around. We had had to get some things fixed on our trusty old Buick le sebre before we left and a couple of new tires, but she didn't die on us which I consider a small miracle.

It was a really brilliant trip despite the tight sleeping quarters(17 of us under one roof!). The wee ones had loads of people fussing over them which meant I got a lovely break, plus I didn't really have to do much cooking either...always fantastic. On Friday we went wedding dress shopping with Callie. She ordered a really beautiful dress...here's a wee peek. She's going to have a different jacket that Liz will make.

A few photies of Jack...you'd think it was still Halloween at our house and not almost Christmas. Right after Halloween I went out and bought a couple of cheap costumes for him to play with and he has not stopped wearing them. He thinks he's pretty cool, and Peter couldn't agree more.

SPIDERMAN

DASH INCREDIBLE

When we got back from Thanksgiving in Reno we continued with our new tradition of going out and cutting down our own tree. Later that night we decorated it and then had some delicious hot chocolate. The wee ones loved staying up a little later than usual. Jack is really excited about Christmas this year...he has a REALLY long list of toys he wants.

Liz came back to ours after Thanksgiving and has been here with us for a week...she leaves tomorrow and I know it's going to break wee Jack's heart when she goes.

Lastly, just for the record I have to include these photos of Peter. This kid is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear. He walks around with these toys most of the day "making them fly" as shown in the picture below (of course, there is a whooshing sound that accompanies the flying) , and kissing them fairly frequently. It's hysterical.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!