ShoPpINg, sHopPiNg, and more ShOppInG!

I LOVE shopping. I always have. And shopping the day after Christmas is the best because you have all your Christmas money to spend.

It all starts with my dad reading the ads and finding out what stores are having what sales, and what time they all open. He is the highlight of the shopping adventure. We have so much fun with him and I'm so glad he likes to come! Then we map out our game plan. We started this last year and had so much fun that we decided to make it a new tradition.

So we got up and arrived at Target just as the doors were opening. We stayed there for about 45 mins (the allotted amount of time) before heading to Macy's, our second stop. Last year we found a lot of good stuff at Macy's, but this year it was a bust. After that we headed down to Modern shoe in Provo. It's this little old shoe store that sells expensive shoes like danskos, merrells, etc. They have really good sales after Christmas, but Laura was looking for UGGs and they weren't carrying them this year.

Next up was breakfast. We headed over to IHOP for some delicious omelets and french toast.

After breakfast we headed back to the mall where we shopped until we literally dropped. It was a blast. I don't get out without my kids much so I really appreciate when I get that chance. So a special thanks goes out to my sweet husband who spent his day off home with the kids. They had a great time together and I'm so grateful for my awesome family.

So it was another successful post-Christmas shopping adventure!

A Wonderful Holiday

I have been dying to report on the wonderful holiday we just celebrated. We had a truly incredible time with our family, and made a lot of great memories. Our Christmas adventure always starts on the morning of Christmas eve when we get together with the Hammers.

They have a tradition of starting the day with a piniatas for the kids. There is one for the boys and one for the girls, and they go in order from youngest to oldest. The kids really love it!

{Sophie with some of her cousins}

After that we head back to the house for some delicious food and then the kids act out the Nativity scene. Brammy made all the costumes so the kids have a blast choosing their part and getting dressed up. Sophie wasn't interested, but was thrilled to be an angel. And he's the cutest darn angel you've ever seen!

Once the Nativity is over, the kids all change and we sing Christmas carols until SAnTa ComEs! He calls them all up one by one and gives them a present. (PJs)

Once the Hammer festivities were over, we headed down to Orem to party with the Rifes! Once again we enjoy some tasty food and act out the Nativity. My family also does a program where the kids all have a chance to perform.

After the program, we put the kids down and the adults stayed up playing games. We had a really good time together.

Our Christmas day is far more mellow then Christmas eve. We started with presents at my parents' and then head up to Salt Lake for presents with the Hammers. We stay in our PJ's for most of the day, and just let the kids play with their new toys and enjoy spending time with their family.

So in the end. . . we had a wonderful week. I am so grateful for the wonderful Holiday and for the spirit of Christmas. And I'm thankful for a wonderful family full of incredible people.

ChriStMaS suNdAY!

All dressed up with somewhere important to go!

PJ kids!

In our family, we all have an obsession with kids in pjs. Nana Jan is a pro at picking out darling pjs for the grandkids too. So we thought it would only be fitting to get a picture of the kids in their pjs.
Sophie has been really sick for the last week so she's not thrilled to be in the picture, but the rest of the kids were good sports.

My sister is in town for 3 weeks for Christmas! Hooray! We have so much fun together. I was lucky enough to have both my sisters come stay at my house this week, and it was so much fun. I love them so much. We always have a good time together.

Ayden and Connor are getting old enough to remember each other even when they haven't been together for a long time. They become instant friends again the minute they see each other.

They had a great time on Sunday night playing with Nana's dress-ups!

Ayden and Abby were in the bathroom together and when asked what they were doing Ayden replied, "I'm just making her pretty!" That consisted of him putting eye shadow all over her face and mascara in her hair.

They also had a great time reading books together.

Aren't cousins the best! We are so blessed with a surplus of cousins for our kids to love and enjoy. That's one of the best parts about Christmas!

We LOVE preschool!!

I have to say. . . I have been so impressed with Ayden's preschool. I didn't know what to expect going in to it, but I have been completely blown away at what a great job they do. He has learned so much and they do some of the most darling and creative crafts. Ayden loves his teacher.

Today, when I picked him up, I got to see this:

Is that the cutest thing? They are talking about Christmas this month and he comes home with some fun new thing every day. I love that he has this opportunity to associate with other kids and use his creativity. He loves to color and write his letters. It's so fun to see him learning so much. And I can't lie, the 3 hr break is nice too!

Hooray for Christmas cards!

I have a huge smile on my face! My Christmas cards are in the mail! It's such a great feeling, isn't it? Every year I start to stress a little about getting them done, and then when I do it just feels so good!

And I have to mention, receiving Christmas cards is one of my favorite parts of this season. I love catching up with friends and family. I get excited every time I walk out to the mailbox starting December 1st, in hopes that I will find at least one card amongst all the junk mail. What a fun tradition.

{Playing dress-up}

This was originally going to be a post about Sophie, and her new found love for dressing up, but I've been thinking about it and I think we all probably play "dress-up" every now and again.

I know that sometimes I look at my kids and think, is this real. Am I really a mom? It seems like I'm just pretending sometimes, ya know. Parenthood is something you think about a lot growing up and you never really know what to expect. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love being a mom and spending my days in the company of these 2 crazy nuts, but sometimes it feels like a dream.

And as far as dressing "up", that is something I miss as a mom. There just isn't any reason to wear nice stuff, spend time and energy on your hair and make-up, when you are going to be scrubbing floors and changing poopy diapers all day. I just doesn't make sense. That's why I get really excited when we have a date planned or something going on that gives me the opportunity to dress up a little.

So back to the point. . . here is my baby girl doing her new favorite thing, dressing-up. She brings me things that she finds around the house (aka boots, hats, jackets, etc) and has me put them on her. Then she laughs at herself. What an angel, I love this girls so much.

This one is for Daddy

We were feeling bad that Daddy missed the first big snow storm of the year. It started snowing last night and it hasn't really stopped. We ran to the store this morning to get some new snow boots for Mommy and Ayden so we could shovel the walk and make a snow man.

Daddy is away for the weekend, working really hard, and we miss him. So this short video is for you Daddy. We were thinking about you and missing you on this snowy day.