{ camera sneaks }

I guess this is what happens when your kids find your camera . . .

{ Uncle Mikey }

I love my brother. I can't get over how grown up he is. He has become such a wonderful man and I'm so proud of him.

My baby brother Michael just got back from a trip to New York to visit Laura and her kids before he leaves on his mission in March. When he got home he called me and asked when he could come up and sleep over at my house. I told him we would be down in Orem later this week for Brent's wedding but he said after spending time at Laura's house with her kids, he wanted to come stay here and play with my kids. What a stud!

The kids were pretty pumped all day waiting for uncle Mike to get here. When he got here they played wii, and hide and go seek. Then after dinner we tried to go bowling but it was league night so we ended up at Chuck-e-cheese!!

{Uncle Mike playing skee ball with Lewis}

Next up was Sonic treats and watching Despicable Me! Uncle Mike hadn't seen it yet!

It was really hard for the kids not to wake up Mike in the morning because they wanted to play. I let Sophie wake him up a few minutes before school so she could play with him before she left.

He was still here when Sophie got home from school and played another round of hide and go seek with her. She was in heaven! She kept calling him Mikey, it was so cute.

I know my kids will always remember the time when Uncle Mike came to sleep over.

{ Ayden "the dancing man" Hammer }

Ayden is my dancin man. It's his passion. Not just performing and getting all the attention for it (although he is becoming increasingly aware of that benefit) but just moving to music. He does it all around the house, he never stops moving.

I completely relate to him. I remember countless times my Mom asked me to please hold still . . . but it just wasn't possible. I loved moving my body just like him.

He has had a few opportunities to perform with the Utah Jazz Kids recently. The first was when they were able to perform on Good Things Utah! I wish I had a link where you could watch their performance! It was darling!

{Waiting in the green room for their turn to perform}

{ Practicing backstage }

They interviewed the kids after they danced and Ayden's cute little face was all over the screen! He even got to show off his tumbling skills!

The ladies on Good Things Utah were really nice about letting us on the set to take pictures with them. The kids had a blast! What a fun experience.

I'm so proud of this guy!

Next up was his second Jazz game of the season. It is an all day adventure . . . but we love it!

We meet at the ESA at 3 to practice on the floor. There is just something so cute about seeing my baby girl crawl around on the floor I danced on so many years ago.

I'm always extremely nervous when they are waiting to go on. But not this guy . . . nope he's pumped!

{ Proud Mother and tired sister waiting for the next timeout! }

They look so tiny on that huge floor! Once again they pulled off an excellent performance. The crowd went wild!

{ Christmas day }

Our kids actually slept pretty well on Christmas eve and didn't get up until 6:30! I was predicting 5am so it was a pleasant surprise.

My family had a tradition of meeting in the parent's room for a prayer and to visit for a minute before the madness begins. We carry on this tradition and I love it! It's a strange feeling to be on the other side of it. Hard to believe I'm the parent now and these are the traditions my kids will hopefully want to carry on.

After the family prayer, my Dad would always go turn on the lights and go make sure Santa came. That is my job . . . and it's one I love. The kids line up shortest to tallest (we had to change it to that from youngest to oldest when everyone started passing up Laura) and walk out to see the gifts!

There's always a moment of silence when they come out. I think it's the overwhelming feeling of excitement and magic of the moment. At least that's what it was for me. But I do miss Christmas morning with my brother Brian. He was the most excited, let out the most squeals of delight, and made it that much more fun.

First things first . . . they had to take their scooters for a spin!

Then they started opening presents which is my favorite because we always get some classic faces. Sophie and Ayden are so animated!

This year Soph was pretty into the opening part and not as much into what was actually in the presents. She blew through her pile pretty quickly!

A few days before Christmas I took the kids to the store seperately and had them pick out a gift for each other. Last year when I did this it was a lot harder for them to grasp the concept but this year they were awesome. They really thought about the other person and were very excited to give their gifts.

Ayden asked the elf on the shelf to bring some treats and balls for Boston. Santa didn't disappoint!

Once Myla woke up the kids helped her open her gifts. She obviously didn't really understand what was going on, but she sure enjoyed the attention.

{ Boston had to be part of the action }

{ cute sisters }

The kids played with their toys for a bit and then we headed to the Hammer's for more presents!

There are always a ridiculous amount of presents awaiting us!

They decided to open presents in by family in order oldest to youngest which made our children the last to open. It was very hard to wait but they were very excited when it was finally their turn!

It was another incredible Christmas with many family members and lots of love.