Christmas !!!!!

Wow!! What a whirlwind of activity. Christmas came and went. I love Christmas. It is as though the world stops for a day and no one goes anywhere or is needed anywhere and I have my family all to myself and their is magic in the air. It also helps that we got almost a foot of snow on Christmas. It just adds to the magic. We started Christmas out on Christmas Eve. John took the kids sledding at the hill. They had a blast. While they were there, they saw two other neighbor families sledding as well. What fun.






Then that evening Travis and Andrea and family came for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a great dinner. The kids always have fun playing with their cousin McKayla. We read the Christmas story. I love this night. It is the easiest night of the year to put the kids to bed. We looked on the internet and found where Santa was and all I say is Santa is in Colorado, he will be here in 1 hour. If you are not asleep he will pass our house and we won't get any presents. My kids run up to bed and all were asleep within 10 minutes. I remember being a child and I could never sleep on Christmas Eve because I was so excited. I am still that way. I still can't sleep.




Then Christmas morning comes and John and I are the first ones awake. (I really haven't been asleep yet, because I am so excited). So I get up and make a little noise and hop back into bed and the kids wake up. They come in and say, is it time to go see what Santa brought. Then it is all over from there. We all rush downstairs and see what Santa brought. It is all so magical. I love having children. They make life so worth living. I think this year tops one of the best Christmas' I have had. I don't think it is because of the presents. It is because my family was all together. John has been out of town so much with work, it was nice to have him home for 5 days in a row. It was so peaceful and wonderful. My children all were very happy with their gifts and I just love that the spirit is in our home so strongly on this day. The magic of Christmas truly is because our Savior was born and did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. I truly know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and lived and died for us. I know he loves each and every one of us and he will make our burdens lighter. He won't take them away, but he will give us the strenght to make it through them.

Here are some pictures of Christmas day.












We also got almost a foot of snow!!! Here are some pictures.

To top it all off, Joshua lost his front tooth!!! Yah!

Family Christmas Party

Last night we had the Atkinson Family Christtmas party. It was a great time and good food. We had prime rib and the kids all did a talent and then we exchanged family gifts. Grandma gave Abigail a sweater that she knit and money for the boys. They loved it. Wyatt got a new outfit. Here are a few pictures.

Abigail's Dance Recital

Tonight Abigail had her Christmas Dance recital. She did so wonderful! And she looked too cute to boot. Great job Abigail.

Piano Recital

So tonight we had an informal piano recital here at our home. Here are videos of the boys playing their songs. This was Joshua's first ever piano recital. Way to go Joshua!

Christmas Decorating

So tonight for FHE we decorated a gingerbread train. The kids had fun. Wyatt wanted to to be right in the middle of the action touching all the colorful candy. After we finished decorating the train, we went upstairs to brush teeth and get ready for bed. When we came back down, it had all fallen down. Oh, well! One less decoration I have to have cluttering my house.

Cute Girls

So the other day Sienna, Brooke and Kate were here to play. They all dressed up as animals and dragons and monsters. They were so cute. Here is a picture.

Santa comes to town

So this morning was our ward Christmas party. It was good food and we had a special visitor. The boys loved sitting on Santa's lap. Abigail said she wouldn't be scared this year, but when Santa came bouncing through the doors, she wasn't about to sit on his lap. But she did tell him that she wanted a doll house from a distance. Here are some pictures.

Decorating for Christmas

Well, we finally got our basement painted. John and I stayted up late Saturday night getting it finished. Everytime I paint it always takes a few days for me to adjust to the color change. Our motivation to paint was so we could get our Christmas Tree put up.

We decorated our tree on Sunday. The kids had a good time. It really un-nerves John to decorate the tree because the kids are so handsy. They want to help with everything. But it is fun and now we have our decorations up and are ready for Christmas (not with the shopping part though.)




You can see our new paint color behind the tree.

Happy Thanksgiving

So for Thanksgiving we went to my parents. They are doing well. My Dad can hardly walk now. But everyone seems to be doing well. We had great roads the whole way. There are not many Thanksgivings that we travel without snow. My kids had a great time playing at Grandma's house. The food was good and we ate a lot. Wyatt did a lot better this trip. He didn't cry at all like the last time we went.

Go BYU -- Not

So yesterday, we cleaned up all our leaves. (only to have more fall). I think they will keep falling until it snows.

Then later in the day we went to a BYU vs. University of Utah football game party. Now, I normally do not watch football, but made an exception for this game. My kids all dressed in their BYU shirts and we made blue jello. It ended up being a sad night that BYU lost. But the food was good and we had a good time. I forgot my camera, so not pictures.

Phsyco Oven

So, it had been a very long day. I had cub scouts that afternoon and my head hurt, and my husband was out of town. So we had dinner and then I put the kids to bed. Everyone is sleeping soundly when I remember that the next day was book club and I was in charge. So I had to make a treat. So I was in the middle of baking a dessert when my oven when physco. It starting beeping wildly. I called John and of course, he didn't answer the phone. So I called my trusty friend, Desiree who sent her husband up and he pulled the oven out so I could unplug it. Then she finished baking my desert. (Thank you Desiree) Just my luck, when I have a gazillion things to bake and my oven goes out and no husband to fix it. Oh,well. I guess people will have to be happy with store bought!

Painting

So, on Saturday about 6:00 p.m., I got the bug to paint our living room. Of course we didn't finish Saturday night so on Sunday we had to live in coas. Then on Monday I had to wait for John to get home. We chose a really dark brown and I didn't like it so we started over again on the walls. We painted our backwall a deep plum and I like it alot. We finally got the tan right and now I love our front room. It feels so nice and cozy. But what a crazy few days!!!!

Busy Day

So today was a busy day. First off we had the Laws over while Janalee went to a meeting. I caught a good picture of these boys, and Sarah coloring!!! Funny, because they are usually running around playing Star Wars. Today must have been an off day for them.

Then I Wyatt was smiling so cute, I tried to capture his smile, but my camera takes too long to take a picture. Here are some photos anyway.




Then later on today my kids and their friends went outstide and raked leaves and bagged them. Cool kids. I did have to pay them. Money incents. I am glad that some of the leaves are raked.