Some Kind of Wonderful: December 2011

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Family Photos

Chelsea did a 15 minute photo session while we were in Montana. I told everyone to keep their eyes open, look at the camera and smile no less than 72 times. Hmmm . . .

Pregnancy photos at 38 weeks. (oh yeah, I'm only 24 weeks, I just look 38 weeks!)

We are due at the same time. Can't believe it!

My sweet sister is having twin baby boys so we decided to have a shower while we were both home for Christmas. It was so much fun. (And, exactly 1 hour 15 minutes long. That's MY kind of shower). We had three different kinds of cake pops (lemon, almond and chocolate), PW's Asian Noodle Salad, fruit kabobs, and mini souffles. Chelsea was a beautiful guest of honor! We played Baby Shower Bingo (play bingo with baby items as the mom-to-be opens gifts), viewed baby photos of party guests, ate and opened gifts. It was lovely! And, yes, I took every single idea off of pinterest :)

Christmas in Montana 2011

We made the 15 hour drive to Montana this year for Christmas, and it was worth every minute. We all agreed that this was one of the best Christmases ever! I have so many happy memories of Christmas with my family and love being able to share the traditions I grew up with, with my children.

The boys played a lot of basketball in the garage.

We went sledding with the Nels and Andrea Pearson Family up to Red Lodge. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day! The snow was fluffy and sparkling. Ian won the award for going up and down the hill the most times. We even had the opportunity to get three different vehicles "un-stuck" from the deep snow. Great memories!

Grandpa brought his 4-wheeler to truck kids up the mountain (thank heavens).

Christmas Eve at Great Grandpa and Grandma's house. Always perfect. I always get teary thinking, it is my favorite all-time memory with my family.

Pregos.

Santa Claus even stopped by!

Hunter helped many people open their gifts. Ian opened his gift from Payton and exclaimed, "Man, you are sooo rich!" (the gift was a golf ball return for putting practice and we have a $15 limit).

The hostess with the mostess. Grandma, always lovely!

Christmas morning diggin in to the presents.

Lalaloopsy doll was high on this sweethearts list.

Cosmo the Cougar (BYU''s mascot) has left us each a gift the past few years. Wonder how he always seems to find us . . .

Kevin's family has a tradition of the last gift being nerf guns for all the boys. The youngest boy gets a "mack daddy" on, while the men just get little "pea shooters." It was hilarious! Ian was just pelting everyone while they were getting their guns out. The women were laughing so hard we were crying!

Notice the dolly highchair my dad made for Meggie in the above picture. He also made the perfect dolly bed.

Uncle Cody

Going out to feed the cows with Grandpa.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Pre-Christmas with G&G

Grandpa and Grandma and their sleigh full of toys came up from the Bay Area for the weekend. We are spending Christmas in Montana, so we needed to have "Pre-Christmas" celebrations with them. We had a lovely weekend. We walked the quaint downtown shops of Truckee and ate at a fabulous pizzarria. Then came home and had a big present opening extravaganza. Of course, my battery went dead right after the above photo. The best moments were when Megan got her Rapunzel doll (she started screaming, ran around the room and even got teary-eyed). The next best moment was when Hunter opened one of his gifts and raised his little arm triumphantly in the air!

Mom and Dad with their boy.

Thanks for the great weekend!

Gingerbread House party

We had such a fun little party this week! We made gingerbread houses. Lots of frosting and even more candy adorned our little castles. There were great friends and great food.