Cutest Aprons ever!

I almost forgot to post about the cute aprons that my friend Marissa made for Ashlynn, Samantha, and my neices, Danica and Bryhn. They were so darling, she does such an amazing job. Marissa made me one for my birthday that is pink and brown, and she made all of the little girl's in pink and brown also. They looked so cute in them on Christmas morning. Marissa also made aprons for my Grandma and my Mom. They were so cute also, but I forgot to take pics of them. I did get a pic of the girls, though. This one's for you Marissa! :) Everyone check out Marissa's Etsy Site, Marissa Magnolia (link on my blog roll).
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Package from Grandpa and Grandma Morris

Unfortunately, because of the weather we were not able to make to Idaho during our Christmas trip. It snowed and stormed the majority of the time we were there. So, we ended up taking all the gifts for my family back to Las Vegas with us and I shipped it to them this week. We received our package from them this week too. While the kids were at school I took all the gifts out and put them under the tree (yes, my tree is still up...) so that the kids would see them when they came home. They were so excited, it was like having Christmas all over again. Samantha got a life size Barbie that she now carries all over the house with her. Everytime I pass the thing, I see it out of the corner of my eye and think it is a real kid. Samantha has already undressed the doll and tried the clothes on herself, and they actually fit.

Getting fun packages has been one of the fun things about living down here. We can usually expect something fun on most Holidays and Birthdays, it makes us feel a little bit of home here.

Christmas 2008!

Okay, so I am a little slow getting Christmas posted, but what can I say? Life hasn't slowed down around here at all, and I'm so tired by the end of the day that I want to go to bed instead of get on the computer. So, I apologize to all my blog-stalkers for the wait.... lol ;)

This year we traveled to Utah to my in-laws for Christmas. For the two years we lived down here, we were lucky to have them come here. This year we all figured it was our turn to go there. We had a great time, we always have a lot of fun when we are all together. We left Tuesday night and got there at like 2 or 3 in the morning. It was nice to be there for Chritmsas Eve. We thought we might not be able to because Dustin was going to have to work, but he ended up not having to. We always let the kids open a present with pajamas in it on Christmas Eve, and this year Dustin's parents started the tradition of filling stockings for the kids and letting them open them on Christmas Eve also. I really liked how this worked out. I think the kids paid more attention to their stockings this way. I have always felt that stockings get kind of over looked on Christmas morning because of all the "bigger and better" presents. Gloria did a good job of filling the stockings with lots of fun and entertaining stuff. One thing being, some stuff called "FLARP" Noise Putty. We all decided that if the kids would have received nothing else for Christmas, they still would have been perfectly happy with just that. My kids think that any type of "fart" sound is hillarious and this is exactly what "FLARP" does. They were seriously entertained by it for hours. Some other simple things the kids seemed to be entertained with, ......a few practically deflated helium balloons, and Nana's shoes. Which leads me to wonder why we always stress and worry, and spend so much money on toys and other stuff that they are only excited about for 5 minutes, when really all they need is some "FLARP" from the dollar store. Who knows?.... Christmas morning is always like a whirl wind. Paper and bows flying everywhere, and who knows what anyone gets, but boy, do they have fun for the 10 minutes that it lasts. Christmas morning is much different with Dustin's family than it is with my family. My dad always wanted to see us all open everything, so he would hand out one present at time, most often, youngest to oldest, thus making Christmas morning last much longer. He would also have us put all of our paper in a garbage sack as we went, eliminating the sea of paper everywhere. I guess a little more orderly, but no less fun from my perspective. The end result is the same, I just think it is interesting how different families do things. What about you all? What are your Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning traditions?

I think the most exciting part of Christmas for me this year was receiving an armoire for my jewelry from Dustin's parents. I have wanted one of these for so long and I was so happy! I feel much more organized now that my jewelry is all nicely enclosed in one place... Some other exciting gifts for our family were Guitar Hero World Tour for the Wii, and also Wii Fit. We have already had so much fun playing the drums on Guitar Hero! Dustin will even play the drums, he is usually not a fan of any kind of games..... but this one has actually got him hooked, I think. ;)

The rest of Christmas day was spent taking a long nap (for me), snacking, and visiting. Friday, Gloria, Shalise and I went shopping and got stuff to make watches with. They are so dang cute! They are similar to the "Bumble" watches that everyone is wearing. We always enjoy making things together and usually end up doing one craft type thing everytime we go up there.

On Saturday we all went to see the movie "Bolt" in 3-D. I think we all really enjoyed the movie, it was one of the cuter animated ones I have seen lately. Sunday, was the dreaded day when we had to leave, everyone always gets a little teary eyed when it is time to say goodbye. We are thankful for the fun times and memories that we always take home with us, and we always look forward to the next time we can be together.

Candy Train

Ashlynn's Primary teacher, Sister Fausett had a Christmas party at her house for the kids in her class. Ashlynn had such a fun time. They had pizza, played games, and Ash's favorite part, made a candy train. She was so proud of her's that we had to take a picture. Our children have been so blessed to have such wonderful Primary teachers who care so much about them. It was hard for the kids to start a new year with new teachers this past week..... but I'm sure that they will end up loving them just as much.

Honor Roll

We are so proud of Dillon and Ashlynn, they were both on the Honor Roll for the first Trimester. Congratulations to both of you! We are so proud of you.....