Santa Came to our House!

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Christmas Eve Surprise

Doesn't every little girl want a pony for Christmas? Well, Sadie got one! Okay, so it isn't a real pony, but it is just as fabulous. Grandma Joy got her a riding pony named Lucky. She hasn't quite figured out how to ride it but she wanted to share a treat with the pony. Such a nice girl!

Viva Las Vegas!

This week we went to Las Vegas. My sister and her husband were graduating with Masters Degrees from UNLV. The trip was a lot of fun and Sadie was so excited to see her two cousins, Leah and Annie. The driving seemed much longer than what it actually was, but Sadie did okay for the most part. We had plenty of Barney videos to keep her entertained.

A Star Is Born!!!

Today we had the pleasure of going to Sadie's preschool Christmas Sing-Along. It was the first time that Sadie was on the big stage and she did not shy away. She loves the spotlight!!! She knew most of the songs and the actions. We also saw some new moves we havent seen before! We had so many people come up to us after the performance and say that they couldnt stop laughing at Sadie. She is the cutest thing, she really makes us proud. I cant get the silly video to download, but I will keep trying and post it when it works.

Christmas Party

All ready for the party!

Laughing with Ethan

Rocking in the big chair

GOTCHA!

Tonight we had a Christmas party at our house. Our friends and their kids came and it was super fun. We had dinner and had a gift exchange. The best part of all was that Sadie found herself a new little buddy and it is a BOY!

Little Miss Impatient

Tonight as I was putting together some Christmas gifts, I noticed that Sadie was "eyeing" some of the presents under our tree. We had just received a package for her from my aunt in Colorado and she seemed quite obsessed with the Santa box. Well, I got caught up putting some signs together and realized that Sadie wasnt in the room anymore and that the Santa box had disappeared! I quickly found her in my room ripping into the box! I tried to tell her "no, no" but I could not help but to laugh. So, I let her finish opening her present while I snapped some pictures.

Christmas Memories

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I do not really care for both, but if I had to pick, it would be Hot Chocolate. Egg Nog is the sickest product ever made, it is like drinking a gallon of slimy boogers. No Thanks!

Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree? What? There is a Santa that just sets presents under the tree? Santa best be wrapping my presents!

Colored or white lights? I like all lights, AS LONG as they all match. I cant handle the houses that have mis-matched lights or that have only one strand that blinks. Get it together people!

Do you hang mistletoe? No, I dont need some plant to get lovin!

When do you put your decorations up? Right after Thanksgiving

What is your favorite holiday dish? I love the breakfast casserole we have Christmas morning, yummy!

Favorite holiday memory as a child? My favorite would have to be waking up really early Christmas morning and waking up Rachel and Peter. We would sneak downstairs and check out the goods and then go back to one of our rooms and fantasize about all our gifts. We would wait until we heard our dad come up the stairs to use the bathroom and we would make a mad dash to the basement.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I am not quite sure. I think that my older brother Peter told me for the first time. He also showed me where my parents stash was and I frequently visited the spot to see the status of gifts.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Of course, any red-blooded American should.

How do you decorate your tree? Right now, my decorations consist of snowflakes, jingle bells, glitter balls and ribbon. My colors are silver, baby blue and red.

Snow: love it or hate it? I love the snow as long as I am at home. I HATE driving in it, makes me super nervous.

Can you ice skate? You bet!

Do you remember your favorite gift? When I was about 8 or so, I got a Walkman that I thought was the coolest thing. I had Paula Abdul's tape that I listened to over and over. Straight Up Now Tell Me!

What is the most important thing for you about the Holidays? Teaching Sadie about baby Jesus and being with family and friends.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pumpkin Pie

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to The Forgotten Carols. Each year all the girls in the family go see it, we have been going now for ten years! It usually is at the first of December and it is a great way to start out the holiday season.

Which do you like best, giving or receiving? Giving! I love to go Christmas shopping.

What is your favorite Christmas song? God Bless Us Everyone by Celine Dion

Do you like candy canes? Sure

Favorite holiday movie? Christmas Vacation (Griswold) Can't see the line can you Russ?

We love play date!!!

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Today we had our Christmas Play Date, it was lots of fun! The kids were able to exchange gifts with one another and it turned out very nice. What a fun time of year! As a mom, it was great to see the excitement in each child as they opened their presents. I am grateful for my friends and their adorable children.

Sadie's Christmas Letter

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Winter Wonderland!!!

This morning we awoke to a fresh blanket of white snow and Sadie and I decided to go out and play in it. Sadie was not too sure of the cold at first but quickly learned that her gloves were a necessity. We had a lot of fun building a snowman, we cant wait for Daddy to come home and see it!

ABC's of ME

A: Attached or Single? Very much attached

B: Best Friend? My debit card

C: Cake or Pie? Pumpkin Pie

D: Day of Choice? Thursday. Charlie is off work and Grey's Anatomy is on. Yummy!

E: Essential item? Eyelash Curler

F: Favorite Color? Pink

G: Gummi Bears or Worms? Bears all the way! They are also excellant dipped in chocolate.

H: Hometown? Clearfield, UT

I: Favorite Indulgence? Pedicures

J: January or July? July. Fireworks baby!

K: Kids? One girl, Sadie

L: Life is incomplete without? My family

M: Marriage Date? August 14, 2004

N: Number of Siblings? Four total, two girls, two boys

O: Oranges or Apples? Oranges

P: Phobias or fears? Failure

Q: Quote? "Know thyself" -Socrates

R: Reason to Smile? It is Christmas time!

S: Season of choice? Spring, I love the rain

T: Typical bed time? Nothing is typical in my life, I bed down when my body wants to

U: Unknown Fact: I have a secret desire to have my own judge show like Judge Judy one day

V: Favorite Veggie: I think that is an oxymoron

W: Worst Habit: Swearing...I have a mouth like a trucker

X: X-Ray or Ultrasound: I have had a couple of both over my lifetime

Y: Favorite Food? Hashbrowns and Bacon

Z: Zodiac Sign?Aries

Bursting with Christmas Spirit

For FHE this week, Sadie and I decided to put up our Christmas tree. Charlie had to work, so we decided to suprise him. Sadie was a big help and liked hanging the ornaments on the tree, although she did try to eat the candy canes. I got out the Nativity set and Sadie had fun saying all the sounds of the different animals. I told her that the little baby in the manager was Jesus and she seemed puzzled at first, probably because all of the pictures she has seen of Him are from when He is older. I told her that Jesus was once a baby like her and he went "night-night" in the manager. She looked at me for a minute and then ran to her room and came out with a blanket. She handed it to me saying "kie, kie" which is her way of saying blanket. She was pointing to the Nativity and I realized that she was bringing a blankie for Jesus to go night-night with. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. I think that Heavenly Father gives us these moments to remind us how special our children are and how we as adults should be more like a child. Anyways, below is our Christmas tree.

Usborne Book Party

I have just started being an Usborne Book consultant. Usborne books are great, affordable and educational books for children of all ages. I am hosting an Usborne Book Show on December 6th at 7:00 pm and everyone is welcome to come. The party will be at my house and I am hoping to make it fun and enjoyable. This is a great opportunity to get some Christmas gifts and ideas. Feel free to come and bring a friend. You can look at the cataloge of all the books Usborne offers at http://www.usborne.com/.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving even though Sadie and I were not feeling the best.

Sadie was excited because she got to sit in a big girl chair and be at the table with cousin Leah and Grandma Joy.

We are very thankful we were able to spend the day with our families.

Sunday Afternoon Madness

Sadie has a couple pf pairs of these things called Baby Legs. They are used to keep legs warm and come in cute, funky designs. They are also way more convient for diaper changes because they just go up to the upper thigh. She had them on today for church, but when I went to take them off, she flipped! She apparently really enjoys them. We stripped her down for lunch, we were having pizza and we knew it would get messy. So Sadie ate lunch in her diaper and leggings. Afterwards while we cleaned up she was running all over and it looked hilarious. She looks like she has casts on both legs. I snapped a few pictures to show off Sadie's chubby legs.

Happy Little Camper

We got Sadie this tent while we were at IKEA this week. We have had it up in our living room and Sadie thinks it is the best thing ever. She dives head first into the thing and just rolls around. We came home from church and it was the first thing she went for (along with her ever present bottle). This has been one of our best investments yet, it keeps her occupied all day long.

Sounds and Colors

Sadie and I were relaxing today after a long trip to IKEA. She was busy playing with her new CandyLand game and was just jabbering away. She is hilarious to listen to. I decided to get my camera out and see if she would do something funny and she did not let me down! Sorry the clip is sideways, but it is still super funny. Her facial expressions are the best!

What a great Halloween!

This Halloween turned out to be so much fun! Sadie had two costumes, one was a kitty and the other a lamb. She enjoyed going to all her Halloween parties and being able to knock on all the neighbors doors. She also liked to help mom pass out candy to all the trick or treaters. Sadie loves pumpkins and seems to think they are balls, she tries to kick or throw them. She wasnt too thrilled with carving the pumpkins, she did not like the messy pumpkin seeds.

Sassy Sadie

This is one of Sadie's newest pictures. She loves her UGG boots, so we had to make sure they were in the pictures.

New Beginnings

Okay, okay! The blog bug has finally got me. I have loved looking at our friends blog pages and decided we needed to join the crowd. Plus, it seems that our life is continually changing and we have lots to share with everyone.

We have some very exciting news....drum roll please.....we finally found our dream house and have spent the last week moving in. It has been quite the process but well worth it. We finally feel like we are "home." The house is in Layton and Charlie loves being back in his home town. I will post some pictures after things are settled.

November 1st was another big day for us as well, a day that Charlie and I have been anticipating for a long time. Charlie applied to the University of Utah's Masters of Social Work program. We are putting our faith in our Heavenly Father that Charlie will be accepted and that new and wonderful opportunities will come his way.