My Least Favorite Christmas Present

But they LOVE them ! And that is the most important thing. My two little rockstars!

James Birthday Party

We had a great little party for James 1st birthday. Friday night Cassie and I got together and made balloon cupcakes while the daddies and kiddos played Mario on the Wii. I know we are far from being great cake decorators, but we have a lot of fun trying!
Besides little Miss Hailey and her parental units, we had a few of my friends and their kids come. We had hot dogs, chips, bean salsa dip (thanks Cassie) and red punch. There were balloons in the living room to play with and all the kids liked to play with the presents.

And of course there was cake! And James dug right in and ate 3 whole cupcakes!

I can't believe my precious baby is a year old. Every milestone he hits is so bittersweet. I love to watch him learn and grow but it makes me sad to realize he is my last one to experience those new things.

Anyway, James is an absolute joy. He has a ready smile for everyone he meets and he LOVES his family. We all couldn't imagine our family without him.

Happy Birthday James!

Happy Birthdat Baby!!!

More to come later when the internet is not being so slow!

My poor spoons...

Like many people I have little things around my house that have some special value to me. I rarely keep anything unless it means something. I am not the type of person to put out a knick-knack or hang a picture simply because it matches the decor. A few years ago my aunt-in-law Allyson gave me a set of pretty little decorative teaspoons. I keep these on the shelf in my kitchen next to my favorite bowl and cookbooks. I have them arranged perfectly from the tablespoon to the littlest teaspoon fanned out so you can see the decoration in the metal.

Jonny likes to move my spoons.

I don't know how he figured out that I like my spoons exactly where I put them but he seems to take great pleasure in moving them. When simply sifting them around wasn't enough he hung them from the kitchen light. This is what I found when I sat down for Thanksgiving dinner.
When we went to Utah Jonny and Cassie got our mail, feed the cat and snake, etc. I didn't even think about my poor spoons.

When we got home I noticed a few dishes in the sink and I thought, "I didn't leave any dishes, did I?"

The answer is no, I did not leave any dirty dishes. They were used for a sinister purpose. Three guesses who.

I know the solution is to not care about my pretty little spoons but I can't! Maybe it is part of the obsessive-compulsive side of my personality that I just can't leave it alone. I fear I am doomed.

Walking Man!

Dec. 22
He was just starting to try and let go of furniture.


Dec. 26th
The walking lion was James favorite toy this Christmas and he doesn't like anything to get in the way of his lion. I know I should have stopped him from running down Lila, but it was so cute! Sorry Lila.

Jan. 10

Temple Square

I have always loved to go to Temple Square. I remember visitng as a kid and being blown away by the beauty of the temple. the next time I remember being there was with some friends my freshman year of school. Then I was able to get married in this beautiful building almost ten years ago. They always do such a wonderful job of decorating for Christmas. I love the lights in the reflection pool and the nativity scene with life-like wax figures. Kenny liked the "big Jesus" (the Christus for those who need a translation). I am glad we made a point to go see the square even if it was FREEZING cold!!

Candlelight Christmas at This Is The Place Park

The babies James and Lila at dinner before heading to the park.

We went to This Is The Palce Park on night to enjoy a littel Christmas cheer pioneer style. The entire park has restored house and people acting out the parts of people from the mid-1800s. We didn't have a ton of time so we just hit the highlights (train, Santa, reindeer). Of course we rode a little train around to a few of the parts, which was a highlight for the boys. It was a lot of fun. Everyone around use was in such a joyous mood and the entire train sang carols while riding around.

We got to see Father Christmas and his reindeer.
We ended the night with a cup of hot chocolate and three sleepy little kids.

Random Christmas Pics

No, we did not jump off the face of the eart. We spent the holidays in Utah. We left as soon as school was on in DEcember and got back this last Sunday. It took us 33 hours (counting stops for food, restrooms, and gas) to get there. But it was worth every minute. The boys are great travelers and we had such a WONDERFUL time! I have lots of pictures, so I will post them in chunkcs. Here is just a random sampling of our first day or so there.

The first is James in the hotel room. He had a marvelous time exploring a new place. And of course he learned to walk while we were gone. I have a video I need to get off the camera to post. He is still pretty shaky but he improves everyday.
Have you ever seen the movie "A Christmas Story" with the little boy who wants the bb gun. Remember the little brother who the mom dresses for school in a red snowsuit and he whines about a little problem he has with his clothing.

Poor James..."I can't put my arms down!" Little guy kept trying to roll over and he looked like the most adorable flopping around red slug you ever saw!


The "big boys" as we call them had a great time in the snow. Nathan was particularly fond of eating the snow.





And last, but not least, Kenny lost two teeth in one day right before Christmas. Can we say "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth?"