Ornaments for 2011 Travel

Decorating the Christmas tree is so much fun.  So much more so because of our ornament tradition.  Every trip we go on for the year we always bring back an ornament.  It is fun to unwrap each ornament and say "Remember when we went _________ and did ________?"  It is fun to be reminded of the great memories we have shared.  This year we picked up these:

We got this cute M&M Elvis ornament from when Aaron took me to Vegas for my birthday in April and we saw Phantom of the Opera and the Lion King. 

We got this Mardi Gras mask ornament from New Orleans when we went in November to participate in the Great Urban Race.

This popcorn ornament was given to us by Grandma and Grandpa McGee because of our love of popcorn and the fact that we have a popcorn machine.

These last two we picked up in March when we went to Disneyland.  We got wedding Minnie and Mickey because Aaron and I went to Disneyland on our honeymoon.

And the kids and I fell in love with this Mr and Mrs. Potato Head ornament.

Our December Activities

Every year as Christmas rolls around, I have BIG plans.  Plans that include: going to Temple Square to see the lights, reading a Christmas story with the kids every night until Christmas, cuddling on the couch while watching Christmas movies, relaxing and enjoying the Christmas season with the family, filling up our advent calendar with different activities to enjoy together... among many others.  Well, I didn't do any of it!  Okay, I did one or two things on my plan, but, like usual, Christmas came and went in a fast whirlwind.  It seemed like we had just put up the tree and the next day we were taking it down.  In actuality, it had been up since Thanksgiving.

This year was a little different from years past.  The kids were on A track in school instead of B which means they were in school for December.  I thought this was going to be great!  I can shop for presents while they are in school, but with Alex in morning Kindergarten and my lack of motivation to get ready before 10:00, I found that plan backfired.  At least when I knew the kids were going to be home in the month of December, I worked hard to have all presents bought by the end of November.  At any rate, this year I did most of my shopping online which I actually really liked.  A few clicks of the mouse and the UPS man delivers it right to my front door.  No crowds, no dragging the kids to 50 different stores, just easy peasy!  Guess it didn't matter that I wasn't ready for the day before 10:00.  Don't get me wrong, I still fought the crowds and went from store to store looking for certain items.

But, in the midst of the chaos that was December, we did do some fun things.  Abbi had her very first piano recital and she did an awesome job!  We are so proud of her.  She is doing great with the piano and her teacher told she wished she had more students like her.

We also took the kids to the Angel Tree where we chose two kids.  They were the same ages as Adam and Abbi.  The kids had a lot of fun shopping at Target for these two kids and were able to pick out an outfit and a toy for each of them.  

Aaron and I went to La Quaille for the very first time with Aaron's Entrepreneur group.  It was fun to get dressed up and go to a fancy dinner.  Even better because we didn't have to pay for it!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the cute chocolate covered strawberry.  So stinkin' cute!

With the help of Grandpa and Grandma McGee, we made our annual gingerbread house.  There may or may not have been a frosting fight somewhere in there too.

 

And, of course, we made cookies for Santa.  Can I just say I love cake mix cookies?  So quick and easy and you don't have to roll out dough 10 times to cut out the cookies.  The kids had a lot of fun decorating them for Santa.  Alex even got out some carrots for the reindeer.

All in all, I think it was a great December.  We were able to do some fun things and hopefully the kids will have some fun memories to look back on even if we didn't do all the things on my "perfect Christmas" list.  At least we were all together.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas!  This year was a little different because Christmas fell on a Sunday.  It ended up being really nice.  Since we had church at 9:00, we told the kids they could get up and open their stockings and the present Santa brought them.  The others would have to wait until after church.  So, at 7:00 Christmas morning, the kids burst into our room yelling "Merry Christmas! Let's go open presents!"  

Abbi got just what she wanted, an All-American Girl doll.  She had designed her on the website and was so excited Santa knew exactly what she wanted!  She named her Audrey.  (It had to be an "A" name to be in our family).

Alex got a new set of tools and some projects to put together with the tools.  He loves fixing things around the house and is always the first one to grab a screwdriver to help.  He even knows the difference between a phillips and a flathead.  Smart!

Aaron and Alex using his tools to put together a car.

Adam got the one thing he wanted for Christmas... a brand new BMX bike.  Needless to say, he was extremely excited and couldn't wait to put it together and try it out.  Luckily for him, there was no snow and he was able to ride it.

Because I have such a hard time surprising Aaron (he's like a little kid and will do everything he can to find out what he is getting!), I found these awesome gift boxes at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  They are prank boxes but look absolutely real.  You simply put the real gift inside.  So, the real gift of a heart rate monitor watch went in the box and I wrapped it up.  

Aaron unwrapped his "iArm."  I started laughing so hard as he looked at the box and turned it over and over in his hands.  The look on his face was priceless.  I'm sure he was thinking "What the heck?"  By this time I was laughing so hard, I was crying.  He put the box to the side and went to grab another gift.  I, of course, said, "No, you have to open it."  To which Aaron replied, "No, I'm taking it back."  This only made me laugh/cry harder.  He finally got that it was a joke and ended up opening his real present.  I got him good this year!  I am so funny!

My favorite is the girl using her iArm to hold the bucket of water to wash the car!

We had a great Christmas!  I loved having church in the middle of our Christmas morning.  It really made the day special.  I loved being able to spend Christmas eve with the Marshall's and Christmas night with the McGee's.  Ali and Ben were in town this year and it was fun to see them too.  I am so grateful for our loving families and for my sweet kids and husband.  I am one lucky girl!  

Merry Christmas!