Christmas Questions

I got this in an email but I figured that I haven't updated my blog in a while so I would use this as my next post. Mostly because I'm avoiding the pile of dishes on the kitchen counter that really needs to be done.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? MMMMM...I love Both... I love Hot Chocolate when I'm cold and Winder Dairy Egg Nog the rest of the time.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? They are wrapped but none of them are marked that they are from Santa.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored. We have a pre-lit tree. It makes things easier that way.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope, I don't need mistletoe to get kisses.

5. When do you put up your decorations? I like to put them up the day after Thanksgiving but Paul insisted we wait this year (still don't know why or when we'll get them up)

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Honey Ham (and potatoes, and asparagus, and rolls, the whole christmas dinner...yum)

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Staying up late at night to try to catch Santa, then my sister and I sneaking upstairs to investigate what had been left at 4:00 in the morning.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't really remember. I think I was like 7 or 8.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, we all open pajamas on Christmas eve. Kaylee opens lots of gifts on Christmas eve...the joys of having a birthday on Christmas eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have lots of ornaments collected over the years. We try to evenly space them all over the tree.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love it! When we lived in Washington I missed it. It makes the cold weather worth it. The only thing I don't like about it is that people forget how to drive when it snows.

12. Can you ice skate? I can stay up on my feet and move around on the ice. I can't jump, do fancy tricks, or spins.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? No, I have so many things that I have gotten that I love. I guess my favorite gift was when Kaylee was FINALLY born on Christmas eve. (2 weeks late)

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with everyone, getting in touch with people you haven't heard from for a while.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Cheesecake

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Getting together with the whole family on Christmas eve.

17. What tops your tree? An angel

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night

20. Candy Canes? Yes

21. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Yes, Christmas shouldn't start until after Thanksgiving but most stores have everything out before Halloween. What happened to family and friends and parties to spend time together? People are to busy shopping

Playing in the fall leaves at Wendy's House

Thursday we went to Wendy's house for the day. In hopes that Gabby would take a nap and that Roman would get a good nap Wendy took Kaylee out in the backyard to play in the leaves. Kaylee got to work with a rake to make a pile big enough to jump in.

As soon as Kaylee's pile was pretty big she jumped in it a few times and threw the leaves around to the point that it didn't even look like there had been a pile. The leaves were completely spread out.

While raking Kaylee kept finding branches and sticks. Wendy started breaking them and putting them away to use for firewood over the winter. Kaylee decided that she could break the sticks too.

The idea of Gabby taking a nap at Wendy's house was a nice thought but it didn't happen. After about half an hour of laying down she came out to play in the leaves too. I started to rake all the leaves into a big pile and gabby thought it was tons of fun.

Fall leaves were made for: Running, Jumping, Throwing, Rolling, and playing. After all the fun has been soaked out of the leaves then it's time to put them in bags and wait for the next layer of leaves to fall and do it all again.

While we were outside playing in the leaves Kaylee was chewing a piece of bubble-gum. After Kaylee and Gabby had jumped into the pile of leaves Kaylee yelled "OH NO!!! Where did my gum go?!?" She found it in the grass and wanted to pick it up and put it back in her mouth. She was a little upset when we told her it couldn't go back in her mouth. After Wendy told her she could have another piece she was okay again. (So then Wendy sought out the gum to take a picture)

I raked a huge pile of leaves for both girls to jump in. This was the highlight of their day. They thought the only reason for leaves was to play in them. Even after raking this huge pile of leaves I hadn't even raked 1/3 of the leaves in the yard.

After we got the leaves into the bag Kaylee still wanted to play with them. Even if that meant just playing with the bag.

Wendy coming to Visit

Wendy returned our baby bathtub now that Roman is big enough to not need it. Gabby thought that since it was in the living room it meant that it was for her. She lounged out and made herself comfortable while eating nerds.

Last Wednesday Wendy came over to visit for the day. I went to get Kaylee from preschool while Gabby and Roman were asleep. When I got home the house was still quiet so I assumed that they were still asleep. Wendy came and said "You have to see this. It is so cute." When I walked up to the living room and Gabby and Roman were sitting on the couch qietly watching Ellen Degeneres (of all things...lol). Luckily Wendy got some really cute pictures.

Halloween Party

Here's Gabby's version of how she thinks Musical Chairs should be played.

Kaylee didn't really want to play games but she was excited to get her face painted.

Gabby had fun playing game even though her balloon got popped fast while playing Balloon stomp.




Someone has been getting after me to update my blog again. Sorry it took so long. In the last couple of weeks we haven't done much to really write about. Kaylee has gone to school, Gabby has been doing her usual stuff.





Last night we went to our ward Halloween party. They had games and activities for the kids such as: Musical Chairs, Cake Walk, Face Painting, Balloon Stomp, and a Fishing game. Kaylee was pretending to be shy for some strange reason. She is usually the one running up and talking to everyone. Last night Gabby was being very social.





They also had a soup/chili dinner, lip synching, and trick-or-treating. By the time we got home the kids were exhausted but they didn't want to go to bed. I, however, had other ideas and they went to bed anyway.

Snowbird Ski Resort

Today we went with Wendy, Spencer, and Roman to the Snowbird Customer Appreciation Days. We each took a can of food to donate and rode the tram up the mountain for free. It was snowing and was cold but it was so much fun it was worth it. Paul had tons of fun playing in the snow (Mostly throwing snow balls). Paul taught Gabby how to make snow angels and she kept falling backwards in the snow to make them. Kaylee had mixed feelings about the snow. She liked the idea of snow but not the cold. She enjoyed hiding out in the warming room and going back and forth inside and outside. Gabby spent most of the time outside with Paul with just a little while when she was really cold inside the warming room.

Ringling Brothers Circus

On Friday we took Kaylee and Gabby to see the Circus. They thought it was fun to ride the "Little Train" (Trax train) to the circus place and see where the animals stayed. They were amazed watching the circus. Gabby fell asleep for about 45 minutes and right after she woke up confetti dropped from the ceiling. It was like a party for her waking up. They got to see clowns, elephants, horses, tigers, acrobats, and more! After the circus was over they were ready to see the animals again and wanted to watch the circus again. Instead they went home and went to bed.

What's for dinner tonight?

Tonight we will be having dinner made by Gabby. She did a wonderful job kneading the dough and making meatball hot pockets. She was so into making dinner she even yelled at Kaylee to get out of the kitchen because she was making dinner.