Christmas Day

This year we decided to stay home for Christmas, which turned out to be really fun. It was nice to have our own little Christmas with just our little family and to be able to start some fun traditions! Since Chris and I have been married we have only been home for Christmas 1 year, so it was about time (even though I really did want to go somewhere). The boys miraculously let us sleep until about 7:15 this morning!! When Parker came into our room I got up and turned on The Polar Express for him to watch while I went and started breakfast (cinnamon rolls, hashbrowns, turkey bacon (this was really just for Chris!), chocolate milk/orange juice). Once we were ready I turned the lights and Christmas music on and told everyone they could come out! Parker instantly found the tree and stockings and such and wanted to dig right in. I showed him that the plate of cookies he left out for Santa was all gone and he ran back into the kitchen and pointed to the other cookies and said "cookies, more cookies!!". It was really cute.

First we all sat down and opened our stockings and then ate breakfast before digging into the real present opening fest. Parker enjoyed opening his presents for the first little while and then started to get bored and just wanted to play with what he got. Tyler also only lasted about 1/2 the time and then went down for a nap, so we finished opening his presents for him! After our festivities were over we cleaned up and all got ready for the day, Parker and Tyler both went down for naps and then Chris' parents and youngest brother came over for a while to visit. Later this afternoon we went down to Idaho Falls for dinner at my aunt's house. We had three yummy soups to choose from (or have all 3!), salad, French bread, and some amazingly delicious desserts!! It was fun to spend time together and Parker had fun playing with his cousins.
The tree and all the loot!This is the best picture EVER!! It's perfect of the boys, with both of their cute smiles!!!Tyler got a new sippy cup, a little toy phone and some long-sleeved onesies in his stocking!Do you think Tyler knows he got jipped out of some yummy candy in his stocking?? He seems to be thinking really hard about something, while watching Parker open his stocking!Reach those toes little Tyler-bug! You can do it!!!Family picture...which I love by the way!Tyler got a few new books......but I think his phone was his favorite so far!The wrapping paper was pretty good too though......Must.Get.MORE!This is a pretty cool toy that is easy for him to grasp. It also came with a couple smaller rattles which are nice to have in the diaper bag!This was one of my favorite presents from Chris...new bedding set!! It was a 12 piece set and I LOVE it!! (Don't mind the wrinkles, I'm hoping they will shake out...but I may just have to take it off and iron it. I was just too excited to get it all put together!)

This was by far Parker's most favorite present yet! I was expecting his reaction to be a bit better, but it was still fun and he loves playing with it!!!

Christmas Eve

We had a nice relaxing Christmas Eve complete with opening a couple presents, eating dinner with my family in Idaho Falls, looking at Christmas lights and putting cookies and milk out for Santa.
Tyler's 1st present of the season!Cheese!!They both got new sleepers to wear for Christmas morning (I don't have a picture yet of Parker's sleeper, but it's cuteI also got them a pop-up book of the Christmas story to make it more interesting than just reading it to them, Parker really likes it!
My aunt pulled out her Christmas bells for the kids to use to play some Christmas songs...It was really cool and Parker loved ringing the bells when it was his turn! Thanks Cami for helping him :)My aunt also bought these cool little Party Cracker's to put on everyone's plate. I guess it's something they don in London for the holidays and since my cousin, Kristen, is serving her mission there right now she thought it would be fun.It was cool because they each had little gifts inside and you had to open them to find out what was inside. I got a little compact mirror and Chris got a little Hippo key chain! lolMy little cousin, Boyd...This is the expression I have been trying so hard to get!!! haha He has been doing this the last few days and it makes us laugh so much!My cousin, Meri, was holding Tyler upstairs and at one point he was looking down at everyone, so I had to get a picture!

Tummy Time

Tyler really hates tummy time and I haven't been very good at having him do it every day. Lately though I've been trying to lay him on his tummy for a few minutes each day and he can stand it for only a couple minutes!
He has been making this funny face when he smiles lately and I was trying to get it on camera, but this was the best I got! It's more like he squints up his eyes and nose, but it's really funny.

Sledding

We finally bought a sled for Parker to play with in the snow to make it more fun! Of course after we bought it the snow got all hard and not good to play in, however the other day we got a bunch of new snow. So after Chris got home from work he took Parker outside to play while I made dinner and he had a blast!!

Trying his hardest to make the sled go.

Cousin Time :)

Last Friday I watched my nephew, Kaydon for a few hours so Jeff and Maria could attend the dedication for the new buildings on campus. After both boys finished their naps I decided to have them sit next to each other for a few minutes to play. They were so cute! Tyler is about a month and a half older than Kaydon but he sure does have Tyler beat in the hair department...too cute :)

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures taken right after Thanksgiving in between Chris' trips to Oklahoma. We got them taken by Memorable Moments by Michelle Dawn and we love them!! I was hoping the weather would hold out and we could have the fall background, but it didn't. Which caused me to have to rethink our outfit selections a few times! It was probably not your ideal day to get pictures taken with it snowing, middle of the day with kids not having had naps and really cold, however we got tons of great shots. Parker even got a balloon afterwards (which I proceeded to escape from the car when we got home...oops!). Enjoy :)

Gingerbread House

For family night on Monday we made a gingerbread house. I had gotten a kit at Walmart the other day and was excited to put it all together. Parker loved it this year and did a great job helping put everything together! He loves sitting on the stool at the counter and looking at the house and wanting to eat the candy, it's so cute!
Chris putting his building skills to good use, and teaching Parker too!Admiring his new creation! Mmmm...looks sooo good!!Notice the stuff on his face? Yeah, he had been sneaking some candy!!I love his facial expression in this one! lol