Christmas Day 2015

Christmas Day was such a great day! Our kids woke up soooo excited to see what Santa had brought them. They anxiously waited for Josh and I to get up and get out of bed.  This year they asked for a wooden castle and some castle toys to play with it. Well, that is what they got. Santa brought the cutest wooden castle I have ever seen. The kids are able to build it and set it up and way they want.  Drake got some knights, pirates, horses and a dragon and Stella got some princesses and fairies. They were really excited about it. After they played with the toys from Santa and looked through their stockings, they opened the presents that Josh and I had for them. 

Stella got a new Dolly and boy oh boy is she cute. I was so excited to give this to her, I almost couldn't handle the excitement. I also made her a baby doll carrier that she could put her doll in that she just loved. The doll is a bitty baby and she has named it Honey.

We didn't get a picture of Drake opening an presents but I snapped this cute picture of him just taking it all in and resting under the tree. He got a new sledding tube and the game mine craft for the Play Station. He was so stoked about it!

After we opened up presents, my family came out for Breakfast. I made a breakfast casserole, monkey bread and fruit. It was so yummy and really fun to have it at our house! That way our kids could play with their toys and we didn't have to leave our house that morning.

Check out those darling slippers. After we ate breakfast and spent some time at our house we went to my parents house to exchange gifts and open up presents from my mom and dad. This year they asked us for a list of things that we would want in these 4 categories: Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read.  So with the ideas we gave them, the picked out 4 presents for each of us. It was really fun, and exciting to open them up and see what they were. We all got some awesome things and had a wonderful Christmas because of it! Now that I am a mom and know how much work Christmas is, I was so appreciative of all my mom did for us in buying all of the stuff and wrapping it. It is exhausting and she put a lot of time and thought into it and made it a lot of fun. And a big thanks to my Daddy for paying for it all :)  

After we spent some time at my parents we went home and all of us took a nap. It was so nice to just relax and get some rest. When we woke up and got ready we went back to my parents for Curry. I didn't get many pictures because I didn't have my phone with me most of the time due to being with family and playing lots and lots of games!

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve is one of the best days of the whole year! I even enjoy it more than Christmas day because of all the excitement and anticipation that you have leading up to Christmas day. We just enjoyed the day at home and the kids played while I cooked and baked for the night's dinner.  That evening we went to my grandparents house for dinner and we decorated gingerbread boys for Santa Clause. We usually decorate them a few days before Christmas, but we did it Christmas Eve this year and it was so fun and a tradition we will continue to do. 

Later in the evening Drake made sure we read and acted out the Nativity. He has been looking forward to this for weeks.

Drake and Stella loved this part of the night and took their parts as Mary and Joseph very seriously. It was so sweet. Stella took good care of baby Jesus :)

Then the kids put on a show with different songs they either wanted to sing or play on the piano. We all sang a long and had a great time. We kept an eye on the Santa tracker on our phone and went home when we saw he was getting closer to us.

My very favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas Eve Pj's.  I have carried that tradition on with our kids and they look forward to it and love it to. My parents, James and Lexi and Lauren came out to our house to open our Pj's and for our kids to open theirs.

Then we read some Christmas stories and listened carefully for Santa's bells. We heard them close to our house. The kids were so excited and sure fell asleep quickly. It was a magical night and so fun with our two kids. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Kindergarten Christmas Program

The kindergartners put on the most darling Christmas Program. They all made matching shirts and practiced for weeks. Drake was soooo excited to perform all that he had learned. He practiced the songs at school and at home and knew every single one of them by heart. He was so cute and made me so happy and proud. Grandpa and Grandma Rohwer, Wood and Haslam came to watch him and he was thrilled. 

After the program we went and got a treat at Temptation Cupcake.

Picking A Christmas Tree

My kids really wanted to pick out a real Christmas tree this year, but we decided to use the Christmas tree we already had because they would be able to go with Grandpa and Grandma to pick out their tree. We went with them one evening and looked through the tree farm at every single tree just to make sure we picked the right one. Drake loved every minute of it and went back and forth on trees until finally he found it!  Afterwards we went and helped Grandma Lisa decorate the tree.  I love the smell of fresh trees and realize that is the way to go on Christmas trees. Something about real trees are just so magical.

Christmas Time at Willow Park

We went with the Neils and the Brownings to Willow Park to check out the Reindeer and see Santa Clause. It was a really nice day and the kids had a blast.  They loved seeing one of Santa's reindeer and were even more happy when they got to see Santa.

We've Got Ourselves Some Aggie Fans

We are so proud that our kids love the Utah State Aggies as much as we do. They also really like Big Blue and it is a success when we even spot Big Blue, let alone get a picture with him. Josh as taken the kids to a couple of games while I have been home resting because I don't feel great. The kids have a blast, and we are just happy we can pass on our Aggie pride!

Harry Potter Murder Mystery

Josh and I were invited to a Harry Potter murder mystery dinner. It was a blast. Our friends Chelsea and Dane Jensen hosted the party and they went all out. They brought the invitations in letter form with an "owl" tied to it. Once we gave our RSVP we received which characters we were and they were on a bottle of butter beer. Josh was assigned Harry Potter and I was assigned Dolores Umbridge. With the help of my grandma, I nailed it with my costume!!

We had a yummy dinner as we opened up different clues and things to talk about. It was a blast and everyone there was in character the whole time which made for some funny moments.