Christmas day

 

Sunday morning the boys woke up at 2 AM. They woke up Karlee and they watched a movie on the portable DVD player. I'm so glad they planned ahead and took the DVD player to bed with them. ;)  We finally woke up at 6:40.

Both the girls got an iPod Touch.  Now we can play Words with Friends with the girls too.  :)

Adam got a mini lightsaber in his stocking. Carson quickly pulled out his lightsaber and challenged him to a duel. 

Brian said this gift official makes him old.  Sorry Bri, you're a grandpa, you are already old.

Brian hands out the gifts to everyone, in the middle of opening presents Adam asks Poppy to read him a book.  Of course he said yes.

Does a mess give proof that it was a great morning?  :)  After opening presents we had a hot breakfast and then we went to church.  Leaving a huge mess behind. 

I love watching these boys put legos together.  Carson put his together without much help.

My MIL gave this to me.  She's right!!

christmas eve

Christmas Eve was very nice.  We enjoyed a family dinner then had a little program before the kids opened a present.


This is Mom's china.  I love it!! 

For Christmas Eve Brian usually reads the Christmas story.  This year I thought we would try something different.  I had the kids act out the story.  I found an easy script online with songs.  Karlee directed, acted, was the costume designer, and chose the cast.  She  was also our pianist.  She was awesome!!

There were times it got a little silly, but we all had a good time.  I'll keep the script and will try again next year.

Time for presents!

Adam received a recorded story from his Grandpa Dave and Grandma Roberta.  He wasn't sure what to think.  He kept looking behind the book trying to find them.  :)

With my parents gone, and Brian's parents giving us family gifts this year, the kids opened up gifts that they gave each other.  I think everyone enjoyed it more.  It was a very nice evening.  

allergic

Thursday morning I wondered if I should take Mason in to the Dr. again.  His left gland started swelling on Tuesday, I talked to the Dr. she didn't seem worried.  The Dr. wanted him to continue with the meds.  Thursday morning he woke up with a rash on his face and neck.  I called a friend/medical student to get some advice.  He told me that it sounds minor and just ride it out, unless his hives start to blister. 

Friday morning his rash had worsened and I stopped giving him the meds.  I finally got a hold of the Dr. and she told me to stop the meds and she would call in another antibiotic.  He scratched and scratched all day.  He agreed to take an oral Benadryl but he wouldn't even consider a cream.  So stubborn!

This morning he is doing so much better.  No itching and the spots are about gone.  He thinks it's kind of cool to be allergic to something.  :)  It's now in his records at the Dr. and I talked with the pharmacy so we never get this for him ever again.  

working girl

Bailee started her job about a week ago.  She loves it.  We love it!!  She'll probably work 4 days a week.  It's great!! Brian and I just got a raise!!  Wahoo!!!! Go Bailee! 

snowmen

I always thought I started having an obsession with snowmen 10+ years ago.  Now I think I 've always loved snowmen.  When the opportunity came that I could have some of Mom's Christmas decorations, I wanted her snowman and snowwoman.  This couple happens to me my Grandma Hansen's.  I think Mom's had been loved on too many times. :) Mom got Grandma's after she passed.  I remember Mom's had black trim instead of the green.  I love how soft they are, they are made out of quilt batting.  One more way to have Mom around.  

santa

When I was putting this years picture in the frame I thumbed through these.  I wanted to remember the years.  It's fun to see how they have grown.

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

 McKinzie and Geoff weren't able to come downtown with us, or see Santa. This is the first year that McKinzie wasn't in the picture.  It's a little sad.  I hope they still get a picture taken with Santa and give me one. 

downtown

Last night we went downtown for FHE.  We watched Hugo.  It was interesting, but very slow.  We headed over to see Santa and he wasn't there.  I guess the pouring rain we had at 3:30 scared him off.  I wasn't surprised that he wasn't in his sleigh.  But we had to visit Santa.  We headed to the mall and found a great Santa and no line.  After Santa we headed over to Outback for dinner.  It was a great spoteanious night.  :)

Thanksgiving Week

I know I'm slow.  Remember? It took me 6 months to post about our trip to China.  Anyway...  Luckily it's not taking me as long to catch up on Thanksgiving.  We went to Oklahoma for the week to relax, ride ATVs, and basically shut the world out.  It worked!!  We did all of it. 

Our cabin was great as usual.  This year the cabin had 3 queen beds with an upstairs.  The kids loved it.

Geoff gave Mason a knife so he could do some carving.  Any spare time Mason was working on a piece of wood.  Luckily he cut his thumb only once...a very small cut too.

One of the things we brought home after going through Dad's house was a BB gun.  We all had a chance to shoot.  It was fun.  Now we need to find a place somewhere close to home to shoot.  Our neighborhood won't work.  

On Thursday none of the big kids wanted to go riding.  So Brian and I took the two boys while the rest stayed back and worked on dinner.  They did a great job on the rolls.  Bailee made them last year.  This was McKinzie first time helping with the rolls.

These snowmen dishes were Mom's.  I was lucky enough to bring them home. 

After dinner we headed into town to find a hot spot to skype.  McDonalds was closed but we were hoping they would leave their wireless on and we lucked out. 

Mason didn't want to get in the hot tub so he was the official photographer.  He got a few really good pictures. 

We love going to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving.  We love the cabin, the mountains, the riding and relaxing.  This might have been our last year.  They have closed a lot of the off road trails.  We were surprised that we couldn't ride in many of the spots we rode in last year.  We don't think the hunters like us very much.  I guess I'll have to seriously check out Arkansas.  We're not too picky.  A half days drive with mountains and trees.  We're sure to find something.