Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was pretty low key. We spent the day delivering caramels to friends and doing projects around the house to get ready for baby. (Something we've been doing a lot of lately!) When Chris got home from work we got ready and headed over to Grandpa Ed and Tanya's to spend the evening. We exchanged gifts and went to dinner. It was great to spend time with Family. The kids love their cousins Jake, Halli and Hannah. We didn't get home until after 10 so we quickly read the Christmas story and Twas the Night Before Christmas and the kids were off to bed. They went to bed very quickly and easily. I was very proud that Chris and I went to bed just after midnight. Most the gifts were wrapped and I had things organized so it made it a lot easier!

A Yummy Gift Basket

A few days before Christmas we got a surprise delivery from a co-worker of Chris'. His family had sent us an Edible arrangement. It was adorable and tasted wonderful. The kids got a kick out of pulling out the pieces of fruit and eating them. It didn't last very long!

Gingerbread House

The past few years we have made it a tradition to decorate a Gingerbread house before Christmas. Sawyer was especially excited about this and would mention it every time we went to Costco and he'd see the gingerbread houses there. Of course they start selling them before Halloween so I would always put it off thinking I'd get it next time. So I waited a little long and with just 2 weeks til Christmas I made a special trip to Costco just to get one. With my luck they were still in stock! We had a great and messy time putting it together and the kids didn't even pick the candy off. After throwing it out the other day Carter did get pretty upset that he didn't get to eat it! Sorry Carter!

Christmas with Grammy and Grampy

December has been a very busy month! A couple weeks ago we got together with Grammy and Grampy Jones for a lovely brunch and a little Christmas celebration. My parents went to Texas for Christmas so we had Christmas a little early with my side of the family. I didn't take too many pictures but here's a couple of the kids. We had delicious ham and aebleskivers along with potatoes, fruit and eggs. It was a wonderful meal. It was wonderful having an early Christmas as we sang carols and got into the Christmas spirit. Afterwards we went and saw "The Princess and the Frog". Sawyer has yet to sit through a movie and he's well over 3! Hopefully by the time Toy Story 3 comes out he'll have a better attention span.

I don't need anything but you...

At Arcadia High where my dad teaches, every year they do a Christmas Dance show that benefits a chosen charity. My dad has been the M.C. for the event for the past 12 years. I have enjoyed attending these shows and this year was especially fun because he and Maddie performed in it. It is in the Gymnasium so the sound isn't very good but you can hear how adorable they sound. Chris and I were so shocked that Maddie wasn't even nervous and the crowd had 1,000 people in it! That's our Maddie!

Giving Thanks

Before we get too far into the Christmas season I need to post our Thanksgiving pictures. I didn't take too many pictures this year but I got a few. We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house with Grammy and Grampy and Chris and Amanda. Maddie was very proud of her place cards that she made. It was absolutely delicious and I enjoyed every bite! It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed spending time together as a family. After dinner, and pumpkin pie of course, Chris went to see The Blind Side with the rest of the adults. I was too exhausted and wanted to get home and put the kids to bed. I had to get some sleep since I was getting up early the next morning!

The next morning I got up at 4:30 and headed to Wal-mart. It was absolutely crazy. Apparently they had an episode with some crowd control before I got there so there were police there and news cameras. I waited 2 hours in line just to get in the store! The store didn't open the doors until 6 (they were supposed to open at 5) and once I got inside it was more waiting. It was worth it cause I got what I wanted. I then headed over to Target and that was a much more pleasant experience. I don't think I'll ever do Walmart on Black Friday again. Next time I think I'll bring a buddy it was a little boring standing in line alone although in that amount of time you start making friends with people around you! I came home tired but not too tired to put up the Christmas tree and decorations after a little nap!

Maddie's Baptism day

It is still hard to believe I have a child old enough to be baptized! As you know Maddie just turned 8 which is a very important age in our church because she can be baptized. She has been looking forward to this for a very long time. She was baptized on Sunday, November 22 by her Dad. It was a very special day for our family. We had a lot of friends and family there, about 50 people came and Maddie felt so special. It was great to have family participate in her baptism and she even sang, "If the Savior Stood Beside me" which was beautiful. It was a neat experience to be there when Maddie came out of the water. She was so excited and full of Joy, she even cried. I treasure that experience. Chris gave her a beautiful blessing after as he confirmed her. Grandma Debbie insisted upon making her baptism dress which was a lot of work and turned out beautiful Hopefully our little girl on the way can wear it to her baptism too!

We had soup, salad, and treats afterwards. It couldn't have gone more smoothly.

When we got home Chris and I gave Maddie her first set of scriptures. She was so excited and has been reading them each night. Her baptism has made a huge impact on her and she is trying so hard to be a good daughter and sister. We are so very proud of her and we love her so much!

Maddie's 8th Birthday

Maddie's Birthday was last Friday. She is now a big 8 year old, I can't believe it! She had a great day. She had an awards assembly at school in the morning where she got an award for creative writing and a scholastic achievement award. She looked so adorable in her new birthday outfit which she opened that morning. (notice the sparkly silver shoes) She brought rice crispy treats to school and her class sang to her. Mommy picked her up early from school and we all went to Disneyland with Grammy and Grampy. (Sorry for the lack of pictures) Maddie loved being able to pick whatever she wanted to do. She led us all around both parks choosing what she wanted to ride. We even got a great spot to watch the Christmas parade, which we never do! Since she has an annual pass she was able to get a gift card for $62 because it was her birthday! She's been talking about her gift card all year long. She bought 2 barbie dolls and a tinkerbell toy. She also went to the Bibidi bobidi boutique and got a sash to wear. On the way home we ate at one of her favorite spots, In-n-out!

End of the Soccer Season

I think I've had enough posts about Soccer lately. This one is obviously the last. We ended our Soccer season with 2 really fun soccer parties. Carters was at Shakey's pizza and Maddie's was at Graziano's. It was great to celebrate with the kids what a great season they had. Carter was very excited to get his very first trophy. The kids both had awesome coaches which I was really grateful for! Carter's team even gave me a gift card to Cheesecake Factory for being team Mom! Nice Bonus!

Here's a picture of Carter with his team at their last game. The 5 year olds are so adorable!

Annie....again!

A couple weeks ago Maddie was able to perform in another Annie play. This time it was with a group called Children's Theatre Experience. I liked this group much more than the last one (Karousel Kids). They are much more focused on what type of experience the kids have, not the end result of the show, which was still VERY good. This time Maddie was able to be an actual orphan (not a made up part called "orphanette") and she was in 3 scenes. She looked so cute and was right out in front. There were a zillion orphans but it was nice to see that they all got to have an equal "Theatre Experience" which is the goal of this group. She performed in 2 "Field Trip" performances for elementary schools who came to watch during the day on Friday. Then on Saturday she did a public performance which we were able to attend. It was a little bit of a crazy day because we had 2 soccer games just before. This picture is of Maddie in her Orphan costume taken at Carter's soccer game just before we left for the play. Sorry I don't have more pictures, no camera's allowed in the theater.

She had a great time and we will probably do another play with the same group. Mom just wants a little break for now!

Goofy's Kitchen

A few weeks ago we were able to do a Mystery Shop at Goofy's Kitchen. We absolutely love Goofy's kitchen. It is at the Disneyland Hotel and they have an amazing variety of food and the best part is it's all you can eat! I love when I get to do this shop because there's no way we'd could afford to take our kids there without getting it paid for, its over $100 for our family just for breakfast. I just can't see paying that much for food! Anyway, it's great when it's free. The kids just love the characters that come to your table and visit you. We went over to Disneyland after for a few rides. It was a great time!

By the way, the reason for the lack of pictures of Sawyer is that he's pretty shy with the characters.

Pumpkin Carving and Trick or Treating

Halloween was a very busy day! It fell on Saturday and we had soccer in the morning. After the kids had both played we came home and carved our pumpkins. I had forgotten how not fun it is to hollow out the pumpkin. The kids quickly lost interest and I had do to all the dirty work! We had 5 pumpkins to carve so it was a little time consuming. Chris had a big test to study for so I was left to do carving. By the time they were all hollowed out I just did simple faces my arms were very sore! Next year we won't get so many pumpkins!

We took our pumpkins over to Grammy's and Grampy's (since we don't get any trick or treaters at our condos) and had homemade Chicken noodle soup for dinner. It was fun to have Chris and Amanda join us for trick or treating this year. We noticed there weren't as many people home probably due to the holiday being on a Saturday. It was ok though since we didn't want to bring home a ton of candy. We had a great time and I think we were home by 9 which was nice!

Carter Loves the Lakers

Carter was very lucky to be able to go to a Laker game with Daddy on October 30th. They went down to L.A. in the afternoon and had fun at the new ESPN Zone there. He posed for this picture and had fun seeing all the sites. They had really good seats and had an awesome time. Chris just loves being able to share his love of sports with his son and hopefully soon Sawyer will be able to get in on the action. He still has a hard time sitting through a children's movie in the movie theater!

Halloween at School

This year Halloween fell on a Saturday so the kids school celebrated the holiday on Friday the 30th.

The morning started off with a parade where the kids walked in a circle around the playground.

Then Carter's class had a field trip to a local pumpkin patch. Sawyer and I joined them and helped carter pick out a pumpkin.

Carter was lucky to be able to go with Daddy to a Laker game later that evening. Sawyer, Maddie and I went to the school's "Fall Friendship Dinner" where Maddie was very pleased to win a beautiful cake in the "Cake Walk".

The whole way home she kept saying, "I never win anything! I can't believe it!" It was very cute!

Soccer Stars

So since my camera has been missing for the last few months, I've been out of the habit of taking pictures. I borrowed my Mom's old 3 mp camera but it just doesn't take great pictures. Needless to say I've been a bit lazy about taking pictures. My Sister-in-Law Amanda has a great Camera and came our kids soccer games one Saturday and got some great shots. I thought I'd share. As I mentioned previously, we had a great soccer season and the kids LOVED it! Saturdays were a little crazy but it was well worth it. Maddie is a great little defender and has gotten more aggressive this year. She really enjoyed her teammates and loves getting out there and running hard. Carter surprised us all. This was his first season and he ended up being a little star on his team. He made many goals and loved jumping around on the field getting ready for the ball. He is really sad the season is over and can't wait til next year. Carter's already looking forward to starting Basketball in January and we are planning on signing Sawyer up too! I think with Chris as their Dad, we'll always have them in some type of sport!