It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

We spent Christmas Eve at my grandparents house celebrating as a family. Jason and Joe showing off their festive attire. Kyler and Annie sneaking treats.

Jason pulling some pretty sweet moves during the Minute to Win it, cookie game.

Grandpa showing off his awesome white elephant gift.

Christmas Morning. Kyler's favorite thing to play with is balls. Everything that he sees that is circular he calls a ball. So it seemed only appropriate to get him a lot of balls for Christmas. So Santa left him a fun toy that he is able to crawl through and throw balls around in the ball pit. He LOVES it. It is the first thing that he asks for in the morning. He will stand at the top of the stairs and cry until someone takes him downstairs to play.

Christmas morning and the expression on Kyler's face was priceless. Such an excited boy!!!

Trying to get Kyler interested in opening gifts. He wanted nothing to do with unwrapping them.

Christmas Brunch at Gary and Shirley's. Shirley always goes to so much effort and work to fix the family an amazing meal.

I gave Kyler and Jason matching USU shirts. Like father like son.

Playing with the toy that uncle Jake gave Kyler.

Brother's showing off their awesome Christmas Story Lamps.

Christmas Evening We ended our day with dinner and gifts at my parent's house. It was a long day, but we LOVED spending it with the most important people in our lives, our FAMILIES!!!

Kyler would have been happy even if he hadn't gotten any gifts. He spent most of the night:

Riding on Grandpa's scooter.

Climbing on the presents.

Standing on things he shouldn't have.

Hiding under the tree.

Playing with the old dog toys.

And looking for Chiz in the dog bed.

He did manage to sit still long enough to open one present.

We had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the new year. Thanks families we love and appreciate you and all that you have done for us!!!

Getting Closer...

After a busy month of on the go, we were able to enjoy the last few days leading up to Christmas as a little family. We enjoyed making a gingerbread house together, seeing the Christmas Village at the court house, and driving around looking at all of the pretty lights.

Week Three...FAMILY

Week 3 was a BuSy week!!! We had 4 family parties in 5 days. I also spent 3 days straight experimenting making different candies. My great grandma Alice was an amazing cook and left some pretty big shoes to fill. I figured I had better start practicing since it takes many years to perfect. While I was busy making candy, Kyler enjoyed playing out in the snow with dad.

Some turned out better than others, but I think I will have to give up on carmels. One batch was too hard, and the other was too soft. It's a good thing we had so many parties to attend. Each recipe made a ton!!

Thursday night was the Grover party and I didn't remember to take my camera, but this party is always so much fun. It's held at a church so the kids can run and play and the parents don't have to worry about them getting into things that they shouldn't. After dinner we all draw names and then go to the Dollar store and shop for that person. The limit is $2.50 and the idea is to be as creative as possible.

Saturday we went to my Grandma & Grandpa Wards party. Kyler had a blast running around and playing with all of his cousins.

Sunday we got together with Zack, Michelle, and her family. It has been a couple of months since we had gotten together. It was fun letting them see how much Kyler has grown and changed and of course he got SPOILED with gifts. We feel so lucky to have such a good relationship with his birthparents and family.

Our last party for the week was Grandma Cook's. Kyler loved watching her pet bird and playing with her pretty Christmas light balls.

Hanging out with uncle Jake.

We had a great week being together with family. We are so blessed to live so close to both sides of the family and to be able to share traditions together.

Week Two...Jason's Birthday

Week two of December was spent celebrating Jason's birthday. We pretty much celebrated from Thursday-Monday with fun outings and lots of eating out. On Thursday (his actual birthday) we headed down to Temple Square to enjoy a night together as a little family. Kyler LOVES lights and is constantly saying "pree" so we thought he would love all of the pretty lights at temple square. He ended up not really caring about the lights, but he LOVED playing in the water. I can't wait to take him back in the summer when it is okay to stick your hands in the fountains.
We enjoyed a yummy dinner at The Garden in the Joseph Smith Building. Kyler was lucky enough to be seated right next to the fountain. He ended up only throwing a knife and his toy horse in the water. He spent the rest of the dinner eating his deep fried pickle and ice.

Enjoying the beautiful lights.

On Saturday Jason and I got a much needed weekend together up in Park City, while Kyler stayed home with grandma & grandpa. On Saturday Night we decided to go tubing. I have always wanted to give it a try and it was so much fun. I'm glad we gave it a try. The best part was not having to walk back up the mountain, instead they hooked your tube up to a tow rope.

Not the best picture, but it kind of gives you an idea of how big the hills were. The fun part about it was you could go down as a group holding on to each others tubes. It was fun going down together with Jason.

Happy Birthday Jason!!! I hope you feel loved.