Christmas and Devry's Birthday

Christmas this year was wonderful!!

We celebrated all of December!

On December 1st, "buddy" the elf showed up at our house with some of his favorite Christmas books. 

He came to remind us to be good, and also to teach us about why we celebrate Christmas.

Every day we found him in a new spot, and he watched for all the good and kind things we did. 

We did a lot of holiday baking, card making, and gift giving.

We went to a live nativity sleigh ride. It was great! A family sets it up on their farm every year in Manilla, UT. A team of horses pulls you on a Sleigh and you pass the various parts of the Christmas story acted out by brave people who sit out in the cold :) The Christmas story is told while you ride. It was great and we plan on going again next year!

We went Carolling with friends.

We went to a nativity at our Church, where there was a live nativity, and a display of tons of nativity's people brought. There was also a fantastic musical program. 

I hosted a "favorite things" girls night/Christmas Party.

We enjoyed buying gifts for some children who wouldn't get any. 

We had a great month remembering Our Savior and his example.

On Christmas Day we stayed home and had a relaxing, low key day with just our little family. 

It was the first Christmas in my entire life that I stayed in one place. 

Growing up Christmas was always a busy day filled with visiting as many relatives as we could, at least 2 huge meals. It was SO fun, and exciting! But CRAZY and hectic. 

Most years since we've been married we have had Christmas at home, but go to have dinner and celebrate with Devry's family. Last year we spent the entire month of december with my family. 

This year was different. For the first time we aren't close enough to anyone to just go spend the day with family and go home. 

And I had to work. 

I worked the night of the 23rd (although I got put on call), the first half of the 24th, and the night of the 25th. It sounds like a lot, but it actually worked out good since I was on call a lot of the time I was scheduled. I worked till 0100 on Christmas eve, while Devry helped Santa. I came home did a few last minute things, then slept till 7 when Payton woke up. I got to spend all day with the kids. I took a short nap in the afternoon and went to work again at 7. I got to come home that night at 1 as well. 

Devry had the day off for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was so fun!

On Christmas Eve, we did a lot of preparation for Christmas Dinner so we wouldn't have much work on Christmas Day.

I made Chinese food for Christmas Eve, and took some to my coworkers. 

We all opened one gift Christmas Eve, which were pajama's, and a small airplane for the boys. 

I got ready and went to work while Devry and Payton made sure Santa had cookies to eat. 

I arrived home from work around 1:45, and found that Santa had arrived!

Christmas morning was SO exciting. I LOVE being a parent on Christmas morning!

Payton was up before 7, and could hardly contain his excitement. 

After about 30 minutes of waiting we let payton wake up his brothers. They were so excited to come out and find their stockings. 

The boys opening their stockings

Kayson was SO excited about his new monster hat.

Cohen with his stocking gifts

Payton with his stocking gifts

Then we headed upstairs to find presents under the tree,

Payton tore into his presents! We had to try to slow him down so we could at least tell him who they were from.

The twins took a little longer getting things unwrapped.

They loved all the new toys!

They had a few presents for all three of them

These boys LOVE their dad! 

And I was actually there. Here is proof

We spent about an hour and a half opening everything. I had made a breakfast casserole the night before, which we enjoyed after presents. 

Then the rest of the day…this is what we did…

Played with toys

Watched planes

Played with toys

Especially this toy.

It was a wonderful day! We ate ham dinner in our PJ's. We skyped, face timed and phoned family. 

We enjoyed having a relaxing day together!

The weekend after Christmas, we decided to go to Utah. Devry's Birthday was Sat. the 28th. We drove over friday, checked into our hotel, and went to temple square. It is the first time I've seen it with all the lights! It was SO beautiful!! We had a great time looking at all the lights. 

On saturday we did a little shopping, and went to Scheels. It is a huge camping/hunting/outdoorsy store. It has a ferris wheel inside, lots to see and lots of games to play. The kids had a blast! And it was super cheap :)

The babies looking at all the animals

Payton and me on the ferris wheel

Payton on the Ferris wheel

They loved the fishtanks

Huge moose

It was a fun little getaway. We stayed in a great hotel and enjoyed some fun time as a family. 

Of course Devry said he didn't want anything for his birthday.

So instead of a big gift, I made him an "all bout you" basket.

It had a lot of his favorite things, with little play on words sayings of why we love him.

We are so lucky to have Devry! He is the most incredible husband and Father. He is so good to me. So patient with me. So loving and kind, and thoughtful and devoted. I could go on and on and on. I got me a good one thats for sure!

He adores the boys, and they adore him! He spends every second he is home playing with them, taking care of them, helping me in any way he can. 

I am so grateful for such an amazing husband. I couldn't have ever asked for more!

We love you Devry. Happy 29th Birthday!!

New House!

I am FINALLY getting around to posting some pictures of our new house!

We really love this house! We love the location, the layout, the space, the storage, everything!

So Here is a little photo tour..

Our front entry. Typically I don't like split level homes because of the cramped entry, but the angled stairway and large entryway makes it spacious. The garage door is also on this landing, which is SO convenient!

View into the house from the front door.

Heading up the stairs, you enter the family room.

View of the stairs from the family room. The house came with a built in baby gate!

Our family room.

Kitchen. I LOVE my kitchen! Granite countertops, tile back splash, lots of cupboards, and 3(!) ovens!! (main oven, lower oven on the stove and the microwave is a convection oven). 

Another kitchen view

view of the dining room and door to the deck.

Upstairs hallway 

Heading downstairs, here is a View of our very spacious family/play room.

Play area for the kids.

Big family room. The door leads to unfinished area under the stairs. We don't need the storage (because there is SO many other places for storage!) so we are going to finish it and turn it into a play house for the kids.

Stairs heading to the lower level. And looking down the hallway

Downstairs Bathroom

Baby's Room is downstairs.

This is our main garage that is attached to the house. It is a full double garage with storage above it.

I still have to get some more pictures of our room, paytons room, other 2 bathrooms, our guest room and the other garage. Ill post them eventually :) 

Our favorite things about this house:

-Right across the street from the elementary school the kids will go to

-right down the street from preschool

-2 blocks from the grocery store

-near tons of our friends

-2 blocks from our church

-fully fenced in back yard with gorgeous landscaping

-box garden in the back

-2 full 2 car garages

-TONS of storage

-Updated kitchen and carpets

-Nice neighborhood, Safe street (school zone :) )

-Huge green field across the street that gives us a great view!

There are so many other things, but those are some highlights!

We are loving it!

Payton's 4th Birthday!

On July 27th Payton turned 4 years old!!

He is getting SO big, and learning so much!

He is such a funny guy, and is ALWAYS making us laugh! 

He LOVES anything that goes...cars, trucks, trains, airplanes.

He LOVES books, puzzles and games.

And the TV and IPad. of course. 

He adores his daddy, and would spend all day every day by his side.

He is a very good big brother, and helps me out a ton.

He is growing up so fast!

I love this not so little guy.

He had his 4 year well check up and weighed 42 lbs(96th percentile), and was in the 99th percentile for height. He wears size 5-6, and is often mistaken for being older because he's so tall.

Devry went and bought Payton's Favorite - Donuts For his Birthday Breakfast

This year for his Birthday, we had a "friend" party for the first time. (We usually have a family party, and invite a few close friends). He requested a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" theme. I love planning parties, so of course I had a blast planning it! He had 12 friends come to his party, and it was a lot of fun! Here are tons of pictures showing what we did at the party.

When the kids arrived, they each got to open their little treasure chest. Inside was a bandana, eye patch, sword, compass and the girls got pixie dust. They had so much fun putting everything on and pretending to be pirates. 

Payton with most of the kids who came to the party.

 After all the kids had their pirate gear on, we went on a treasure hunt. They had little pirate maps telling them where to go and what to do. 

First, we actually did "bowling at buccaneers bluff"... but I didn't take any pictures. 

Next we Fed Tick Tock crock at Crocodile Creek.

Then We walked the plank at pirates plunge.

After that we dug for buried treasure at Shipwreck Beach

And Finally we found our final treasure and Neverland Island... A treasure chest piñata!

 The kids each had turns hitting the pinata. 

And were rewarded with lots of Gold doubloons! 

After our treasure hunt, we had planned on playing on our water slide for the next hour or so. The weather was overcast, and a bit chilly, but all the kids (and parents) voted we still play on it for a while. Some of them lasted over half hour, but all of them were shivering by the time we were done. They played downstairs for a bit while we finished making dinner. 

For Dinner we had hamburgers and hotdogs, salads, fruit, and jello.

We decorated with a banner that I made, balloons and table cloth, with matching plates and napkins.

After we finished eating, it was time for Cake!

I may have slightly gotten carried away with the cake. I made a "bucky" cake (the ships name on the show). I made the cake the night before, and decorated it that morning. It took me a bit of time, but it turned out better then I imagined it would!

Payton loved the cake! 

So did the twins...

After Cake and Ice cream Payton opened his presents. He was so spoiled by all his friends, and received such thoughtful gifts! 

 It was a fun day! We enjoyed planning and having the party, and were grateful for the kids (and parents) who came to celebrate with us!

We Love this little man SO much, and enjoyed celebrating with him on his big day!