Christmas Adventures...

I don't know where to start. The last few weeks have gone by so fast! We had my family Candy Cane Party on the 18th. Yup. We make candy canes every year. It was Brandon and the kids' first time. My mom usually is in the kitchen, but this year she was helping my brother Brian and his wife with their new baby. So it was just my two cousins Katie, Michelle, and me. For it being our first time without my mom, I think we did a pretty good job. We only burned one batch and Kate and I were the only ones to burn our hands. We did catch Gramsy's stove on fire however, but Michelle was quick with the baking soda. I was sitting on the couch holding Michelle's new baby girl, Saddie, when Chloe who is 5, came running up to me and Hailey (Katie's youngest) and said, "Hailey! Come quick! The kitchen is on fire, you gotta see!!" Oh my goodness! That little girl has no fear. Uncle Mark paid all the Candy Cane Makers (Except Katie, Michelle and me) for their awesome candy cane making skills. It was a lot of fun and hopefully next year, we will get the hang of things!! Here are pictures from our Candy Cane Adventure....



My last day of work for the winter break was on the 17th. I was so excited for 16 days off. Laura had a dance recital on the 18th. She is on a competition dance team this year and doing so well! Her dance was awesome and she keeps getting better and better! She is a beautiful dancer. After her recital, B and I went to lunch with some family. We went and got wings with Rand, Crystal, Nick and Brauch. Then B and I went to finish our Christmer shopping. We did 90% of it that Saturday and by that night, we were exhausted!! On Christmas Eve, we went to Brauch and Natalie's home for a party with the Sandall family. It was a lot of fun. Brandon and I are so blessed to have such awesome families. We had finger food/appetizers and the cousins all played. The adults exchanged gifts . . .big thanks to Tara and Dustin for the gift card to Pei Wei and the family photo album! All the cousins got new pj's and they put on a program for us about the Savior's birth. It was so cute! Brandon and I were gonna go to a movie but we were exhausted so headed home to get in our pj's.

Laura called us that morning. At 6:30 a.m. They were very excited to tell us about what Santa had brought. It was so awesome. B and I rolled out of bed and opened our presents. B is a great gift giver. He got me a cardigan and tank top from American Eagle that I wanted and ihome speakers for my ipod. Wahoo!! We then headed over to Tara and Dustin's for breakfast. I had fun being shown what the girls got for Christmas, they were very excited. They got an XBox Kinnect and I am now saving all my change to buy one. So maybe we'll have one next year??? We got the kids a little before noon and opened presents at our house. Then off to my mom's for more presents and then up to Gramsy's for food and presents. At that point, I could barely remember my name and Luke looked like he was gonna fall asleep standing up. On our way to take the kids home, we stopped at Brandon's parents. B and I had moved our movie plans to be after we took the kids home, but exhaustion won out again! It was a really fun day.

Monday I cleaned and did something I rarely do- Iron. (I totally understand if you need to take moment to process this.) Tuesday I went and had lunch with Brandon at his work and got to see his new office. I then ran to exchange some clothes we had got Liz for her birthday at Fashion Place Mall and then went to a session at the Draper Temple. I had never been there before. It was breathtaking. I am excited to go back. That night I stopped for groceries and then my day was complete when I got a phone call from Laura. I love when the kids call us or I get an email from them. Laura and I chatted and I told her about my day. She then expressed concern about me getting up early enough to clean out my car and trunk (she says it like its dirty and has a lot of junk in it.....I have no comment) and pick them up by 10:30. I said that she had better call to wake me up. And she did. At 6 a.m. She wanted to make sure I had enough time to do my hair and makeup and get my car cleaned out. It was snowing that morning and so I was 5 minutes late to get them...don't worry....I got a call at 10:33 to see where I was. Oh I love them!

We had the kids for the last half of their winter break. So here we go with our 5-day-adventure: Wednesday we went with my cousin Katie and her girls to see Tangled again. I almost cried in it again! Home for dinner. And the really BIG news....I made Enchilada's again. THEY LIKED THEM! SUCCESS AT LAST! Big thanks to Jamie for the recipe!! Thursday we went to lunch at my mom's and then swimming at the rec center. We were there for almost 4 hours. Liz loved the yellow slide and I think she went down it non stop for an hour. We got take-out Chinese that night and went and got Lilly and I some cold medicine as we were both stuffy and not feeling so hot. Friday morning we got up and headed out to go tubing at a park in North Ogden. Liz started out not too sure of it and by the end was sliding down the hill on her bum. She and I popped one of the tubs on one of our runs when we ran over a broken plastic sled, she was not going to let a lack of tubes stop her! That night we went to their good friends, Cody and Kari's for New Years Eve....the party went on into the next day. It was a lot of fun. Thank you Cody and Kari for such a fun night! We sure love you and can't wait to get together again!!

Sunday we went to church and then to dinner at my mom's. I took the kids home as Brandon had a stake meeting to go to. It was such a fun five days. The kids are so awesome about helping me out. They all did such a good job making their beds. Making your bed, when its a bunk bed, is no easy task. Well, that was a quick rundown. I will do another post on New Years Eve. That was such a fun night. Here are some of our pics from Christmas and over the break. We hope everyone had a great holiday as well!!