Grandma's House Part Two

We were able to go to Grandma and Grandpa Tams house a few days later for a quick visit.  It was fun to play with Grandma's toys (laser guns and foam swords in particular) and to play games with Grandpa.

Andrew decided to latch on to this little stroller and baby doll.  He was so careful to take care of the baby by putting it gently in the stroller, doing up the clips, and pushing it around the house.

He made sure to hold it carefully when he took it out.  It was so cute to watch him take such good care of it.

Overall, it was a great Christmas season.  We were able to celebrate the birth of the Savior and spend lots of time with family.  We love the Christmas season!

Grandma's House

The day after Christmas we were able to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Tuft.  The boys were so excited to be with them, especially to see Grandma's cars and her special Christmas tree ornaments.

Opening presents - Mario shirt!  Hooray!

Zachary and his Spider-Man underwear.  He had his little heart set on Spider-Man underwear since after his birthday.  He specifically request it from Grandma and she was so nice to give him some.  

He was so excited.

Grandma helping Andrew open a present.  He was a little unsure at first, but he remembered how fun it was and got back into it.

This is the start of something really exciting .... All of the boys opening their presents together.  They knew they were all getting the same thing, but they had no idea what it could be.  Little did they know that mom and Grandma had a special surprise in store.

Nerf dart guns!!!  Ryan had been asking for a "Nerf machine gun" forever and he was so surprised to

 get one.

I wish we had a better view of their faces, but this will have to do.  Big hugs for Grandpa.  So sweet!

Merry Christmas!

The boys were up bright and early, ready for the Christmas fun.  It looks like Santa Claus came!  Here they are rummaging through their stockings.

Andrew was still feeling a little under the weather and preferred to sit in my lap for most of the day.  He wasn't quite ready to open presents yet.

We really like to take our time on Christmas morning.  We take turns opening presents and usually pause to play with what was just opened.  Santa Claus brought Star Wars Legos for the three older boys, so we took a building break to construct the newest sets and to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Yum!

Andrew decided at this point to finally open a present.  He wasn't sure at first about what Santa Claus brought him, but he did like the noises from his robot.

I love this picture!  Last year, the three older boys got some pillow pets for Christmas.  We decided Andrew should have one, so Zachary and Ryan helped me pick out a monkey one for him at the store.  Zachary was especially excited for Andrew to open it and almost ruined the surprise a couple of times.  Zachary couldn't wait for the big reveal!

This is also pretty typical of a birthday or Christmas present-opening.  Mom's official "stand back" arms.

Go Aggies!

After opening presents we took the kids downstairs for the big reveal --soccer nets!  We spent a lot of time playing soccer downstairs.  There was so much running around that I got a bunch of blurry pictures.  I need to figure out how to take better action shots.  We had so much fun spending time together.  

It was a great day.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was nice and relaxing.  Andrew was still feeling under the weather, so we spent the day playing games and watching lots of Christmas movies.  We then read the Christmas story from Luke 2 to remind us of the real meaning of Christmas.  It was really special.

This year we decided to start the tradition of jammies the night before Christmas, and the boys were excited to get a jump on opening presents.

Matthew, Ryan, and Zachary all got football pjs.

Andrew didn't want to participate at first, but after some persuasion from the other boys he decided to give it a try.  He was very excited to see his puppy jammies.

Here's hoping for visions of sugarplums!

Little Sickies

We must not like holidays around here, because we are sick yet again and will probably be so for Christmas.  We thought it was bad for Thanksgiving, but somehow we managed to catch the flu.  Zach started with it first, then a couple of days later is spread to Matthew, then mom, and then Ryan. 

Dad came down with it a little later.

And Andrew has just started.  It looks like we may be sick for Christmas.  Poor little guys!

First Snow!

Today was our first snow of the season and the boys couldn't wait to get outside.  After some quick shoveling we got right down to playing.

Andrew thought ti would be great to ride his bike on the cleared walks.  This little boy LOVES being outside and LOVES his bike, no matter the weather.

We headed over to a little hill by our house for the kids to go sledding.  It was so much fun!

Daddy pulling Andrew home after a long day on the hill.

And what would the first snowfall be without a snowman?  Here's our first attempt. The boys were very carefully found matching rocks and twigs to complete their guy.

This was the best picture I could get.  By this point they were tuckered out and cold from a long day in the snow.  On to the hot chocolate!

My Little Helper

Andrew has always been my little shadow.  He loves to help anyway he can.  One of his favorite jobs is cleaning the bathroom, gloves and all.

His absolute favorite, though, is vacuuming.  This little boy is obsessed with vacuums (bacuums, as he says), so much so that it was almost a fight to get it out and get the work done.  In his words, it was always "Mine!" and he would not be happy until he could push it around himself.  We were lucky to borrow one his own size from our cousins.  He loves it!

Of course, all that helping can tire out a little guy.  I put him in this chair to look at a book while I went to change the laundry and this is what I came back to.  Sweet boy.

Ryan's Christmas List

I loved this.  Ryan wrote a letter to Santa and I had to document it.  Ryan is a phonetic speller, so sometimes I have to read his writing out loud to understand what he means.  It's so cute!

Here's what the note says:

Deer Santu for Christmas I wont they maic luke woc the plaic.

It means:

Dear Santa for Christmas I want they make Luke walk the plank.  (It's a Lego set he has been eyeing forever).

Christmas Lights

It has become a tradition for us to go see the lights in Salt Lake the week after Thanksgiving. We like the warmer weather and smaller crowds.  It's also a great way for us to focus on the true reason for Christmas.  The kids get to pick out toys that we take to the Road Home shelter.  It's such a great experience and the boys love it.  It's nice to then go to Temple Square with our little family to see the nativities.

The stroller crew

The orange tree

We got a new camera and Kevin was experimenting with the settings. 

 I thought he did a great job with this picture.