christmas

I just decided that I did a horrible job taking pictures this past Christmas season. We had both an elf join our home and an advent calendar but I really didn't take any pictures of any activities we did. I did snap a picture of the boys prior to the Naples boat parade. We went to a soccer friends house for a little party prior to the parade. The boys loved it.

Brynnley's favorite thing about Christmas were these shiny glass bulbs that I hung from the ceiling. We drove to Idaho to spend Christmas with Kyle's family. Nixon's face shows how we felt about that drive. I was shocked that we were able to load all the Christmas presents in the car without the kids discovering any of them. We made the drive in two days and arrived on Christmas eve. The boys put out their stockings, cookies, and carrots in anticipation of Santa and his reindeer arriving. Christmas morning we had church at 9am so we let the kids check out all their stocking stuff and Santa's presents. Logan wanted a Lego 4-wheeler (that took Santa 2 hrs to put together)Nixon asked for Cranky from Thomas and friends. He seemed to be really excited with all the treats in his stockingI painted these little superhero peg people for the boy's stockings. Ironman, superman, spiderman, and batman. Got the idea from blogs of course. I wasn't sure if the boys would like them with all the other big presents they were getting. However, they seem to really like them. I learned that I should have put some sort of seal on them because with all the playing they got the paint starting chipping. Have you seen the Disney princess peg people? so cute. I made some for one of Nixon's girlfriends and bought enough girl pieces to make Brynnley some. logan received a ton of Legos (those little pieces will be the end of me). His favorite presents are probably his new fast shoes and his razor scooter. Nixon got a ton of Thomas trains stuff, games, crocs, legos and a bunch of other typical boy stuff. He was thrilled with his new thomas pjs I made him. So much so that he stripped down as soon as he opened them.

The boys got an I pod touch to share. I think they are too young to have one, but it was perfect for the long rides in the car.

I didn't get B anything for Christmas. I did get her a Christmas church outfit. Other than that she received a doll, bathing suit, and learning toy from my older brother and wife.

The day after Christmas I got the flu (blah). But I managed to crawl around enough to help Kyle pack up to head to the cabin. And an even bigger success, I managed to make the drive to the cabin without puking. I ended up being sick for the better part of the trip. Even on the drive back to California my stomach was a little off. But the boys had a blast on our trip and never caught the flu.

First things first, Logan had to get on a 4-wheeler.

But dad had to plow the driveway a bit. These two played in the snow for hours. Nixon fell fast asleep on his ride. Miss B made it outside. Adorable. Stinkin adorable. After a couple of days alone all the cousins arrive. Mason seems to be a favorite from this trip. He's as crazy as my boys. I love this picture of my boys. I see this look between them numerous times throughout any given day. It is the look that fun and trouble are soon to follow. The whole family went sledding one day. After a minor traffic accident involving Kyle's brother crashing (softly) into his dad's new truck we found a nice hill and the kids had loads of fun. And that's where the pictures end. Looking back, I'm sad that I felt so crummy the whole trip. The snow is something special for us Californians and I wish I was able to enjoy it more with the family. But I came home 4 lbs lighter....not too bad.