Lots and Lots of Christmas

We had so much fun this Christmas Season that I have decided to share it all with you and give you a picture overload of all the festivities. We started everything off by visiting Santa at RC Willey this year which turned out great since there was no line, it was free, and we got to see Tommy's sister Kelley while we were there. Lincoln jumped right up and told Santa that he wanted a nerf gun for Christmas. Hazel was very afraid (as you can tell) so we decided a family picture was the only way she would be in the picture.

We had a party at my mom's house where she gave all of the kids christmas pillowcases, an ornament and matching jammies.

Then it was time for a party at my sister's house. When my dad was on his way to the party he happened to run into Santa and invited him to come visit with the children. The first thing Lincoln said when Santa walked in the door was "Santa! Do you remember what I asked you for?" Luckily there was so much going on Santa didn't have time to respond. When he did sit on Santa's lap he altered his gift to a nerf shotgun. This time Hazel was bribed with mini M&M's to sit on Santa's lap.

Christmas Eve arrived and we hosted a party for Tommy's family at our house. We packed about 20 people in our tiny house and had so much fun. Of course the kids favorite time was when they exchanged gifts for each other.

Yes, this is an excited face, not an evil one!

Lincoln was very happy with the gift he recieved - 3 Bakugans

FINALLY, Christmas! This year we put our Christmas tree downstairs and when Lincoln ran down the stairs Christmas morning he said in a loud whisper of amazement "Santa really did come!" and then came in our room to wake us up. His favorite presents were both from santa - a nerf gun and a shot gun.

Hazel immediately ran to the unwrapped bike that Santa left for her and tried it out. We are so happy that her feet touch the pedals!

Her other favorite gift was a mommy playset that came with a baby crib, highchair, swing and stroller. Of course, she thinks she is still small enough to use them for herself so it is highly likely that these won't last very long.

The aftermath of opening presents...toy overload. Where do we put it all and what old toys can we get rid of??

Let's not forget about Gypsy. He loved all of the discarded wrapping paper more than his new scratchpost.

And here is my favorite part of this Christmas - Tommy's gift from the kids. I really tried hard to teach Lincoln about the gift of giving to others this year. I had him deliver all of our neighbor gifts to their doors and pick out presents for Hazel and Tommy. He was so excited about Tommy's present (Transformers 2 DVD) that everytime a Transformers commercial would come on or anybody would talk about it he would blurt out "dad, I can't wait to give you your present, but I can't tell you what it is because it's a surprise". When we went to wrap it he wanted to do it all by himself. Of course, I cut the paper and got the tape ready for him, but he actually wrapped it, put the tape on himself, and wrote on the tag. His excitement for Tommy to open this present was priceless.

Hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as my family did. We love you all so much and are lucky to have you in our lives.

Rockabye Baby by Hazel

Hazel sings this song at least 5 times a day and sings it for everything. On Thanksgiving we were just finishing up eating (at about 2:15) and we all hear Hazel singing a little louder. We look over and she had her eyes closed and was singing to herself (her naptime is normally 2:00 so I think she was singing herself to sleep). When she relazied how quiet it had gotten though, she opened her eyes and started laughing. Naptime was over! Later that day on the way back home she did sing herself to sleep in her carseat. So funny!

The next day I decided to get her song on film before she decides to move onto another. Had to share it because I think she is so cute (proud mommy alert!)

Last night we had our Ward Christmas Party at a building with an ice rink. We enjoyed a yummy warm dinner inside then hit the ice. The ice skates were too big for the kids but we found it was slippery enough for us with just our shoes on. I was surprised at how many people in the ward were pretty good at ice skating - the few times I have been I have proven myself to be horrible!

Hazel LOVED it and didn't want to ever stop! Look at that smile!

Lincoln's favorite party was to run and then slide on his belly across the ice. This was him at the end...

Hazel turns 2!

Hazel turned 2 yesterday and had such a wonderful time at her party being spoiled by her closest cousins. She LOVES Minnie & Mickey Mouse so of course that was the theme of her party. The kids ate a lunch of Mickey Mouse nuggets and Mickey Mouse shaped cheese then played "Pin the Bow on Minnie" and a "Toodle Scavanger Hunt". Then it was cake and present time. She is such a girly girl and loved her new purse (with lipstick, cell phone, etc), princess tent (the best to play peek-a-boo in), dress ups and high heels (fabulous!), and the fun books that she recieved. Finally! Some girly girl toys! No more transformers and bakugons for her (okay, maybe sometimes!). Thanks to all the cousins that came and made her day wonderful - she loves playing with all of you!

Birthday girl:

Minnie Mouse cupcakes:

Blowing out candles:

Cousins:Present time!:
Gotta love the lipstick:

I'm a princess:

A Pirate's Life for Me and other Halloween fun...

Last night we went to a Halloween party that had a pirate theme, therefore we all dressed up as pirates. Lincoln was already planning on being Jack Sparrow for Halloween, so that worked out nicely. I borrowed a costume from my neighbor for Hazel, bought me a cheapie costume, and Tommy made up his own zombie pirate costume (which turned out pretty scary!!) The first pic is of zombie Tommy with his 1st place Jack the Pumpkin King.

And here is something you will all enjoy (and probably laugh until your tummy hurts!). Lincoln made up a song for Halloween and sings it all the time. I had to get it on video because it is sooo funny!

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was a hectic, busy weekend, but it was SO MUCH FUN!! To start it out I had my book club retreat on Friday night at a cabin in Sundance. A few of us left a early enough so we could get a hike in before dinner. It is so beautiful up there right now with all of the leaves changing colors and the temperature is perfect. After the hike we went back to the cabin for a yummy dinner and a late night of fun with about 24 ladies. Thanks for all of the fun times!!

On Saturday Hazel went to a Birthday Tea Party in the early afternoon and Lincoln went to a Cowboy party at Wheeler Farm later in the afternoon. Both parties were such cute ideas and the kids both had so much fun.

Since we missed the circus last year we decided we should really go this year and boy am I glad we did!! The whole family was entertained and I thought the show was amazing. Hazels favorite part was the elephants (she started yelling "elephants! elephants! elephants!" so loud while jumping up and down that all of our neighbors around us looked at her.) Lincolns favorite part was the whole thing - he sat and stared with his mouth open through most of it. Between the elephants, tigers, magic tricks, people shooting cannons, etc. I think I would have to agree with Lincoln - I loved it all!

DMB Gorge Vacation

A few weeks ago Tommy and I went on our annual vacation to see Dave Matthews up in Washington at the Gorge. We made it a road trip again with some friends and had so much fun. To break up the trip we stopped for a break in Boise - and you can't go to Boise without riding the mechanical bull. Luckily nobody was hurt this year.

Our niece Tonja and her boyfriend were nice enough to come along with us and let us all ride in their pimpin motorhome. The 13 hour (one way) drive could have been horrible, but with a bathroom, kitchen, bed and 40 inch tv I can't really complain.And during the day we were able to play a little Rockband to get us in the mood for the concert.

For those of you who have never been to the Gorge I took a few pictures of what it is like. It is an ampitheatre about 1 1/2 hours away from Seattle and it overlooks the Columbia River. Most of the people that come for the concerts camp in a field that is within walking distance to the ampitheatre. Here is what it looks like to camp with about 15000 people (they allow 6000 cars to enter).

And here is the beautiful view we enjoy while hanging out with wonderful people..

School * Anniversary * Bonk on the head

Lincoln started back to Preschool 2 weeks ago and he loves it. He has the same teacher as last year, but all of the kids are new except for one. He misses a lot of his friends from last year, but he is quickly making new friends each day. He now goes 4 days a week which I LOVE so I can run more errands with just one little one driving me crazy. Hazel misses Lincoln a lot when he is gone though and she will walk through the house calling for him. Sad but sweet!

Last Friday, September 18, was Tommy's and my 10th Anniversary. Wahoo!! My sister was wonderful and watched the kids for us overnight so we could be romantic and sappy without a curfew. We took advantage of that and stayed in a hotel downtown. When we checked in Tommy asked for a room with a view since it was our 10th, and they were nice enough to upgrade us to a suite. I haven't stayed in a suite since my wedding night so I was pretty excited about this!! After we checked in we had a wonderful sushi dinner at Takashi and then walked to the Gateway for a movie. It was so fun to talk about all of the wonderful things we have done the last 10 years and what we would like to do in the future. I am so lucky to have Tommy as my hubby and I can't believe how fast our life together is zooming by. Love you honey! (oh, I know we look ridiculous in the picture below, we were laughing so hard at taking a pic of ourselves, but I really wanted to document the night. Should of had someone take a pic when we were at the Gateway. Oh well!)

Now on to Miss Hazel. She is one of the most accident prone kids I know (okay Megan S., not nearly as accident prone as Seth, but a lot more than Lincoln ever was!) Yesterday she was walking from our kitchen table to Lincoln's bedroom and she slipped on a toy. Instead of just falling to the ground she slammed her head right into the bookcase. Luckily a frozen gogurt helped stop the tears pretty quickly, but I was pretty much in a panic since I don't know a lot about head wounds. She wasn't disoriented or acting weird so I just watched her closely for the rest of the day. Luckily when she woke up this morning most of the swelling was gone and she just has a big bruise. I hope as she gets older she will also become more graceful...