Scary Movie

Our kids both love to watch Snow White right now. Mason has the "dig, dig, dig" and "Hi Ho" songs memorized and it's fun to see him sing and dance along. He also does the "brrr, brrr, brrr" face washing thing.

Although they both beg to watch it and could watch it 10 times in a row, they still hide when the witch and mirror scenes come on.  This is Tristyn bunkering down between the couch and chair to protect herself! I'm not sure if she learned it on her own or from watching Mason hide, but either way it's cute!

Up the Hill

Mason didn't mind the long climb back up the sledding hill . . . he sang and recited poems! Love this kid!

Higbee Christmas Party

It was our turn to be in charge of Dan's family Christmas party this year. Thank goodness for hookups . . . we got a great deal on my sister's friend's cabin in Bear Lake! We had a blast hanging out with the Higbee's, opening gifts, playing games, watching movies, sledding, eating, playing Wii, and just chillin'!

Pat made yummy gingerbread men and the kids had fun decorating them (or pretending to decorate them so they could sneak the candy). Mason has a Winnie the Pooh computer game where he mixes up cookies and cakes and then gets to decorate them, so he's on a kick right now where he loves to frost and decorate! He wouldn't eat the cookie, but he had fun decorating!

On Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting at the local ward and the cutest little girl, maybe 5, sang Away in a Manger with her dad and it was awesome! After getting all that religion, Mason helped Dan play cards with the boys. The cabin didn't have a DVD player, so the kids survived by watching movies on my laptop.

On Saturday we all went sledding. Thanks to Bob for bringing his snowmobile so it was a little easier to climb up the hill! Mason was a die hard and was half way up the hill before we even turned around! He made a few snow angels and when he climbed the hill he sang "Hi Ho, Hi Ho" or recited "Jack and Jill". I recorded him saying Jack and Jill, so I'll try to post it later. Tristyn was so mad when we put her hat on and was livid when we put boots and gloves on her! He hated not being able to move and she must have been a little tired because she fell asleep while we were sledding. After she woke up I put her on a sleigh even though she didn't want to. She actually tolerated being pulled around a little. They were both cute little snow bunnies.

On Friday night everyone was there but poor Brandie, who couldn't get off work, and her fiance. It was fun having everyone together for gifts and dinner. We wish they could have all stayed for the full weekend.

Thanks everyone for taking time to spend the weekend with us! It was a great way to kick off Christmas week!

Brunette

I was heading out to get my hair done on Dec 17th. I had been trying to decide what I should do with the color and I asked Dan if he thought I should go dark. He thought about it for about 1/2 a second before he dared me to do it! Geeze, how did I even have a choice after that?? So, I now belong to the dark side . . .

Preschool Program

On Dec 15th, Mason had his 2nd preschool Christmas program! He participated a little better this year than last, but was still distracted that I was there to watch! He kept putting his hands up to his eyes like binoculars and looking over at us. He did dance, clap, and sing during some of the songs and I think his favorite was Jingle Bells since they got to shake bells. It's the only Christmas song I heard him sing around the house (although in the past couple of days he has been singing 'asleep, asleep, asleep, asleep' from Away in a Manger. Not sure where he learned that from!

The teachers do a great job with the kids and it's fun to see what they put together!

'Boxy' Chic

Tristyn loves playing with boxes and especially likes climbing inside with her dogs, blankets, and whatever other toys she can fit. Here she is collecting decorations from the tree to put in the box.

She actually fell on the edge of the box while trying to climb in and got her first shiner! You can see that it's a little red under her right eye.

Update Blitz Part 2

Tristyn attended Nursery for the first time in early December. This is her first Nursery picture. I can't believe she's already that old! They said she did well. She was sick the week after that, then we were out of town, so when we went back last week she was out of practice and I had to stay in there with her. I'm hoping she'll let me sneak out this week!

The weekend after Thanksgiving I did a Miche booth with Julie at Novemberfest. Dan was a saint to watch the kids on Thursday evening and all day Friday and Saturday. I bought this cute train as a project for him to do with Mason, but I guess he didn't dare dive in on his own! He ended up doing it a few days later at home. He loved it and surprisingly only ate a few of the candies in the process. He did sneak a few pieces off over the several weeks it was on the counter! It was his 'gingerbread train'.

These are the photos my sister Suzy took of us at the Thanksgiving party. It was dang cold and the kids weren't cooperating very well, otherwise it would have been a whole photo shoot instead of a few shots at the church. I think they turned out great, though. I especially like the photo of the kids holding hands. Precious!

Blog Update Blitz

You all know that I haven't neglected my blog lately! Well, since I'm neglecting bags for a couple of weeks, I figure it's a great time to post a few things! Hang in there since I have a lot to say!

These photos are backwards in the date taken:

Thanksgiving, Nov 26th, we at Golden Corral with some of Dan's family. It was a nice break from cooking and cleaning all day, but I did miss having my mom's yummy leftovers! It's the first time I've ever gone out for Thanksgiving. I think I prefer a family event at home, but could handle doing this every few years!

On November 21st, we had a family party with the Jenkins's to celebrate Thanksgiving as well as my mom's 60th birthday! We had way more food than we could ever eat and it was awesome! We sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candle in a pumpkin pie. Althoug it's a zoo, I love getting together with my family and wish we could do it more often! My brother Danny was a trooper and lifted all the little kids clear up to slam dunk the ball. He was Mason's best friend that day! We also recorded a video to send to Charlie on his mission and had Suzy take a few snapshots of the family for Christmas cards. They turned out cute.

I hadn't given in to all the Twilight hype, but since New Moon came out on my birthday, I got a bunch of tickets and planned a girl's night out to see it. Well, I really wanted to read the first book and watch the movie before I saw New Moon, I started them and ended up reading all four books in 2 1/2 weeks. It was a lot of very late nights to get through them! I loved the movie (especially Jacob) . . . probably mostly because it was a night out with the girls. The acting was a little better than Twilight and I hope it's better for Eclipse. My computer was having issues at work that day, so I had to leave it with the IT guy for a while, forcing me to do what any other girl would do . . . . go to the mall! That's why I'm wearing the vampire shirt. It was a birthday gift to myself! During the show I almost crossed out vampire and changed it to wolf!

Nov 15th: This is Mason's first snow tower of the season. Dan helped him make it with a snow brick maker. He was so proud of it!

November 10th: Mason likes to go to the front door when we come home. A lot of times I'd open the door to this. It was so sad when the cold weather killed all the flowers! I hope he does it again next spring! Such a sweatheart!

Too many holiday treats??

Tristyn has been a riot the past couple of days:

She provides great entertainment daily!

BFF

Dan had a Christmas party at work today with white elephant gifts. He
was surprised to see this come out of one of the packages! I'm so glad
he has a BFF @ work!

Holiday Wishes from Rhode Island

I love this time of year when everyday I can open the mailbox and find Christmas Greetings from friends and family. It’s great to see how families have changed from year to year and to read ‘family letters’. I’m always a little sad after Christmas when the daily mail changes back to just ads and credit card offers!

Today I received what I think will be my favorite card of the season . . . it’s from my brother, Charlie, and his missionary companion! It was very unexpected and it’s awesome to see that they are getting along well enough to even consider printing and sending a photo card! It reminds me of Ross and Mona on Friends when he’s not sure if they’re in a ‘place’ in their relationship where they should be sending holiday cards . . . funny!

Hopefully the photo will come through so you can see their cute card! It says:

Holiday Wishes From the Ghetto

Love, Elder Rapp and Elder Jenkins

Gotta love this kid! He’s down to less than 6 months! Can’t wait to talk to him on Christmas!