Oh how I love the spirit of Christmas!

Christmas Eve we did our traditional breakfast for dinner with my parents. Then we had a special visitor from Santa (papa jack) Benjamin figured it out, but then was in awe that our grandpa was one of thee Santa helpers. Noah was in awe again. He just can't get enough of Santa. Santa brought our Christmas Eve Jammie's. We all love those! Before he left Santa read us one of my favorite books, I Believe in Santa Claus. I just love how the book states so simply the similarities between our Savior and Santa. He really is the true meaning of Christmas.

We came home and the kids went straight to bed. This year I read something along the lines of we thought Christmas as kids was the best thing ever, but watching your kids enjoy Christmas is truly the best. I love seeing the excitement and the magic in their eyes. Noah got trains, balls and cars. He love opening the presents more then what was in the paper. Emma got a bike and these little Anne Geddes animal sleeping babies, she adores! Benjamin got his Nintendo ds that he has been wanting. This year we went on a family shopping day and got gifts for each other. The kids were so excited to see the others open their gifts. It was a family tradition that we had and now I'm excited to have it in our family too.

Next stop was grandma Deedee and grandpa Fadi's. Deedee makes scones for breakfast every year that everyone devours! We had a gift exchange and the kids went first. It's so fun watching the cousins excitement. The adults went next and DeeDee and Fadi also got each couple a box of their favorite things. After gifts we all sang happy birthday to Joey and he blew out the candles on his cake.

Next off to my parents. We exchanged gifts from grandmas and grandpas, it's so fun seeing everyone together. Next we did the sister exchange and my adorable sister Taliah picked up on my hints and got me an adult Harry Potter coloring book! Um what?!? Yes! It is completely amazing! All of the sisters helped with making large wood frames and prints of The Living Christ and A Proclamatiom to the Family. We have some at our house too and I love the spirit that it brings as we our constantly reminded of our Saviour and our families. 

We had a deep fried turkey and of course it was delish! We all enjoyed the food and having everyone around. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did. I truly love this time of the year and the spirit it brings with giving and family. We are all so blessed!

Fa la la la la la

That song was Noah's favorite and it was so cute when he sang it. It cracked me up every time! We have enjoyed lots of baby Jordan time. We made our annual chocolate covered cherries and treats! So yummy!

This year we went to a fun place with part of Jake's family. They had lights and rides. The kids loved the slide, carousel and train. We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies and cousin time. This was our visit to Santa. He had he best conversations with Benjamin and Emma. I love when they see the magic and love. Noah was obsessed and didn't want to leave. He couldn't stop smiling! 

We had a fun early Christmas with aunt Rachael. She got us couples all these amazing back massagers and mine had already been put to plenty of use. The kids got spoiled with so many things. We loved having her here, there is always so much laughter and so many memories to enjoy. My dad is an avid Seinfeld fan and Rachael got him the pose of George on a shirt! Ahhhh so dang funny! We love that :)

Lucky 7!

I can not believe that my handsome little man is now 7! He is such a joy and we all love him so much. He is so happy and makes sure everyone is happy too. He loves so many people. His laugh is still contagious and melts my heart. He is in first grade and doing great. He is quite the little reader and so smart. He is always sharing and helping others. It is so weird to see him turn into a growing boy rather then my little baby. He is always growing, I feel like every laundry day I am pulling something else out that he has already grown out of! 

For his birthday we celebrated at my parents house and were so lucky to have so much family here for the night! Benjamin asked grandma for an ice cream cake (which is usually 2 layers), but Benjamin asked for 3 different ice creams so sure enough we had our first three layer cake and had 4 different flavors. He sure is loved. He was so excited to open present and was very spoiled and loved by everyone. Thank you to all that came and sent love for our Benjamin! It's hard having his birthday by Christmas, but I try and do my best that he still feels all the love we have for him! He is such a good sport. The first thing he said when he woke up was, "Mom, it's my birthday and there is only three days to Christmas!" I love you my prince Benjamin! 

Say cheese!

We took family pictures a little over a month ago and are excited we now have them to share! We went with all of Jacob's family up to Red Rock Canyon. Everyone dressed up and got ready to put those smiles on. There is just something about family photos that puts a stress on some people. I tell my family every time that if everyone is just smiles and listens we will be done so much faster. I was very proud for how well the kids did for how cold it was and everything else. Noah was very good with no fits, just low on the smiles ;) Benjamin loved playing around on all the rocks and seeing his cousins. Emma is my sweet girl that just stood there and smiled, at the end we learned it was because she was too cold to move! Ha ha ha

Dee Dee and Fadi are the ones we owe thanks to for this shoot. We really appreciate all they did to pull this together for everyone. We all have pictures and memories to last a life time. It is so fun to look back on our pictures to see how much we change and how fast the kids grow. I love looking at the pictures and seeing the love between parents and kids, husbands and wives and all of our little and growing families.