A Little December Randomness

We recently had the opportunity to dogsit for some friends of ours in our ward. Our kids really miss having a dog, and so they instantly fell in love with Homer. He is a Scottie, so he blends in with our dark couch, but Collin loved having a buddy to hang out with while Brynn was in school.

Me and my "Little Miss" hanging out in her room:
Love that girl of mine! She is crazy. She snuck off while being dressed for bed, and went streaking through the house. Good thing she had her babylegs (the leg warmers) on!
On one of several attempts to get 1 year photos of Eden, I took the kids to the park, camera in hand. Eden did anything but cooperate. She couldn't care a bit about documenting her childhood, I guess. Collin, however, was a willing model, so the attempt wasn't in vain.
The only shot I could get of my 1 year old (has it seriously been a year already?):

Brynn sharing a giant size candy bar with Collin that her primary teacher gave her for Christmas:

Family Pictures

Since we were all in town, we took a big family picture, and also got a few of each individual family.

My cute parents:


All the grandkids
(l-r: Camille and Micaela, MaJesta, Eden and Brynn and Collin, Trance)

Our little family:

Me and my man:
Our kidlets:
Sisters!
My brother Justin with his kids MaJesta and Trance and his girlfriend Jessica:

Jessica and Justin:
Trance and MaJesta:

My brother Brian, his wife Natacha, and their girls Camille and Micaela:

Micaela and Camille (Camille saw Micaela putting her hands under her chin and did the same--so cute!)

My sister Alison and her husband Travis:

Christmas Morning (Part 2)

After we opened our presents, we headed over to my parents' house where we all (my siblings and their families included) made a big breakfast together. Its a tradition that includes pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, juice, egg nog, etc. It is also a tradition that we blow a fuse and end up preparing parts of breakfast in unusual parts of the house.

Dave, my dad and my mom:

Justin preparing hash browns at my mom's desk (see what I mean about having to prepare the food in unusual spots):

Justin's girlfriend Jessica supervising the hash browns:
My niece MaJesta providing much of the entertaining (can you tell she was excited about Christmas?):
Eden with her Uncle Justin:
Opening Gifts After Breakfast

Trance, Justin, and Jessica:
Collin:
Probably not the effect he was going for, but I thought Collin looked so cute sulking over something:
Eden with her Uncle Travis:

What do I do with this thing?

Our group has gotten bigger over the years. Between people and gifts, you couldn't really see the floor.


After awhile, most everyone left to go take naps or visit other family members. I stayed for awhile with Collin and Brynn, so they could spend as much time with their cousins who were visiting from California. Collin busted out his new train set, and kept busy with it for a couple hours.

A few years ago, we all made a scrapbook for my parents for Christmas. They love getting new pages to update it each year. This is our page from this year:
It was such a fun Christmas! As the kids have gotten older, it has become so fun to see their excitement and anticipation. I love all the traditions that we are passing on to them and the new ones we are creating together.

Christmas Morning (Part 1)

On Christmas morning, we woke up and did our own thing before heading off for my parents' for the rest of the morning. The kids were thrilled (and I think a little relieved) to see that Santa did indeed stop by our house. It was fun seeing all the gifts and the stockings I finally had embroidered with everyone's name.

Our tree with the gifts we each gave each other. (I know our tree is probably too small for this space, but it is so easy to put up and take down, so it works for us.)
The kids tearing into the gifts:
A castle tent for Collin:
SpongeBob Operation game for Brynn:
An Ironman mask for Collin (that he spent most of the day wearing):
Brynn opening the gift she really, really wanted:
Eden couldn't have cared less about opening gifts. She was more interested in the ornaments on the tree (notice how they have mostly been moved out of reach):Playing with the new gifts:

Our happy, beautiful kiddos:
Later that afternoon...

After spending several hours at my parents' house, the 5 of us opened the gifts we had bought each other.

Eden took the opportunity to sneak into her older siblings' stockings. Forget the Gerber Puffs, bring on the fruit rollups!
She did have fun playing with a ball she received.
This year, we gave each of the kids a small amount of money to buy something for every family member with. When I took Brynn to the store, she was very thoughtful in picking out things that she thought each specific person would want. She got a candle for Dave and I, a book for Eden, and a slinky for Collin. She helped Eden pick out a yo-yo for Collin, since he had really liked one she recently received. As soon as I told Collin he could pick out a gift for his sisters, he immediately decided that he would find a "Tangled doll" for Brynn (a Rapunzel doll, since he knew she had recently seen the movie and loved it). They were also sweet in presenting their gifts to each other. They gave each other hugs voluntarily and everything!


Eden, once again, sneaking her siblings' treats: