Seasons Greetings....

The Friday before Christmas we went down town to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights, that's one of our favorite things to do.

You would have thought we were going to spend the night in the snow, with how bundled up we all were...but I'm not a real big fan of the cold!

Paige and Mommy...Brayden's in the stroller.

Here's a peak at him under the blanket. He slept through it all, which made it easy on us.

This is Brian showing the kids where Santa was on Christmas Eve...

We got to spend a lot of time with our family on Christmas....Alayna {our neice} share's her birthday with Jesus. Happy 6th Birthday Alayna!

Paige loves hanging out with her cousins! This is Colton and Madelyn...they are sure fun to play with! I'm sure that Colton and Wade can't wait until Brayden is big enough to run around and play.

Aunt Amber, Paige, Colton and Auntie Pie

This is Sydelle, Me, Kencie and Paige....Sydelle and Kencie are 2 of my sisters...auntie Pie is my other sister.

It was Brayden's first Christmas...he wasn't sure what to think of it all, but Paige sure had fun helping him open up his presents.

Here's Paige with her "Pink and Purple camera" that she asked Santa for. Thankfully she was really good and was able to get her special present! Christmas gets to be more and more fun as every year as Paige gets more excited about it, having kids makes Christmas all that more magical! We hope that you all had a great Christmas!

Making Gingerbread Houses at Grandma Coo-Coo's

My mom did gingerbread {gram cracker} houses with all the grandkids...
Paige had a blast, if she could she would have put candy on every square inch of it.The best part is tasting all the yummy candy too. We actually had a harder time keeping Brian from eating all the candy then the little ones....naughty daddy. :)

Brayden and Daddy mostly watched, they helped a little.

The finished product....GOOD job Paige, it's beautiful.

This is what happens when you let the 3 year old hold it on her lap on the way home and daddy has to hit the brakes....

Sorry Paige....she was totally heart broken {as were we}. Poor thing!

The BEST Live Nativity!

It has become a tradition for us to go to the Live Nativity every year. This was the first year that we took Paige and of course Brayden.


We love the spirit that you feel there, they do such an amazing job. I just love everything about it. It is such an AWESOME way to enter into the holiday season and for little ones to learn about the real reason we celeberate Christmas.

We loved having the opportunity to explain what was happening to Paige as we were going along. You first come across an ancient prophet writing about the coming of the Savior.

Then you see sheperds...{unfortunately the goats weren't co-operating for this picture, but they were there}....the sheep were there also.

Then of course the 3 wise men...looking to see the sign that the Savior had been born.

Then just as you are about to enter the streets of Bethlehem you come across the "tax collector".

As you go inside the town of Bethlehem, you come across many typical sites from that time. This is a picture of a "begger".

This is the "inn keeper". And just after you come to him you round the corner to see....

Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

It is such an amazing feeling! Paige wanted to stand there and stare forever, she was in awe about the experience as well. We were thrilled that she felt and recognized the spirit and marveled in the story as we walked along and experienced it.

We hope that you all have the chance to feel the spirit and to really celebrate the birth of our Savior! Merry Christmas!

Once there was a snowman....

Let it snow...baby!!!
Brian is the biggest fan of snow, Paige and Grizzly also share in his love of the snow. They bundled up and went outside to shovel and play.

Paige is such a big helper!

Grizzly has the best time playing in the snow...so much so that he wandered away and got lost for a little bit {don't worry we found him though}.

Brayden stayed nice and warm inside with mom...except of course when I was outside taking pictures.

Once the snow was shoveled it turned into play....can you say snow ball fight!

Brian didn't play fair though...Paige didn't care she still had a blast.

And even when Brian was so cold he wanted to come inside, Paige wasn't done...so,

Brian stayed outside and built a snowman with Boogie...she had a blast!

Here's the final master-piece! They came in soaked through every layer of clothing, but had the best time ever! Thank heavens for a husband who also enjoys freezing his buns off so that he can stay out and play with the kids...and the dog! And since we live in Utah where snow is a given...why not just enjoy it! ;)

Dancing Queen...

The Festival of Trees....
Paige danced her first dance recital at the Festival of Trees on December 1st....she was so cute and had so much fun. This little one loves the attention!

Here she is getting ready to go out and perform.

Here she is posing some of her dance moves for the camera....

More dance moves, with a little bit of silly flare. :)

Brayden was such a good cheerleader...what a good support. { He slept most of the time, which made it really nice for mom and dad!}

Thank you Aunt Katie, Uncle Corey and Aunt Crystal for coming out and showing your support...horrible snow storm and all. The rest of you...she'll be ready to dance her socks of for you to see in June! :)

*She had so much fun she keeps asking me when she gets to dance on the stage again! How stinking cute!*

Deck the Halls!!!

Yeah...we have lights! Brian was determined to get the Christmas lights up before it snowed this year.
So the week before Thanksgiving he got everything out and got it done. {With the BYU game blaring in the background - mind you.}

He did such a great job! In case you can't tell...we went with the "red & white" lights. I love them! {Brian wants everyone to know that he bleeds blue...the lights are just festive and in no way represent the team that we cheer for in anyway. Just in case anyone out there thought otherwise. ;) }

Here's Brian basking in his greatness {and humoring me by posing for the camera}! LOL! Love you babe!

Once the lights were up {and Thanksgiving was over} we got the Christmas tree up. Brian got it out and tried to remember how we decided it would be better to do it this year.

Paige was SOOOO excited to decorate the tree. She was good to make sure that Brayden wasn't left out of the fun!

Brayden helped mom put some ornaments on the tree. He is mesmorized by the lights, mostly.

Paige was SOOO excited to put the STAR on top of the tree. And since she's the only one big enough {Dad got demoted} she got the honors.

Of course she needed Daddy's help though...Brian was happy to do it. It's so much fun to see the magic in their eyes. Having kids makes the holidays so much more fun!!!

So as you put up your lights and decorate your house, we hope that you have time to enjoy the MAGIC of the Christmas season! Happy Holidays from our house to yours!!!