Christmas

Christmas came way too fast this year. Or maybe I just waited too long to do all of my holiday shopping. In any case, I felt like it just snuck up on me and that I didn't have enough time to do all the things I needed to do. Fortunately, everything got done on time and we headed up to Shane's dad's on Christmas Eve to spend the night there. Alex and Ava were sure to leave out cookies for Santa and were very excited for him to come, so falling asleep and staying asleep was a bit of a challenge that night.
The next morning the kids showed great will power by having breakfast first and then opening their presents. Alex got the Wii he had asked for (it was by far his favorite present, followed by the Uno cards.) Ava's favorite presents were the animal books, Little People tree house, and the talking/roaring dinosaur (she's really into dinosaurs).
We had a nice holiday spending time with family, opening presents and eating a yummy Christmas breakfast, made by me (why, yes, I can cook!).


Opening presents at granddaddy's house.


Alex's reaction when he got the Wii.


What luck! Santa came to our house as well! Alex loves his Star Wars stuff and Ava loves her Little People.


Even Sam got a few presents.

Let it snow!

I guess I shouldn't complain that it is nearly Christmas and this is the first snow of the season. I'm all for snow at Christmastime as long as it disappears soon afterward. Alex and Ava are of a different opinion and were super excited about the snow and wanted to go play in it even though it barely covered the grass. So we got their snow gear on and they played around in the yard. They had a lot of fun sledding down the little hill in our front yard, throwing snowballs at mommy and daddy and building a snowman. While I would be quite happy if it didn't snow anymore this season, I'm sure that Alex and Ava can't wait for more to come.

Thanksgiving

I know I've said it before, but I love Thanksgiving. To be more specific, I love the food at Thanksgiving, probably because I never have to cook it. This year was no different as we traveled up to Illinois to spend the holiday with Shane's dad. However, the day was also marked with sadness as it is the first holiday without Shane's mom, who passed away last month. We miss her greatly and know that the holidays will not be the same without her.

As I talked with Alex and Ava about what they were thankful for, they mentioned their family and named specific people. I think this year especially, I am thankful for my family and grateful for the time we have shared together.

2 Teeth, 1 Week

Yep, that's right, Alex lost 2 teeth in 1 week. They have been falling out left and right or rather up and down. Last Sunday, his top tooth finally fell out and then last night, a bottom tooth fell out. However, since the tooth came out while Alex was sleeping and has yet to be found, we are assuming that he swallowed it. Alex was not to be deterred by the situation and wrote the Tooth Fairy a letter explaining what had happened. We think she'll understand. : )

Leaf pile!

Today was the first warm day in a while, so we decided to take advantage of it and clean up our yard, which needed some serious raking. We tackled the front yard first and were able to rake up the majority of the leaves (who knew one tree could have so many leaves). Alex and Ava were a big help with putting the leaves into bags and picking up sticks. After we finished there I raked the kids a big leaf pile that they could jump in. They had a lot of fun playing around in there and we never got around to cleaning up the backyard. Oh well, hopefully it will be nice next weekend...

On your marks, get set....

Playing in the leaf pile.

Happy Halloween!

Yes! Halloween is here and Alex and Ava couldn't wait to dress up again and go trick-or-treating. They were very excited to get more candy (kids these days really don't get enough sugar) and had a lot of fun going from house to house. Since we live in a pretty big subdivision, we only went down a couple of streets and even then, Alex and Ava got a nice stash of candy. When combined with the candy they received the previous evening from trunk or treating, the kids got a pretty big haul and Alex declared that this was the "best Halloween ever", so I think tonight was a success. :)

Before: buckets empty. On our way to go trick-or-treating.

After: buckets full. Look at all our candy!

Trunk or Treat!

Tonight was our ward's annual Halloween party. The kids were very excited to dress up and go "trunk or treating". This year Alex decided to be Darth Vadar as he has become quite the Star Wars fan. He vacillated between that and a mummy but ultimately went with Darth Vadar. Ava wanted to be a mummy as well (surprise, surprise) but when she saw the Sponge Bob costume, she changed her mind. We all had fun at the party. Shane made his awesome chili for the cook-off contest and although he didn't win, I still think his was the best. Alex and Ava had a lot of fun playing with friends, eating yummy treats, and trunk or treating. They got a nice little stash of candy and I predict that by tomorrow night we will be in complete candy overload.


Sponge Bob and Darth Vadar


Alex with his friends, Joshua and Ian.


Ava enjoying her cupcake. Well, the icing on the cupcake, anyway.