One day....

We're gonna make it BIG!!!!!
Today, Carson went to Luke's house to play with Luke & Banxton, some of his good neighborhood friends. He took along his guitar, since Luke had gotten one for Christmas too, and they all wanted to play with them. My good Friend Jana, Luke's mom, took these great pictures of the boys. I look at these pictures and just smile. First, I love the rocker look they are all giving in the 2nd picture, and second, they are all getting so BIG! I can remember when all of us moms where pregnant with them and here they are getting so big and so full of personality! When did they get so big?? Anyway, I just had to share!!! Thanks again Jana for capturing such a moment during a fun afternoon and sharing it with me!

Christmas Day 2010

We were up and ready to open presents around 7:45 AM, so we all gathered in the front room before we all headed into the Family room to see what Santa brought!
The kids found their stockings and presents and were immediately excited about what they found!

Santa brought Carson a drum pad set and a Tonka Dump Truck and Front Loader.

Kaylee got a vanity from Santa! (This was a fun toy that most of the kids enjoyed that day, including the boys!).

Both kids got books, candy, and an orange in their stockings.

They also got a recorder to play!

Here are some more pictures from our Christmas morning.

Here is the camera Carson asked for. (Both kids got their own camera!)

All the grand kids got pillow pets from Grandma & Papa Bear.

Even our little baby got a present, a blanket from Grandma Karen.

The kids were spoiled this year! Presents started to pile up because they had so much to open!

We got a lot of musical instruments for Christmas, including this chime set from Grandma Joy, A guitar, drums, and a violin. We can start our own band now!

After opening presents we had waffles for breakfast and then we continued playing with our new toys!

We also enjoyed eating goodies....including tootsie rolls. Can you tell that is what Kaylee was eating before we took this picture?

After lunch, we used skype to talk to my little brother, Elder Brower, in Brazil. It was so cool to have my whole family online and on camera to talk. Tiff was in Reno, Matt in Las Vegas, and Ris & my parents were in Idaho Falls. It was amazing! And Elder Brower looked and sounded great!

The kids went sledding again and then did some musical jamming with each other!

And Kaylee continued to play beauty shop with Daddy.

It was a great Christmas! We headed home that evening since we had to be to church the next day for our Ward's Christmas program. We got home and got unpacked and at least got all the presents into the house before heading straight for bed. We were all worn out from having so much fun that day! The next day, I sang with our Ward Choir for the program and also sang a solo "When the Son of God was Born". It was a great day at church and it was a great way to end the year. Carson will get a new teacher next year since he is going to be in a new class. He will miss his teachers, Sister Burnett and Sister Duncan. They were great teachers! But I also know he is excited to get new teachers for next year. Poor Kaylee is stuck in Nursery for another year, since she doesn't turn 3 until the end of January. But she loves Nursery and will enjoy being the oldest this year! We feel so blessed this Holiday Season! We love our families and we are so grateful for our Ward family and friends. We hope your family had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve 2010

We had a fun week getting ready for the big day. We left for Holden on Thursday after lunch and after spending an extra hour in construction in Utah County, we finally made it to Nick's parents home. We got there and had soup for dinner and enjoyed a movie, Shrek the Final Chapter, with the cousins before heading to bed. These three, Savannah, Austyn, and Carson, are so cute together!
Kaylee & McCall enjoyed some snuggle time with Grandma.

Makenna & Nicholas. The next morning the kitchen was a busy place making pies, rolls, and getting things ready for our Christmas Eve Dinner.

I helped a little, but between Tamra & Karen they pretty much had it under control, so I enjoyed posing for Carson who was having a blast taking pictures with my camera.

During the afternoon, Nicholas took the kids out sledding across the street. They had a blast!

They all got cleaned up and we got ready for our Christmas Eve Dinner. Nicholas was in charge of carving the turkey. He did a great job!

Nick's sister, Tamra was there from California with her two kids, Ian & Aria. Nick's brother Ryan and his two kids, Chase & Taylor were also there for Christmas.

We had a yummy Ham & Turkey dinner with all the fixins! We ate before Papa Bear had to go to work.

After dinner, we attended the Annual Holden Ward Christmas program. We listened to the Primary children sing Christmas songs, read the Nativity, and waited for Santa to come.

During the program, Kaylee zonked right out. It was SO cute!

After a bit of wait, it was finally their turn to see Santa! They were so excited! They hadn't seen him all Christmas season until Christmas Eve.

He of course asked them what they wanted for Christmas. Carson told him 'A Camera' and Kaylee said she wanted 'Dolly and Barbies'. They got a BIG bag of candy, peanuts, and an orange from Santa.

When we got home, the kids each got to open one present, which of course were new pajamas.

All the cousins in their new pj's. Carson, Aria, Chase, Ian, Kaylee & Taylor.

After putting on PJ's, we got ready for bed. Grandma Karen read some books and we got the cookies & milk out for Santa. And of course, carrots for the reindeer.

We got the kids to bed and the adults stayed up a bit longer enjoying the quiet time and visiting around the beautiful Christmas Tree.

Then during the night, Santa stopped by and set out the toys for Carson & Kaylee, and filled all of our stockings with goodies!

We all tried to get some sleep on Christmas Eve, but I think I was so excited for my kids that even I found it hard to sleep! Kaylee was up a few times during the night, I don't think she felt very good and because she didn't eat very well that day, she was hungry and Nick had to get her some chocolate milk and a granola bar during the night to get her to go back to sleep. But it was still a great Christmas Eve!!!