Toolbox Project and a New Year!

Carson got a fun present for Christmas...a tool box!  This tool box was a project tool box that needed to be built with help from dad.  On Thursday evening, Nick helped him put it together.  They did a great job and Carson was so excited to sand the parts sand hammer it together!  It was cute to watch!  It took them just over an hour to put it together.  So after they got started, Kaylee and I left to do some shopping.  I went to find me some new levis I desperately needed using some Christmas money I got.  Kaylee was patient enough to wait while I tried on about 20 pairs of pants, and luckily I found a few that would work!  When we got home the tool box was complete.   Carson was so proud of it!  It was fun to see him carry it around the next day after it had time to dry.  He is such a boy!!!!  Here are pictures of the project!

We had a fun time as well on Thursday taking the kids to Kangaroo Zoo.  Nick only worked a half a day, so when he got home we figured it would be fun to let the kids get some good energy out!  They had a blast!!!  On Friday, Carson had his friend Connor (from his class) over to play and Kaylee had her friend Gracie over to play.  It was nice to have some friends over for the kids to play with, since they were getting on each others (and my) nerves.  Friday night, we had a fun game night with some neighbor friends, Jim and Ann, and their three boys.  We played a few games then had Skookies for a treat.  It was a very enjoyable evening!  We would love to get more game nights planned with more friends in the future!  Today, we got up early and headed to Idaho to spend New Years with Marisa's family.  On the way, we stopped in Ogden and had lunch at Pizza Factory with Matt, Nat, and Hallie.   It was so yummy and FUN to have lunch with them.  Natalie is going to have her baby any day now and we are so excited to have a new niece!!!  We made it up to Idaho Falls around dinner time and have enjoyed dinner, dancing on the Wii, and playing cards.  We will go to church tomorrow with Marisa's family where Braydon will be ordained a deacon and receive the Priesthood.   We will also get to attend Austin's Eagle Court of Honor after church.

We are so grateful for this past year and for the many experiences and time we shared with our family.  Here's to another great year!!!!!

Christmas Celebration in Holden

On Monday, the 26th, we got up and got all packed up to go to Holden to see Nick's family and celebrate Christmas with them.  As I was getting the camera all ready, Kaylee walked into the kitchen looking like this.  It was so funny, so I hurried and snapped a picture since I had the camera in my hand.  She begged to take quite a few toys with her to Holden, but we convinced her to take just a few things (which ended up being left there, but luckily we got them back already).  

When we got to Holden, they were ready to finally open presents.  They didn't open them on Christmas since no one was there yet and Tamra spent time at her inlaws house on Sunday.  We thought the kids got pretty spoiled on Sunday, but they got even more spoiled from Gma & Papa!  They kids both got really cute slippers.  Carson got a nerf gun and a shirt.  Kaylee got some clothes, a temple art picture to go in her room, and a doll.  Alivia even got a baby doll and some new clothes.  They gave us a portable generator, which will come in handy if we end up in a really bad wind storm and without power again.  They gave me some $$, which I already spent on 3 pairs of levi's that I desperately needed.  We got spoiled!

 On Tuesday, we got up early and got a quilt on for us to tie.  Kaylee was a great helper with the thumbtacks.  We spent ALL day tying two queen size quilts for us.  Nick and I have been using quilts to sleep with every night that were made before we got married.  So they are getting a little ragged.  So it will be nice to have some new quilts to use.  But I was so worn out by the end of the day.  Between my back aching and my sore fingers, I was ready to be done!  We took a few breaks for lunch, to visit with Grandpa Pace, and for some yummy pizza dinner.

 Alivia enjoyed just hanging out and eating a LOT of crackers while we tied the quilts.  She made a MESS!  And loved it!

It was a fun way to spend time with family and I am so grateful for all that Gma Karen and Papa do for us.  We got home late Tuesday night, and Nick was able to take the day off on Wednesday, so we were able to put away the Christmas Trees and other Christmas Decorations, do a LOT of laundry, and have a movie night watching "Home Alone 2", which the kids just love.  We laughed our heads off!!  Their favorite part is when Marv gets hit in the head several times with bricks.  Oh, it is a classic!  I still can't believe Christmas is over and we are going to be ringing in the new year tomorrow night.  2011 has been a fantastic year!  I can't wait to see how 2012 goes!

Merry Christmas!

We had an amazing Christmas this year!  We had talked for a few days with the kids to come up with a fun tradition our family could do on Christmas Eve.  Carson told us of a teacher at school that told them that for their tradition, they would all wear pajamas to a nice dinner.  We thought that was kind of fun, so with that as our inspiration, we decided each kid would open up one present (that would be new pajamas) on Christmas Eve before dinner.  Then we would all wear PJ's for dinner and that dinner would be a breakfast.  So we had Swedish Pancakes for dinner while wearing our PJ's.  It was fun!  We also thought about going to Dennys for dessert in our PJ's or something fun like that, but maybe next year.  But no matter what, we will wear our PJ's for it on Christmas Eve.  The kids were excited to open a present, and it gave Alivia a good idea of what was to come the next morning.

After Dinner, we made some cookies for Santa.  We had read a 'Night Before Christmas' book (The Littel Critters version) and it the Santa scene, there was a sign pointing to the cookies so Santa would know they were for him.  So Carson decided we better do the same thing!  Then it was off to bed.  The kids were in bed by about 8:30, and we let Carson sleep in Kaylee's room so he wouldn't accidentally see Santa in the middle of the night setting up the toys downstairs.  Good idea, right!?!  Nick and I were even in bed early that night...around 10 or so.  It was good to get to bed early!

The next morning, we went down and checked to make sure everything was in its place before the kids made it downstairs.  (We made them wait on the stairs while Dad checked it out).  This is what he found.

The kids waited for Livy to have a bottle and then we let them go see what Santa had brought them...

They were pretty excited!!!  We spent the next hour and a half slowly opening presents and see what everyone got.  Santa brought Dolls and chapstick to Kaylee, A baby and toys to Alivia, and a Semi Truck and Back Hoe for Carson!  He also brought all of them a new art easel.    

We opened the rest of our presents from Gma and Gpa brower, which were blankets for Carson and Kaylee along with a DVD, toys, and a cute princess ballet outfit for Kaylee.  Airplanes and books for Carson, and cute toys and PJ's for Livy.

Carson got a Nintendo DSi and Hotwheels from Mom and Dad.  Kaylee got a princess CD player with TWO microphones and some My Little Ponies, from Mom and Dad.  They also got lots of books, DVD's, and clothes.

I was excited about the bike trainer I got for Christmas.  Now I can ride my road bike inside during the winter months!  I have already used it twice and it is awesome!  Nick got some new shoes, hoodie, and a new cooler.

We spent the rest of our morning playing with our new toys, eating breakfast (Monkeybread and Hot Cocoa), and getting ready for church, which didn't start until 1 PM.

They kids also got new church clothes for Christmas....don't they look so nice!!!

They held just Sacrament meeting for church and it was very nice.  The ward choir put on a program and I even had a little solo on one of the songs.  After church, we came home just in time to talk with my brother, Elder Brower, in Brazil.  We all used a computer program, similar to skype, to talk with him.  It was fun to see him, and the rest of my family too!

For dinner, I made spaghetti and meatballs and then we just played the rest of the night with our new toys and the boxes they came in!  I just laugh that kids are just as entertained playing with a box as much as with a new toy!  So funny!!

Before bed, we enjoyed some Skookies using our new Skookie pans we got for Christmas!  They are so yummy!!!

It was a wonderful day!  Even though I missed being with my family this year on Christmas day, it was nice just being able to stay home and enjoy just our little family.  As the kids get older it is harder to do Christmas at grandparents houses and it is more fun to start our own traditions.  We still were able to spend plenty of time before and after Christmas with both sides of our family!