Christmas Day

Christmas morning was full of excitement at our house. I think I was more excited than the boys. I even had trouble sleeping!








The boys were in awe when they came down the stairs and saw all the wrapped gifts under the tree and the toy they wanted most from Santa sitting there with a bow on it. For Ty it was a pogo stick (I have no idea where that came from!).

And for Carter it was a "scoop truck." Carter looked up in the sky and said, "Thank you, Santa!". So adorable!

It was so fun to watch the boys open their gifts. Carter wanted to unpackage and play with each one as soon as it was opened. By the time it was time to go to my parents for dinner at 5pm, he still had five gifts to open. I loved that he enjoyed every minute!

After an hour or so of opening gifts, my family came over for breakfast and to see the boys excitement. There is something about little kids that make Christmas morning feel right.

Ty got the Transformer voice changer, but I think the adults had more fun playing with it.

"Mommy, Santa brought choo-choo!!"

This was the year for game systems in our house. In case we didn't have enough already, Santa brought a Playstation 3 for Keith, the Wii for Ty along with the portable Leapster and other Leapfrog system for Carter. Needless to say, our (well, the boys) days since have been spent "gaming." "Santa" surprised me with an in-home photography studio, complete with lights and a backdrop, so I can't wait to "play" with my toys too.

Christmas Eve

I'm all about tradition and Christmas Eve traditions are the best!



Before heading out to all the families we...


light the luminaries for Santa to find our house...







leave a plate of cookies by the fireplace for Santa...

and hang our stockings...

Next, it's off to "Grandma Puppy's" (Keith's parents) for dinner and presents with the whole Bielozer clan.


Carter and Samantha are getting to be little buddies, it's so cute.

By far the hit presents of the night: remote control cars!

and of course the train slippers...

The boys helped Grandpa open the "big one" from all the kids.

Why do we buy kids expensive toys when they are completely happy with an empty box?

Next it's off to my parents (thank goodness for Christmas Eve naps!) for a white elephant gift exchange and other Christmas Eve traditions.

Ty loved my white elephant gift: orange goo that makes fart noises. Thanks Travis!

Mom always gives us Christmas p.j's. Love the flannel pants from Old Navy!

We ended the night with a puppet show of the nativity story and then we always sing Silent Night and Away in a Manger. Carter helped on the piano this year.

Had to add this cute side-note: Ty wanted to say the family prayer this night and in his prayer he thanked Heavenly Father for the real Christmas long ago when Jesus was born and the "fake" Christmas we celebrate now. So cute! Not sure where he got the "fake" Christmas part, but I'll give myself a pat on the back for the real Christmas part! They really do listen!

Holiday Happenings Part 2

I seriously love the Christmas season and all there is to do to get ready for the holiday! I try to fit as much as possible (without driving myself or my husband crazy) during the month of December.


Our festivities continued with gingerbread house decorating. My sister-in-law tried to get away without making one this year, so I so kindly offered to bring our kit over to her house to decorate together. I'm sure she appreciated that, especially when I left early to get my hair cut and she was left to finish the masterpiece. It turned out great though.

We took our sugar cookies over to my parents this year to decorate with my sister, brother-in-law and brother. As you can tell it was very serious business for Ty. He was so proud of his creations. Carter did his one cookie and then spent the rest of the time eating the red hots. No pictures of our finished projects, I can't believe I forgot, Keith will be so disappointed!

Keith took this picture and asked me to post it on the blog to prove I really can be domesticated (apron and all!).

Friday before Christmas was Ty's school program and party. My parents and sister came to watch and he did so good! He was a shephard and sang all the songs so cute and said his line just right!!!

Saturday evening we went with my family for our annual trip to see Santa Claus. We decided to try one of the mall's downtown because I had heard they had a really fun set up for the kids. It was so cute and the boys loved it. (It was a little phsycadelic and Keith and my brother said it was like seeing Santa on drugs, but the boys and I thought it was great!)

They had the children enter the "North Pole" in groups. You were greeted by some very outrageous elves (that's were the drug trip comes in) and the children are giving lab coats to go and "create" in Kris Kringles shoppe. It is very elaborate and they take the kids to all different stations. Definitely worth it!

Gayla insisted on trying the stilts out in the toy store after and actually did quite well!

Sunday was Ty's program at church (again, so cute singing every word!) and Christmas brunch at my Grandma's country club with my cousins. What a fun holiday month!

Holiday Happenings

So much going on, it's hard to keep up with everything. The holiday season is keeping us busy and we are enjoying every minute of it. With all my shopping done (Yea!) we have time for the fun stuff ie: parties, baking, visiting....


Last Friday night our good friends, Yvonne and Brian, came with us to a old restored house in the area that has an awesome light display with a ton of trains set up outside and Santa and Mrs. Claus inside. Seeing that Carter is obsessed with trains, this was heaven for him! He didn't want to leave and cried for the "choo-choo's" all the way home.






After Carter's experience with Santa on the Polar Express, he wanted nothing to do with him here, but Ty didn't miss an opportunity to talk to the old man and tell him what he'd like. Carter got close enough just to get a candy cane and then he was off!


The next morning was Breakfast with Santa at the Zoo. Keith's dad got the whole family tickets for the event and it turned out to be great! The breakfast was REALLY good (can you tell what's most important to me) and they had crafts and animals for the kids.

Santa came after everyone was done eating. As you can see, Carter STILL doesn't like the jolly old guy, but everyone else, including my oldest nephew got in on the action.

After everything was done inside they had a bus tour of the zoo. It was definitely the way to see the zoo. While we sat in a heated bus (that drove us up and down those hills we all love to walk in the summer) we were able to see all the animals and dropped you off to go in the buildings. Without all the crowds and heat the animals were more active then I have ever seen them! The lions and tigers were actually walking around and the monkeys were hilarious!

We all had a great morning there. From there the boys adventures continued with their aunt Aimee and Uncle Kevin ("Pops") taking them to Build a Bear to create a stuffed animal for Christmas. The boys absolutely LOVED it. I'm waiting for pictures from my sister-in-law, but they said the boys were loving every minute of creating their animals. Ty picked a cat (and insisted he were ice skates) and Carter picked a dog he named "Mack" (just like Grandpa's). The boys haven't put them down since!

To end our Saturday we had our ward (church) Christmas party. They had a good dinner, crafts for the kids, family pictures and signing. Ty sang so cute with the other primary children (his new Cat had to go up with him to sing).

Well, there is much more to report, but that will have to wait until another day--I'm exhausted! Stay tuned...