Christmas

Christmas Eve was a pretty eventful day. So many last minute errands that we ended up doing our family thing after Hyrum went to sleep. I must say it is different living here because I was surprised to find stores closed for Christmas Eve. In Vegas everything is 24/7 so it was a bit of a shock to do last minute grocery shopping at Longs Drug!!! A lot of other people were surprised, one poor guy told us he had no food in his house and all of the Save Marts closed at 7:00. Don't get me wrong I think it is terrific, but I will just have to remember that for next year!!It also rained all day. Ashlee found Grandma's umbrella and had to hold it up wherever we went and so while we were listening to the Christmas story we had to have an umbrella - it is Ashlee's new favorite thing. Crazy times!

As for Christmas Day it was great. We had a little family get together with just us and Grandma Christmas morning Hyrum and Ashlee both just loved their gifts and are still enjoying playing with them. Hyrum's big thing was a basketball stand (Jed is still hoping for an NBA star!) He walked into the room saw the ball said "Ball" ran to it, picked it up, and started making baskets. He still does it all day! Ashlee just loves to ride her bike around as much as possible. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. She got the little baby doll too, but wasn't interested until I told her it was a baby Cinderella. Now she carries her everywhere. This was her rocking the baby to sleep. It was so cute, she rocked and sang to her. Anyway we had a good time.

Later in the day my sister, brother and his family came over to open gifts and do Christmas dinner. My mom and sister went crazy for all of the kids! Ashlee was on overload opening all of her presents. Marlena got her a Caring Corners doll house which she LOVES playing with and my mom got her Princess barbies and horses. Ashlee has such an imagination it is adorable watching her play. One of the funniest things was while she was playing with the dollhouse she started making these weird gaging noises. I said "Ashlee are you okay." Here reply - "Mommy it is her she is sick!" I looked to see her with one of the dolls hanging over the toilet -Throwing up!! We all were laughing so hard. She really puts her life into her games - I hear a mimic of myself many times and think - Is that what I sound like?"

Cookies and sick kids!

The Monday before Christmas my niece and her mom came over to bake cookies. We had a great time and I was very impressed with how well they came out. Ashlee and Brianna had a blast! Fun times!

The next day Ashlee woke feeling sick to her stomach and was throwing up all morning. I kept taking her temp and got normal every time. The last time I did it I put the thermometer on Hyrum to compare and it said he had a fever uh-oh. Anyways they both just laid around all day until we took them in to the doctor - ear infection for Hyrum, nothing for Ashlee. She actually started eating at around 2:00 and was fine after that, it must have just been something she ate. Hyrum was cranky all the way until the day after Christmas (more Christmas coming up!) Fun times though! At one point during the day they both got really quiet. I went into my bedroom to find this:

Poor little dears - sick kids are just hard to watch.

Christmas Pictures

So I am showing off two things here. First the cute Rudolph and Clarice that we bought last year and the kids absolutely love this year. (I hear they are being auctioned on Ebay ya for Aunt Lena!!!) Second my adorable little kids. It is so funny because I used to get Christmas cards with just pictures of the little kids and think to myself - okay yes they are cute but where are the parents? I don't even know who these kids belong to? Well I have turned into one of those people. I realize now the main problems with Christmas pictures are that it is next to impossible to get a good one with kids, and also who holds the camera for Mommy and Daddy? So the result is a Christmas card with just the kids. Below are some of the outtakes and cute pictures from Sunday morning.

California Snow

Ashlee has been watching all of the great Christmas movies with me. She is really getting into the holidays, but keeps asking me.."Where is the snow." "Mommy, when can I go to the snow?" Well today I was sitting in the house and heard a very loud noise and looked out my window to see Hail coming down. I ran to the window with Ashlee and she yelled "It's snowing, can I make a snowball?" After further inspection she declared that it was ice coming from the sky. Well as this is as close to snow as we usually get around here we just stood there and watched it until it stopped. I guess we will have to make a trip to the mountains soon to see real snow. But I thought I would share with everyone what California snow looks like:

*******Warning********

Please alert your neighbors, friends, and relatives. I have recently discovered a brand new pest. This pest is extremely tricky. He sneaks into the fridge and consumes small amounts of apple!! Be weary of this new pest as he is not satisfied with just one apple but must take some from each and every apple in your refrigerator. The said apples are then returned into the fridge ready for some unawares person to discover. I am trying very hard to locate this pest and post a picture so others will not be subjected to the same boggling phenomenon. Truly we hope that no one elses home as been infected with such a pest, but I am posting a picture of the evidence so all can see what it looks like!!!

Twilight

Okay I am adding to the masses and their opinions of the movie Twilight. No spoilers here just my opinion. Honestly I liked the movie. It was what it was. I had only read the book once so I wasn't to wrapped up in all of the little things, I just wanted it to give the same feeling to me as when I read the book. I have never been an Edward fan and actually liked the "other guy" the most when I read the books, but about 40 minutes into the movie I turned to my friend and said "this is changing me to an Edward fan!!" It was cheesy and good - just like the book. Today I actually had some free time (my niece is visiting and her, Ashlee and Hyrum played all day!) and I reread the book. It was interesting to read it because I was able to see why they cut stuff out and combined stuff in the movie. Of course there were a few parts that I was like - oh yea why didn't they put this in???? Like the whole meadow scene....oops I said no spoilers so sorry that is all I will say about that! Anyway all in all I liked it and want to go and see it again - anyone else want to go?????

Peek-A-Boo

I was walking through the house this morning looking for Hyrum and almost missed him. This is his new hiding place.....

The funny thing is that he just stands there. I waited for a long time and finally said his name which is when he turned around and gave me this adorable look....

Honestly is there anything cuter?????