Christmas 2013

We were definitely spoiled this year and feel very blessed by the generosity of so many. Santa scored some great deals and with a little help from two of his best elves (Dean and Andrea) he pulled off some really fun gifts for the boys. Tanner(who is rather difficult to please) even said, "Santa knows me so well! He knew just what to get me this year!" Whew! Success! Here's our Christmas morning picture style. . .

Santa's elves put together this grocery stand for Tanner and Landon.  Great use of Tanner's cash register from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson last year.

We'll devote an entire post to this kitchen later, but Santa's elves put in countless hours refinishing this baby.  Watching the boys play with it makes it all worth it.

We took a break from present opening for Christmas breakfast.

Love these snowman milk jugs.

Along with the traditional sticky buns.  YUM!

After breakfast we opened gifts from each other under the tree.  The boys got me new shelves for the basement!

The boys drew each other's names.  Tanner and Landon both got BeyBlades, and Braddock got a baby flashlight.  They were all thrilled.

Landon loves his new game and webkins from Grandma and Grandpa Hilton.

Tanner'a a ham for the camera, but this was his actual reaction to his new circuit set from Grandma and Grandpa Hilton.  He's already put in hours with this toy.

Braddock with his cute gear puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa Hilton.  He loves his wooden pull along puppy too.

Scott and Laura were super nice and sent the boys superhero action figures that match what they were for Halloween.

Dean's new Batman snuggy from Mom and Dad Hilton.  Couldn't think of a better gift for this guy.

Thanks to Grandma Leavitt, Ryan and Kayla, and everyone else who sent such thoughtful gifts as well. We sure were spoiled this year!  And then we did it all again a couple days later with the Nelson Clan.

Christmas Eve 2013

Christmas Eve was spent tag teaming naps all day since Dean and I had been up till 5:30am the night before working on last minute Christmas stuff.  Then I scrambled to finish up Braddock's stocking just in the St. Nick of time. ;)  And then we ran out to deliver goodies to neighbors and friends we hadn't made it to yet.  Once all that was out of the way we headed over to Grandma and PapPap's to start the real celebrations with our delicious Christmas Eve dinner.  And they did not disappoint!  We watched a Christmas "Music and the Spoken Word" special, danced to Polka, and downed way too many of Grandma's homemade chocolates.

Then we headed home to quickly whip up some cookies for Santa . . .

Opened our Christmas jammies . . .

Snapped our family pajama picture, and sent those cute boys to bed to dream of sugar plum fairies and listen for jingle bells . . .

Gingerbread Houses 2013

This year we were excited to make our gingerbread houses with Janna, and Geoff and Dianne.  We were lucky they were able to get into town on the 21st so we still had time to squeeze in this fun tradition before Christmas.  Tanner was especially excited and had been counting down the days and kept drawing up his plans for his house.  Landon's all about the candy, so this was pretty exciting for him too.  We had lots of fun and ended up with some pretty sweet houses too!

Janna adding some necco shingles.

And Grandma and Grandpa kept the babies entertained while the rest of us worked on our houses.

I jokingly told Dean I wanted a rounded tower like a castle, a garage, three stories, and a wrap around porch.  Well next thing I knew, I had all that!  Ha!  Then I joined in for the decorating.

Dad helped Landon build his house but he decorated this all on his own.

Tanner made this all on his own.  The holes on top were intentional, they're "sky-lights".

Geoff and Dianne collaborated on a sky-scraper.

Some Christmas-y Odds and Ends

Tanner put together some little gifts for everyone in his class at school as well as a little something for his teacher. . .

Playing with the window clings that Tanner gave to his Kindergarten class.

Some homemade cards and envelopes for T's teacher.

As well as a homemade notepad for her desk.

All wrapped up with a candy bar and a Christmas card from the Nelsons.

 I somehow I ended up being in charge of making nativity costumes for the entire Primary.  Rather, I was in charge of putting together costumes that the kids could then help "make" for the entire Primary.  It was just a wee bit stressful, but we pulled it off.  And then on Sunday they were able to act out the whole Christmas story.  Aren't they cute??  Landon got to come join us from Nursery and he even got to wear a cow costume.

And we pulled off coordinating outfits the Sunday before Christmas.  Thanks to what the boys already had in their closets, plus a thing or two from Salvation Army . . .

Dean actually had a navy blue tie too, but managed to forget it for the picture. ;)

Winter Semi-Formal Dance

Dean and I got to chaperon at the high school's Winter Semi the weekend before Christmas.  It was fun to get all dolled up and spend a night out, even if it was at a high school dance.  Free dinner and a night off mom duty is pretty great to me!  Aside from a boy breaking his hand when he punched another kid all over a girl, things were uneventful and went smoothly.  Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the boys!

The Minivan Express

On Monday, December 16th we had the boys change into their jammies and pile into the "Minivan Express" (we were inspired by this) to head out looking for Christmas lights.  Tanner was in charge of our Family Home Evening activity so we asked him if he'd like to be the conductor.  He took this very seriously and even punched our initials in our tickets like on the "Polar Express" Movie.  Landon was in charge of treats so he helped me put together popcorn and hot cocoa to take with us in the van and we headed out to a local park that was full of lights for Christmas.  We cranked up the Christmas music and had an awesome time getting into the Christmas Spirit.

Guess who ate his ticket??  Surprise, surprise.