Christmas Has Come...And...Gone :(

It seems like you spend weeks planning for the "Big" day, and in a matter of hours it comes, and then quickly goes. It is bitter sweet for me. I love all the preparation. From the baking to decorating, church parties, family get togethers, shopping, wrapping, doing advent calendars, keeping secrets, finding the perfect gift. I love the spirit of the holiday season. It seems people are nicer to each other, more kind, more patient, more charitable. Why is that during Christmas people seem to go out of their way to be more "Christ" like? Would it really be hard to act that way all year long?

Our Christmas holidays were filled with many fun times. Here is what we were up to:

December 22nd:

Went to the live Nativity pageant put on by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My sister Tiffany and her husband Trevor were playing the part of Mary and Joseph. It was a GREAT way to start off the holidays. It really helped me remember the "Reason for the Season." They did a beautiful job and I could really feel the spirit of it all. Tyson loved to watch the animals. The music was beautiful, and the night was perfect!

December 23rd:

We drove down to Cardston a day early. It was so nice to be there before Christmas Eve. Tyler and I were both very relaxed on the drive down and just enjoyed each others company. It was so nice not to be in a rush on Christmas Eve day trying to get down to his parents. Tyson was already down there having a sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen. Grandpa made him a deal that if he could go in the potty for 7 days in a row then he could come down for a sleep over. I am happy to say that HE DID IT! He is now potty trained. He has only had 2 accidents in over a week. I am very very happy that he is a big boy now!

December 24th:

Spent the morning helping my mom get supper ready for Christmas. Did some last minute shopping in the local stores in Cardston. Then in the afternoon we went out to Tyler's parents for their party. It was a great evening. The kids had fun playing the gift exchange game, and the adults had fun participating as well. When we got back to my parents and after the kids were in bed for the night we stayed up visiting and watched a movie by the fire.

December 25th:

Christmas morning had finally arrived! We woke up early and looked what "Santa" had put in our stockings, and then we had to hurry and get ready for church which was at 9 a.m. We enjoyed a lovely service full of Christmas music, and a wonderful Christmas message. It was a great way to celebrate Christmas morning, after all Christ's birth is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Then it was home to open our gifts. The kids were very excited, especially Tyson. He was very grateful for everything that he opened and was eager to tell everyone thank you. He had fun watching and helping the rest of us open our presents. Later that evening we enjoyed a wonderful meal fit for a king. My grandparents also joined us. It was great to visit with them.

December 26 & 27th:

We enjoyed these two days just hanging out with family. We played a lot of Monopoly and cards. Spent the afternoon over at Tyler's parents. It was great to visit with them, we don't do it nearly enough. Tyson was able to ride Shadow. Every time he rides that pony he gets better. It is fun to see him progress. Maybe by August he will be ready to ride in the Cardston Parade. That will be something to look forward to.

December 28th:

We had a huge get together with my mom's side of the family, the Heninger's. It was nice to see my cousins whom I only see once or twice a year. We celebrated my grandma's 71st birthday, and Carson's 1st birthday. His birthday isn't actually until the 29th, but we decided to kill two birds with one stone so we celebrated it as well. I can't believe that he is 1! WOW time goes by SO fast.

It was a great holiday and now I am happy to be home, unpacked, and somewhat back to our routine. Now we just have to get through New Year's, where we will be going to Cardston again to celebrate it with a couple of our friends. It should be a good time. I am truly blessed to have family and friends so close.

Our 1st Gingerbread House...

I bought a gingerbread house kit a few days ago and Tyson has been itching to do it ever since. We were trying to choose a night when Tyler would be home before Tyson was to be in bed...but it just hasn't been working out, so tonight we decided to do it. We had a BLAST! Tyson wanted to do everything himself. From mixing the icing, to adding all the candy where HE wanted it to be. This house really was made by him, except for me putting the icing where he wanted it. It was great to see him having SO much fun. I think we will add this activity to our list of family "Christmas Traditions."

:( there must be something wrong with Blogger, because I haven't been able to add pictures ALL day. I will keep trying, because I got a really cute picture of Tyson and his completed "house."


EDIT: I was finally able to add a picture. I forgot that they needed to be a jpeg. LOL! Hope you enjoy it. :)

Favorite Christmas Songs...

In a recent blog I read about favorite Christmas songs. I LOVE Christmas music, and have been playing it for almost 6 weeks now. You can't help but get into the Christmas spirit of things when you have lively, uplifting music playing in the background. It can turn a stressful, unhappy day into a happy, joyous day. Tyson is even getting into the spirit of the holidays by learning some of the words to Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer. Some of my very favorite Christmas songs are:

• What Child Is This by Martina McBride
• O Holy Night by Clay Aiken
• Oh Little Town of Bethlehem by Chris Botti

There are SO many, many more. I might as well say that there aren't many Christmas songs I don't like.

Last night we had a very special visitor come to our house. It was Santa Clause! Our good friend Ryan Wolfe dressed up and went to visit ALL of the primary children in our ward. What an undertaking that was. But he had a great time, and it was very memorable for all of the kids. Tyson wasn't afraid or shy of "Santa" at all. He gladly welcomed him in our home and upstairs to sit on the rocking chair while he told him of all the things he wanted:

• Power Rangers ( I don't know where he got this idea from because he has never watched the cartoon, that I know of )
• A rocket. He has been obsessed with rockets lately.
• Ninja Turtles

I will add a picture later. I can't believe that Christmas is almost here! I am getting giddy like a little girl again. I LOVE IT! I only wish that this feeling could last all year. That that hum drum of everyday life could be forgotten and we could all be happy and jolly 24/7 365 days a year. That would be like a little bit of heaven all year. :)

Only 5 more SLEEPS!

Christmas Quiz

I can not take credit for this Christmas Quiz. I found it on another blog that I read, but liked it so much I wanted to do it myself. If you like it too, copy and paste it into your blog.

Holiday: Christmas or New Years? Christmas by far!
Cookies: Sugar or Gingerbread? Sugar
Decorations: Santa or Snowmen? Santa, never really been fond of Snowmen.

Decorations: Reindeer or Elves? Hmmm...don't really have either, but I think I have one Reindeer, so I will say Reindeer :)
Colors: Red or Green? Red!
Colors: Gold or Silver? Gold for sure!

Tree Topper: Star or Angel? Star

Stocking Stuffer: Fruit or Candy? I usually don't put any candy, or fruit in our stockings. Maybe a lifesaver book. Our stockings are filled will fun stuff!
Tree: Real or Artificial? Artificial...We used to have a real one, but last year I bought a fake one and LOVE IT! I can put it up as early as I like, don't have to worry about watering it, and I love that there is NO mess :)

Cartoons: Charlie Brown or Rudolph? Rudolph! LOVE THE MOVIE! Ever since I was little I remember looking forward to watching the original movie. And now this year Tyson watched it, and he loved it too!
Movie: It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol? Hmmm, never seen It's A Wonderful Life. But I do like, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas with Jim Carey, and also Prancer.
Stocking Stuffer: Jewelry or Gift Card? Either is fine with me!
Christmas List: Naughty or Nice? I have tried to be extra nice :)
Drink: Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog ALL THE WAY! I look forward to it every year.
Holiday Song: Jingle Bells or Silver Bells? I like both, but I would have to say Jingle Bells for this year because Tyson has learned to sing it, and it is SO CUTE!
Holiday Song: Silent Night or O' Holy Night? This is a really hard one...I am going to have to say it is a tie between them.

More Fun: Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? WOW, this is a toss up for sure. I would have to say...Christmas Day. Not that I don't like Christmas Eve, because I do, it is just that there is something so magical about Christmas Day.

Lights: Clear or Multi-Colored? Growing up and still to this day my mom has always had clear lights. So when I got married I thought I would do the same. But I LOVE color, so I went with colored lights and I LOVE it!

Ornaments: Balls or Bows? Balls all the way. I'm not a froo froo bow girl, at least not for a Christmas tree.

Tree Decor: Ribbon, Popcorn, or Garland? Gold Star garland for our main large tree, on my 3 little trees I have red beaded garland.
Gifts: Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags? A little of both I guess.

Better To: Give or Receive? LOVE LOVE LOVE TO GIVE! I am especially excited for this year because Tyson finally "gets" Christmas. In fact he has already opened a few gifts. We don't have them under the tree anymore because we don't want him opening all of them! LOL!

Tis The Season To Do Baking....

Yesterday I baked up a storm! I made 2 different kinds of cookies, and 2 different kinds of squares. The day before I made carmel popcorn, the good gooey kind! YUMMY! Now I have to try and keep my hands off of the yummy stuff, so that there will be some to give to my neighbors. Every year I make goodies and give it to them. I have the BEST neighbors. The kind where "you scratch my back and I will scratch yours." They are just great. We have a very good relationship and I am very happy for that. I have heard some very bad stories about terrible neighbors.

I was able to go to Lethbridge the other afternoon without kids! WOW I forgot how easy it is to get around when you aren't packing 2 kids around. I really enjoyed myself. I was able to accomplish a bit more Christmas shopping, and I am happy that my list is getting shorter and shorter. Only a few things left and then I will be DONE!

I am so looking forward to the holiday! Time to get together with friends and family. Great food, and great fun. Tyson is getting so excited as well. Everyday he asks if it is Christmas. We have been doing a little advent wreath on the fridge, and he looks forward to adding an ornament every morning. Tyler and I were discussing how fun Christmas is now that we have children. I remember it being fun before and looking forward to the holidays, but there is just something about the excitment of kids that makes the holidays more exciting. We are beginning to start our own family traditions and that is GREAT!

p.s. not the best picture of Carson. But he has so much fun with the lights while we were decorating the tree. :)

How Time is Flying...

Oh my oh my! I haven't blogged in such a LONG time, and I was even debating whether or not to even keep it up, but here I am. I have so much to catch up on, I think I will just start with the present and keep going on from here.

I have been busy getting ready for Christmas. Wrapped all of our boughten gifts the other night, only to have Tyson open some of them the next day! I wasn't happy :( So we won't be putting any of them under the tree until Christmas eve. Little stinker is just as impatient as I am. LOL! I have very excited with the gifts that we bought the boys. I hope they like them. We have decided to cut WAY WAY back on Christmas gifts this year. We just really don't need all of them. Plus we were starting to forget the true meaning of the season. Time to just get back to the good old basics of the holiday. I am so happy about that. We put up our tree a few weeks ago and I LOVE it. Tyson helped me decorate it. Needless to say most of the balls are on the lower 1/4 of the tree. LOL! I haven't started my baking yet, but I plan on doing that next week. I have to get caramel popcorn made for my neighbors, and a few goodie plates made for our friends. I had Jenna make up my Christmas cards this year, and they are ADORABLE! It was so nice not to have to worry about them, and have do all the work. HEE HEE! I need to get those mailed next week too. I can't believe that Christmas will be here in 2 weeks! WOW time just seems to be going by faster and faster these days!

Today I got rear ended by some guy in Lethbridge. So that has really put a damper on my day! The damage wasn't that bad, but I am sure we will have to get our bumper replaced. I am thankful that no one was hurt and that the kids and I are safe. But MAN! Why did this have to happen now??

Well I guess that is all for now...until next time ( and I promise I will update sooner not later. LOL!)