Zoolights

We've gone to Zoolights for the past, I think, 6 years. It's one of the things that we always look forward to at Christmas time. This year we didn't get to go until a couple of days after Christmas, but it was still just as nice. Grandpa Jerry and Granny Kat happened to be stopping by the same evening that we were going so they came along with us. They'd never been before and the boys were so excited that they were coming too.

So we headed out, stopped at McDonald's for dinner on the way, rocked out to some Jonas Brothers during the ride, and before we knew it we were there. This year we took the shuttle from the parking lot near the marina at Point Defiance Park. Usually we drive around forever trying to find parking around the front gate, but due to some not so exact navigating, and some miscomprehending on direction taking, we ended up at the shuttle area. It kind of worked out perfect.

Once we got into the zoo and started walking around, we remembered why we wanted to voluntarily wander around in the thirty degree weather. If you've never been to Zoolights, you're missing out. It is such a gorgeous place to spend an evening. Pretty much the only animals you get to see are the fish and stuff in the aquarium, but the light displays are what you're really there to see anyway. This year they had camel rides, and the boys really wanted to do it. But due to a lack of funds, and a line that I didn't feel like spending the majority of the evening in, we decided against it. They weren't very happy with us. Maybe next year.

I take a picture of this tree every year. It's one of my favorite things. I call it the Barney tree. It's so bright and pretty. I can't even imagine how long it takes to wrap all of those lights through the thing.

They were pretending to be spiders. They kept trying to scare me by telling me to look at the spider lights on the wall. They think that anything that is even shaped like an arachnid is going to get me to shriek. I'm not sure why they like to scare me so much. Boys I guess.

The giant starry snowflakes are my favorite lights. I want some in all of our trees in the front of the house.

The boys and Grandpa getting warm in the shark viewing area.

The four of them stood there for awhile watching the fish. Grandpa was telling the boys how many different kinds of those same fish he's caught.

We started this holiday season in Disneyland with Grandpa and Granny, it was only fitting that we closed out the season with them too. And I don't know why Logan is making that face. He was being a spazz.

Christmas Day

We woke up on Christmas morning to Logan begging us to wake up and open presents. I had to break his heart and tell him that we were going to wait another thirty minutes to give the baby a little longer to sleep. He was upset but he suffered through the time by playing with the contents of his stocking. When we finally got to the presents, the boys dug in.

This was the night before Christmas. We bought them each new jammies.

Santa was here!!

Daddy helped Sawyer open his presents.

All Logan really wanted was an Indiana Jones Lego Set. Santa always knows.

And Brandon of course was overjoyed when he opened Lego Indiana Jones 2.

The boys and Chris spent the rest of the day playing with new toys, mostly putting together some of the SIX Lego sets they got from Santa, and grandparents. I was busy running around the house all day cleaning and cooking for dinner that night. Grandma Shellie, Grandpa Harold, Aunt Heather, and Uncle JC came over to join us for dinner. I LOVE having ham for Christmas dinner, but since Chris doesn't eat pork, I always make a turkey too. There was plenty of food to chow down on, and we definitly did.

Sawyer had his first taste of whipped cream with dessert. Needless to say he loved it.

After dinner the boys got to open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa. Among their many treasures they each got a really neat light feature for their bedroom. Brandon got a moon light to put on the wall that he can control with a remote control and it cycles through the different phases of the moon. Logan got one that reflects rainbows on the ceiling. For his room, Sawyer was given a turtle that lights up in three different colors and makes stars all over the room. It's so neat. Last night as I was putting Sawyer to bed, Chris called from the livingroom "Don't forget to turn on his turtle!" I think he finds it more interesting than the baby.

Shellie gave Chris and I an amazing book that she had made from our blog. It is absolutly gorgeous. It's so cool to see my pictures printed on the pages of a such a nice hardback book. She's planning on doing one for every year. So I guess I better make sure I keep up with my blogging, huh?! It was a lot of fun going back and reading all of the entries for the past year. It's one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given. I'm so thankful for all of the hardwork that she put into it.

All in all, it was a great Christmas. I had a hard time getting into the mood this year to celebrate the holidays. I've just been really burned out on everything lately. But I gave it the best I could muster up, and I think everything turned out pretty great, if I do so myself.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a busy evening for us. Every Christmas Eve since my first I've spent at my grandparents' house. That tradition certainly hasn't changed with the addition of my own kids. It's fun to watch them get just as excited about going to Grandma's as we got when we were little. But before we headed up to their house, we first stopped at my mom's so the boys could open their presents from Grandma Tami. That is where Sawyer opened his very first Christmas present. Not really sure what he thought about the whole deal. He kind of always has a constant look of wonder on his face. Grandma got him a dump truck filled with big Legos.

Logan and Brandon also each got Lego sets from Grandma and of course remote control helicopters. Brandon's gotten pretty good with his. He thinks it's funny to fly it in circles around Sawyer's head. He just watches it like a cat following a trapped moth in a window.

After we were done there we headed up the hill to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house. We had our usual dinner of cold cut sandwiches and then the boys were able to go crazy with the presents. Once the gifts start getting passed out, the livingroom turns into a mad house. Paper, ribbons, boxes, and bows get scattered all over the place. It's a hectic 30 minutes or so until the gifts are all unwrapped and the garbage is picked up. I can't imagine Christmas Eve anywhere else.

Auntie and Sawyer

Sawyer with Great Grandma Lynda. I think Grandma's giving Grandpa a dirty look. That's not uncommon. I get my gift of "the evil eye" from her.

The boys each wore their new Christmas shirts.

Sawyer with Uncle Matt.

After we left from there, we went to a Christmas Eve service at church.Usually we put the boys into their own classes at church, but the didn't have any for this service. Even if they had though I would have wanted them to stay and watch. They started by having everyone stand and sing Christmas songs together and then they brought a bunch of the little kids on stage and read a story about the birth of Christ.

The scene on the stage was so pretty.

After the story was read, they made snow fall on the stage. The kids up there of course loved it.

They gave the kids activity bags to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

One of the kids' favorite parts was during the last few minutes of the sermon. Everyone in the sanctuary was given candles and they were all lit from the unity candle onstage, lit for Jesus.

The candles represented what Jesus' birth brought to the earth: hope.

It was so beautiful seeing all of the candles lit and raised high in the air. It was a short service, but it was nice getting a chance to slow down during this crazy season and worship the Lord.

After it was over we headed home, put the boys to bed, and waited for Santa to visit.

Our Family Pictures

Now that Christmas is officially over and our cards were sent out a little over a week ago, I can post our family pictures that we took. We used the self timer on my camera again this year and took a million pictures until we got just a few good ones. Chris had to wrangle the kids in position while I ran back and forth between the camera and the couch. I was a big sweaty mess when we were through. But the results were great.

O' Christmas Tree

We always cut our own tree. This year we couldn't find a good time for us all to go down and do the picking at the farm, so instead Brandon and Daddy went and bought one off of a lot in the valley. I'm always skeptical about buying a pre-cut tree since there's no way of knowing how long ago it was cut, but the tree they got seemed pretty fresh. And it wasn't too tough on the wallet either, so that's always a plus!!
I let the boys do all of the decorating. I put the lights and the garland on and then let them have at the rest. I've always dreamed of having a big tree that's all themed and coordinated, but I've kind of given in to the fact that until the kids are grown and out on their own, our tree will just be a big mish mash of kids ornaments. That's the way it should be though, right?! That's the way the boys like it. They love taking out the things they've made over the years and hanging them on the branches. They especially love making new things throughout the month to add to our growing collection of ornaments. And this year we've added quite a bit.

I was able to get a new set of ornaments of my choosing this year. They are beautiful white ceramic balls with a nativity scene painted on them. They are gorgeous and I adore them.

I was a little worried about trying to keep Sawyer away from the tree, but surprisingly he doesn't even notice it. The only time he really notices is if I hold him up to it and even then he doesn't grab at the ornaments. He just wants to feel the needles tickle his little fingers.

I think what this situation needs is some imagination!!!

A few months ago I bought tickets for Logan and I to go see the Imagination Movers at the Moore Theater. They are a kid's musical group that has a show on Playhouse Disney. It's one of Logan's absolute favorite shows. Everyday when we watch it, he runs and grabs one of his hats and a Rockband guitar and "plays" along with his favorite Mover, Dave. I knew he would love it.

When we got there I bought him a replica of Dave's famous red hat. When we found our seats he sat quietly and watched the Playhouse Disney cartoons that they were showing on a screen above the stage. I asked him if he was excited to see The Imagination Movers sing. He gave me a weird look and asked "Is it really gonna be them?" I don't know what he was expecting, but once he realized why we were there, he got a HUGE smile on his face.


The show was great. It could have been a little longer in my opinion (barely made 90 minutes), but what we got was awesome. There was nobody sitting around us, so Logan got to dance around and not worry about running into anybody else.

At one point one of the movers, Rich, came up into the balcony and ran up and down each and every aisle shaking hands with little kids. When he finally got to us he leaned down and grabbed Logan's hand and shook it. But by the time my camera finally focused and snapped a picture, he was already walking away, so the only picture I got looks like he's walking right by Logan :( Oh well.

It was a great show and Logan had SO much fun. I hope that they tour again in the future so we can go again!

Daddy's birthday

Sunday was Chris' birthday. The big 3-0!! We had a party for him on Friday, since our Sunday was already filled with other plans. A bunch of our friends came over, I made a cake and a TON of mexican food for dinner. All of the guests wore black (to mourn the passing of Chris' youth). The boys and I got him the special edition Dharma Orientation Kit of Lost: Season 5 on blu-ray. He was surprised and of course, like a true Lost fanatic, loved it. It was a great night celebrating Chris. We love our Daddy and he deserved a great birthday!

Thanksgiving

The week following Thanksgiving was filled with preparations for our trip, so I didn't have the chance to blog yet about how we spent our holiday.

We had the best Thanksgiving we've had to date. It was so relaxing and we had so much fun doing crafts, and cooking, and just spending time together as a family.

The day before, the boys and I made placemats for dinner. We painted indian corn on posterboard and then I cut each of our names out with my Cricut. Then they got covered with laminate sheets so we can use them year after year. Though it was pretty fun so we might make all new ones next Thanksgiving.

In the morning we all made coffee filter turkeys while we watched the parade.


Once I got dinner started we decorated turkey cookies. Even Daddy got in on the action.



When dinnertime came, Daddy put together the candle holders and the boys help set the table. Uncle JC came over to eat with us.






As the boys get older, our holidays together get better. They seem to have a bigger appreciation for the time that we spend together. I can't wait to see what Christmas time will bring for us.