Christmas with the Lightens

Well, it has taken a few posts, but I am finally here!  Ready to document how we spent Christmas in our house. :) 


We actually spent a lot of Christmas Eve day cleaning our house to get ready for "You Know Who" to come.  As the evening approached, we let the kids open one present...it's always Jammies.  We tried to get a pic of them in their new Christmas jammies, but the little girls were a little less than cooperative. 

This is Claire trying to remove her jammies.  Told you, less than cooperative. :)

So we sent them to bed, and Morgan and Jake, Trev and I stayed up decorating cookies for Santa. 

Then we ready the Nativity story, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Right before bedtime, we were all in Jake's room reading books when we heard someone out front!  That's right folks...we caught SANTA!  RIGHT IN OUR FRONT YARD!  Toy sack and all!  Morgan kept trying to hide so he wouldn't know she was still up...Jake was banging on the window and trying to get Santa to look at him! :)  Then all of a sudden, he ran off...the kids jumped in bed in record time, and we did not hear from them for the rest of the night. :) 


The next morning, Morgan and Jake came into our room at 5 am!  Ready to open presents of course...I took pity on Trev and took them downstairs to watch A Christmas Carol (the original, not the crazy scary and totally frightening Jim Carrey one).  That kept them occupied until 7 am, at which point we let them open their presents.  We weren't going to wake the little girls up for it, so we let them sleep in.  Here are some pics of M&J opening their presents.

 Morgan got a new scooter and helmet, Jake got a new bike and helmet.  They were SOOO excited!

 They both got their own Leapster 2 with a couple games...which they LOVED!

Trev got a lot of Cougar gear, and some golfing clothes.  Happy camper!


After the presents were done, we picked things up, and made Red and Green Waffles for breakfast with Egg Nog.  The little girls woke up about this time, so they joined us.

You would think she had a rough night wouldn't you? :)


As you can probably see, bath-time was needed first for the girls...then came the presents for them. :)  It was so fun to watch them getting excited about their gifts...they got a monkey tent, they each got a baby stroller, new baby, and a couple little stuffed puppies.  They ran those strollers around the house most of that entire day, they still play with them everyday. :)

Everyone enjoying their gifts.  Priceless. :)

Well, that pretty much wraps up 2010 for us.  It was a busy year with a lot of ups and downs, but so much joy.  We are excited for what 2011 will bring, and just going to continue on come what may. :)

The Joy of Living Close to Both Extended Family

We are lucky enough to live with 2 1/2 hours of both our extended families.  This is not a blessing we have always had.  Right before we had Morgan, Trev and I moved down to Las Vegas for a job, and lived their for about 2 1/2 years.  During this time, we really started to miss being so close to family.  Every time we would come to Utah for a visit or someone would pop in to visit us, we would just love it so much and yearned to be able to do that all the time.  We especially wanted our kids to have close relationships with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  So when we found out we were moving back to Utah we were very excited.  We have lived in our home here for 4 1/2 years now, and still love being close to family.  Our kids love it as well.


Being so close to family, we get to do a lot of parties during the holidays.  I wasn't able to get a lot of pics at either family's parties (due to managing 4 little ones), but I did get a couple.


First my family.  This was a big year for my side of the family.  My little brother Kyle was called to serve a mission in Tempe, Arizona.   He left on January 5, 2011, so his farewell was on December 18, 2010.  All my siblings would be home for this occasion so we made a weekend out of it and partied non-stop! :)  Saturday was the Christmas stuff.  We had so many fun activities.  Sledding, Watching Football, Candy-making, Cookie-Decorating, Presents, and even a visit from a jolly man in a red suit!  It was so fun to just hang out with my siblings that I seldom get to see.  Here are some pics of the fun:

Cookie-Decorating

Lounging and Football Watching

Our Missionary

Twas the Night Before Christmas Reading and "The VISITOR"

Finally, the presents!



Morgan REALLY wanted an American Girl doll...thank heaven for grandmas! :)

   My poor sister is REALLY allergic to animals.  My mom has 2 dogs, so by the end of the night when we were opening presents Kristy started to have a tough time.  Poor thing.  Sorry sister. :(



This year my youngest sister Jessica decided to make quilts for all the kids from her.  She is becoming a great sewer and don't worry, I have already told her I want one for my birthday.  I figure I better get my quilt orders in before everyone else finds out how great she is at this!  Love her!

The very next day, was Kyle's Mission Farewell.  We took some family pictures in the morning (see previous post) which were long overdue, and went to church to hear him speak in the afternoon.  Kyle gave a powerful talk on feeling the love of our Savior in our lives, and we sat in the rows just beaming at him.  We are so proud of what he is doing and I am grateful that he is serving as such a great example for my children (particularly Jake) of giving of yourself to the Lord and His purposes.  He is currently getting ready to leave the MTC and head to Arizona where he will serve the Lord for the next 2 years of his life.  We love you Kyle!

After church we had get-together with family and friends to celebrate.  There was delicious food and tons of people.  Towards the end of the party, we headed back home and talked the entire ride back (2 1/1 hours) about what a great weekend we had.  I love my family and look forward to many more great memories with them.  Love you guys!

Now on to Trev's family. 

We also had a family Christmas party with Trev's side, but I didn't get a single picture!  Too much going on. :)  Suffice it to say that Geoff and Jill are known for fabulous parties and this year's Christmas bash was no different. :)  Super-fun, and some hilarious White Elephant gifts. :)

On Christmas Eve, Geoff and Jill stopped by to bring the kids presents from them, and I was able to get pics then.  Here they are:

A funny thing happened when they came by that I just have to share.  Geoff and Jill had Matt's family staying with them the entire week before Christmas.  So between trying to throw parties, entertain guests, and visit all their kids' families, things got a little crazy.  So when they stopped by to give our kids their gifts, this is what happened (see if you can guess by the pics):

Woops...no present for Jake. :)

He was ok with it. :)

Funny grandparents! :)

Well, that's all I have for the extended family fun...next, and last post for 2010 - Our Christmas Eve and Morning...stay tuned. :)

Picture Time

In the midst of all the Christmas excitement, my family decided to get family pictures done.  It was the last time we would all be together for at least 2 years, since my little brother, Kyle was going into the MTC at the beginning of March.  We also had not taken family pictures in 10 years...no lie.  It was beyond time for a new one. :)  It was kind of quick but did the trick.

This is my family: Jessica, Kyle, Kevin, Kenny, Me, and Kristy

Milton and Kathy

Me and my siblings...

The Whole Clan: 

Families:

Kenny and Becca and their kids, Alec, Caitlyn, and Shay.

Kyle

Kevin

Kristy and Caden

Trev, Me, Morgan, Jake, Abby, Claire

Jessica

We had such a wonderful weekend with my family...more about this coming up. :)

Christmas Care Packages and Rainbow Pancakes

It is mid-January and I am just now getting around to finish my Christmas posts. :)  That's just how it goes I guess. :) 

Every year, (and recently every few months) my super-nice Aunt Vicky and her family sends my kids care packages...you may have seen prior posts, but they usually show up around the big holidays.  My kids TOTALLY look forward to these because they are always so fun!  There is just something about a big brown package showing up on your doorstep, knowing that there are presents and delicious treats inside just waiting to be devoured, that just puts a HUGE smile on your face.  This Christmas however, my Aunt TOTALLY out-did herself.  We were SPOILED ROTTEN.  This year there was not only 1 big box, but 5!!!  That's right...5 huge boxes!  I thought my kids and I were going to pass out with excitement.  I had to call her later and tell her she did not need to do all of that!  I told you, she is super-nice!  Thank you again, Vicky.

Each kid had their own box, and there was a box for the family.  The kids loved every single second of opening these, and afterward, my living room looked like a bomb had gone off!  Those little puffy, packaging peanuts were EVERYWHERE!  But the we loved it!  Here are some of the pics.  I got video of them opening them, but I am still not sure how to put it on here.  Trev will have to help me with that.  I took a lot of pics of the kids opening them as well, but being the super-smart person I am, I forgot to put in a memory card in the camera!  Realized a little too late.  But here are some pics of the things they got, and also of the kids enjoying the spoils.

Tinkerbell PJ's, EasyBake Oven, Hair styling supplies, and candy, of course!

Buzz Lightyear PJ's, How To Train Dragon Viking gear, new hat and gloves, and more candy.

Minnie Mouse Christmas nightgowns (which are still their preferred bedtime attire today), barking puppies, and even more candy.

A Bronco flag for Trev (which is lovingly hanging in our garage right next to the Cougar flag), delicious baking treats equipped with frosting, and my personal favorite, the home-made treats!  Cookies, brownies, chocolate-dipped pretzels, and even chocolate-dipped pink frosted circus animal cookies.  My aunt knows her niece very well!  We love you guys and thanks again for the super-amazing gifts! 

On to Rainbow Pancakes...one Saturday morning Trev took Jake to go do some man-stuff, so it was just us girls at home.  We decided to spice up breakfast a bit by making RAINBOW PANCAKES!  I saw this on my friend, Nikki's blog, and thought my girls would love it.  It is super-easy, just make pancake mix and add food coloring to it.  It was a major hit, and could become a regular dish in our home.  :)

Next post will show the Christmas Parties, and pics of Christmas at our house.  :)