Christmas

This Christmas was pretty great. It was nice and simple since we did the cruise instead of gifts. Santa still came, and the boys drew names and bought one gift for each other and that was it. 

After we finished up with the presents, we went up to my parent's house to spend the rest of the day with family. We started a new tradition and did a white elephant gift exchange for the adults and it did not disappoint. Rob and I found giant underwear and put Obama and Hillary's faces on them. They were a hit!

Amy arranged some fun games for the kids too so they wouldn't feel left out of the fun.

It was a great Christmas!

Christmas Lights

This year we met up with the Faylor family to go see Christmas lights. We used to do this when we were kids and it was fun to do it again and to share it with our own kids. 

A Christmas Carol

We love going to Riley's farm at Christmas time. They put on such a great show. This year along with Grandma and Grandpa we had Aubree and the Jacklin's join us. They had a great band before the show started. 

Lincoln was practicing his Scrooge face, 

but you just can't beat the real deal.

It was such a fun night. It has become one of my favorite traditions.

Gingerbread Houses

We decorated gingerbread houses tonight. I found a set that had 6 small ones so everyone could do their own. The boys loved having full creative control of their own houses. 

Lincoln's strategy of just filling his roof with candy was pretty smart.

I loved how they all turned out.

Family Pictures

We got new family pictures taken last month and I am obsessed! Our friend Erin is an amazing photographer and is so good at capturing everyone's personality. 

This one might be my favorite! Bryson is starting to take after Ethan. He was being so silly the whole time.

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy

Lincoln finally lost his first tooth. He's thrilled, I'm sad. I'm not ready for his cute little smile to change.  

A Christmas Tradition

 We make snowflakes every year. I love to see the designs the boys create.  The little boy in his undies and boots is a bonus.

My Little Prankster

Ethan loves to punk me with my Christmas letters.  I always find them spelling out a random phrase and it makes me laugh every time. 

Trimming the Tree

We put up the Christmas tree tonight for family night.  

The boys were pretty excited about it. We love the Christmas season!

Family Detour

We left Colorado and headed for home. We went through Wyoming and it was got down to 7 degrees! We have never been in that cold of weather and we couldn't believe it when our windshield started icing over on the INSIDE! 

I had to scrape the ice off while Rob drove so he could see. It was so crazy!

 We met up with Trevor in Salt Lake City to go see the temple lights together. It was so good to see him.

It was sooo cold though and the kids were pretty miserable unfortunately. 

I'm glad we got to go see it though. It was so pretty. 

Thanksgiving Road Trip

This year we went up to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We left on Friday and stopped in Barstow for some gas and found some cool stuff for the boys to check out. They thought that tank was pretty cool.

As we went through Utah on Saturday, we stopped at an overlook of Castle Valley. There we some cool caves in the rocks,

and lots of rocks to climb.

The boys were definitely in their element.

We got to Rob's Aunt Sheila and Uncle Randy's house that night and enjoyed seeing them and their kids. Rob enjoyed lots of snuggles with Bryson while we were there,

and later back at the hotel.

The next day we met up for lunch, and then drove to Ouray to swim in the hot springs pools. This is something I remember doing with my family when I was a kid, and it was so neat to experience it with my own kids. It was pretty surreal to be in such a warm pool while there was snow all around us.

 

After we changed into dry clothes we found a group of deer just outside.

It was so great to spend time with family that we don't get to see very often. 

We left Monday morning and made it to Fort Collins. Once we got there the boys were inseparable.

Tuesday Shawna took us to their local park. It was so cool. So many playthings that we've never seen before. The boys loved it. 

That evening we explored the downtown area and all the fun shops. The boys especially liked the candy shop with every candy imaginable.

Wednesday we took the boys to a local indoor waterpark and pool. They loved that there was a basketball hoop and did that most of the time that they weren't going down steep slides.

After we got home the boys played some table tennis for the rest of the day.

Thanksgiving morning we woke up to SNOW! It was so beautiful!

They have a great grassy area right by their house with a slope perfect for sledding. We were out there for hours with the boys. Definitely a Thanksgiving to remember.

We came back and had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner.  

We love the Banagas's. It's always hard to say goodbye.