CHRISTmas Day

We had such a fun Christmas this year. We have been truly blessed with the love and support from our friends and family. Alain and I would both like to forget this year entirely (except for Ty's birth of course). Everyone goes through hardships in their lives, and it seems as though Alain and I have had more than our share. We just have to remind ourselves that "this too shall pass" and that we'll be blessed for our faithfulness.
Now on to the fun stuff!! Logan was totally excited to see that Santa ate the yummy cookies he left for him. He was also up at the butt-crack of dawn. Luckily he didn't bug us, but boy he sure bugged Cole. Cole is the only one of our kids that sleeps in, and Logan was going up and down the stairs ever 30 seconds to see if he was awake yet. Finally Cole woke up, and they had a great time opening their presents. They were happy with everything they got, so that was good.
Later on Alain and Jana came over and we all got to spend the day together. We played the games we got for Christmas, and at WAY too much food. It was a nice, relaxing day, and it went by way too fast.
I caught this photo right before we began.This was Logan's favorite presents, and one of Cole's.Ty had fun playing with the paper and bows. He kind of opened his presents, but big brother Cole was right there to help him with the rest!!Logan has become obsessed with Star Trek and Spock after he saw the latest Star Trek movie. Uncle Jake was awesome enough to find this head-thing for Logan.It even fit Alain's gargantuan head. He can't do the finger thing, so he's holding open his fingers. It was hilarious!!Having fun with the loot.This is one of the only pics that Jake wasn't in the background of. (Thanks Jake!!) I'm sporting my necklace and earrings that Alain got me. Aren't they cute?!

CHRISTmas Eve

We were lucky enough to find out at 11:30 in the morning that Alain's mom and youngest brother were going to be coming to our house for Christmas!! After a lot of running around to clean up the house (no thanks to my excellent housewife skills) Abuelita and Michael arrived just in time for our Christmas Eve events. We were so happy to have them since this was the first Christmas we have been able to spend with us.
We spent Christmas Eve at my in-laws house. It was quite trying because Ty was horrible!! He goes to bed at 6:30, and we were there from 6-8, so the whole time was a little stressful for Alain and I. We were totally bugging everybody, me included! My mother-in-law made a full traditional Christmas dinner with everything you could think of (thanks again Jana!). We opened up our annual Christmas Eve pajamas, then ran home to get the baby to bed. The kids had fun, and that's all that matters!!Logan, Dad, Ty, and Michael (Alain's youngest bro.)Alain's step-mom, Jana, and 3rd bro. JakeCole LOVED his new Star Wars pjs. He's totally obsessed!Uncle Jake got girl pjs!!

Go Chunkers!

Reindeer Face

I was laughing so hard when Cole came up to me with this all over his face. At first it was just the reindeer antlers, nose and cheeks. I was trying to run to get the camera and by the time I got it he had "Cheshire Cat" stripes all over his face and one hand. I was seriously crying because it was so dang funny! My kids have never written on themselves, so I guess Logan was just too bored, because this is what they came up with to do. It sucked that we had to go somewhere that same day because we couldn't get the darn markers off. We were scrubbing so hard that it looked like he had a sunburn for 2 days!! You gotta love it!

Ethel M's

We took our annual trip to Ethel M's Light Show. I think we did it in record time this year. Neither the kids or the parents were too into it, so I think the total time was less than 5 minutes. I think next year (if we're still here) we'll have to get a group of people together to go with. It would probably be a whole lot more fun!!

Ward CHRISTmas Party

The theme this year was a great one: The Polar Express! The kids were so excited to go, and they weren't disappointed. They got to see Santa, and they got a bell. Mom and Dad loved that, too ;P We were able to talk to some friends that came by, and had a yummy dinner. The best part was we got to wear our pajamas!! Overall, it was a huge success and a lot of fun for all.
Alain didn't catch Cole on Santa's lap, but this is right after.My baby is getting too big!

FATSO

Anybody who knows us knows that our little baby is a FATSO. As a matter of fact, that's one of the many names he has been nick-named by his loving mother. I just found out that I have tendinitis (sp?) in both of my wrists from carrying around this tub of lard (we really do love you, Ty). Yeah, quite shocking. One of my friends even asked me if I'd have to start wearing those wrist guards. The answer: yes. Won't I just look so lovely? Even though it will be a huge blow to my already decrepit body to have to wear those things, I'm hoping they'll help when I have to heft up my 30 lb., giant, not yet 10 month old baby. Below is some proof that he's been loading up with an all-carb diet. Enlarge the pic to reassure yourself that your butt looks nothing like his!!I was seriously laughing so hard when I was taking this picture that I couldn't hold the camera straight. Don't you just LOVE all that cellulite?

Christmas FHE

Since we don't know how much longer we'll be staying in Vegas, a friend of mine (who's already had to move away) gave me a great piece of advice. She told me to soak it all in. So, brilliant me, decided to go see the sights of the strip. I hadn't been down there in probably years, so I was excited to go (hopefully it won't be my last), and Alain got all excited because it meant that he could see City Center up close and personal (what an architect-geek;)). We went to the Bellagio to see their flower display, and then to the fountains. I loved how the fountain was choreographed to a Christmas song. It was seriously amazing!! We had a lot of fun, and will definitely miss these things if we have to go :(

They had a train, so of course the boys LOVED it!This was in front of the Christmas tree they had there. It was really pretty.Here's another picture of the tree. They had a snowman made completely out of flowers!There were seriously like a million poinsettias.
The boys were SO excited to see the water show :)We were waiting for only 5 minutes. Luckily it was really nice weather last night.Ty really didn't care about the water. He only cared about the snacks.I think this is my favorite thing on the strip. Itsa nice!

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

We had the best intentions of having a beautifully decorated tree this year. We went to our old haunt, Star Nursery, since their trees are only $20 for a 5-6 footer. Everything was going wonderfully splendid. The boys were behaving, the first tree we picked was the one we got, then we got home. Don't get me wrong. We were still having a wonderful time, but then we finished. That's when the shock came in because we saw what our tree ended up looking like. First of all, we decided to let the boys decorate. Second of all, it looked A LOT bigger at the store. Oh well. I'm sure when Alain and I are old and gray, sitting at home by ourselves (in peace and quiet of course) looking at our beautifully decorated tree (which was not finished in less than 10 mins. like ours was this year) we'll be wishing we had our old 2009 Charlie Brown Christmas Tree again.
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment :)

As you can see, our star is crooked as well as our tree :) You can't really see it too well unless you come over, but all of the ornaments are clumped into clusters!! We also didn't put all of our decorations on it because we thought Ty (the only one of the three) would be the one to find the tree. We were right! We've already caught him over there attacking the thing. Oh the joys of parenthood ;P

Boys Will Be Boys

Alain was reminding Logan of something he used to do to him. This is what it turned out to be.


Cole (of course) thought it was hilarious, so he wanted a piece of the action as well.


I love my boys!!

Our Cuties

This is the last one... for today ;)

Make a Smilebox collage

Road Trip

I obviously had too much fun with my other montage, so here's another one :)

Make a Smilebox collage

Temple Square

I was looking for a free photo montage site on the internet, ran into this, and had fun. It's not what I'm looking for to put on my blogs, so if anyone knows of a free program, please let me know!!

Make a Smilebox collage

Super Hero

Cole has become infatuated with super heroes and becoming one himself. Often he will ask us, "How do I get to be a super hero?" We always tell him that he needs to eat all his food, exercise, and not watch too much TV or play too much XBox. Well, last night we were riding along in the car, and he asked again. I replied as I usually do, and then he goes, "Oh yeah, I forgot about those last two!" Boy is that kid hilarious!!

Sledding

This was the first time the boys had seen snow, so they were very excited to say the least. Every single little, tiny patch they saw they asked if they could play in it. Not until we got to Uncle Ken's house was there enough snow to actually play in. Since we got there too late in the day, the boys patiently waited until the next day to go sledding. I have to say, it was the cutest thing ever! Cole was too light to slide down the hill himself, so they figured out it was better to have both of them ride on one. Logan got pretty good at steering, and they both had a blast. That is until Cole was sledding by himself, didn't exactly turn in time, and ran into a tree :) Leave it to Cole to do that! All in all, they had a great time. However, when Cole was asked if he wanted to go sledding again, he politely declined. ;P

Temple Square

I loved being at Temple Square again. It was nice seeing all of the snow on the ground, and the lights laid out for the Christmas season. We took the boys to the Christus, and that night Cole prayed that "Jesus would turn into a statue." I was trying so hard not to laugh. At least we know it left an impression on him! The only thing that sucked was that it was SO DARN COLD!! Us Vegas folks were freezing our pants off out there! It was still worth it, though :)I thought for sure Cole was going to fall right in that water!I think it was 39 degrees that day!

Conference Center

Since we'd never been to the Conference Center, it was amazing to see!! That place is ginormous! I had no idea it seats 21,000 people. No wonder it looks so immense on TV! It was cool to get a tour around the building even though our guide didn't know any of the answers to the questions we were asking. (This happened in the Beehive House, too!)

This is just a pretty fountain that they have in the middle of the Conf. Center. There was a beautiful chandelier above it.
We couldn't go down and see the pulpit or up close more because they were getting the place ready for the Christmas programs they have there.It was a beautiful building, especially this water fountain they have outside. It starts on the roof (which we couldn't go on b/c of the snow) and ends outside. It was awesome!

Thanksgiving

We decided to break out of our mold this year and do something different. Since we haven't been to Utah in 9 years, we thought we'd go there. It was a ton of fun since the boys had cousins to play with. We also had a lot of fun visiting the sites in Salt Lake, especially the new Conference Center (well, new to us). We also got to show the boys BYU and the MTC. It's hard to believe Logan will be there in only 10 short yrs.!
Alain's family always meets up for Thanksgiving, so it was great to see all of them, too. He has such a nice, loving family! They always have made me feel so welcome and loved. Overall, it was one of the best, if not the best, Thanksgiving's we've ever had. Thank you to all of those who made that possible! We love and miss you all.
Cole, Finn, Logan, and Maggie waiting for their dinner.
Clare and Tanner, who don't like to take pictures.My brother, Doug, carving the turkey.The delicious spread, along with my sister-in-law Julie.The lovely burnt topping from the sweet potatoes. It smelled so good after this happened, just like roasting marshmallows when you're camping!!