Christmas festivites

Richard's is on the left, Hannah's on the right. They did a terrific job and had so much fun!

Chris had Christmas Eve off so we had a very Christmasy day with the kids. Our biggest project was making gingerbread houses. It was a messy, fun time. Chris even got in on the action.

Chris's finished house, he even made a fireplace with a fire in it outside. It looked really good.

This is my little pride and joy at Christmas time. I love my village! We are a little cramped this year so I did not put a couple buildings out, maybe next year. :)

Christmas morning!!! Richard and Hannah were so excited to go downstairs to see open the gifts and see if Santa brought stocking stuffers. The kids lost Santa presents because they were snooping and found some gifts. Maybe next year he can visit with gifts.

Richard was so funny because when he got excited about a present he would say, "No. No. I got a ..." Too funny!

My mom made Hannah some darling doll clothes and these matching hats. I had to find a doll that would fit the clothes and I'm really glad I did because she loves it and is having fun changing Magny's clothes. Yes, she named her dolly Magny. (I can't get her to pull the hat forward, she always wears it back like this. Cute girl!

This Princess kitchen is what the kids found. She was still really happy to get it and they has had fun cooking in it.

Richard's favorite gift was this Batman cave. He has continually played with it and INSISTS it on his dresser drawers each night next to his bed. He is very particular about it.

In the afternoon we headed to the woods for a nature walk/hike. Hannah and Magny took a little snoozer in their matching hats. I'm loving it!!

Another of Richard's favorite gifts was this remote control truck. (Thank you Riley for helping me get it on Black Friday, you picked a perfect one for him!) Richard was ELATED to take it to the woods and drive it on the path.

We had a nice Christmas despite not being able to be around our family. I missed everyone terribly but we enjoyed watching the kids get excited and play with their new gifts. We are so blessed for all that we have.

Pre Christmas bike ride

When you are from Utah and have spent most Christmases in snow, or at least the cold, this 55-70 degree weather is a big change. The kids and I went for a bike ride on a beautiful, sunny, blue sky day. As you can see, They are in short sleeve shirts and Richard was wearing shorts. This is totally foreign...last Christmas was in Nebraska and below zero temps so this is a treat for me! :)

They just HAD to stop at the bench for a photo shoot. I was wishing I had my nice camera and not just the phone one. They are still cute pics of my darling little babies. (Yes Hannah is in her Halloween costume. Richard was in his earlier today, too.)

Fun Stuff

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Chris was playing with Hannah the other day. She tucked him in her bed, gave him kisses, then tip-toed out the door. Then she would tackle him. They have a lot of fun together.

This morning the kids and I made blue pancakes and the I let them use Christmas cookie cutters for the pancakes. They made a mess and had a lot of fun! :0

This is from a couple of weeks ago. I was doing laundry and the kids came into my room with an "invitation" to their tea party. I walked into their room where they had laid out a blanket, gathered apples from the fridge, a water bottle, and lime juice. They would squeeze a ton of lime juice into their cups then add water. Their faces were priceless and they wiggled so much that I could not get any good pictures. But we laughed and had a good time.

School Christmas Party

Hannah and I got to attend Richard's school Christmas party. He is out of school for the next two weeks so the party was a special treat to kick off Christmas break. We arrived a little early to help set up. Hannah was posing for the test pictures. I'm lovin' this girly!



Richard was ELATED to see us when he walked into class. He was taking great care of his sister to make sure she was involved. He even asked his teacher if Hannah could play BINGO with them. She got her own seat and even treats.

The candy cane handoff was fun. Richard's team won so they got a special surprise.

Look at how much fun she is having!

Hannah took this cute pic of me. She did a really good job!

Making Reindeer food.

Hannah just had to jump in too! (The little girl next to Hannah is also 3, Hannah is a giant! lol)

Freeze dancing...

He takes such good care of his little sister! Richard is a really good brother!

This was a really fun way to kick off the Christmas break and get us even more excited for Christmas!!! :)

Utah for Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful and full trip to Utah for the week of Thanksgiving. My pictures are all over the place and out of order but they are fun nonetheless. The Friday after Thanksgiving we were able to go with Mom, Paul's family, and part of Joe's family to Temple Square for the Christmas lights. This was a perfect way to end our week.

Chris, Joe, and Paul.

Brittany brought her friend Dalton and the kids totally loved him. Here they are with Dalton, Chloe, and Maddie.

Each family had a portrait taken in front of the Temple and the lights. We held up a lot of foot traffic. :)

Joe, Maddie, Halli, and Zac

Richard was trying to read the plaque at this statue and I had to capture the cute sweetness of it.

Hannah loves her cousin Riley. He is an awesome young man and so cute and sweet with the kids.

Here is Paul's family: Paul, Riley, Rocky, Heidi, Brittany, Bo, Bryce, and Chloe.

Mom, Hannah, Jaime, and Maddie.

Riley and Halli. The younger kids all adore Riley!

Cute Dalton and Brittany.

Brittany, Halli, and Chloe.

Maddie, Heidi, Brittany, Hannah, Riley, and Chloe.

Thanksgiving at Mom's house. Richard and Hannah were so excited to play in the 10 or so inches of snow since we don't get much of it here in the south.

I love this pic of Richard throwing his "snowball" at Halli. She got a few shots at him too.

My little snow angel baby girl!

Richard got Hannah in the face, too.

The kids got to help Grandma Taggart make pies for Thanksgiving. Good thing I brought their aprons. They were so excited to help!

Then we made sugar cookies at Grandma Kia's.

I love this crazy boy!

Richard made a tasty looking treat for himself and Grandma Kia...ice-cream, shortbread, sugar cookies, chocolate syrup, and chopped string cheese. Delish!

Richard and Hannah were so excited to play with Brielle and Colby. They had a lot of fun!

We got to celebrate Uncle Greg and had a fun and tasty dinner at Cafe El Lago. Chris played some fun games with the kids at dinner. We went to the theatre afterward and saw "Mega Mind" it was really fun.

The night we drove into town we found out Paul and Heidi were having Grandma T. and Grandma Kia over for dinner so we crashed the party. After dinner the kids went outside to slip and slide on the snowy trampoline.

Fun pics of our party crashing.

Before we went to Paul's the kids got to open their Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Taggart. They were so excited, but we really missed having Grandpa there as he is serving our country in Iraq.

We had a lot of fun and the kids got spoiled with gifts, love, and cousins. We cannot wait for our next visit! And to make things even better, we had no idea Joe and his family were going to be in town from Atlanta. We got to spend Thanksgiving night and the following night with them. It was great for Richard and Hannah to meet their Georgia cousins!

Grandma Taggart gave the kids these darling Church clothes. Hannah wanted to wear hers every day, but we wanted to keep it nice. They are so cute!

Thank you to everyone that made the visit so enjoyable!!!