Twas Christmas Day...

The end of a hard day!! I don't know how that is comfortable.

Now she can ride with the big boys.

Bring on the Lego's.

Yeah! Princesses and castles!!

Love this one. Their first reaction to eachother's games.

Christmas Day finally and fabulously arrived at our house. It was a great day filled with gifts, excitement, love and fun. We had to wake the boys up at 7:30, Jason was almost more excited than they were. Dylan and Braxton opened their gifts from Santa and from us. Santa brought them each a new XBox game along with stocking stuffers. We got them air soft guns. Well, Jason picked out air soft guns. I know they will love them if we can keep them from hurting eachother first. Then Nati woke up. She got a princess castle and a new doll. She is a bit leary of toys that make noise so I think it might take a minute for her to love her new stuff. The kids played for a bit then we went to Grandma & Grandpa Carter's for breakfast. So yummy! We exchanged gifts there and then headed to my parents for lunch and exchanging there. We were spoiled once again by our families. After eating more than we could handle we came home and just vegged for the rest of the day. It was great!! The kids loved everything they got and we loved watching their faces. I love the magic of Christmas and the joy that it brings. By nighttime Nati was exhausted. Jason and I were watching a movie on the bed, and she crawled on him and dozed off. It's so tiring being a two year old at Christmas. A few days before Christmas the kids and I took around some treats to neighbors and friends. Braxton was the first out of the car, he was so excited to give stuff this year. Dylan picked out a few things for friends and couldn't wait for me to take him so he walked to a couple of neighbor friends. I hope that their spirit of giving continues. I love this time of year and hope that you all had a great Christmas. We are so blessed to have such great family and friends!!

Snow Day, Prayers, & Dressed Up!

Jason with the kids out front
Natalie enjoying her first time playing in the snow
Is it time for the prayer?

Natalie in her Christmas dress

All three kids dressed up

This is Natalie's first year playing in the snow. Why, you ask? Our stubborn girl wouldn't walk last year, therefore didn't get to go play with the big boys in the snow. She loves it. So much so that she throws her royal fit when it's time to come in. It's hilarious. I still dread the time to bring them all in because of the wet clothes all over but they have a great time so I guess I'll deal with it:)

It was our ward Christmas Party this last Saturday. I haven't been to church since before Thanksgiving because of illnesses of the kids so I wanted to go be social with neighbors. It was a lot of fun. They had the primary kids go up on stage and sing a few songs. Natalie decided she needed to follow and before I could catch her our neighbor lifted her up on stage along with her daughter and they both just stood there. The funny thing was that in between the first two songs Natalie thought it was time for the prayer so she folded her arms and closed her eyes. You have to look close at her to see it - second row in the peach shirt with Braxton & Dylan to the left behind her. It was so cute and innocent. We ate a great dinner and Santa even came.
Jason's cousin got married on Friday so we went to the reception that night. The kids looked so cute and the reception was so nice and fun. Congrats Shanni!!

Fun Christmas Traditions

Making caramel chocolate covered pretzels with mom and Kellie.

Jason, Dylan & Braxton with their gingerbread house

Spanish Forks' Festival of Lights

The kids looking at the lights, okay Braxton is just cheesing it.

1st picture- Every year the Lee girl's go to moms house to dip pretzels for the holidays. Mom, Kellie, & I dipped til our hearts were content this last Saturday. It's a good thing I got out for a minute because the flu started it's rounds later that afternoon. Good times!!

2nd picture - Jason and the boys went over to Cam & Kate's house to have dinner and make gingerbread houses. They had a great time while I was home with our "throw-up girl". I wish she would have been well so that we could have gone. The kids also exchanged gifts with each other, which they loved.

3rd picture - After being house bound for five days I couldn't wait to get out. We loaded up the kids, including towels just in case, and went to the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork. It was the perfect mini outing for us. The kids loved the lights, especially the dragon and the castle.

4th picture - I tried to get one of all three looking at the fun light creations. Ok, so I'm not a photographer.

Weekly Update

Big news at the Carter home. The flu is here for an extended visit. Jason came down with it last week then the kids started with it on Saturday. Why is it that the mom is always the one that gets to clean it all up? In all honesty Jason is trying, just doesn't have the strongest stomach. So, here's to hoping that they all get over it soon and that we can get shopping done before next Thursday. Wish me luck!!!!

Carter Family Christmas Party

Santa with all of us "kids"

Katy, Savannah, Maddi, Preston & Dan with Santa

Kate, Grace, Blake & Cameron with Santa

Randi, Alexa (not so happy to be there) & Brady with Santa

Chris & Woody with Santa

We went to Grandma & Grandpa Carters for the annual Carter Family Christmas Party. Jason's other aunts and uncles along with some cousins came also. We all ate dinner, played Christmas Bingo and were just chatting away when a visitor came by. Yes, Santa came to see all of the kids. They went crazy. It was hilarious because they were all so excited yet no one was brave enough to be the first to sit on his lap without some major coaxing from parents. The kids all went first then we did family pictures. Jason was home sick so it was just a partial family picture with Santa. Braxton told him that he wanted a Spiderman game, Dylan didn't really say much and Nati was her usual sassy self and wouldn't sit by him without me. It was a fun party.

Christmas with the Girls

Brandi, Danielle, Bethany, me, Shavon, and Julie

These 5 ladies were my very good friends all through our school years. I have been friends with two of them since kindergarten. I love that we get together a couple times a year. We had so much fun together, did some crazy things, and made some great memories. I will always remember when I was in the 6th grade and this little blonde girl named Julie came up to me and said "Are you Beth Larsen's granddaughter?". That is basically where it all started. I don't have very many High School memories that don't include these guys. We were missing some for this dinner. A few have moved away and we missed them so much. We met at California Pizza Kitchen to eat, exchanged gifts and then did some shopping at Provo Towne Center. It was great to compare kid stories and get caught up on eachothers lives. Thank you ladies for a fabulous evening. Bethany, I am still laughing. Can't wait to see you all again!!!

The First Christmas Party of the Year!!!

A winning team!

Playing Christmas Bingo

The kids with grandma and grandpa.

My parents had a family Christmas party this last Saturday night. My brother Dustin, his wife Kellie and their kids Jaxon, Carter, and Gavin were there also. We ate pizza and played Christmas Bingo. Ok, so the bingo part was interesting. I made the cards from one I found on the internet. It turned out that two had more than one of the same pictures and another two were exactly the same. I really did try!! At least everyone got a prize and had a great time. Thanks for starting off the season in such a fun way Mom & Dad. We love you!!!

Thanksgiving Festivities

The man of the season. Natalie wasn't quite sure of him but she did ok. Brax was disappointed that he forgot to bring his list. Dylan is getting to that age. Oh how I wish the magic would last forever.
Every year Jason's mom takes all of the grandkids to Hallmark to pick out an ornament. They love it and get so excited to go. Dylan picked Jack Sparrow, Braxton picked Star Wars and Natalie picked Tigger. After the ornaments we saw Santa (above picture). Shockingly there wasn't a line and we were out of there in record time.

Thanksgiving day at grandma's-painting ceramic figures. Notice half the kids undressed!

Me & mom with grandma & grandpa.

Nati eating stuffing out of the bowl.

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. We actually did two dinners in a three hour period this year. This was Grandma Beth's last year hosting dinner so I felt like I needed to be there for that, but it was Jason's family's year so we ate twice. Grandmas was great. I haven't been able to have Thanksgiving with my brothers in about 7 years because of the schedule so it was really fun to be with Dustin and his cute family. After Beth's dinner we went to Jason's parents. The whole family was there so it was great. After dinner the kids painted little ceramic figures and we ate dessert. It was a memorable Thanksgiving.