Better so than it is when Dave goes to work and I am home with the kids. And you should see some of the AWESOME things he builds with the boys and their legos.
So, that is why the Dad at our house is the Best Mom in the World!
Better so than it is when Dave goes to work and I am home with the kids. And you should see some of the AWESOME things he builds with the boys and their legos.
So, that is why the Dad at our house is the Best Mom in the World!
To this....
And, he now has a mouthful of these....


It always has been, even when I was growing up. I decided it is because we never buy stuff for each other or ourselves. Starting in like June we stop buying anything we need or want, and start making mental Christmas lists. So, although we get nice things we want, there are also lots of wrapped shoes, crockpots, body wash, socks, etc. It makes Christmas morning a whole lot of fun though. And, hard to wait for! We all sit in the room together and wait for everyone to be ready at the same time.
It isn't too early of a morning, as we all wake up about 8. Why get up early, it is Christmas all day long!
Then we open presents and then have breakfast together. Then there is usually a fashion show
or a movie or something and we lounge around and play Mario Kart all day. It is very fun. Dave and the boys played with their new legos too and built some pretty cool things. The truth is, I'm not really sure who Santa brought the Legos for.

It was COLD, but who cares....we brought enough snow stuff to keep a small army warm. And, it did. But, the truth is, no matter how long you spend getting each kids bundled, they really only want to go out for a few minutes, then they come back in. 
Certainly not because they were cold, just because they want to. We had lots of fun playing with cousin Madolyn too.
And Braden just couldn't get enough of Baby Avery. He loved her so much.
Braden spent most of the time getting into messes in the cabin, but his favorite thing was the hochi sweeper vacuum thing.
He loved it, and was perfectly content to play with that all day long. His other favorite things was going up the stairs, then screaming at the top that he wanted to come back down. Mom called it the "greener grass syndrome". He is a funny boy. It is just so fun to spend time together doing crazy things 
and playing games, and reading books, and watching movies, and napping, and doing whatever we want, because that is all there is to do.
To me, birthdays should be a HUGE celebration. It is a time to let someone know how much they mean to you, how grateful you are for them in your life. And, having a December birthday, I have always been quite disappointed because there is so much other stuff going on that nobody has time or makes effort to remember or recognize my birthday. I know, I am now 28, and it is time to get over it. But that is how I feel. I am happy to say, that this is the first year in a long time that I felt like my friends wanted me to feel special. (Maybe it is because they hear me boob about it all the time.) And, Dave, is such a good sport and is willing to do anything for me. I have a really good friend with a December birthday that feels the same way I do, so we threw ourselves a little birthday bash, and although most everyone we invited was too busy to come and or stay long, it was fun to at least have each other. Then my girlfriends gave me a lunch party and it was nice to just visit and enjoy the afternoon. We went to the cabin for the Christmas holiday on my birthday, so Dave got up early and made us waffles with ice-cream for our birthday breakfast tradition, and then we opened presents. 

He did good this year....I love everything I got!
My mom and dad got me a juicer too, so now I won't have to keep borrowing mom's. It was a nice day. I had lots of friends call and leave messages, and send emails. I even had a nice card or two in the mail or left on the doorstep. So, thanks to everyone. It was a great birthday!


Colty wanted a dinosaur to sleep with. Then his changed to be a dino that was remote control that would roar. Tanner took the Walmart ad book with him to see Santa, and we thought that he would just show him the picture of the fancy red car that he could drive. We waited in line for a while, and then it was our turn. And, it was the REAL Santa. It is the same one that was there last year, and he is REAL....hair, belly full of jelly, beard so white, suit so red, etc. And he was so jolly and cheery.
He talked to the boys about what they would want, and of course the boys wouldn't say anything, just stare. Then we reminded Tanner of his magazine, so he pulled it out and went page by page showing Santa what he wanted. There was something on EVERY page.
What a good sport Santa is, to listen to the greedy desires of each little boy and girl. Then Colty nodded his head when we told Santa that he wanted a dinosaur. We took family pictures and then had free hot chocolate.