Christmas Morning 2009

The kids were up at 2:30am. We were able to get them back to bed. Then Gage was up again at 5am. We told him to quietly watch TV in the loft. He had strict instuctions to NOT go downstairs. He could wake everyone up at 6am. I'm sure that was the longest hour of his life!

After diving into the stockings to see what goodies were there......we headed into the Living Room to see what Santa brought.

The first gift Emmalin opened up was a new baby doll. She hugged her little "bee-bee" and refused to open another gift.

We got Wii Resort!! Oh, the fun we have been having with this new game! My arms are sore!!

Carrigan gave Amberly a "littlest pet shop" toy. Can you tell Amberly was happy about it!!!

The girls got a new doll house!!! Aaaaaah!!!!

Gage asked Santa to bring him the same Bioncle that Gage had given to his friend Garrett for his birthday. Santa came through for Gage! Gage also got the BIGGEST nerf gun you have EVER seen. This thing is a monster.

Amberly made a calendar in school for Mom. It is so cute. Her handprints are all throughout the Calender. She used her handprints to make things like a turkey in November, a fish in July, a tulip in May, a Santa in December, etc.

It was fun for me to watch Kimball playing dolls with the girls after he put the dollhouse together.

Thanks to Santa and everyone he gave to us this year!!!! We are very grateful!!!

Christmas Eve Traditions

Over the years we have accumulated several Christmas Eve traditions. It's funny how kids can turn the simplest thing done one year into something that has to be continued from year to year. Most of our traditions haven't come to be because Kimball and I sat down and thought long and hard about what would be meaningful to our family. No...the kids have established what is and what isn't going to happen from year to year. We usually eat dinner by candlelight while listening to Christmas songs. We then take turns making wishes for the new year as we blow out each candle. One of our most favorite traditions is waiting to see how the elves are going to deliver our new pajamas. Some years the knock and run. Once they called and told us where the pajamas were hidden in the house sending us on a little treasure hunt. This year we came home from Christmas Eve visiting to find them lined up on our staircase. The kids were so excited by this!!!

A new tradition started this year was the Nerf Gun war. Amberly thought it was pretty funny when the dart she shot at her Dad knocked him to the ground and even funnier that the dart STUCK to his forehead.Every year you will find us decorating sugar cookies for Santa.

Emmalin waving to the camera in her new pajamas. She is just starting to learn about all of the Christmas magic.

Other traditions include, reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" while laying under the Christmas tree on our Christmas pillows that Grandma made for us, Sprinkling reindeer food on the driveway, acting out the Nativity, and watching for Rudolph's nose in the sky. It's always a fun and memorable night. I love Christmas Eve and the magical feeling in the air.

Wilkins Family Christmas Party 2009

The Wilkins Family Party was tonight. Oh, the fun we had! Mom/Grandma made Cafe Rio Pork Salads for dinner, Dad/Grandpa gave a Christmas lesson, and we sang tons of Christmas songs. Every year the cousins draw names and this is the night they exchange gifts. I know that my kids carefully pick out the gifts for their cousins and can't wait to watch them open them.
Hailey had Emmalin this year. She came is with an ENOURMOUS wrapped gift. Emmalin carefully tore at the paper and we helped her open the box. She could hardly contain her excitement when she saw what was inside... A giant ball just for her! She giggled and clapped and said, "Yay!" It was too cute.

Here are more pictures of the rest of the kids opening their gifts. Everyone was thrilled with what they gave and received. It was a fun party! Thanks to everyone!!

Ho Ho Ho

The kids got to meet with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Ward Christmas Party! Everyone but Emmalin was pretty excited. Emmalin wasn't quite sure about this guy in the red suit!! Gage asked for a Bionicle. Amberly asked for a laptop. Carrigan asked for anything Tinkerbell.

School Christmas Concert

The kids had a fun last day of school before the winter break. They made gingerbread houses, watched the Polar Express, partied with their school friends, and then ended the day with a Christmas Concert. It was a madhouse. Soooo many people came to see the kids perform. They, of course, did a fabulous job singing all their songs.

Gage and Amberly heading out the door to school with the gifts they made for their teachers.Oops, the picture is sideways. These are Gage's two best friends from school. Garrett and Justice. They have been friends since Kindergarten. They are waiting patiently for their turn to perform.

Amberly, waiting for her turn. Isn't she a cutie!?! We were in the back. This is the best picture we got!

So proud after their wonderful singing!

12 Years!!!

12 years ago we were sealed together forever. It rained the entire day. The ENTIRE day! We have very few pictures of our day because of the rain. On the bright side we were told that rain is good luck on your wedding day. It must be true because it's been a wonderful 12 years. We have much to be thankful for as we look back over the years and we look forward to many more wonderful things to come.

Annual Gingerbread Village

It has become a fun tradition these last few years to make gingerbread houses. Fun, quality, family time during the holidays. Honestly, I think the kids ate as much candy as they put on the houses!

Our little Village We obviously didn't get our hair done for pics tonight.PLEASE can I have more candy?!?!? Carrigan's house Amberly's house Mom's house Gage's houseDad's houseAfter the kids went to bed, Tiffin went to town and made a bigger house just for fun!

Gage's School Project

Gage was assigned his first "real" school project. His class has been studying India and each student was to make a poster telling facts about India. He was so excited about this project and very proud of his work. His teacher raved about how well he did during his presentation to the class. Way to go Gage!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Say Cheese! -- Family Pictures

Finally!!! Pictures of our family. We have been wanting to have pictures taken for a loooong time! We think they turned out pretty cute! Thanks Bryan, Karin, and Tami...we LOVE them!

Decking the Halls!

We have a tradition of decorating our tree on the first FHE night after Thanksgiving. This year was no different. The house still isn't unpacked but we have our tree up. Priorities people! Mom and the kids "fluffed" the tree. Dad got the lights working. And then the ornaments came out! It's so fun to see the kids faces light up as they dig through the ornament boxes and find familiar ones. Our tree is loaded with ornaments that we have made in years past at school or home and ornaments that Grandma makes for them each year. The tree brings back sweet memories of Christmases past. We love our tree!

We Moved!!

Things have been pretty hectic around here. We recently sold our home and over Thanksgiving weekend moved into another. We lived there for almost 5 years. Gage was only 3, Amberly 1, and Carrigan a brand new baby when we moved in! Crazy how quickly time goes by. We will miss our home but look forward to making new memories in our new home.

GoodbyeHello.

Thanksgiving 2009

We are stuffed!!! That's what you're supposed to do on Thanksgiving right!?! We started out the morning with a turkey pancake breakfast. Kimball then went off to play football while the kids and I watched the Parade on TV. They love watching it as much as I do. Then off to Mommer and Papa's we went for a day filled with fun!

Our Turkey Pancakes. Gobble Gobble!Uncle Jay brought rockets! The kids loved running after the parachute man that came out of the rockets. It was windy that day so they did ALOT of running! They were good and hungry for Thanksgiving dinner! Cousins!!!!!

Emmalin cuddling with Mommer. So cute! (Thanks Ash for the pictures)

After dinner Papa brought out huge trays filled with candy! The kids (and adults) were in heaven. It was a fun and YUMMY Thanksgiving!