Stevie's New Words

Stevie had some funny new words yesterday...monkey, meatball, blocks, and tower. I really loved to hear her say meatball.

Christmas Morning

Oh my gosh! Santa did bring drums to Jake! He was so excited that he didn't even want to open any other presents until he had played on them for quite some time. Stevie really enjoyed them as well. Santa also brought camp chairs, books, music, and a few other toys. Stevie got a doll house from us. She's really not ready for a doll house, but she really loved to take everything out and then put everything back in. My big gift was new ski boots from Steve and Steve's big gift was an AvaLung backpack from me and Nannie.

After all the presents were open and breakfast over...the kids played for a long time with the Playdoh set from GranDaddy and GranJackie.

We went to Heber in the afternoon and got spoiled again by Grandma and Grandpa D. Then we spent some time at the Johnson house so we could learn how to play the Wii (did I spell that right?).

We said goodbye to Bob the Elf who went back to the North Pole. See you next year!

Santa Claus

On Christmas Eve we stopped by the McClelland's house to see Santa Claus. He came for a quick visit to see the kids before he had to get busy delivering presents. Jake was very excited and wanted to be near Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas - drums. Stevie was definitely interested, but she didn't want to get very close. When Santa Claus was leaving, she did follow him and say "Bye Santa." That is the first time we have heard her put two words together. Thanks Santa!

Jake's Christmas Song Concert

Jake loves to show off the songs he learned at preschool this year. Sorry everyone...we still can't get the video to work. Any ideas???

Christmas Party Weekend

Steve took off for a ski weekend with Kenn and Dave. Crested Butte offers free skiing for the first 3 weeks of December and Steve has a friend who lives close by. Can't beat free skiing and a free place to stay.

Meanwhile...the weekend was filled with a Lee Family Christmas Party as well as one for the Draper side. Both were held in church gymnasiums. The kids really loved to run around and play basketball with the older kids and the adults. Once again...the Draper boys and in-laws humored us all with a good round of karaoke. Grandma Lee even joined in. At the next party, the kids got to hit and break open a Santa Claus pinata and get presents from Grandma Helen.

Jake surprised me on Friday by singing Jingle Bells almost all the way through. He either learned it at preschool or from the Christmas music that I have been playing...because I know I didn't teach him. At the Lee party, he wasn't shy and sang Jingle Bells twice in the microphone. I think he was inspired by his cousins who sang and played instruments for us all.

Stevie keeps adding new words every day. This weekend she said "bus" "over" and "shark." Random words. She still hasn't really put two words together, but I know she is getting close. Stevie is also our little expert in finding Bob the Elf. If we lead them to the room where Bob can be found, it is only a matter of seconds before she screams "BOB!" We do love her spunky personality and we are trying to put all that energy into the right place :-)

Decorating for Christmas

The kids and I spent all day on Wednesday decorating for Christmas. It was a lot of fun because I was excited and they kids were too. Jake and Stevie both loved putting up the tree and helping me spread out the branches. Stevie was a big fan of the Santa hats too. We had to abandon our project when Jake kept plugging the lights in and out and when Stevie was sucking on the tree lights :-) Next time the lights will be a project when the kids are asleep...

Winter Wonderland

The big storm hit! We had a yard full of snow and the resorts got about 2-3 feet of snow over the past few days. They kids and I made a snowman with Jenna and Stella on Friday. They all abandoned the snowman when they accidentally stepped on the trampoline and realized how fun it was to jump on a trampoline full of snow.

Steve did his best to keep up with the shoveling. He did go up to The Canyons for the first time on Saturday, but only 2 runs were open for the loads of people who showed up to enjoy the new snow. Hopefully they will open more soon.

I had training at Deer Valley yesterday and we actually got to free ski with a trainer for about 2-3 hours. So I lucked out and got to ski in some powder. Jake went with me yesterday for his first ski lesson from Deer Valley. It didn't go so well. He went out with Cassidy around 9 a.m. and he just never warmed up. She was able to get him to put the skis on and slide around...but that was it. He did tell me last night that he really wants to go up the lift with Mom again and maybe Sam could ride up to if he comes to visit. He said "That is a really good idea Mom." I think so!

Elf on the Shelf

Thanks to Jackie...we now have a new Christmas tradition for our family. She gave us, the Waydas, and the McClendons an early Christmas present called "Elf on the Shelf," you may have seen or heard about it. It's a book about the secret behind how Santa knows how all the children in the world behave. The book comes with an elf that becomes magic once you read the book and give him a name. Jake really wanted to name him Max, but then changed his mind. He is now Bob the Elf. Bob sits somewhere in our house every day and watches and listens to how Jake and Stevie behave. He then flies back to Santa every night to report and then reappears in the morning in a different spot in the house. Love it...it's working!

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

We spent a wonderful week in Tennessee with the Hough side of the family. The Waydas (including Georgia the bulldog) came from Louisiana so it was great to have everyone there. Stephanie, bless her heart, usually hosts the Thanksgiving dinner and does it very well. We spent a lot of time just hanging out, letting the kids play, and watching football. Cory Nicole was the best babysitter ever and the boys let Jake play with them. Jake and Stevie Kate love their Nannie. Good times. It was nice to go the movie with Judy and Krissy, go shopping with Judy and GiGi, and go out on the town with Stephanie and Troy. We spent the last night there with GrandDaddy and GranJackie at their house. They always make a great dinner for us and time to chat.

The plane rides were not the best...but we made it. Jake does much better on the plane now at his age. But Stevie is pretty difficult. We ended up using Jake's seat to strap Stevie in and then Jake did okay with us holding him. Just to give you an idea...we had an angry woman next to us on the way to Tennessee who only rolled her eyes when we spoke to her. On the way back to Utah, Stevie really enjoyed throwing toys and half-eaten food items at other passengers and then occasionally screaming at the top of her lungs. At least she was happy.

Family Picture Time

It's that time of year...when Christmas cards need to be printed...and photos framed and given as gifts. We scheduled a family picture session at Wheeler Farms with our favorite photographers...Peekaboo Photos. The McClellands joined us and we were going to split the sitting fee. Unfortunately the photographers wrote down the wrong date and didn't show up. I tried to enjoy the rest of our time there, but I was still pretty frazzled. I know you all know how stressful family pictures can be :-) The right clothes, hair combed the right way, happy children and husband, etc. The day was beautiful though and the kids had so much fun playing together and enjoying Wheeler Farms.

The photographers said they would reschedule for 1/2 price so we had the date set for yesterday, December 1st up in Park City. Hard to believe...but they didn't show again. They thought December 1st was a Sunday :-( So no family pictures yet and probably none this year. It really shouldn't be that hard...you know?

Don't be surprised if you get a postcard this year with a stick-figure family that we drew ourselves.