Christmas

 We had such a great Christmas. It was so nice to just stay home and not have the stress of winter traveling. 

 Christmas Eve we enjoyed going to the lighting of the Christmas tree in Colonial Williamsburg

Colton wanted to hold the flame so bad...not the candle but the flame

 Then we headed home and had dinner with some of our favorite people the Armstrongs

Karlee posing with the crown they brought back from Disney World for her

Christmas Jammies

 Karlee was a little excited on Christmas morning..Colton just wanted his breakfast

Not sure if this is before breakfast or after. The boy has only one thing on his mind constantly... food. He's not a happy camper unless his tummy is full.

 Colton with his loot

 Karlee with her loot

I felt very blessed on Christmas morning with having a healthy and happy family, having a loving Savoir who I am very grateful for, getting more presents than we deserved, living in a time where we can see our family even though we live so far away, and realizing that this was our last Christmas being so far away :) We are so blessed!

Christmas 2011

Our Christmas was just as good as our Christmas Eve. Both kids woke up around 7. We looked at what Santa brought us then ate some breakfast. After breakfast we opened presents. Karlee was so excited about every little thing that she got.

Ready to see what Santa brought

Can you tell that Karlee loves anything princess? Not sure how we got such a girlie girl.

Karlee's Santa loot

Colton loved just watching the action and sucking on his gifts

Karlee thought it was pretty fun to open both her and Colton's presents

I guess Colton didn't like what he got. No milk :(

Then we headed off to Church.

Love this pic. She wasn't really sad she just likes to pull faces when I take pictures.

After Church we had brunch with our dear friends the Armstrongs. 

Playing Yahtzee free for all.

Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas in Williamsburg. This was our first Christmas away from family. We were excited to start our own traditions and enjoy Matt's long break without the stress of traveling. It's been so nice! For Christmas Eve we got together with some couples in our ward. We decided to get together early and play games and eat all day long. It was a lot of fun.

The men enjoying their game.

Even Colton joined in :)

Karlee and Esme

The ladies and poor little Leah was sick :(

After playing games we headed over to Colonial Williamsburg for the lighting of the Christmas tree. I'm so glad we decided to go. They had a little program which consisted of Christmas carols and a speech from the Mayor of Williamsburg, lighting of candles, and the lighting of the Christmas tree. Karlee loved the candles. I was worried she was going to set Colton's blanket on fire, or her clothes or the diaper bag. She didn't but I'm not sure how. She loved blowing the candle out and then relighting it with my candle.

 

When we got home we read the Christmas Story. My mom gave us a book last year that is a picture book of the Christmas story. Karlee loved looking at the pictures and listened very well.

Then the kids got to open their Christmas jammies.

Thanksgiving Festivities!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! We drove to Columbus, Ohio to my sister Erin's house and we had a blast! We are glad that we decided to go. Karlee LOVED playing with her cousins all day long. The day we left she came up to me as we were packing up and said "Mommy, I so sad today" I asked her why and she said "I don't want to leave". The kids all got along so well and it was so nice to hang out with my sisters.

Our trip consisted of playing out side

Preparing food

Playing with cousins

Eating lots!

Being with family 

Playing minute to win it games

Karlee getting a hair cut

Rollerskating

Erin is 8 months pregnant. She got to watch the babies.

Karlee wouldn't put on the roller skates until the very end.

Yay! We finally talked her into skating with us!

We also went shopping, to the movies, played games, had a dance party. It was a blast!