christmas eve scenes and the day before

The day before Christmas Eve we finally made it to Temple Square. 

The present Levi wanted the most was a ninjago lego set called 'The Temple of Light'. As we were walking over to the temple he said, "Are we going to 'The Temple of Square'"!

 Christmas Eve day was full of a last minute trip to the store, a visit from Grandma Morris, roasted sweet pepper cream cheese treat, preparations for Christmas Eve dinner, and then while I was answering the door several times to receive yummy treats from neighbors and friends...

the boys were in the backyard having plenty of fun. Corbin did not want to get off that thing.

Then we enjoyed a beautiful evening as a family. 

 And once the boys were tucked safely in bed dreaming of sugarplums, Justin and I watched my favorite show, "It's a Wonderful Life". At the end, Justin couldn't stay awake any longer, so I stayed up a few more hours, watched Mass, wrapped presents and put the final touches on Christmas. (like wrapping the rest of the presents)

Things weren't finished and it wasn't "perfect". But it didn't matter. It's so nice to realize that I can let some things go and just enjoy. Because to the boys, it was magical, and that's what is wonderful. 

christmas weekend - three

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to drop off a Christmas surprise for the boys. Something special straight from Grandpa's workshop. (which won't be opened until Christmas)

We got to listen to grandma and grandpa talk about what Christmas was like when they were young. (for the record. my dad is the greatest story teller and can capture any child's attention with his stories)

We played and wore jammies most of the weekend.

We went to our neighbors across the street (who happen to have four adorable girls that are our boys' age). We also invited our sweet neighbors who are empty nesters. We played the guessing game (Christmas style), had tons of treats, played a card game, and laughed.

Our neighbor is in the army and has collected some pretty neat things over the years, he showed the boys his sword. They were mesmerized. 

We gave simple neighbor gifts with a saying that was not cheezy...at all.

And most importantly, we celebrated our eight year old Taylor.

And the excitement of Christmas was thick in the air.

a half birthday and a real birthday

With Taylor's birthday being so close to Christmas, I have tried really hard to make his day special. But almost every year there still seems to be too many other activities going on. We asked him earlier this year if he wanted to also celebrate on his half birthday and receive his main gift from mom and dad then. Any birthday party with friends could be on that day too. We didn't have a friend party, but we still had a good time celebrating. Here are scenes from that day in June.

 No laughing please, I tried.

Six months later Taylor's actual birthday was still pretty special. 

Highlights included: mom and Rudger bringing a Happy Meal to school for lunch, (two-days later was the actual day) breakfast in bed, candybar poster from brothers, his baby book...finally, a small gift from dad, corn dogs for lunch, lasgna for dinner, icecream cake for dessert with a homemade lego topper

Still can't believe that this Christmas baby of ours is eight.

8 reasons

Love those clear blue eyes.

Love your willingness to share so much of what you have with your brothers.

Love the way you read with so much expression.

Love the creative things you build with legos.

Love how well you do each week on your spelling tests.

Love how much you love looking at pictures of when you were a baby.

Love your tender heart.

Love your innocence. 

let it snow

The snow and cold will be here for a while, so we had better try to find the beauty in it and just enjoy.

helping out

Rudger is quite the observant little one. The boys each have a part of the dishwasher that they are suppose to empty everyday. Whoever gets to it first gets to choose which part they empty. Bottom shelf is the favorite, followed by the top one, and the least favorite is silverware. So more often than not, it gets left sitting there until I finally nag enough. Rudger notices it not getting done I guess and has taken the responsibility on himself. 

I love looking over and seeing him on his tippy toes, reaching as high as he can. And when I open the drawer it makes me happy (for the most part) to see a bunch of forks, spoons, and knives scattered every which way. Keep it up buddy...please.

How am I going to split up emptying the dishwasher with four boys...

Also...yes I am in the middle of painting the island (finally) but it's not going to get finished until next year...I only committed to doing three sides before Christmas.