Christmas 2012

We had a really great Christmas this year! I feel so so so lucky to have this wonderful life with my boys. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve them.

The boys were so excited to find our elf, Rufie, every morning leading up to Christmas. I would ask Bode what he wanted Santa to bring him and the only thing he would EVER say was, “Oh maybe some more dinosaurs.” He never got all worked up making a long list of things. It wasn’t until a few days before Christmas that he started getting specific. He asked for a doggie dream lite (to match his dog pillow pet of course) and a big t-rex. He also wanted some spinosaurus toy that his cousin, Logan, has. It’s basically worth $20 and was selling for $100. No thanks. Also – he wanted a Boris Tyrannosaurus. He already owned this one, but when it broke he threw it away. I didn’t want to buy it again. I feel bad that he only asked for a short few things, but by that time I had already bought all his stuff. I did go out and get the specific t-rex he wanted and the dream lite. On Christmas Eve. NEVER AGAIN. He wasn’t too disappointed about the other things.

Last year I went all out. I bought so much stuff! Not even half way through Bode opening things he wanted to be done and to play with what he already opened. This year Clint told me that I shouldn’t do that again. I really want to spend a fortune and buy tons of things and make Christmas this huge thing for my kids – but I held back. And the boys were over the moon about what they got. (plus Bode was spoiled on his bday a few short months ago anyway.) I tried really hard to teach Bode about Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate in the first place. It was so sweet to see the joy the story brought him and how curious he was about it all.

I got spoiled and got a new lens I’ve been dying to own and I got Clint a GoPro. I can’t wait for the videos he comes back with when he goes fishing. They’re going to be awesome. :)

Christmas morning was so much fun. The boys were laughing and in such good moods and loved all the mess of stuff lying around the room. They went from one thing to the next just playing away. After every last present was opened up, I made crepes for breakfast. Yum.

Next up was going to Clint’s sister, Kindra’s, house. She lives in Logan area and his mom and sisters were all there with us and their families. It was a fun time! We did a White elephant gift exchange and some of the gifts were hilarious. Clint and all his siblings went in and got his mom an iPad. She was so happy she started bawling. It was really sweet. And while she cried – every last one of them made fun of her for it. We had yummy chili and cinnamon roles (a fave meal from their days growing up in Sheridan.) We video chatted with Clint’s brothers who could not make it and that was pretty fun. We all had a great time! Owen loved hanging out with his cousin Haidyn and he especially loved playing with all of her toys.

On our way home Clint thought it would be a lot of fun to see the lights at Willard Bay. It was dark and on the way, so I thought it was a great idea. Owen was sound asleep by this point, but Bode LOVED it. It is always a fun time seeing him light up at the littlest of things.

My sister Kelli flew into town on Christmas day and we didn’t have plans to see her originally because it was going to be late, etc. Well – Bode fell asleep right after the light show and by the time we were nearing my grandma’s house in SLC Owen had woken up and I figured we might as well swing by and see Kelli and the girls. I’m glad we did! It was a fun time. We stayed there a little bit and finally headed home. It was a long day, but totally worth it.

Here are a bunch of crappy cell phone pictures. I STILL don’t have my gear back. Boo hoo.