Traditions

We never really got around to taking Christmas pictures this year...luckily I snapped a few quick ones as we raced to church the Sunday before Christmas. I wanted to do more real ones after we got home, but Justee was asleep and wouldn't wake up. This also meant that we never got around to sending Christmas cards either. Another tradition that didn't get done was a puzzle. We (well I, Justin is not so good ;) always like to do one, but with all the work Justin has been doing on the basement, we just didn't think we would have time.

On Christmas Eve we went to Alvin and the Chipmunks "The Squeakqual." The girls really liked it. When we came home the girls played in the snow, and then made cookies for Santa with their Dad. Sydnee kept saying things like, "Oh man, it is still light out. When is it going to be night?" and, "I just can't wait til it is nighttime!"

We always drive around and look at Christmas lights in our jammies. The girls took a bath and Sydnee was very concerned that she didn't have any Christmas pj's to wear. They had been looking forward to the one gift we promised them they could open that night, and they were all excited that they had new Christmas pj's and slippers. After looking at lights, Justin insisted we stop at a widow's house and shovel her driveway. It was dark and really cold, but I think Justin made record time with it. :)

Lastly we came home, watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Shrek the Halls, read the Christmas story from Luke, and Syd read Twas the Night Before Christmas. We drank hot cocoa and finally went to bed. Phew, it was a lot of fun and sometimes I think I like Christmas Eve more than Christmas.

If only gingerbread tasted good

Today the girls got to finally decorate the gingerbread house. They have been begging to do it for the past week. They had a lot of fun and it is so nice that they are getting old enough to do most of it themselves. They each picked a side of the house. Syd did the front, Char did the back, and Justee did a side. Then we all did the roof.

The back that Char did:

Christmas is really creeping up on us. I'm pretty sure we have all of our shopping done though, so it is time to just relax and enjoy.

Charlee's Elephant

This little girl was so proud of her picture...so were her parents. ;)

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday making cookies and candy and dipping chocolates. My great friends Sherri and Renae came and helped me out. I kept saying I should take pictures of all of our hard work, but I just never did it. Dang it.

Cause I like this thing: ~

It seems the blogging world and I have had a falling out. I just haven't had the urge to get on here and type. I guess that may be due to the fact that I actually have Justin home to experience life with.

I thought it would be a good idea to update a little...ya know, start working my way back into this blog stuff. So, here is a list of some major (and some not-so-major) events that have happened in the past 2 months Justin has been home:

~Justee potty trained

~Closed on our house

~Started to finish our basement (Justin promised it would be done before Christmas, but I know that really means next Christmas)

~Went to Lovell for Thanksgiving (I got to help my mom do a little decorating for the parade of homes AND I got to help my dad with his new colt...I have to admit it was a little scary roping a horse for it's first time (she did not like it) but it was pretty neat too)

~Christmas tree has been put up and decorated...and then redecorated (it wasn't quite right)

~Christmas lights have been put up...and then some had to be taken down and put back up (who ever made it so if one light goes out, the whole string goes out was a moron) oh and Justin almost fell off the roof (wish I had a picture of that) ~I got into my dehydrating phase (watch out all apples in sight, you are shriveling up)

~Justin has worked like 3 days...he doesn't officially go back to work until mid January

~ We went to a Yellow Ribbon Ceremony thingy in Cheyenne (it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be)

(A friend snapped a couple pics as we made our way down the line shaking hands and being "thanked.")

~I have gotten lazy (it is amazing how many things I get to have Justin do now ;)

~Justin has gotten to experience my bodypump and boot camp classes with me...good times

~Justin and I decided that we are going to run a marathon...wish us luck, we will need it

~Tickets for girl trip #2 have been booked...Cruise to the Bahamas with Dana and Renae in Feb. 2010 oh yeah

~Charlee asked me, "Did you have Daddy in your tummy too?" I looked at her and said, "No, why?" She said, "Well then how did you get Daddy?"

That's it. That's all I have for now.

Finally DW DAY 5

It's been so long I hope I haven't forgotten key points of our last day in Disney World.
We spent day 5 back at the Magic Kingdom. Our first stop was Pinocchio pics. This was one of the cutest things (in my opinion) that happened here....
Justee got upset because Trey was back by Pinocchio and she wanted to stand right nest to him... She got upset and walked away all sad...

After the picture was taken, Pinocchio made a point to come and comfort poor Justee. He gave her a hug and she felt much better. How sweet is that?

We caught the whole thing on video too. :)

The kids really wanted to ride the teacups, but none of the adults did...I got suckered into doing it.

Luckily I rode with the little kids and they couldn't spin us that fast, so it wasn't bad at all.

I have no idea how they got themselves into this position, but they were OUT at lunch time.

For dinner we got to eat inside of Cinderella's castle at Cinderella's Royal Table. It was really neat, and the girls loved getting all dressed up. They each picked out the dress they wanted.

During dinner there was a little show- the mice came out and danced and the Fairy Godmother sang bibbity-bobbity-boo.

Sydnee was proud of her chocolate crown in her dessert. We walked out after dinner just in time to see the light parade. It is one of my favorite childhood memories from Disneyland. We were glad we didn't miss it.

The whole crew watching the parade:

After the parade we rode a couple more rides. We even lucked out and got to watch the fireworks from up on the rocket ride. It was a great view.

We also went to a Monster's Inc. comedy show. It was really pretty funny and amazing how it worked. The girls even got to be in the show when they put the cameras on them because they were all dressed up as princesses. They really got a kick out of that.

It started to rain that night, but we toughed it out and had fun staying for the extra hours the park was open that night anyway.

My girls still talk about the fun times at Disney World and Char talks about how she will be brave enough to ride every ride next time we go back. I hope they have great memories like the ones I have from my family vacations as a kid.

....and they all lived happily ever after.... the end

It's up!

Alright, I know I jumped the gun a bit, but when we get home after Thanksgiving it will be nice to have the tree already up...that way we can focus on the lights and other decorations. :)

The girls like to play on the ladder...I stood by as their spotter while they showed us how brave they were.

From start to finish it took 6, maybe 7 hours to complete. It wouldn't have taken so long if I didn't have to shape it all by myself...plus I let the girls hang tons of ornaments wherever they wanted...then I had to rearrange them all. This tree is a lot of work, but I definitely think it is worth it.

A whole lot of nothing

It seems like that is what we have been doing lately...but I have been lovin it.
We usually wait until after Thanksgiving to put up our Christmas tree, but I can wait no longer.
I LOVE our 12 ft tree and all it's glorious lights, but I think the reason I can't wait another day to get it up is because I have a whole new set of ornaments to adorn it with this year. I have been shopping clearance for the past few years in order to get as many ornaments as cheap as possible for this massive tree. We have done red and gold the last couple of years...this year our tree will sport blue and silver. I am excited!!! soooo I better get started...this is a huge project (mostly cause I have to change everything after I let the girls decorate a little.)

Disney Day 4

Day 4...another character breakfast and then off to Epcot.

The kids got to shake some maracas and dance around the restaurant in a little parade.

We have been to Disney World twice before this trip and we never had been to Epcot. Although it still isn't my favorite park, I was a little surprised how much we enjoyed ourselves. There were some new rides there as well. A Finding Nemo one that Justee loved...as soon as we got off she wanted to do it again, and since the line was moving so fast we rode it twice in a row.

We also found Chip and Dale in Epcot....Jake's favorites. :) I think his excitement transferred to the kids cause they really enjoyed their time with these two chipmunks. They all got hugs in...

...then posed for a few pics....

...and then got some more hugs in.

After hitting all the main attractions, we went to a Muppet 3D movie thing...it was a low-point in our day...Justin really disliked it. :) It put both Charlee and Justee to sleep...I think Trey fell asleep too. Justin and I took Chuck and Justee back to the hotel for naps and Syd stayed with Vicki and Jake to tour more of Epcot.

They ran into a lot of characters.

This pic was taken in the Japan area...just for uncle Mark since he is on his mission there. :)

The girls were wiped. Even after Char and Justee took long naps, they didn't have a problem sleeping through the night. They got new princess jammies and "babies" to cuddle.