'Twas The Season

Since I have not made one single post about Christmas, I am trying to quickly catch up on some of the fun things our family did the month of December. I do love this time of year--especially the chance to spend so much time with family and friends. It seemed like once we got back from our trip it was non stop parties and activities, but we've had a great month. Feel free to move on to the next blog because below are posted 20 pics of my family taken this month--that's right 20!! And really it doesn't even begin to capture all the fun we've had and memories we've made this holiday season.


This is one of the few pics I could get Luke to pose for after his preschool singing program. Everytime I asked him what songs they were singing his reply was, "I don't know." I was a little worried, but he did great--quite the ham. I wonder where he gets that from? Each child said their name into the microphone and when it was his turn he enunciated his entire name in the deepest, loudest voice. As for the actual singing he sang the ones he liked and looked bored through the others while enduring a look that could kill from the girl who sat next to him.


Our annual trip with my family to SLC. This trip included shopping, lounging around at the hotel, swimming for Luke and Jer, seeing the lights at Temple Square, and enjoying the amazing brunch. Thanks mom and dad for the fun tradition!




Brunch was not complete without cookies and ice cream and a visit from Santa.


We attempted to take a photo for our Christmas card. I did end up with one cute shot that most of you have seen. Here are a few of the rejects. They mostly involved Seth trying to leave the picture and Luke attempting to force him into submission. Reality but not very holidayish.



Seth's "cheese." I just love those teeth.


Being a glutton for punishment, I attempted to take a pic of the boys in their Sunday best the Sunday before Christmas. I didn't have a whole lot of success at this shoot either. I finally ended up taking some pictures of them sitting under the tree eating all of the treats they acquired at Primary. Luke said the theme in Primary--he even memorized it despite not wanting to practice much--and I was so proud of him.



We've had a ton of snow the last few weeks, and Luke has been loving it. As you can see it is dark, and he still would not come inside. Only at threat of losing his sled the next day did he obey. The next morning by 7 am he was in my room asking me when he and Max (his friend next door) could sled again.

We spent Christmas Eve with my family. We have always had a party with extended family that has evolved over the years. For the past few years we have gotten together with my aunt and her kids and their kids. It is a great time.

Seth is neutral towards sitting with Santa. He does always tell you "ho ho ho" if you ask him what Santa says though.


Luke on the other hand loved it and cheesed it.


The kids did a program including a nativity scene. Seth was "the star." He came out and stood so quietly--treat in hand--and really did a great job. His cute cousin Andrew is the sheep.


Luke and Samantha were Joseph and Mary this year. That Broncos robe Luke is wearing used to belong to my cousin Ryan and has been in the costume bag for about 20 years.




Christmas morning. My parents spent it with us, and we had a great time opening gifts and eating breakfast. Luke was pretty excited at what his robot can do. The only thing he asked for was a "fire gun with fire bullets," and he seemed to think the Star Wars gun Santa brought was sufficient.



We spent the rest of Christmas day with Jer's family and ended up driving home in a crazy blizzard. All of the kids got stick horses (among other things) and had a lot of fun. Luke finally got those cowboy boots he has been asking for. Grandpa Boyd was all too happy to pick some out for him. What a great day and a wonderful time of year. Luke told me that Christmas is about "Jesus and Santa"--at least he got the order right! I hope everyone out there had a Merry Christmas too!

Cancun

Warning: Long Post
I'm finally getting around to writing a little about our trip. I won't bore you with all the details, but we had a great time. We went with our friends Kristy and Spencer who also celebrated their 10th anniversary this summer. We met them right after we all got married when we lived in the same townhouse complex. We've had a lot of fun with them over the years on backpacking trips and this is actually the first trip we've all been on together that didn't involve sleeping in tents! We haven't seen them in a while, so it was great to catch up on old times and have some new laughs. We spent 6 awesome days in Cancun, Mexico. The weather was so nice. They had Christmas decorations everywhere, but they seemed so out of place to me in the nice weather. Well, here are a few highlights:


I think this is the only picture I took where we are all looking reasonably presentable. Actually, the waitress took it and she didn't exactly know how to use my camera. This night was one of the funniest of our trip. Our resort was all-inclusive, so we could pretty much eat anywhere/anytime. By the end we were getting really sick of the buffets, so we made reservations at the "nice" restaurant for dinner. It was Mediterranean night. It was a nice place, and the way they served you was quite formal but that's where the nice ended. Jer started it off with a bang by not bringing any pants which we came to find out are required at this place. Rather than turn us away, Jer was supplied with some sweet black pants to wear. They were kind of stretchy with an elastic waistband but looked like slacks. He went into the bathroom and came out with them over his shorts. We could not stop laughing. Maybe you had to be there, but it was funny. You can check out a full view of the infamous pants in the slideshow. The night just got better as they brought us out one unrecognizable dish after the other. It was seriously bad food. It was presented in a very fancy way, but they forgot to make it taste good. It got funnier to us as the courses continued. You would have thought we were drinking instead of the only sober adults at the entire resort. As we left we checked out the menu for the next night which was Mexican food. The chicken entree in English was "chicken with chili sauce and species (spices?) over meatloaf, with raisins." That did it for me. I'm sure some of that was lost in translation, but could that combo ever be good??? Anyway, the next night we headed into Cancun to Hard Rock Cafe rather than chancing the chicken/meatloaf surprise!



We spent a lot of time at the beach. Our place was really pretty with beautiful pools and then just a few steps down to the beach. The water was crystal clear with white sandy beaches. The waves were huge, and we spent a lot of time swimming and getting pummelled. They served drinks on the beach, and I think we all consumed enough virgin dacquiris and pina coladas to gain 10 pounds.

We went out on two different day trip adventures that involved just about everything--kayaking, swimming, hiking, biking, snorkeling, tubing, zip lining, and rapelling (I sat out the last two for bambino's safety). We had great fun and got to see a lot of neat sights. At a place called Xel Ha we snorkeled and then rode bikes up to the top of this "lazy river" where you can tube down through these cool mangroves. Kristy and I almost ran over several unidentified large, furry critters that crossed our path on our bikes with no brakes. (Turns out they had pedal brakes like a kid's brake, but it took me a minute to think of that.) When we got there and got our lifejackets on I realized mine had an extra strap. The only thing I could think of was that it went between your legs. Do they really make adult life jackets like that? Yep, apparently in Mexico they do. I asked the worker about it, and he volunteered to "help me" with it which got me laughing quite hard. I did it up until we were out of sight and then had to remove it for comfort's sake. Jer's also had one which he did not even consider. Jer made the tubing quite exciting when he jumped off the dock onto his and proceeded to flip it over. It was a good laugh for quite a few tourists. I have to tease him a little because he is very coordinated and normally I would be the one to do something like that. Everyone besides me got out of the river at one point and jumped off some cliffs. I opted out of that one as well. We ended the day by visiting the Mayan ruins at Tulum.

I could go on and on because it was such a fun time....but I'lltry not to. Our other day trip was an adventure to a rural Mayan village, and underground cenote for swimming, and eventually to Coba. Coba has the tallest Mayan temple ruin. It also is the only one you can still climb up. That was pretty fun. The way down is steep, but not as bad as some made it seem. People were stopping all along the way and not daring to go further. We also rode bikes at this place which was more fun than walking.

Anyway, those are a few higlights of the trip. We also rode the city buses, watched lots of drunken karaoke, people watched, and ate lots of strange food. Best of all it involved lots of relaxation and quality time to spend with Jer. We get so busy at home with the kids we hardly ever have any time to ourselves. I was so worried about leaving the kiddos before we left but once we got there it was great. It was a much needed vacation. I hope we don't wait another five years before trying it again!

Disclaimer: There is not one single picture from this trip in which I look normal. I either have wet dog ponytail, pale face, look plump, am too scantily clad for my current body or a combo of all of the above. So look if you dare and just remember I'm not quite as scary in real life. As for Jer, I have no explanation for his picture face. He has always refused to look normal in pictures!

Announcement

Well, I have a quick announcement to make. I was going to put up the ultrasound picture and all, but I haven't quite got around to it. The week before Thanksgiving was crazy busy with our doctor appointment, making cookies, decorating the house, a great Thanksgiving with Jer's family, Black Friday shopping, and preparing for our trip. Yes, Jer and I went on a trip without our kids the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we had a blast. (Post of that to come.) Since we rolled in at 3 am Friday morning it has been a series of get togethers to prepare for, a preschool program, Sunday School to teach...you name it. So without further adieu here it is...we are having....a boy!

I am so excited. I think other people are disappointed for me, but I am not. As soon as she said it was a boy I knew it was meant to be. My boys are so fun, and it will be crazy to add another to the mix. I hope I can keep up!


Since I skipped a Thanksgiving post, I can't go without mentioning how grateful I am for the little people in my life. (And of course Jer, but he'll be featured in my vacation post.)


December 7, 2007
I also can't go without mentioning that today is the one-year anniversary of our temple sealing with Seth. That is one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me, and I can't believe it's been a whole year. November was National Adoption Month, and I was going to post about it because it's something near and dear to my heart and I love to talk about it. I'm going to have to catch that one later too.

Anyway, this is my random way of catching up on the last few weeks without blabbing on forever. It has been crazy but great. I love this time of year!!! I will definitely post all about our trip soon and try to get an ultrasound photo on with the telltale part in clear view!!