Merry Merry Christmas!

All dressed up for Christmas Eve!

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior and give gifts to those we love. This year we held our Christmas eve dinner at our house and Grandma and pa Farr, Spencer, Panter family, and Hooton family joined us.

Kate, Julie, Grandma, and Jessica!

Grandpa with Kate, Braden, and Nathan!

CHRISTMAS MORNING

The kids woke up around 7 in the morn and we all went down to see the spoils...and spoiled they got! The boys recieved great gifts from Santa, Grammie and Grandpa Wardle, Grandma and Grandpa Farr, cousins, and eachother. Every year we draw names among ourselves and along with getting a gift for that person, with your own money, we write them a blessing. We tell them what we like, admire and love about them. It is the best gift we get I believe. We also open as our first gift a box we have out during December in which we write the things we are thankful for. We read all of those notes before we move on to opening all the presents. This year after all was done, we got on Skype and called Noni and Popi. It was then that we opened our gift from them...a 7 day trip to Maui! The boys are so excited and bummed they have to wait until July. They have already been planning what they are going to do and how much money they need to start saving. We are so excited!!!

Jessica showing off her new "pretties" from dad...yay we don't have to use the old soccer ribbon anymore!!

Happy Justin boy...as always!

Nathan with his snuggie from cousin Brooke in CA!

Tyson showin off his new shirt!

Braden showin off his book and money....he LOVES money:)

Justin amid the treasures...love the animal cracker in his mouth!

In the afternoon we ventured to Grandma and Grandpa Farrs to be with the family! We had a wonderful time as always!! We missed Ryan and his kids this year but other than that we were all together.

Wells with Kate, Julie, Jaxson and Lauren!

Brooke and Jeff with baby Jessica!

This year at Grandma and Grandpas we had a talent show. It was so fun to watch everyone "do their thing" I wish I could post video so you could see it all but you will have to just take my word for it. Beautiful Ashlee taught Marci some new dance moves!

Tyson, Braden, Nathan, and I sang a couple of songs while Ty played the guitar. Braden and Grandma played a duet on the piano. The Panter girls, including Julie, sang a cute hot chocolate song. Marci and Wade did a funny skit with Wade being Marci's hands and arms and feeding her cereal...it was very funny!! A wonderful Christmas day!

Christmas Time is Here!!

December is always such a full month with Christmas prep, programs, and all the fun things to do around the town. We add to that a couple of family birthdays which we love to celebrate! Early in the month Grandma Farr has a birthday. We got to celebrate with her this year! It is always nice to spend time with family, the babies are just eaten up by the cousins and Aunts and Uncles. We have a cute nephew Wells that is 6 weeks older then the babes and it is very entertaining to just watch those three interact.

Here is Lauren with Wells and Kate with Jessica!!

5 days later is Tyson's bday, which I already posted about, but here are some pics from his celebration. Grandma and pa Farr came and also our cute nieces Lauren and Kate...they are the best baby helpers and so fun to be with. I wish they lived closer so they could just to come hang out more often:)

This month we also had a small recital in our home with Grandma and Grandpa Farr and Uncle Spencer. Braden played the piano and Tyson the guitar. It is great for them to work towards something and be able to preform for other people. I love how often we get to see our family during this time of year. It is always hard for me to not be able to be with my side so I am grateful that we live so close to Jaron's family so we can make memories with them!

Tyson's Bday!

It is official, we have a teenager in the house. Tyson turned 13 on Friday...yikes. He is all teenager, even giving his mother grey hairs and all:) Tyson is liking 7th grade, but is having a hard time keeping everything for 7 teachers together. I have had to step in and help him out. He is learning organization skills and the hard life lesson of, you just gotta do some things no matter how hard they are or how much you don't want to:) Tyson is still a great help at home and always kicks in if Dad is away. In fact the other day Jessica said tyty, that sure made his day. He enjoys hanging with his friends and texting them. He enjoys a good game of ping pong and is better than I am. He did beat his dad the other night, dad plays with his left hand. Tyson continues to like the guitar and anything music related. He often hears a song he likes and looks up on you tube how to play it on guitar or piano or both. He has started basketball again this winter and is a great ball handler. He also excels at being a soccer defender. This year was a quiet family party. He had a pretty bummer actual birthday - thank you to grammie for making it a little brighter! Dad was out of town so our family celebration occurred on Sat. However Sat. was a wonderful day for him...two days of celebration you can't beat:) We love you Tyson and are thankful that you are such a good example to your younger siblings. We hope you can find the bright spots in your day everyday!!