Christmas Day

Natalie singing American Idol on the Wii

Aaron and Natalie wanted an ipod really bad and we told them that they probably weren't getting one for Christmas. It totally took them by surprise because we hid them until the very end. They were thrilled!

Natalie excited over her ipod!

Our Wii Yeah!

The kids got new phones too :)

This has been a fun winter break. Eric & Heather's family came to town as well as Dave & Becca and we've had a great time with them. Allen had his work party Christmas Eve, which I thought was a little odd at first, but it turned out to be nice. They held it in the morning and served breakfast, which I really liked. They give away prizes and Allen won a GPS. He was pretty excited about that. Then, that evening Eric & Heather's family came over and we had a Honey Baked Ham dinner and watched "Joy to the World." Christmas morning the kids woke us up about 8:30 (I think that's the latest we've ever gotten up on Christmas morning) and we opened gifts. Before we open gifts we always write down our gifts we are going to give to the Savior that year (our goals). Allen & I finally broke down and bought a Wii. That's a major deal if you know us because we are very anti-game systems; but our kids are older now and they are going to want to hang out with friends more and I want them to hang out in our home, so we needed to give them something to do when they come here. Right?! We had so much fun playing on the Wii today. One of our favorite games is "American Idol" (or at least it's mine!)

Five Alarms

Every morning we get up about 4:30 a.m. and the kids get ready for school. They have Seminary at 6:00 a.m. When Allen comes back from dropping them off we usually go back to bed for a couple hours. Sometimes I wake up about 7:30 and panic thinking that we slept in and our kids will be late; then I realize we already got them off to school. It's been a worry of mine that one time that will really happen. Well, today I woke up at 7:15 and realized that my nightmare had come true...we all slept through five alarms! How do we all sleep through every alarm? I was so sick all day about it. The kids missed their Seminary Christmas parties, which made me really sad and almost missed first hour, but we got them to school just in time to finish first hour, which was really important for Natalie because she had a big presentation during that class. We were up late last night helping her get ready for her presentation. I don't think we were too tired, I think our brains went on vacation yesterday for Snow Day and never came back! I don't want that to happen again - it was an awful feeling!

Snow Day

Natalie & Aaron had a Snow Day today!! No School! It was a nice break to a crazy week. I enjoyed sleeping in :) The snow looks way cool! The weight of the snow on some of the branches of our trees made the branches break off. By the afternoon the roads were clear again. Our snowman is looking pretty tight. Max on the other hand isn't sure about this snow thing :)

Winter Wonderland in Las Vegas

We had a snow storm in Las Vegas today! It dumped about 6" on us. I though this was a record breaking storm, but I guess there was a bigger one in 1979. This is definitely the most snow we've seen since we've lived here. The kids had snowball fights after school. They cancelled school tomorrow because of road conditions (no plows). That's okay, I'll take the day off with my kids! There were a lot of accidents because most people don't know how to drive in the snow. Allen shoveled our walks with a regular shovel but gave up on the driveway because it was way too hard. We may not have a snow shovel, but we've got snowboots, hats, gloves and warm coats! :) Aaron and I built a snowman tonight. We turned on the fireplace, watched Christmas movies and drank hot chocolate. We had a great evening together! It was a very exciting day!

Merry Christmas

I am feeling the pangs of the recession as probably most people are this year. It can be a very depressing thought if we let it. Fortunately Christmas is about more than just ribbons, boxes and bags... it's about Christ! It's about family! It's about peace, love & joy! The true meaning of Christmas is about giving of ourselves and loving others like Christ did. It's about Him and everything we do should be about Him! If we remember that, then we should still feel that sweet spirit of Christmas that comes this time of year despite what the economy is doing :)