The battle of the wrapped presents

Stetson has been really good this year about not touching the decorations on the Christmas Tree, or around the house. Last year, not so much. And my garland on my stairs has some cute big light bulbs on it that look like Christmas ornaments, last year he loved to pop them off and throw them down the stairs, thus ending up with a pile of broken glass. This year he did it once, and after the bulb broke he ran to his room crying. ( He must have forgot that they break) So why you may ask am I posting about Holiday Decorations, it's not so much the decorations as it is the presents. I have wrapped and re wrapped and re wrapped certain presents. This kid just cannot be left alone with them, because they must call to him..."Open me, open me, I bet I have a toy for you, OPEN ME!" Now I have tried to reason with him, tried to punish him, even tried to bribe him, to no avail. So now we know Stetson + Wrapped Prensents= Big Mess and another hour of re wrapping!

The Repeat Offender...

Let me tell you about the repeat offender, he likes to put things up his nose, the things he likes to put up his nose is popcorn kernels and only popcorn kernels. Why, I do not know, back in June he stuck some up there and it was quite the process to get them out:
1-Hold him down and try to force them out. removed 2
2-Go to the Pediatrician and pay $20.00 (co-pay) to have her remove 1
3-Go to his Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Doctor and pay another $30.00 (co-pay) to have her remove the last one. (He had stuffed them up to his sinuses)

So his little adventure last June ended up costing about $50.00 and he was a sad boy. Fast forward to this past Monday. We are saying family prayer and Stetson is complaining about his nose. We look up there and there is POPCORN!!! So again we repeat the process:
1- Hold him down and retrieve 2, but low and behold there is still 1 up there.
2-Skip going to the Pediatrician and go straight to the ENT Doctor, who was able to get the last one out.

Now to him this was very traumatizing. It took 3 of us just to hold him down, so that Dr. Heras (ENT) could get it out, and the hole time he was screaming, I mean SCREAMING!!! So as we are leaving they bring a sucker to my repeat offender, and notice that the entire waiting room is staring at us. There was only one thing I could say..."Popcorn kernels up his nose!"

"I'm your mother, I want to help you, that's what I'm here for"

I appreciate my mother! Thank you for taking the time to call and check on me, and to know that I needed help, even though I was to prideful to ask for it. Thank you for coming down this morning and spending your day helping me clean and organize my house. Thank you for not judging me, when you saw the big pile of laundry (due to a washer being broke for a month) just loading up our clothes and taking them to the laundry mat. Thank you for being you, I always appreciate you but you will never know how much your coming down today and working with me, helped me. I love you!

The Difference...

The difference between a man and a woman:
A woman will go to the store at midnight if it means she can go alone and not drag a child into the cold.
A man would feed his family cold cereal and ramen noodles to avoid going to the store. Period.
A woman will stay up 'till all hours of the night cleaning, just to get some housework done.
A man would prefer you not have any guests, (that way you don't have to worry about a destructive 2 year olds messes)
A woman wants to serve her family a delicious Sunday Dinner (if you're a women then you know the kind I mean)
A man thinks peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are great for Sunday dinner.
A woman will wake up the second her child is crying/stiring and go check on them
A man (if for some reason the woman doesn't wake up) will wake up his wife and tell her that the child is awake.
A woman will take around 30-45 minutes to get ready to go out
A man will shower, shave, brush teeth and hair, and can put on cologne in 5 minutes flat. (spending the rest of the time wondering what takes so long to get ready!?)
A man is willing to go out and brave the cold for at least 8 hours so that his family can be warm inside their home.
A woman hates shoveling snow and going outside in the cold.
A man is willing to get out of bed early to provide for his family.
A woman (this woman) is not a morning person!
A man gets up with a 2 year old on Saturdays just to watch cartoons and bond
A woman really appreciates it!

I have been struggling lately. And not with anything that I can put into words. I wish I wasn't, as Chad says "Everybody gets a little blue sometimes" I just feel like everything is being compromised. I know the things I need to do, but I feel so inadequate and useless, like I've lost before I begin. My family deserves more than I can give them right now, but what do I do? I wen't to The Forgotten Carols by Michael Mclean last Friday and there was a song with lyrics " I cannot find my way, I cannot find my way, I cannot find my way back home." That song really hit a nerve and I was crying. Because I understand those lyrics. Even when you know what you're supposed to do, you don't know how to do it. So for those of you who read this, I am not looking for people to feel sorry for me, or to feel like you have to leave a comment, this is mainly for me, to get out some of my feelings. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers on mine and my families behalf.

Yes, I am here.

***writers(bloggers) block***
Welcome to my life, And since I cannot think of anything still to write, let me tell you how much I love decorating my house for Christmas! (I am not being sarcastic) I love when it all comes together and you can just curl up on the couch with some good Christmas stories, hot cocoa, and holiday music enjoying peaceful evenings with your family. My wreath looks really pretty adorning my red front door. Also I was watching a home improvement show all about Christmas decorating and they hung ornaments from chandeliers, so I tried their idea out in my entry way and in my kitchen nook above my table. It looks so cute and whimsical. We are ready to celebrate the season.

Ordering Scentsy

I will be keeping my scentsy party open until Monday morning. If you didn't get a chance to place an order but would like to just give me a call or stop by. I have the scent testers still at my house if you would like to give them a smell.

It's time for some Scentsy!

Just a heads up, I will be hosting a Scentsy Open House and you are all invited to come! There will be wonderful scentsy products and some yummy refreshments. If you have a friend who loves scentsy, feel free to bring them along.

When: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 7:00p.m.-9:oop.m.
Where: My house

Hope to see you there!

"...We have a lost Mother..."

As I was frantically searching the isles of Walmart for my lost item, running up and down the isles back and forth, praying that it was safe a voice comes over the intercom. "Attention walmart costumers: We have a lost mom in the store, she belongs to a little boy between the ages of 2-3 with sandy blond hair, blue shirt, gray shorts and sandles. Please come to the costumer service desk." Now, before you jump to conclusions rewind 5 minutes. Stetson and I armed with a blue cart where you can sit are picking out a tire guage in the Automotive department. Stetson can easily climb in and out which was fine, but then he made a break for it. I caught him, told him we don't run away from mommy. But instead I think he heard. "Stetson, this is a fun game, you run away from me as fast as your two year old legs can carry your monkey butt and avoid being caught at all costs. Run fast, duck, and hide." Fast foward I am literally running after Stetson calling his name when he ducks into another isle, and hides. Time for a different perspective. (Family), mother speaking to Stetson, "Hi, little guy whats your name? Stetson replies "albjalkd" Mother, "Where's your momma?" Stetson, "Momma go bye-bye" Then the woman frown-smiles at my "abandoned" two year old, finds the nearest walmart employee which is when the irresponsible "lost" mother is paged. As I went to collect my little run-away, half relieved and half mad at this little boy, he looks up at me, grins his biggest Stetson grin with twinkly eyes and all, then turns and books it. Luckily this time I had 5 people to help me get him. Now I know why my little brother had to where a harness!

Feeling Old...?

I have been having a hard time with my age this past year. I just can't get over the fact that I am going to be 27. But something happened the other day that put things into a different perspective for me. As I was at a baby shower (names withheld to protect identities) The women were talking about what year they graduated. Some in 1984-1986 and the rest in the 1990's. They proceeded to ask me when I graduated, laughing I replied 2001.

And the winner is...

Today while I was upstairs making my bed and gathering laundry I hear a low thudding sound with the quiet rustling of a bag, over-powered by the laughter and giggles of two boys, now you're mind can come up with a ton of scenarios when given the opportunity..."They are throwing balls at each other" possible, "They are jumping off the couch into the tent(see post below)" it wouldn't be the first time. "They have a couple swimming noodles and are hitting each other with them", it's been know to happen. "They have the two new loaves of bread I just bought and they are having a bread battle", my mind immediately rejects this theory for the shear idea of how bizarre it sounds. So I finally muster the courage to peek down the stairs and it turns out I was right...needles to say our pb&j's that were on the menu for lunch were: squashed, smooshed, broken, flat, and falling apart. At least I didn't have to cut of the crust.

Tent City

I watch this little boy Ben, I have watched him since he was 1 and a half and he is now 5! Ben is just part of our lives, a built in friend for Stetson. They fight like brothers and they play like brothers. They love each-other! Today they had cabin fever so we set up a "tent-city" and they loved it.






Stetson got these tents for his 1st birthday and he is just now starting to really enjoy them. It has been a fun day!

Stetson

Well, I guess it is time to post about this. Stetson has had a really hard time with language. Especially verbal. He is pretty good with receptive- instructions and such, but struggles with speaking. We started working with Kids on the Move in October and it really has helped when he started he could say about 4 words now he has around 50 with about 30 of those being sign. At first people would ask if he had autism, but he makes excellent eye contact and he is very "present" so that was immediately ruled out. Then after working with him for a while his therapists were wondering if he might be deaf in one ear, which would explain why he wasn't saying a lot. Stetson has had ear infections non-stop, so we had tubes put in last June but he still got an ear infection about every 6 weeks, which they say after you have an ear infection you hear like you are underwater for 6 weeks after it is healed. In February we finally had the ears cleared and tested to see if he was in fact hearing, and fortunately he can hear fine when he doesn't have an ear infection. So then the fact that Chad had a speech delay (he didn't start "speaking" till around 4 or 5), same with my brother, might have something to do with it. I guess it can be hereditary, also there is the possibility that he might have a speech impediment, but those things are so hard to decipher so young. He works with an occupational therapist and a speech therapist twice a month and I have set "games" we play each day to increase his communication. Basically we are just taking this really slow, because Stetson gets overwhelmed. It breaks my heart because I can see him try to make the words and he just cant figure out how to make the sounds. This last month his therapist recommended having him tested for Aspergers Syndrome, so we made a trip to his pediatrician and she said he is right on the cusp, so she referred us to a specialist with primary childrens hospital, when I talked to the doctor she recommended waiting to test him after he is 3, it takes 6 to 9 months to get into her, and cost upwards of $1000.00 out of pocket, and it's really hard to have conclusive results until a child is a little older. So we are waiting, and just playing it by ear. And for right now we will not be putting a label on him. You know, selfishly I want him to talk so bad, because I want to talk to him. It's also frustrating just because he isn't talking does not mean he isn't smart, he is just working on other skills. We are not sensitive about it, it is what it is. And chances are I will probably look back on this in 10 years and laugh at how worried I am. We are not offended when people ask us questions, and we are not afraid to use sign. Thank you to my friend Tanya who let us borrow some of her signing time videos, they help us so much and Stetson loves them. I love them too and am thankful that such a wonderful thing was created. Here are the Lyrics to "The Good" it pretty much sums up how we feel. Thank you for reading this and for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf.

The Good

It was you and me and the whole world right before us
I couldn't wait to start
I saw you and dreams just like everyone before us
We thought we knew what we got

And then one day I thought it slipped away
And I looked to my hands to hold on
And then one day all my fear slipped away
And my hands did so much more

So maybe we won't find easy
But, baby, we've found the good
No, maybe we won't find easy
But, baby, we've found the good

It was you and me and a new world right before us
I was so scared to start
I saw you and dreams just like everyone before us
But how did they get so far?

And then one day I thought it slipped away
And I looked to my hands to hold on
And then one day all my fear slipped away
And my hands did so much more

So maybe we won't find easy
But, baby, we've found the good
No, maybe we won't find easy
But, baby, we've found the good

My Boys

I took Stetson to the doctor yesterday and come to find out he has strep, well this morning I woke up feeling like horrible, I had the worst migraine the kind that hurts with every move you make and it makes you throw up. Stetson was so cute though we just vegged out on the couch, he went off to his room for a second and he brought down 2 blankets and his two little "quackers" his duck blankies. He covered me with the blanket and gave me one of the ducks he then climbed into my lap and covered himself and had the other blankie. He then told me we could watch Harry Potter, because he knows that I love it. He kept looking at me all morning and touching my face, asking in his own way how I was feeling. It was so sweet. Then when Chad went home they went and got me some medicine and sprite. It has taken the edge off so we came downstairs so Stets can play. I am thankful for my 2 boys and what good care they take care of me.

The Hardy's go to the Movies

Chad and I recieved some gift cards to the movie theater for Christmas so we decided to use them for a family date. We went and saw Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D and a couple weeks later we saw disneys UP in 3D. Stetson loved the movie theater it has 2 of his favorite things popcorn and jr. mints. They were both fun days!

Austin

My youngest brother Austin has been on his mission for 2 months now, and he went from the Lima, Peru MTC Tuesday to his area in Arequipa. I miss him so much already. Last week he wrote my parents and told them how they were almost attacked by a gang with baseball bats on the street while they were out proseliting. A shopkeeper saw what was about to happen and ushered the missionaries into his shop, it was closing time so he got them in there and locked the doors than took them back to the MTC. He was letting us know that even though he will be faced with adversity he knows that Heavenly Father is watching out for him, and wants us to know that as well. Now we have had some exciting things happening in our family, and I wrote Austin and thanked him for his example and faithfulness because I can see the blessings in our lives and here was his reply:
" Hola Jamee,
That is so cool what is happening to Lindy and Shaun right now and if its because of me its because of you. You helped me go on a mission, think of all the blessings that can happen to our family now it's just going to be like seeds and keep on sprouting and geting bigger. I love to hear about things like that cause hopefully I'm doing something good out here in Peru and the Lord is blessing me. Love you alot and I'm leaving on Tuesday. Dios bendiga"

Reading Corner

I have become addicted, yes addicted to reading. I was when I was younger, but when I got married I sort of forgot that I loved to read. I read tons of "Pregnancy" and "New Mother" books but not really anything else. Well, after much twisting of my arm I finally broke down last October and read Twilight, duh duh duh and LOVED it!!! So when I saw the movie I thought of how if you hadn't read the book you missed out on so much, which is what made me go to the start of the Harry Potter series and read the through all of Harry's demons. Chad and I had a joke since I read at night after Stetson is in bed that I was attending night classes at Hogwarts. But I have also read some other really great books besides the Harry Potter and Twilight series so here are my recommendations: Tuesdays with Morrie is a great book with valuable life lessons, my mom gave all her children a copy of this on our birthdays and I loved the simpleness of it, be kind, love your friends and family. Stuff we know but sometimes forget.

And I thought I loved Twilight, The Host was definatley worth reading. Some people told me they had a hard time getting into this book. I didn't. I really enjoyed this story.

If you are into cheesy LDS romance novels, and love music, you will love this series so far their are 4 books that follow Jayson Wolfe through life the ups and downs with great messages and a gooey love story this is a great series to fall in love with.
Last but not least there is the FableHaven series. My friend Shay recommended this series, and I thought, "Why Not?" This would be a great series to read with your children Stetson is still too young. It is full of fantasy, action, adventure, and all sorts of magical things. In fact it looks like my new blog skin has been kissed by the fairies of Fable Haven the author is LDS so you don't have to worry about what may come up. Over all this is a great series and a fun read.

Now I want to hear what books you recommend, I am going to need something to read soon, post your comments and let me know. Thanks:)

It don't mean a thang...

If she aint got a ring. Well, she does. My older sister Lindy got engaged a couple weeks ago, and she is getting married this weekend! I am so excited for them. And I am excited to be getting Shaun as a brother in law and to have him as an uncle for Stetson and our future kids. Shaun and Lindy are great for each other, I only wished they lived closer. Clinton seems far away. Here is a picture of her beautiful ring.
You did good Shaun. Welcome to the family!

My cute new lil' nephew

I am so excited about the new addtion to Chads' Family, McQuade is so cute and little it is hard to remember Stetson coming into the world so small. We love you Hardy family and congrats!

A new vehicle

Time for the second post...I love our Durango, just love it. It is comfortable to ride and drive in with plenty of room, more room than we really need. And it has been a good vehicle despite the fact that it gets not so great fuel mileage. Well, our durango no longer drives in reverse which is actually a lot more trouble than what one might think. The transmission in it is going out and we have come to except that one day it will stop going forward as well, so since it was practically paid for we decided it was time for a new vehicle. We looked for about a month and finally settled on one, but it was being held to auction off. So the day of the auction Chad went bidding, and actually won the auction, plus we got a great deal! So here is our new vehicle.
It is a Lincoln Aviator and I love it. It seats six, has a leather interrior, and a lot of neat features. But I am most happy that we got it for a great price.

Womens Conference

I have been thinking that there hasn't really been anything to post about, then I thought about it some more and decided that a lot has happened worth posting, so here's the first thing
This is a picture of me and two of my girly friends from elementry school, I think we were in 5th grade, I have been friends with Shay since we were nine years old,
When I was 18 years old I moved out to Grantsville with Shay and her family to finish my senior year, then Shay and I ventured to Orem/Provo to live and work. That was one of the funnest years of my life. We worked at the Wilkenson Center at BYU as janitors, that is where I had my first experience with Womens Confrence. The women were very messy, and it was very crowded but alas, Shay and I decided that one day WE would go to Womens Confrence.
Fast foward 8 years we finally went to Womens Conference and it was a blast, I am thankful for such a good friend and am looking foward to our new tradition.

She's got lips!!!

I had to go to the Dentist this last week to have some old fillings replaced. So I was having work done in four different spots. The dentist numbed me up, then gave me the shots in the four different locations. I hate dentists shots more than anything. Well, as I was leaving the dentist office, still quite numb especially in the lip area I was thinking how I must surely have Angelina Jolie lips. They felt so full, and big. I got in my car pulled down the mirror, expecting to admire my volumpious lips when I realized I had a frog mouth, turned down at the side with slobber and everything. Oh well.

Eggsalent!

We had a wonderful Easter. We were able to go down to Hinckley and go to their Easter egg hunt Saturday, then spend some time with Chad's family. Then on Sunday we woke up to see that the Easter bunny had left a trail of Easter eggs to Stetsons Easter basket. After church we got to visit with Chad's family, then go to my dad's and then my moms. We were very busy, but it was a "hoppy" time! I know lame. I will post pics later. Oh yeah, Stetson had fun coloring Easter eggs.

I need a "momma moment"

So I took Stetson in to have his two year old pictures taken,









Oh man, I just need a "momma moment" to say, "Isn't he the cutest?!" Also we have been working hard on Austins mission blog, http://austinsperumission.blogspot.com check it out if you want!

Just a few things

I thought this picture of Stetson was funny, he was in the middle of a melt down because we had made him come inside...can you say terrible twos? Anyway, these past few months have been super busy, besides birthdays I have said goodbye to two missionaries. My best friends younger sister Tavia (but I call her Whitney) went into the MTC on the 18th and then my little brother Austin went in on the 25th. I can't believe he is already gone. Besides going to the temple with these new missionaries, which was such a blessing. We were also super busy with goodbye parties, birthday parties and farewells. What did I do in my spare time you might ask. Well, our ward relief society did a portrayal of the parody of the Ten Virgins. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to participate in that and for the ladies who all helped it was a lot of fun. I have also been reading the Harry Potter series. I had only read the 3,6,&7 book. So I decided that I was probably missing bits and pieces and so I went back to book number 1. I am now to book 5 and I cannot believe that it took me so long to decide to read them. I have thoroughly enjoyed them, and I so I say to you if you like the movies and think that you don't need to read the book, you are wrong. I have also been learning how to do genealogy, it takes a lot of time but I am really enjoying it. That's all.

Two...and counting

Wow, blogging two days in a row. So Stetson turned two on March 2nd. Can you believe that I have a two year old?! It really seems like I was just pregnant with him. Time flies. Well, we decided this year to do two separate birthday "parties" if you want to call it that. One for Chads side and one for mine. We had Chad's family over on Saturday, February 28 a couple days before Stets actual birthday.
The day of the party, yes I know Stetson needs a hair cut!

He had lots of fun playing with his two cousins Braxton, and Mason. They watched CARS and ran around.


We ate some yummy pizza and had a delicious CARS cake from Lehi Bakery!


Then Stetson got to open his presents.


That night Chad and I were tuckered out, but Stetson insisted on arranging and rearranging Grandma Jo's chairs that she let us borrow.


Have I mentioned yet how much Stetson hates getting his picture taken. I wonder where he gets it?!



Now onto Stetsons actual birthday he decided at 2:00a.m. he wanted to wake up, so we put him in our bed and their he laid awake until 5:30a.m. watching sprout until we kicked him back to his own bed! He then preceded to sleep until 10:30a.m. And I let him because it was his birthday but did enjoy singing every obnoxious birthday song I could think of for the rest of the day:)

I do think that he did enjoy his birthday, he spent most of the day sitting at the kiddy table grandma Jo let us borrow, as he had his cake...and ate it too!


We ate his favorites for dinner...pancakes and hot dogs. Jealous? He had some more fun opening presents when my family came over that evening.

So pretty much Chad and I were so ready for bed, but alas Stetson was not...I wonder why?!

In the end we were all able to get some rest and we are very thankful to have the love and support that we have, Stetson had a great birthday.

Procrastination

Yes, I don't know why I procrastinate blogging. Because I super hate trying to catch up. Well, here goes. Back to the beginning of the year. January was a fun month and at the end our lil' nephew Braxton had his 3rd Birthday and we went to Chucky Cheese. The little boys had such a fun time!


Although, we have come to find out that Stetson HATES little motion rides!


Now, as you know you get tokens to use for the little rides and games, but I think Chad used most of Stetsons:)



Stetson also had his first dentist appointment in January. The dentist counted Stetsons teeth, he has all 20! And luckily the dentist didn't loose any fingers:)

February... Love was in the air! But so was illness. At the first of the month we all got the stomach flu. Yuck! Poor little Stetson was throwing up every 20 minutes for 15 hours. After we were feeling better Chad and I went out for valentines day a week early we went to Desert Star playhouse and saw Home School Musical. It was very silly, then afterwards we went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum! On Valentines day I had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake Temple with my Best Friends younger sister. I am so thankful that I was able to go and support her.
Unfortunately Stetsons cold sore virus flared up again. He got it last year and he was running high fevers again, and not eating. Grrr.

We were pretty busy the rest of the month, I love to take Stetsons picture. He however is not fond of the camera. Here is a lovely bed head picture!


Stetson has very particular ways he likes to do things. He lines things up just the way he likes them. Here is a particular example of things I find during the day. he has lined his cars up according to how he thinks they look best.


He has also started sleeping with Shanks. We think the monkeys might be harassing him while he is in his bed. *shank: A sharp instrument used to hurt people that inmates make out of objects (toothbrushes, etc.)*


Well as you can see this post has tuckered Stetson right out! Hence falling asleep on the stairs. But we will update SOON all about the adventures of turning two!

random thoughts

It has been just a normal week around here for us. I can't believe how fast January is flying by! I have been thinking the past couple of months about age. I have had a hard time turning 26, just feeling torn between thinking that I would feel older and more mature but that I still feel young. I think that a lot of my confusion comes from only having 1 child. Most people around me, or my age have at least 2. I have talked a lot with people about age, families and babies. My conclusion is that yes I am 26 and only have one child, but I really feel like my Heavenly Father knows me and Chad and that we will know when it is time to add to our family. We think we will start "trying" again closer towards the end of the year. But I know myself and know that I could not handle "well" my children being closer together than 2+ years. I have been thinking about miracles and blessings the big and the small. As I was running errands last week, the skies were blue and clear, and snow covered the lawns and fields around. I specifically was amazed at how entire tree branches were covered in snow, and how at random parts little flakes of snow were swirling around down towards the ground. Like magic. It reminds me of when my grandma says she doesn't know how anyone can look at a newborn baby and not believe in God. I am where I need to be, and even though I may get a little panicky about age, I know that there is an individual plan for me and my family, and am thankful for that knowledge.

Mega Monday Update

So, yes I have been gone. Not really missing, just not posting. I'm not really sure even why... just busy and easily side tracked I guess. So here goes.
First here are some pics of when Broc, Heather, and Austin spent the Thanksgiving night, so that we could go shopping early.(This is where we left off)


Broc and Heather have a gigantic air mattress that is as tall as our couch!

This next picture was taken after walking into Stetson room so that we could say family prayer and put him in bed. Little did I know, that Chad was already with him, getting ready for bedtime:)


The first weekend in December I took Stetson to see Santa Claus at South Towne Mall, before heading over to the Festival of Trees. Stetson did really good, I thought he might scream but he didn't. I really enjoyed the festival of trees, and the entertainment. It reminds me of when I was a little girl, and all those performances:) The following evening we took tracks down to Temple Square with my Mom, Denny, Lindy, Shaun, and Austin. For my mom's birthday, to look at the lights. Thankfully we hadn't had any big storms, so it was comfortable. Stetson loved christmas lights this year, and he was definately excited about them this night. But I think he loved riding tracks the most!






We ended that weekend with celebrating my Grandma Judi and Uncle Joey's birthdays.

The following weekend we had our ward christmas party. The men cooked breakfast which was delicious and there was karaoke and Santa Claus! Stetson wasn't to sure of Santa this time. So he just simply refused to look at him.





That same evening we also went to the Bowthorpe family christmas party. It is always fun to see everyone.

This year we decided to start a new family tradition. Which I think worked out nicely. We did the 12 days of Christmas, but this is how we did it. I got a kids nativity set and book. Then every night, I would introduce a person, or animal. So we started with Mary and every night we would add on to the story and sing christmas songs. When we finished on Christmas Eve the spirit was so strong in our home. And even though I know that Stetson is not old enough to know or remember, one day he will be and I hope as our family grows that they will be able to tell me the story, a little each night:)



We decorated a ginger-bread house, Stetson decorated himself:)




We also took a ride over to Thanksgiving point to drive through the lights.

We had a wonderful christmas, we enjoyed visiting with our families and loved ones. And Stetson loved that when he got the wrapping paper off his presents, there was usually a toy waiting for him. The funniest was when he would open boxes with clothes, because he would hurry and close it and push it out of his way. I am guessing that will never change.




We really had a wonderful holiday season. And it reminded me just how blessed we are, and the things that are truly important. Now I am pretty much caught up, so I won't be dreading this anymore:)