Christmas Tag

I have been tagged by my friend Christa to do this Christmas post.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
I am a little odd because I actually LOVE wrapping gifts. I think it is fun to be creative with different papers and ribbons.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Real trees smell great! But, I like cheap and low maintenence. So- we have a fake tree that cost us like 25 bucks at Target a couple of years ago and it also came with a wreath!

3. When do you put up the tree?
Thanksgiving weekend. I love Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down?
New Years Day.

5. Do you like egg nog?
I haven't given it much of a chance, but no, I think it is gross.

6. Favorite gift received as a child.
This one is hard. We always had really nice Christmas' growing up. I remember one year I got a stereo I really wanted. I was probably 8? We have had some good ones as adults, too :).

7. Hardest person to buy for.
Boyd (my dad- for those that don't know, we tend to call him by his first name. We are kind of disrespectful that way :))

8. Easiest person to buy for.
My kids. It is so nice that they are young and happy with anything. I hope that they will always be that way. ( I know- wishful thinking).

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes. It is all white and has a stable that plays music. I love it. I earned each piece of it as a child in Primary.

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?
I hope I don't offend anyone here, but I am against the e-mail cards. I hope people always mail their cards. Just recycle them if you are concerned about the enviornment. I love getting Christmas cards and seeing what people are up to.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received.
Luckily I can't think of one. I am glad I can't because I think I would just sound like an ungrateful brat.

12. Favorite Christmas movie.
The Christmas Story is a classic. But, I am going to have to go with Christmas Vacation on this one. I love that movie.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I have been known to start before Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Probably- I did it with a few wedding gifts.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas.
I love to eat my Grandma Calder's sugar cookies. She isn't alive anymore so now I have to make them. They really are a labor of love. I have a new appreciation for all the cooking she did for us.

16. Lights on the tree.
Yes. No lights outside this year though.

17. Favorite Christmas song.
I know I am going to get laughed at for this one. But really I don't care. I am who I am. (I really am laughing while writing this. I can't believe I am announcing this) Confession: I LOVE George Michael. I do. I love the Christmas song "Last Christmas". I also LOVE The Carpenters. They remind me of my Grandpa Black. I enjoy their Christmas music, too.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We go to our parents houses and stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Prancer, Donner, Blixen, Cupid, Rudolph. Are any of those even reindeer names? Will someone who knows please comment and tell me the names? Now it is going to bug me!

20. Angel on the tree top or star?
Neither. We have a little Santa in an airplane that flies around the tree.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
We open gifts Christmas Eve at Trent's mom's and my fam's Christmas morning. My kids open their Santa gifts Christmas morning. This year I want to start a new pair of pajamas traditon. So - they will get those Christmas Eve.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year.
The snow. I HATE it. I know hate is a strong word, but that is the only appropriate word to describe it.

23. What theme or color are you using?
None. That seems a little over the top.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Chicken Cordon Bleu.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Nothing in particular. Just for my kids (and Trent and I) not to get sick for the Holidays.

If you do this tag, you have to tag as many people as their are days left until Christmas.
I am randomly going to pick 7 people to tag. I tag Becca, Brooke, Kami, Kristal, Kimberly, Sally, and Melinda.

It's a Christmas Miracle!

On Friday night the Chipotle by us was offering free burritos if you brought a toy in to donate. How could we pass up a tasty Chipotle burrito? And did I mention it was free?! Don't worry we didn't take two dollar store toys that were suppose to go in our kids stockings. We wouldn't stoop that low for a burrito. No way.

We walked out of there with two chicken fajita burritos and they gave our kids quesadillas for free. A free meal. A Christmas miracle- especially in this great economy.

Don't worry you didn't completely miss out on this great deal.

"In honor of Family Night, bring your pre-school or elementary-aged child to any Salt Lake City Chipotle on Monday, December 8 from 4:00-7:00 PM and we'll reward them with a FREE TACO, CHEESE or CARNITAS QUESADILLA or CHIPS & GUACAMOLE."

*Don't leave hateful comments- I will go back to the Dollar Store and replace their gifts. :)

Dear Santa...

Connor is really excited for Christmas to come. We have been talking about making Santa some yummy sugar cookies for Christmas. Connor wanted to make Santa a note to put next to the cookies. He told me what he wanted to say and I told him the letters. I was really impressed at his 4 year old abilities to write Santa a letter.

"Santa

Dear old man. Eat your cookies."

I was laughing sooo hard when he said he wanted to write "old man". I'm sure that will get him points with dear old Santa. What a kid.

I am trying to find some fun (and inexpensive) things with my kids for the Holidays. What are some good traditions you have with your families?

Cousins!

Now that I have told you about our bun in the oven- let me tell you of another one on the way. My brother Scott and his wife Kami announced that they will also be having a baby. We are beyond thrilled! They will make such excellent parents and my kids will finally get to have a cousin on my side. For those of you that know my family and are interested- you can click on their blog to see my family's emotional reaction (myself included) upon hearing the news.

3!

For your information: My eggo is prego! Yes- we will have 3 little monkeys! We are excited and when I think about it real hard maybe just a tiny bit nervous. But we feel very happy and grateful that we will be having another one.

This little cake is how I told my side of the family that I am pregnant. I felt sorry for the little teenage boy that had to decorate this cake for me. He looked at me like I was psycho. It probably didn't help that I couldn't stop laughing.

FAQ (frequently asked questions)

Do you want a boy or a girl?
- Honestly we really don't care. I am glad we have one of each, and I can see the benefits of either.

Are you sick?
-A little. More than my other two. I have found I am sick when I am anxious about something or a little stressed. So I am trying to be laid back about stuff as much as I can.

Are you tired?
-Yes. Some from the pregnancy and some from having two small kids and being the primary pres. Is my house nasty? YES! It is hard to keep up on normally, but feeling the way I do has made it a little worse. My plan is to really clean it good tomorrow. Wish me luck!

When are you due?
-July 3. My little patriotic baby.

What are you going to name it?
-Choosing a name is hard. We don't talk too much about it until we know what it is. We don't want to come up with two names when we only need one.

Kauai #3

Here is Trent really happy because he is on a helicopter. We decided to splurge and Trent, Scott, Kami, my parents, and I all went on a helicopter around the island. It really was worth the expense to see all the beautiful places on the island that you can't see unless you are in the air.

Here is a picture from the helicopter of The Naapali Coast
Another view from the helicopter.
This is the little shuttle we took to the airport for the helicopter ride. This was after it was over. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit freaked out at first on that helicopter. I was in the middle in the front, next to our pilot. Once they strapped me in I thought I was going to have a panic attack. I know- I'm messed up. I worked myself through it. The pilot helped because he had one of the funkiest most soothing voices I have ever heard. It was sort-of annoying sounding- but relaxing at the same time. We really should have recorded it. This picture of us on the shuttle was taken while we were having a good laugh about our pilot's weird voice.

This is at Shipwreck Beach. It was really pretty. We had climbed this really big cliff- that is where the picture was taken.

Kipu Falls. That is Trent swinging from a rope swing. It was about a 30 foot drop. He loved it.

That sums up a lot of what we did on our trip. It was a beautiful island. One of the most beautiful places I have seen.

Kauai

This is post #2 of our trip. Here are a few photos:

This is the kitchen in the condo we stayed at.

The Family Room.
Our Bathroom.
This is our bedroom. We all really enjoyed staying there. There was also another room and bathroom in our condo. My family rented two condos.

Wailua Falls. The pictures don't quite capture the actual beauty of this island.

Roosters just wander around wild all over the place in Kauai.

Trent imitating the great 80's flick Karate Kid.

This was taken at Smith's Luau.

Jo Jo's Shave Ice (no I didn't spell that wrong- they don't call it "shaved"). I got a tropical fruit one with macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom. Pretty tasty.

Since my mom will disown me and I have had a few requests for a picture of her surfing- here is a compromise. This was taken right after she fell off. :) Notice everyone laughing. There was even a couple on the beach that watched the whole thing and were quite entertained by it.

At the dinner part of the Luau. We ate so much we were sick.

We're Back!

Trent and I just got back from my sister's destination wedding. Mike and Alissa were married on a beach in Kauai. It was a really fun, beautiful, and relaxing vacation without our little kiddos. I'll make a few posts about this trip. This first one will be the wedding.

Alissa and Mike on the beach after their wedding

Trent and I after the wedding
Getting hitched

The officiant right before the wedding

"The Fam"

Her Bouquet

They hired this musician to play some pretty Hawaiian music before, during and after the ceremony

My dad (or "boyd" as we like to call him) cooking up some of his famous steaks by the pool of our hotel. We had a dinner with Mikes family the night before the wedding.

The Grub

Here is some more of the food. I would also like to say that yes we brought most of the stuff from Utah including the silverware, those bowls, the paper products, candles, and the funky Tikki God. There is a lot more my mom made us all haul over there for the wedding including a huge Costco size box of Sun Chips she fit in my sister Breanne's suitcase. My mom said everything in Hawaii is so expensive, so she wanted to bring as much as she could so she wouldn't have to buy it there. Yeah she was crazy and we all tried talking her out of it (especially me with the Sun Chips), but she actually ended up being right and we used all the stuff she brought, including the huge box of swedish fish and trail mix from Costco.

Here is their little wedding cake. It was an ice cream cake from Cold Stone. One of my family's favorite things right now.

These were bags Alissa and Mike gave to everyone that came out for their wedding. It was a welcome to Hawaii/Thank you for coming bag. It had towels, sunblock, aloe vera, chapstick, candy, bottled water, and a cute box with directions to the wedding and an invitation to a luau.

After the wedding we all changed and went to the beach and pool at Mike and Alissa's hotel. There we rented a paddleboard and a surfboard. Actually my mom rented the surfboard. The lady kept saying to her, "Are you sure you can swim REALLY well?" Finally my mom told her, "It is either now or never." So she rented the surfboard and we laughed hysterically at her. I tried it out a little, but I spent most of the time laughing and taking pictures of her. She would kill me if I posted them, so I won't. But really, you are missing out. Here we are at a Luau the night of the wedding. Mike's mom treated everyone to a Luau to celebrate their wedding. It was an awesome day and a beautiful wedding. More to come...

Happy Halloween!

We love Halloween. The kids are really excited to go trick-or-treating tonight (to get a bunch of candy that they really don't need). Here are a few photos from some fun Halloween things we have done this season.

Leah as Jasmine and Connor as Aladdin. I bought these costumes when I was in Turkey.

(This picture was taken before we took them to a little Halloween Carnival at our church)

Star Wars nerds.

(We are extra nerdy because we actually spent a good Saturday working on these costumes)

Connor at a Primary activity. The kids Trick-or-Treated for the food bank.

Connor as a robot.

Connor at his Preschool Halloween program. He is next to Hannah Montana and Tiger Lily.

Sneaky Kid

If the bathroom door is left open and you aren't watching Leah close enough- expect a disaster. She loves to play in the water in the sink. She says she is washing her hands. The problem is if she is in there long enough unsupervised I will be cleaning up a flood. This is a picture from yesterday. I caught her in time for the water to start flowing out into the hall onto the wood floor.

Something to do on a Wednesday

Connor and his buddy Tyson

I had some dishes in the sink, my kitchen floor needed to be mopped, and I had a ton of laundry to do. Guess what I decided to do? That's right take the kids to the zoo with my friend Kristal. My house is nasty, but we had a good time!

Leah with her little pal LilyChecking out the funny little monkeys

Connor hanging out with a Gorilla

Fire Station

Connor had a field trip with his preschool at the fire station. My friend Mariam has a little boy named Keaton in the same preschool. Connor and him are really good buddies. Mariam and I both took our little ones with us to help out at the field trip. It was really cute and I was glad I could go see how Connor is at preschool. I felt like such a grown-up going with my child on his school field trip :).

Here he is in the fire truck

Leah with her boyfriend Brayden :)
Connor listening to the fire fighters. His cute teacher is in the background. (He thinks he is a jedi when he wears his hood).

Connor with his class

Tagged

I was tagged by my friend Christa to do this.

8 TV shows I like to watch:
(we don't have cable, so I get some of these at the gym)
1-The Office
2-ER
3-Biggest Loser (I haven't been watching this season though)
4-Intervention
5-Any documentary on PBS
6-John and Kate Plus Eight
7-Dateline
8-48 Hours Mystery

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1-Got Connor ready for Preschool
2-Dollar Tree
3-Costco
4-Put groceries away
5-Laundry
6-Blogged
7-Cooked dinner
8-Showed the book I made from my trip to Turkey to my visiting teachers

8 Favorite places to eat:
1-Chipotle
2-Tepanyaki
3-Zinn Bistro (if you haven't been there call me I'll go with you)
4-In N Out
5-Sweet Tomatoes
6-TGI Fridays
7-Nielson's
8-McDonalds (for breakfast)

8 Things on my wish list:
1-Family stays healthy through the Winter
2-We have a fun and safe trip to Kauai
3-My kids to be good and happy
4-More children
(Now for the real greedy stuff)
5-Electrolux washer and dryer
6-Another trip to Turkey
7-Someone to tear down my house and build a new one in it's place
8-Volvo XC90

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1-Kauai
2-Halloween
3-Thanksgiving
4-Christmas
5-Trent coming home from work
6-Europe for our 10 year anniversary
7-Trent's bonus at work
8-Family vacations to Disneyland when all our kids are tall enough for every ride. Can't wait.

8 people to tag:
TAG!!! You're all it! Unless you don't want to do it :)

$3398

WasherDryer

I need this. Bad. It takes 18 to wash and 18 minutes to dry. 36 minutes and you are done with a load of laundry! Amazing! My birthday is coming up, do you think that is too much to ask :) ?