Christmas 2011

Christmas morning was awesome!!! We got up at our usual Sunday time, everyone got ready in record time, I made a french toast casserole for breakfast (yumm) and we were at church in our seats 25 min early!! We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas musical program and headed home to FINALLY open presents.

I actually enjoyed waiting to open gifts due to church, it kind of made the day last a little longer and I think I was more coherent to actually enjoy it! I love that even though our kids aren't small anymore they still get excited about Christmas and its magic. I love how excited they get about opening their stockings (that was a favorite for me when I was younger too). I love how appreciative they are for the things they receive, they always say thank you and seem to genuinely appreciate what they are given! I love just sitting back, enjoying and soaking it all in.
When we finished gifts we just spent the rest of the afternoon being together, and relaxing.
We went over to Darin and Carey's for a Christmas dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Perkins, and Russ and Jen. Good food and more relaxing. When we got back home we were kind of scrambling to finish packing and getting ready to head to Utah the next morning to join all our Wright cousins and family!! It was a great Christmas filled with many good memories and experiences, We have much to be thankful for.

December 2011

SOME of the highlights for the month of December include...

My first child (Braydon) got his drivers license (heaven help us!!!)-
Its bitter sweet. I love the fact that they are growing up to be these amazing people but at the same time each little mile stone makes them a little closer to growing up and leaving the nest which I don't want to even think about!!!
Kileys first dance recital at Centennial HS. It was so fun to go watch the girls perform! There was such a fun variety of music, fun costumes, dances and plenty of adorable girls!!! I'm looking forward to many more in the years to come.
We hosted a baby shower for Jenny Perkins (my niece in law). So fun, I always love a good baby shower with all the tiny, adorable baby things!! We can't wait to get our hands on that sweet little baby (only a couple more weeks)!
We welcomed a new niece and cousin (#26). My youngest sister Becki had a beautiful, perfect baby girl, Dempsey. We had to wait almost 2 weeks to get our hands on her but once we finally did we hardly put her down. We had to fight Kiley to get our turns though, grrrr!!!We had our friends the Mcleods over for dinner and games!! Always a good time!!

Malerie went to her first junior high dance and had a great time!!!

A personal favorite for me was my friend Krysta and 2 of her kids coming to visit from Oklahoma for the weekend!! We love their family so much and had a great time with them. We went to the Stake Christmas presentation, church, had a fun Sunday dinner, her and I went on a hike up Thunderbird for old times sake, we went to Bj's for lunch with a friend, we went to see the new Sherlock movie (which was awesome!!!!) and drove over to see the new temple site!!! Not bad for a quick short weekend!!!

The rest of the week was spent in a frenzy finishing up last minute Christmas preparations, you gotta love it!!!

CHRISTMAS EVE
I was determined to be ready and rested for Christmas this year and I think this is closest I have yet to come. Christmas Eve morning Eric and I and the boys went for a hike at Thunderbird. When we were coming down the back side I gave the boys the go ahead that we could run and that's all it took, they both were gone!!! I caught up to Braydon but Keat left us all in the dust!! He isn't familiar with the trails so he just kept going making a second loop. Eric had to chase him down. The kid is a machine!!!
We spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing (Eric and I were relaxed, the kids were just anxious to get the show on the road!!!) Keeping with tradition we picked up our usual order of mexican food from Mixteca, our 4 bottles of Martinellis (one for each kid) and a few other little things. We set our little spread out downstairs, the kids opened their traditional Christmas pjs and threw them on and we settled in to watch our favorite Christmas Story!! Good times, just how we like it!!!

Beyond behind!!

I have no idea why I let myself get this far behind!! There have been so many fun changes and things that have happened this past year and a half that I should have been journaling about. I don't know if it is even possible to catch up?
As part of getting excited about a new year I have recommitted myself to try and be better about blogging and taking photos (we shall see!!) I think I will start with December and back track when I feel inspired or can squeeze it in!
As always it seems like the whole month of December just whizzes by. I'm sure in part that is due to the overwhelming number of activities we try and cram in!! I was especially thankful for the couple weeks we had of cold, almost wintery like weather. For me it definitely helps to get in to the holiday spirit!!