Merry Christmas!!!!

 Chris and Lincoln had matching bow ties for the Sunday before Christmas...imagine that ;) and I provided the green. Aren't we a festive little family :)

And this cute little boy smile for two whole pictures! Way to be!!!

It's a bow tie kind of day

Lincoln brought a bow tie to me and then pointed to his neck. So I put it on him and he wore it all day! :)

Lights at Temple Square

*Picture overload*

This year we went to Temple Square and boy was it cold! But it was fun. Lincoln kept pointing out all the lights and said "Wow" about a million time. And it was fun to play with my camera a bit.

 We decided to take the Frontrunner so we didn't have to find parking. It was a long train ride but at least Lincoln wasn't strapped into his carseat.

Christmas treats

Nothing says Christmas like tons of goodies!!!! And this year we are full of them. I'm so glad most of them are going on the goodie plates for friends and neighbors because I would eat them all...by myself! We made lots of treats and some of them didn't quite turn out. Nothing ever works out perfect, right!?

Festival of Lights

This year we wanted to try and do more festive activities for the holidays. There is always so much going on this time of year which makes it hard to really celebrate. I really want to make Christmas special, especially for my kids, just like my parents did for us. One of our activities was the Festival of Lights just a couple miles from our house. The best part of it all was Lincoln's reactions to all the lights! 

 We let him sit up front for a better view and when we got to Santa...

 Lincoln waved backed! So cute!

Gingerbread Houses!

This was a first for us in lots of ways. Chris has never made a gingerbread house. I have never made the actual gingerbread before. It was an interesting experience for sure and we both learned a lot. I think we both thought.."Let's make gingerbread houses this year. They're easy enough." Little did we really know. Here are a few lessons we learned:

* when making the gingerbread pieces you need to take them off the cookie sheet immediately after taking them out of the oven. If you don't the pieces won't come off...unless you break them into tiny pieces. (that's why there is only one house in the picture.)

* don't use ziploc bags to pipe the frosting...you may end up with more on your hands, more coming out the top, and more blowing out the side seam. Get real bags next time and use real frosting tips!

* Don't let Chris put the house together...it will come out crooked! :)

* Shayla is a control freak...'nuff said!

But overall it was really fun to work on a little crafty project together. I fought my control freak-ness super hard to share decorating this house. But I did break the second house pieces so I had to deal :) It will be fun to watch our progression each year with new ideas and strategies for making better gingerbread houses...if you have any tips PLEASE share :)

Kaycee's Home!

Kaycee finally made it home today. What a journey. We (Chris, Lincoln, Karen and I) got to the airport early and then found out Kaycee's flight was coming in 30 minutes early. Karen got on the phone and tried to make sure everyone got there in time...and they did. While we waited Lincoln practiced holding his sign, ran around, played some games, and got stuck in the chair. 

 Playing the waiting game and making calls

 The group started showing up...Yay!

 We asked Lincoln if he was excited to meet Kaycee finally...this was the expression that followed...PERFECT!

 These two little boys were loving on each other all afternoon...so cute!

 More waiting...

 There she comes!

 First time meeting...

 Lincoln went right to Kaycee and gave her a hug. It was so cute.

 The whole group

 The baggage carousal was the main attraction to the little kids