The rest of December played out great. I was worried the boys would be sad since we weren't going to Utah to be with family for Christmas. Surprise! They weren't. Oh, they miss all their grandparents and cousins, and I do, too, but it was so wonderful to experience our first Christmas alone.
 |
| Pickles playing cards with his buddies. |
 |
| That naughty elf replaced the boys' stocking with their (clean) underwear! |
Kevin only had to work a half day on Christmas Eve. We saved gingerbread house building for that afternoon, and it was a hit!
 |
| Always with the closed eyes... |
 |
| Jaxon was so careful and had such a good time! |
 |
| Jaxon and Mommy's finished house |
 |
| Tucker's house |
 |
| Kyan's house |
 |
| The masterpieces! |
We spent the rest of the afternoon watching Christmas cartoons and The Santa Clause 2. We piled in the car and grabbed dinner from Hardee's to eat while we drove through the Christmas light display at Spring Lake Park.
 |
| Sorry about the dirty window! It's a Wizard of Oz display! |
 |
| How's this for North Dakota? :) |
When we returned home, the boys each found a gift waiting for them from their elf, Pickles. He had to go back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve to help Santa until next December. They were thrilled!
Let's hear it for new pajamas; a Christmas Eve tradition!
 |
| My pride and joy! |
Then we had to sprinkle the reindeer food out front. Oats and glitter everywhere!
And leave out the key for Santa....
We made a huge pile of blankets and pillows on the floor to watch The Polar Express before bedtime.
We followed Santa's progress on NORAD and the boys were so excited to see where Santa had been and where he was headed! Last but not least, they had to leave Santa and the reindeer a treat!
And what do you know...Santa made it!
 |
| He didn't cover his tracks too well... |
We were all a little spoiled this year and everyone received a ton of gifts. My mother-in-law gave each of the boys the cutest sock monkeys and they carry them all over now!
 |
| I must have been a good girl this year! |
 |
| Our lovely and scrumptious gift from Kevin's headquarters in Salt Lake. |
The rest of the day was spent playing with new toys and games, watching new movies, and relaxing!
 |
| Buttering the turkey was NOT as fun as it sounds! |
I had asked a week earlier what we wanted for Christmas dinner and Kyan excitedly listed turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, corn, stuffing, and pumpkin pie; so that's what we had. We made it "fancy" and they all loved it!
 |
| Christmas dinner 2013 |
 |
| Not too sure what's up with Kevin's expression here... |
It was such a lovely day. We stayed in pjs all day and just enjoyed being together.
A few days later, I told the boys they could have a huge surprise if they were good all day. They kept wondering what they were in for, and they finally found out about 10 pm on Sunday December 29...
 |
| My parents showed up for a week long visit!! It was hard keeping that secret from the boys but so worth it! |
We spent the week they were here visiting, playing games, watching movies, and eating! The weather was cold and snowy so we didn't do much else. But we still had a great time together!
 |
| Glow stick fun |
 |
| Movie time with Grandma |
 |
| Dinner at Famous Dave's, one of my dad's favorite restaurants |
 |
| MMMMMM! |
 |
| Trying the hottest sauce, Wilbur's Revenge |
We had a pretty laid back New Year's Eve. We made a ton of food and just had a good time. We counted down the New Year once Sydney, Australia's celebration hit YouTube--I know, we're cheaters, but the boys loved it! Kevin played an old countdown from last year and the boys got excited all over again and had to count down again!
 |
| My mom and the party animals |
We played a lot of games; the favorites being Go Fish, Jungle Speed, Uno Dice, Disney's Scene It, an awesome game of Monopoly 2000, and Farmopoly. Tucker even got Grandma to play some Skylanders Swap Force on the PS3!
 |
| It was down to Mom and Kevin.... |
 |
| And Mom cleaned house! |
 |
| I asked for a "bit of ice cream with a bunch of whipped cream"...and this is what Mom made! |
 |
| Tucker saying "he's tougher than Grandpa!" |
 |
| Cuddling with Grandpa the night before he left |
We had such a great holiday break we were sad to see it end. We ended up with an extra days off because church was canceled on Sunday January 5 and school was canceled on Monday January 6 due to extreme cold temperatures of -30 with wind chills to -60. And boy, was it COLD!
 |
| The inside of one of my bathroom windows. |
 |
| The cold calls for Kindle playing in bed...and passing out cold! |
 |
| The Skylander army courtesy of Tucker and Jaxon |
We are having an amazing time here in Williston. We have a great ward with new callings; Kevin teaches in the Elder's Quorum once a month and I was just called to be a Cub Scout Den Leader in the Wolves. Should be fun and Kyan is looking forward to October when he turns 8 and can be baptized and tag along to Scouts with mom!
That's the end of the year in a nutshell. I should probably blog more so these posts wouldn't be so long...resolution, maybe? Enjoy!
