Christmas Break

Well, here is the BIG Christmas post. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but here is what I did take. Christmas Eve we do PJ's for everyone. The kids get so excited for this tradition. I don't know if it is cause they are really excited for the pajamas, or cause they really want Christmas to happen and they finally get to open something.

So here we are in our new sleep digs.

After getting the kids all put to bed, Travis started in on putting Christmas together. Starting with Harlee's main present: A new Bike. Luckily it wasn't too bad. He didn't even have to swear. He might look like he wants to in this picture, but I can promise you he didn't.

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!! SO Exciting!! When the kids wake up they come in and get Travis and me and then one of us goes in with the camera to film the kids as they come into the tree. It is how we were both raised and I love to see their faces when they come in. So here they all are with their loot. Bodie is holding a new Bumble Bee Transformer. Travis is trying Harlee's new spy kit out.

Here Travis and Harlee are studying her new Spy kit. Harlee already in her new BYU sweatshirt and she also is wearing her Diary of a Wimpy kid t-shirt.

Bodie and Jax playing with Bodie's new Castle. Jax got some mega blocks and a dump truck. But apparently Bodie's presents were far more exciting. Oh well, ya can't please 'em all.

Harlee and all her loot, minus her bike. She would open a present and neatly line it up on the chair. Everything had its place when she opened it. Aside from keeping inventory on a pad of paper, she reminded me of someone we're related to. So organized :)

Later on, after the crazy opening was done, Jax found that his blocks were pretty fun to play with.

Travis has the whole week after Christmas off and so we decided to take the kids to Utah for a little fun get-a-way. We stayed in Springville and had dinner with Brandon and Melissa Monday night. We hung out with them and the kids got to play together. It was great being able to hang out with them. We went and saw my good friend Kelli and her kids. Then the next Morning we went to Travis' uncles house and hung out with them. We played games, and Aunt Maureen painted my nails. The kids had a blast on their slide in their house and all the fun toys. It was SUPER fun. Then we took the kids to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum and their 3D Dinosaur Movie. Here they all are in their glasses. Heehee :)

They had quite a few exhibits that were hands on. One was a huge long table filled with sand and water and you could build islands and sand castles and play with palm trees and mini dinos. It was so fun, even for Travis and me. They had so much to look at and see. It took us a good 1.5-2 hours to see and do everything. The last part of the museum was a big sand pit that the kids could dig for dinosaur bones. They loved it all. The great thing for us was that we wore them clean out. By the time it was time to leave, they didn't even cry or anything. We stopped for ice cream cones on the way out of town, the icing on the cake to the whole trip. It was great fun for me to have my family together doing something that we all enjoyed.

Today, Travis took the kids outside to build snowmen, but ended up with a snow fort. Jax and Bodie didn't last long in the wind, but Harlee and him were dedicated to the cause and built this cool fort.

I am so thankful for this holiday season that my family was able to spend so much time together. Having Travis off work has been so great. The kids LOVE to hang out with Dad. I love that he loves to hang out with them too. It has been a lot of fun this past week! Happy New Year to you ALL!

Now tell me, why do we spend so much on toys??

I received a package in the mail today. It didn't take long for the boys to find the fun in boxes.

Christmas Party Weekend Traditions

December 4th was the annual Phelps Family Christmas party. It was in Grantsville, UT. I was happy to see a lot of the family there. This is from my Dad's side of the family and it is quite large. But quite of few cousins and families were there. It was fun! Always lots of food and of coarse a little program. This year Bodie was asked to be a shepherd for part of the program. Aunt DeeAnn orchestrated a little Nativity performance. I put together a makeshift costume and he had fun having a responsibility.

Of coarse Santa came. The kids love to sit on Santa's Lap

Well, except Jax. He was happy as long as he wasn't sitting on Santa's lap. I even tried to tell him it was just Grandpa, but he wouldn't have any of it.

After the BIG party, we settled in at Aunt Deeanne's house for our
little family Christmas party. We had a white elelphant gift exchange. Brandon happened to forget his and Melissa's presents and so he scored the house for something to wrap. Needless to say that the people who opened his gifts couldn't actually take them home. One present being a family picture of one of Deeanne's kids and the other being the house phone. Silly Brandon!

We have made it the tradition to go to Temple Square every year after the parties. I LOVE this tradition. It was way crowded and hard to find a place to park, but well worth the it! It took us 5 minutes to get up to the Christus because of so many people. It was hard to not be aggrivated because of the crowds and chaos. As we were inching our way up the ramp, Harlee said, "Mom I always feel so warm when I see the Jesus Statue." I am grateful for a little girl that among the busyness and craziness she can still feel and recognize the spirit. That experience made it all worth it!

Jax was more concerned with how far up we were.

We also got to see the big fountain and the reflection pool. The "big big water" as Jax called it.

I love Christmas traditions and the spirit of family and Christ. I am so thankful for my children and their testimonies and examples. I am also grateful for a husband, that despite his impatience for traffic and crowds, helps to make positive and spiritual experiences for our little family.

Gingerbread Houses

We don't do this every year, but it's fun every now and again. Travis was out of town this week and to keep my sanity, I decided a little crafty thing for the kids would be fun. Don't worry, I prayed for patience and was blessed with it. I held it together clear up until bedtime, when we were done. The kids had a blast decorating their individual houses. I just bought the kit at Walmart. The whole village kit was only $9. I supplemented in a little more candy to choose from, but other than that it contained everything I needed. I don't let them touch it for a couple of days and then they can pick it all apart as much as they want. It is a blast for them to do.

This is Harlee's in the works. She is the one that takes the longest because she likes to add a bunch of detail.

Bodie wanted this and that. The more elaborate that
Harlee's got, the more he wanted too.

Jax had SO much fun having me blob icing all over in various
places so he could keep adding candy

Here they all are hard at work :)

Jax's

Bodie's

Harlee's

Mine and Travis'. Like I said, Trav wasn't home
and so I took the liberty to do his and mine.

Here is the little village all put togather. So much fun!

Cause we're the Best of Friends....

"Come on Bode, let's go play downstairs." Jax said as he wrapped his arm around his older brother. Bodie too, put his arm around Jax and off they went to play. Such a sweet moment. I love it when my kids get along and really do act like "the best of friends."

Surgery

Here he is. Post Surgery and he already looks wiped out. You can imagine how he is now. Haha :) He actually posed for this and then was surprised I actually took the picture.
Trav had a hernia fixed today and is doing well.......only okay, really. He is in pain and bored out of his mind. If anyone is close enough to visit, he would love for you to come and see him. As of right now, he will probably be off work for at least a week and a half. The problem with his recovery time is that he gets bored and wants to do something, even though he is not suppose to. He is such a workaholic. I guess there could be worse things :). Anyhow, I am hoping that he can just take the time to recover fully. Right now it is just painful for him.

Halloween

Here I am FINALLY posting our Halloween. We started our day with making cookies. Jax and Harlee had a blast frosting and decorating cookie after cookie. Well, Harlee did cookie after cookie. Jax just did the same one over and over again. He still loved it. Where was Bodie, you ask? Oh, you'll see.....

Jax's one cookie....yum

Harlee's decorations

The finished project. We took them to the ladies I visit teach.

Here is Bodie. Out hauling rocks. We had some gravel that needed to be moved and we (Travis and I) thought that if a kid wanted to stab the couch with a knife and then smear toothpaste on another couch, make lakes of water in the bathroom and steal from Walmart, then he could do some time working off some bad behavior.

Here are the kids all dressed up at the trunk or treat

Rumel and Heidi all dressed up

Kid in our ward. Too funny

Panther Libre, haha like Nacho Libre :)

View of our house through the beautiful fall trees. Love it!!