We had a wonderful Christmas morning ... nothing like enjoying the holiday with our own little family! The kids were SO fun to watch - each year it gets better and better! We took our time opening gifts because they wanted to play and open each little thing!

Our tree on Christmas morning

Fireplace with their stockings filled ... and the cookies/milk gone!

Ready to come down the stairs (we let Trae sleep a little longer)

Ready to open stockings - Evie is a little bit excited

Evie wasted no time putting on her new princess dress-ups

Our sweet Trae had no idea what was going on ... put he looked pretty cute though :)

I had to share this video ... I've already recounted the story to most of our family because it was SO funny! Basically Talon was following clues to where Santa hid his present (a bike), and he was so immersed in it that he totally missed the bike when he opened the door to the pantry :) (Sorry for the bad filming - I was laughing so hard that it is shaky!)

We spent part of Christmas Eve day down in San Juan Capistrano. We love going to Zoomars petting zoo by the railroad station and after doing it on Christmas Eve two years ago we thought we would follow tradition! We ended up with lunch at Ruby's Diner and all in all it was a perfect morning!

Daddy & Evie checking out the bunnies and Guinea pigs

Of course Talon was in HEAVEN ... we used passes we bought on Groupon, and then bought a feed basket full of carrots, apples, and such to feed the animals

So glad my parents were able to come along - it was so fun having them!

Nanny helping Talon hold a big ol' bunny!

Acting like a cowboy on his horse ride

Man, is Talon getting big or what? He looks so old to me!

Before Christmas we spent time in Las Vegas with all of Michael's family. We stayed at a beautiful time share and enjoyed spending time together & taking in the sights! (warning... a LOT of pictures! Can't help it ... I'm so in love with my blog books filled with pictures! hehe)

Here are some highlights:

We were able to meet our new nephew Daniel for the first time!

Red Rock Canyon

the whole family

My family usually celebrates Christmas together on an earlier date so there's no competing with in-laws, vacations, busy holidays, etc. A few weeks ago we gathered at my sister Claudine's house to celebrate, eat, and exchange ornaments. It is always great getting together and my sister spoiled us with amazing food and she decorated so beautifully.

The family (minus Collette's family who is in Washington)

Oldest grandkid Justin (just turned 17) with youngest grandkid Trae (5 months)

just to give you a sample of what an amazing hostess my sister is ... isn't that a beautiful table?

We had a super fun Sinterklaas morning ... the kids were so excited to wake up and see little gifts in our shoes, and to see that Sinterklaas' horse had eaten the carrots! We got some candy, oranges, book for each kid, dvd's for me & Michael, and a fun Toy Story game for the kids. I didn't take any decent pics of the kids while opening because I mostly wanted some video :)

Talon & Evelyn after church on Sinterklaas day

Trae is 5 months old today ... can't believe another month has gone by! We love our boy SO much and feel so blessed that he is in our family. He is rolling over now, sits in his bumbo, and we just started rice cereal today (earlier than I normally do, but, hey - he's a BIG hungry guy!)

This is my first experience where my baby has worn hand-me-downs from another child ... it's SO fun seeing him wear things that used to be Talon's and I had no idea I would be so sentimental about it :) This shirt is an example ... so fun!

Talon*Evelyn*Trae at 5 months old

Wow - it's amazing how much time goes by between posts for me right now :) I thought I would do a November wrap up.

We had a great Thanksgiving at my parents house - we even celebrated 4 of the grandkids bdays and threw a little baby shower for my sister Celene. The kids always LOVE being together and it was a lot of fun. We left Trae asleep with my mom in the afternoon, and the rest of us went to see Tangled ... it was Evie's first movie and she loved it (didn't hurt she sat with Michael the whole time). It really was a cute movie and I'm sure it will be a favorite DVD in our home someday :) I am SO bummed we did not get a picture of all 5 of us ... Trae and Evie's naps overlapped and by the time I thought of taking one it was getting late - next year I guess!

Evie at Thanksgiving dinner - - yes, all she wanted at the moment was a roll and olives :)

Talon at dinner - of course his dog had to sit on the table by him

The "kid" table - I absolutely love watching these kids grow up together

Our "Countdown" turkey - Talon & Evelyn took turns plucking a feather off everyday until Thanksgiving

My contribution to the decorations for Thanksgiving . . . little ice cream cone Pilgrim hats for name placecards (and there were hershey kisses inside the cone for an after-dinner treat!)

We were so happy that Douglas and Heather were in town from BYU - they were so sweet to take some time to come see us and meet their cute nephew Trae for the first time!

My nephew Dylan had a few days off of school this week so he stayed with us - - it was a blast and the kids all adore him. He was such a big help and so fun to have around - - he was Trae's buddy the whole time!

I don't have much Thanksgiving decor but I did continue my mod-podge craze and made these few pumpkins, similar to my Halloween ones.

Also, this month, we had a new sliding door installed and window casing done downstairs... I know it's something little but it's nice to have things done to the house here and there.

Here is before:

.. and after

My sister Chandice and brother-in-law Cameron are awesome and are always doing really neat things to their home. They made this large magnet board in their house and I was in LOVE. I begged them to come help us put one up, so Cam & Michael did the project together and I think it turned out so great!

(this is on our wall directly across from the kitchen table ... I wanted it to be somewhere central where we gather as a family a lot)

I put up pics of our kids cousins & grandparents, a menu planner, some preschool-type projects of Talon's, and Evie has enjoyed having the little Leap Frog magnet toys at her level