As noted by Nicki...: 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Oh December! Where did you go?

Whoa! What a blur! Christmas and all it's related festivities came and went like a whirlwind! Seriously though, with 2 kids aware of this season of joyful and exuberant celebration, it was hard NOT to try to cram everything in. Here's what we did:

We had a little Joy School Christmas party with all the families. How cute are these girls in their handprint reindeer shirts?

They sang us some Christmas carols and recruited Grant to jingle the bell during Jingle Bells.

All decorated for Christmas! Cory even hung Christmas lights on our house. That made us a real family, you know!

We had a Christmas party with Cory's family and Cory's mom made the kids matching jammies.

Then we had our tradition of playing the Christmas ball. This is a great game that my Grandma Joyce started a few years ago and it's so much fun that I started the tradition in Cory's family. This huge ball full of small prizes and candy is wrapped with paper, plastic wrap and tape. When you roll doubles with the dice, you get a turn to "try" to rip thru the ball to get the goodies. The center of the ball always has something good. This year, Cory got to the center and it was full of gift certificates to Trader Joes, Costco, Cheesecake Factory, etc.

About a week before Christmas, I went to Utah (by myself!) to get my haircut... er, to go to my cousin Ryan's wedding and while I was there I got my haircut by my favorite stylist! Here's the happy couple emerging from the Salt Lake Temple. It was a great day for a "white wedding"... literally, it snowed all day!

Mr and Mrs! I just have to say, I love my extended family! I seriously jump at every opportunity to be with them, I feel so lucky to belong to such a great family!

Oh! These kids are growing up! Stop it right now!

I was excited to host Christmas Eve dinner at our house this year. It was fun to make the foods that my family traditionally made for Christmas dinner. Cory helped me decorate the table and I have to say, it looked fab!

Maggie and Grant putting their stockings out for Santa.

And we didn't forget cookies for Santa and celery for the reindeer. Maggie was so cute, she saved these cookies especially for Santa.

So, were the kids naughty or nice? Looks to me like Santa determined they were nice this year!

Maggie got her "baby nursery", something she's been asking for for over a year now. I have to admit, she's been a great "mommy" since Christmas. Everyday that baby gets bathed, fed and all tucked into bed.

So Grant got some cool things, too. Pirate ship, basketball hoop, dinosaurs... but he got most excited about these bug stickers. When he pulled them out of his stocking, he said, "I love you, bugs!" And then he kissed the stickers. He then decided to wear ALL his bug stickers.

Cory always buys the kids a book. Maggie must have been excited about this one.

And of course, Grant loves anything with firetrucks.

Maggie's cute new piggy slippers

And Grant loved his new "Cars" shoes from aunt Amy and uncle Marc.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Ho! Ho! Ho!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

A gift for a solider

My friend Emily posted a link on her blog and I thought it was such a great idea that I had to post it here, too! Just click on this link to pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it out and send it to a solider who is currently serving our country. You can't choose who gets it, but it will go to someone in the armed services. You can either select a message or write your own. It's free and it only takes a minute. Whether you support the war or not, this is a great way to show our appreciation for the people who serve our country and protect our freedom!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Thanksgiving in the South

We had the best Thanksgiving ever! We've been anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving 2008 for a long time. It took 2 years to plan it! My dad actually works in South Carolina and my parents just finished building a house there. We've been dying to go see it... and we did a few other things while we were there!

Atlanta, Georgia

Our first day of the trip was to Stone Mountain, GA.

Grant hanging on during our "skyride" in the tram up to the top of the mountain.

Cousins... it was cold up there!

But it was a beautiful view!

Stone Mountain has the cutest little Christmas village that really put us in the Christmas spirit. Here the girls are about to enjoy the Polar Express 4D show!

Here we are at the Coke Factory... er, Coke Museum. I guess the factory tour changed 1 1/2 years ago to this touristy "World of Coke" museum. I'm more of a factory girl, but it was still fun!

Our favorite part at the World of Coke was sampling sodas from all over the world. There's some strange flavors out there! We decided we're sticking with Coke!

Did you know Atlanta has the nation's largest aquarium? We couldn't resist, we had to visit! It's an incredible place!

Brooke, Lauren and Maggie.

Grant being awed by the baby Beluga.

Nicki and neice Brooke.

Asheville, North Carolina

The historic Biltmore mansion built in 1890. Incredible!

My mom did the most amazing thing and watched all four grandkids in the hotel so that we big kids could enjoy this magnificent castle! It truly is beautiful!

I thought the Hearst Castle was cool until I came here!

South Carolina

This is where my dad lives. He designed this house himself!

This is my favorite part of the house. It's the staircase leading down to the basement and I just loved the view and the colors out that window. Combined with the lighting and interior house colors, it was my favorite spot!

The family room.

View from the kitchen.

The living room.

Maggie and her cousin Lauren were so excited to have sleepovers every night!

My parents showed us how they eat in the South at the BBQ Barn.

I had the pulled pork and it was so good! It just melted in my mouth! I'd go back just for dinner there!

Dinner at the BBQ Barn.

Charleston, SC

Here we are at Fort Sumpter, where the Civil War began.

Grant and uncle Marc about to board the ferry out to Fort Sumpter.

Maggie and Grant with a Civil War canon.

Maggie and Lauren.

Grant wanted his picture taken too!

Touring historic Charleston by horse and carriage. I loved this! It's definitely the way to go to see Charleston. No building over 75 years old is allowed to be torn down, so there's a lot of amazing history to see!

These girls weren't too interested in seeing houses, but loved the carriage ride together!

Grant sat on daddy's lap. The homes were just beautiful!

We had a great Thanksgiving! The food was so yummy! We got to make our family's traditional Thanksgiving dinner! It was such a treat... and a lot of work!

Maggie and cousin Lauren had so much fun together. I hardly saw Maggie the whole trip, her and Lauren just entertained each other and they were good girls, too!

Thanks to my parents, who really spoiled us rotten on this wonderful trip! They made it all possible! This was our Christmas present from them this year. When I was little, I used to cry myself to sleep on Christmas night cause I felt so grateful for all the presents they gave us. Let's just say, I cried myself to sleep for 10 days in the South!