Christmas Day

Christmas Day we woke up around 7 am and Uncle Robert and Aunt Shelly had already arrived at Grandma Janice's house to open presents. The wind was blowing 90 to nothing so we were unable to see the reindeer tracks and there was no sign of the carrots we had left for them. Had it not been for the fact that Santa's cookies and milk were gone, the stocking were full and there were more presents under the tree we might have thought Santa had passed us by. ;) The boys enjoyed going through their stockings first to discover new tooth brushes to go along with all the candy they received. Landon wrote a letter to Santa asking for toys with buttons that made noise and he was not disappointed. Lucas wrote a letter to Santa asking for G.I. Joe's and not only did Santa deliver but so did Uncle Robert and Aunt Shelly as well as mom and dad.

Opening all those presents can be exhausting for puppies & little boys.......

and for big boys too!!
All cleaned up and ready to play with new toys.

Christmas day we also had Aunt Terri, Uncle Paul, Cousin Jenika, and Great Cousins Braeden and McKayla over to Grandma's for dinner. The boys loved playing with their great cousins and getting to eat Christmas dinner together.

Christmas Eve

We arrived safely to my mom's house in Wyoming on December 23 with very little incident. Landon has never been a big fan of traveling and so when he started saying he wanted "down" before we had even left the Salt Lake Valley I was a little worried that we were in for a long day. Fortunately with all the snacks, movies and fun things we had packed for the drive he ended up doing pretty good until we were about 10 minutes outside of our destination and he started fussing again.

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom, my brother Robert and his fiance Shelly, my sister Tonia, my niece Shaunelle and her husband Jason and their baby AJ, my niece Kathy and my nephew Destin. Ever since I can remember we have always had ham sandwiches on Christmas Eve as well as all sorts of different goodies. This year was the first year I have ever made the ham spread and so with all the taste testing that needed to be done I was not very hungry when it came time to eat an actual sandwich.

Aunt Tonia got the boys G.I. Joe dolls for Christmas that they absolutely loved.

U.S.M.C. - just like cousin Kent.

Mommy & Shelly relaxing.

Cousin Kathy.

The boys in their new p.j.'s that they opened Christmas Eve. This is a wonderful tradition that I started for Lucas' first Christmas - even mommy & daddy get new p.j.'s.

This year I let the boys open the gifts they got each other on Christmas Eve. Landon got his own kid proof digital camera and Lucas got The Marvel Encyclopedia.

What I love most about Christmas......

Countdown to Christmas

Looking back at these photos it seems like so long ago....maybe because so much has happened since then. I am not sure which part of the holiday season I enjoy the most but it just might be the days leading up to Christmas itself. This year we enjoyed making sugar cookies that we then iced, as well as candy cane cookies that I then took to a cookie exchange. Next year we will not be traveling for the holidays so I plan on baking a lot more and trying some new recipes.
Since moving to the Salt Lake Valley back in '98 Steve and I have been alternating the location of where we spend the holidays. So one year we spend Thanksgiving at home and Christmas in Wyoming where all of my family lives and then the next year we spend Thanksgiving in Wyoming and Christmas in Utah. We decided that this was the last year that we would be spending Christmas in Wyoming due to many factors. The boys are old enough now that they just want to be at home when Santa comes plus it is so hard transporting packages to and fro. We decided it was time to stay home and start our own family traditions. We are always open for visitors and hope that family members will be willing to make the trek out our way at least every other year. Consider this your official invitation. :)Before heading off to Wyoming this year we got to celebrate Christmas a little early with Grandma and Papa McCormack as well as all of our friends. Landon was old enough this year that he needed very little prompting when it came to opening his presents. He and Lucas both loved the the Batman Cave and the Castle from Grandma & Papa as well as the books and clothing from Aunt Erin. When we headed home that evening I began questioning some of the purchases I had made for the boys because they had already received a lot more than some children get at all. It really made me stop and think about how blessed we are. Some cute pics of the boys being sweet........

Our Christmas tree before packing up and heading to Wyoming.

Kissing Cousins

This last weekend we had a very nice visit with Aunt Cathy and Cousin Madeline who were in town visiting from Chicago. At first I was a little worried how Landon would be with Madeline since she is about 6 months younger than him and he is used to being the youngest. There were a couple of times when he pushed her for no apparent reason but for the most part he was pretty good. He would walk beside her and kind of push on her back and say "Come on" when he wanted her to play. They also enjoyed taking their baths together and splashing the moms or at least until Landon pooped in the tub and Aunt Cathy started gagging. ;)

Lucas enjoyed playing with his Aunt's and Uncle at grandma's all weekend and even snuck in a few cartoons that our rabbit ear t.v.'s don't pick up. Saturday night Lucas got to play with his friend Cassidy and then both the boys stayed the night with grandma and papa while mom and dad went to a Christmas party. One of the nights we left Mommy White Dog at grandma's house and Lucas laid by the front door waiting for Papa to drop her off. I think that was the longest 1/2 hour of his life. ;)

Christmas with Aunt Cathy produced lots of smiles and even though this cool game said 3 and up all the kids were entertained for quit a while......His golfing career started with Gator Golf......Madeline and her beautiful blue eyes.....

All Grown Up

So I finally broke down and took Landon to get his first hair cut. I really wanted to wait until his second birthday but it had gotten to the point that it was not even cute anymore. I considered going with a longer style like the shag but then opted for short so there would be no mistaking him for a girl. :)

He did pretty good for the most part and really only fussed when the stylist was shaving his neck and around his ears. He did keep saying "Ouch" as she was cutting his hair but we both made it out of there alive.

After his hair cut we went shopping at Kohl's and any time Landon saw a mirror he would stop and just stare at himself. I think we both love that his hair is now so easy to wash and style. Lucas said he likes his brother now that he has short hair and now wants me to spike his hair like Landon's.

It has been about 5 days since his haircut and I am still trying to get used to it. I know it is probably just my imagination but I think he acts older.... he definitely looks older.