Holidays 2009

We had a wonderful week celebrating the holidays this year . Jeff's parent's rented a house in Midway for the week and my parents came up from Arizona. When we weren't in Midway, we were spending time with my family.

On Christmas Eve, everyone opened a gift and we read Christmas stories and shared a favorite Christmas memory.

Claire looks excited for those p.j.'s! She was a little under the weather and ended up with double ear infections the day after Christmas.

Jeff took this picture from above before we started opening gifts. We were with Jeff's parents and his sister's family:

Even though Santa brought Toby early this year, he still found them Christmas morning. Claire got a new doll stroller, but she was more interested in opening every present. It didn't matter what was in it, she just liked the unwrapping.

Every time Jaxon opened a gift he would say, "that's just what I wanted."

The rest of Christmas Day we spent at my sister's house. The kids exchanged gifts and we had a great time being together with my parents and my family.

I loved the time we spent in Midway--the town has such a great Christmas feel to it. Some of the highlights at Midway were swimming at the Homestead,

Going out to eat with the adults at an authentic Mexican restaurant, eating a delicious Italian dinner on New Year's Eve, and playing games at the house. The kids had a great time being with their cousins. I don't think Toby went more than 10 minutes without being held up there. I was so glad that my parents came up this year for Christmas. We miss them being here, but it makes it all the more fun to see them. We had many chances to see them between family parties and get togethers. It's always hard to see them go back. We made some wonderful memories!

Jeff's Birthday!

Every year for Jeff's birthday, we stay at a hotel in Salt Lake. We stayed at the Hyatt this year which is right next to the Gateway. The highlight was seeing the movie Avatar in 3D. We went to the 11:59 Thursday night showing and both thoroughly enjoyed it. We also enjoyed shopping and eating at Tucanos. It is one of the weekends that I look forward to the most and this year did not disappoint. We had a great time! Thanks to our families for watching our kids!
The actual day of his birthday we took the kids to the Training Table--a favorite of Jeff's and Jaxon's. Jeff had to work so we did the cake and singing before lunch. Jaxon and Claire helped me decorate his cake and the house. Jax wanted to buy party hats. I'm grateful for the kids and how much fun they make everything! We love you Honey and hope you had a great Birthday!!

Christmas Sunday!

I couldn't believe how grown up the kids looked in their Christmas outfits. Since we were in Midway for our last Sunday, it ended up being Jaxon's last week in Nursery. He will miss his teachers and seeing his sister, but he is excited to be a Sunbeam. Claire does great in Nursery, but will miss seeing Jax as well. Jeff and I are looking forward to 9:00 church and to team teaching the 10-11 year olds.

December Fun

December is definitely one of my favorite months of the year. I love that we spend more time with family and friends. Some of our activities were:

Lunch at the Lion House (tradition with Jeff's family):
The kids wanted to go to the JSMB after to see the waterfalls and the temple:


We hosted our annual party for my friends from high school. Some of the Trimble games this year were leading your team through a maze blindfolded and seeing who could hold weights out in front of your body the longest. It went really well and I am so glad we still keep in touch with my friends.

Other activities that we don't have pictures of were a Christmas Party with Jeff's friends from high school, driving through the lights at Thanksgiving Point, and many visits to the mall to ride the train and see Santa. Even though it was a little crazy at times, I am sad it's almost over.

Ward Christmas Party

We went to our ward Christmas Party on Friday night. They had a really nice dinner and lots of yummy desserts. (Of course that's what I was drawn too). Dinner was followed by a talent show and a story for the kids. After singing Christmas songs, Santa came in and we got in line to see him. Jaxon was excited to thank him for Toby. Claire was so tired by that time, she couldn't even stay awake to see him. We still had to get a picture with her on Santa's lap. At least she wasn't screaming which I'm fairly certain she would have been were she awake. Santa told Jaxon what a big responsibility a dog is and to take good care of him. He thought it was so neat that he got a candy cane from Santa. I love Christmas and watching the kids get more into it each year!!

Our Family is Growing

Our kids, mainly Jaxon, have been asking us for a dog for a really long time. Jeff and I finally decided that we were ready and that it would be really good for the kids. We both did a lot of research trying to find the perfect breed for our little family. We came across a Havanese and had heard nothing but good about them. There aren't a lot of breeders in Utah, but Jeff found a lady in Santaquin who found us one for a great price. We wanted to see the dog early just to make sure he was what we wanted. How crazy looking back that we didn't think what a bad idea it would be to take the kids with us. It was supposed to be an innocent trip just to look at a dog to possibly tell Santa that we wanted one. Ten minutes in, we knew we weren't leaving without the dog. Yes, we are suckers. So we headed home from Santaquin with dog in tow and made a stop at the pet store. I wasn't ready for it at all, but maybe it was better that way. We came up with the name Toby (after Tobias from Arrested Development). Jaxon loved him from the second he held him. Claire wanted nothing to do with him for the first part of the drive. But by the end, she couldn't get enough of him. They took turns holding him and playing with him. I can't remember what, if anything has made them that happy before. As Jeff put it, they were so excited they didn't know what to do. It was so fun to watch them with their new buddy. Since then (this happened a week and a half ago), he has become a part of our family. He has been an incredibly easy dog. He sleeps well and he is so good with the kids. Claire carries him everywhere and holds him between her legs to read him stories. It is the sweetest thing.

Jaxon runs and plays with him. Toby goes to Jax's room every morning and starts barking. They are fast becoming good little buddies. Toby learned quick which one is the more gentle one.

Best Books of 2009

To continue on with our Best Ofs for 2009, my favorite book was the Book Thief. It is a WWII book told from the perspective of death. It made me cry at the end more than I remember a book doing for a long time. It was an incredible story.

Jeff's favorite book this year was Shutter Island. It was a great psychological thriller that kept you guessing throughout the entire book.