"Merry Chri'mas!"

Aspen and Treycen in their New Christmas Church clothes, the Sunday before Christmas.

It was very important to Treycen that we made a gingerbread house! He was so excited to make it and even more excited at the prospect of eating it later! He loves gingerbread!

I iced the house and Treycen and Aspen helped decorate it! Hyrum helped Treycen put the candy on the roof!

And I helped Aspen put it on her side. She surprised me... I thought she would make a mess out of it or eat all the candy, but she did a really good job with those tiny fingers!

Treycen had the idea to put a really big window in the back with a Christmas tree in it. Good idea buddy!

The kids were so proud of the job we did!

Treycen had the really good idea to put the candy canes in front and the ornaments on the ground! He's so creative!

Christmas eve... opening the new PJ's

We let Treycen give us his present that he made for us on Christmas eve... he was so excited and we were too!

A cookbook! I love your recipe Treycen!

Then Treycen and Aspen got to open their gifts they got each other!

Aspen gave Treycen some awesome race cars and an airplane and Treycen gave Aspen a Tinkerbell lamp... she LOVES it! We hung the stockings, put the milk and cookies out for Santa and read our Christmas eve stories, then put them to be to dream of sugar plums!

Christmas Morning!

Treycen was so excited when he woke up cause he wanted to see if Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk!

WOW! He did and he even left us a letter!

They were excited to see that the stockings were full of prizes!

Treycen was soooo excited to see all the presents under the tree!

He loves his light-up snowman ornament that Sharon and Ward gave him!

Is this for me?

A new camera for me!!!! I was so happy and started using it right away! Hyrum was smart and charged the battery ahead of time for me! Pictures with the new camera start...

... now!

I made Hyrum this quilt for Christmas! It was a lot of work, but it made him really happy!

This was Aspen's favorite Christmas present! "It's a treasure chest!" she exclaimed! It was really a dress up chest... even better! She was so happy that she immediately put on an entire Princess outfit! She's worn at least the crown every day since!

"A crown! Open it Mommy!"

"Put it on Daddy!"

"Zat!" She kept saying as she pointed her wand over and over again at everyone! It was hard to get a picture of her because she was so excited and "zat"ing around!

Aspen's Potty doll... she gulps when you give her a drink. No water needed... thank goodness!

My pretty little Princess!

"I hate little cars!" Treycen wanted this "smash oh smash" toy forever! Obviously he was so happy to get it!

Another favorite toy of Treycen's... the splash mountain waterfall track for Thomas the train.

Yay me! A new shirt!

Aspen's Tinkerbell set. She loves Tinkerbell!

Hyrum's big gift! A guitar and all the accessories! He was really happy about it!

It snowed BIG TIME over the night, Christmas eve! So as soon as we were done unwrapping presents, Hyrum got started clearing off the snow on the driveway. He also helped the neighbors get their walkways and driveways clear. Thank goodness for a snowblower!

The snow was above my knee when I went out there to take the pictures! We got all of that snow the night before Christmas! What a surprise to wake up to!

It stuck to every little branch! Watch the video to see what Treycen had to say about that!

The snow postponed the trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's house until the next day, when the weather would be better.

So we all relaxed and set up and played with our toys! A cozy Christmas snow day!

The Garbage truck was something that Treycen wanted sooo bad and talked about it every day! Santa knew and he gave it to Treycen for Christmas! HE WAS SO EXCITED! It was his favorite present he got on Christmas day!

Our Christmas Was wonderful! We were finished shopping weeks before Christmas and got to really enjoy Hyrum's time off from work together as a family! Treycen and Aspen were so excited for Christmas that it just added to the joy of that day and all the days (or should I say Months) leading up to it! Treycen started asking about Christmas and counting down the days before Halloween even got here!

Aspen very quickly learned the Christmas songs... I sang Jingle Bells to her about 5 times and then she knew all the words to the whole song! I am impressed! Aspen also likes to sing We Wish You A Merry Christmas.. only she doesn't often use her "S's" (about 50% of the time) So she says "Chri'mas" instead... so fun! Snow sounds like "no"... "dashing through the no!"

All season long, Treycen put pictures for Santa into the special Santa mailbox and, in return, Santa gave him treats. One time Santa's elves saw Treycen and Aspen being very good and cleaning the house so nice! The next day, Santa left them a letter of appreciation and a little toy prize for each of them!

Treycen couldn't wait to leave Santa his milk and cookies Christmas eve! He asked about leaving them every night for many nights leading up to Christmas eve and even set some make shift treats and milk out for him a couple of times. He and Aspen were very excited to see if Santa had eaten the milk and cookies on Christmas morning... it almost was more important than the presents... well for a minute anyway!

The fact that we were practically snowed in on Christmas day (overnight snow that went above my knee caps) only gave us a more cozy and relaxing Christmas day than we are used to having. The kids (big and little) all got to play with their new toys and (get this one) take naps! Though, Treycen couldn't wait to go to Grandma's and would have happily left his toys behind to go there!

Overall, it was a special day and the snow only meant that we got to have two special days!

My man also loves to painball... sniper style!

Hyrum set up a paintball trip with a bunch of friends from work back in August. He was really excited to go and try out his new guillie suit! Turned out that he only got shot 4 times the whole trip! He however, shot people 85 times! Is that fair? Well, Hyrum would say it's fun! By the way.. Hyrum is the one kneeling down in front. Behind him is Adam, John, Keith, Jeremy, Kelly, Justin, Taylor, and Robert.

Then (of course) Hyrum found time to fly fish at the small and little known "current creek". He took these pretty pictures there.

My man loves to fish!

Hyrum went fishing this summer in Yellowstone! He was so excited to go and had a great time with his nephew Chase and friend Eric! They stayed at the new World Mark Resort in West Yellowstone. The first day, he went on a guided trip with Eric on the Madison River... Hyrum's guide was wonderful! He is actually somewhat a TV star, as guides go. Hyrum is sure to look him up when he gets to realizing another dream to fish in the Florida Key's!


After that, Hyrum, Chase, and Eric all went fishing in Yellowstone! Great weekend... good company!

These last few pictures are from one of Hyrum's Saturday excursions to the Cottonwood Canyon to fish.

Daddy's Fly Fishing Buddy!

This last summer, Treycen really wanted to go fishing with his Daddy. Hyrum finally took him in July! Treycen was sooo excited and he has since told Aspen that she has to wait until she is big like him and then she will get to go fishing with Daddy too! He felt so special to have wading boots, fly fishing vest, and rod like daddy's!

At the end, Treycen slipped and fell into the water a little bit. It filled up his boots... he was laughing as he dumped them out from the back of the SUV! Very cute! It was definitely one of Treycen's highlights this summer! Daddy's little fishing buddy is finally getting big enough to go with him! A lot to look forward to!

Potato cravings...

This morning, Aspen (2 1/2 yrs) woke up before Treycen (4 1/2 yrs). This is a rare and memorable moment.. as I came to realize after changing her diaper and releasing her from such a captive state. She quickly made her way to my bedroom door (I had shut it to preserve Treycen's slumber as I changed her) and reached for the handle and proudly turned it to open the door... all by herself.

She had been so happy to have accomplished such a feat a couple weeks ago, that she had exclaimed, "I did it!" from across the house. I, of course, followed with a heartfelt, "yay!"

So this morning, I just smiled remembering those moments as I watched her trying to turn the handle... but this time, knowing that she could do it. After she opened my door, I watched her toddle across the hall to Treycen's room, saying in her munchkin voice that she intended on waking Treycen up. She then reached the handle on his door and with a couple of turns, opened his door. "Wake up Treycen!" She said. I heard his little voice crack, "Hi Aspen!" Then I could hear her smile through her voice as she returned with a very happy, "Come on Treycen!" With that, the two of them started to play.

Aspen was very hungry from the moment she woke up. I however, wanted to get some personal morning prep done before making her breakfast. As I was finishing up brushing my teeth in my bathroom, I heard Aspen desperately calling for me to feed her as she walked down the hallway and into my room. I also heard that she was pulling something behind her that sounded something like a grocery store bag or wrapping paper. I was curious. She pushed open the bathroom door. "Mom! I want to eat!... Please!" As I went to look behind her, she pulled her arm forward and with a thud, a bag full of potatoes fell on the bathroom floor!

I smiled and asked her if she really wanted a potato for breakfast? She repeated, "I want to eat, please!" I laughed, picked up the bag of potatoes in one hand, and her in the other, and headed for the kitchen. My angel was hungry for an ugly potato and that is what she was going to get! I assured her that mommy was going to make her one right away! I microwaved it and dressed it up with yummy things she liked, such as cheese and ranch dressing.

Long story short... I ate the potato. I guess her eyes were bigger than her stomach... about the size of a potato! It wasn't all she thought it would be. Oh well! Now she knows!