Christmas Day!

Christmas morning was very fun! Christmas Eve the kids slept in the Living Room in sleeping bags. Jake lit a fire for them so they fell asleep together by a warm, glowing fire. Very sweet! We put our Christmas tree in the Family Room this year so the kids put his cookies and milk in there. Santa would have to walk past the kids with their stockings (from the fireplace) and put their stockings and presents by the tree in the Family Room. The kids came into our room at 6:50am. I said "please just 10 more minutes". They waited patiently on their sleeping bags. We started our Christmas at 7am, not bad! When we were finished we called my dad and Tori and they came over and had breakfast with us. Dad is a fantastic cook and his specialty is MOUNT-O Eggs (Homemade Hash Browns with fried eggs on top). They came and Dad helped me cook breakfast, Jake too (he flipped the bacon :))! Tori helped Ashton put his new train together, FUN!

Dad and AJ got matching USC t-shirts!

Tay got her 1st American Girl doll. Her name is Elizabeth and she loves her! She takes her with her everywhere and she sleeps with her every night. Right now she is sleeping with her arm around her. :) From Santa she got a snow globe. She has started a collection.

I got a waffle iron. I made waffles with it Christmas morning and it works GREAT! Jake and I had one right when we got married and it was awful, the waffle would pull apart and get stuck on both sides and I got angry and in the trash it went. Well, we have not had one since. Now, look at these beautiful, Belgian style waffles. They were yummy!!!

Uncle Blake called home (he's on his mission in New Mexico) at 11:00am. He actually called early so we went up about 10:30am. So we went up there and talked with him for about an hour. It was great to hear his voice. He sounds awesome!!!

Then we went to visit Great Nana about 1:30pm and sat with her for about 1/2 an hour and then went to Dad's and had dinner with them.

In Nana's room AJ just played with his new Christmas toys. He got a new train from Mom and Dad and from Santa, an M&M race car.

Christmas evening at Nana and Papa's house.

Thanks Nana and Papa for my new games and for my cool, and really fast race car and race track. (AJ)

Thanks Nana and Papa for my new dogs, my matching apron with my mom,
and my Mosaic Tile Art kit (me, AJ and my mom already
have put together a couple of cool pictures).
Tay had to try out her new apron and cook Christmas dinner with Nana!

More Presents!!!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for Gator Golf and

for my new flashlight that I can wear on my neck!
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa, I got just what I wanted, it was on my wish list!!! A webkinz, his name is cheeky and I love to get on the computer everyday to check on him and play games to earn more money so I can buy him all kinds of goodies! Thanks for my new flashlight too!

Presents from Grammy!

Let's FIGHT!

In this top picure Rock was going for AJ and AJ started to cry and freak out so I told AJ "just hit him away from you" well he went up to Rock and hit him in the face with his light sabor. I said "no hit his light sabor away with your light sabor". oops! I should have explained that one better.





What? Hannah Montana Holiday Barbie. She sings "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".

Grammy teaches the kids tennis and now they have their very own rackets.

Christmas Eve!!!

Thankyou Uncle Norris and Aunt Brenna for the Glow-in-the-dark stars and glow sticks for Tay, we already have the stars hanging in her room. Thankyou for the racecar for AJ, you know how much he loves racecars. :)
Thankyou Uncle Travis and Aunt Miriam for my new piggybank. I love "Cars" movie and money. :)

Thankyou Uncle Travis and Aunt Miriam for my new teddy bear. I love stuffed animals!!! (Tay)

Grannie and Tay

Tay loves her daddy!!!

Christmas Eve!!!

Christmas Eve was spent at Mom's house as usual but this year there were 37 people. WOW!!! At one point I was yelling across the room at my sister just trying to tell her something but I couldn't even hear myself talk. :) The program was amazing! Sophi planned it all out and we reenacted the birth of christ, like we always do, while reading the story from Luke. But this year musical numbers were added (Miriam played the piano as we all sang a few songs, Tay played "Away in a Manger", Charlene sang a solo("What Child Is This") and Marshall played the guitar while Norris and Rich sang "We 3 Kings of Orient Are") as well as a Christmas story told by the prophet, Pres. Monson, from the 2008 Christmas devotional.

I was going to play "Away in a Manger" with Tay but I never practiced it so I told Sophi that night "oh, by the way I'm not playing with Tay".

Sophi: "what! You have to, you're on the program"

Vanessa:"to bad"

S:"you should have practiced"

V:"well, I didn't".

S:"fine, will you read the story?"

V:" will it make me cry?"

S: "it's okay if it does, it's better that way. It probably won't, it's not really a crying story"

V: "okay"

Well, I read the story and I did cry, Sophi forgot that at the end Pres. Monson bears his testimony of Christ and it was very touching and of course for Vanessa, emotional!

At least, at the end of the story when I looked up most of the room was crying too. :)

We had to have 2 "Mary's".

Candy Houses!!!

We usually call them Gingerbread Houses but this year Briana said "they are not Gingerbread Houses because we make them out of graham crackers, they are candy houses". :)

Tay made a sleigh with 8 tiny reindeer.

Together we made a pond in the back yard with a duck inside.

Tay's House!!!

This is what making Candy Houses is all about, eating the frosting

and candy until you want to throw up. :)

AJ managed to get frosting in his ear. :)

AJ's House!!!







We were at Grannie's house with mom, Briana and kids, Sophi and kids, her sis-in-law and kids, Norris and Brenna and Aunt Ruth and kids. It was a great time!!!

I had to post Norris' house. He takes after my dad, my dad used to build candy houses like this when I was a little girl. Like Father Like Son!!!

My Little Angels!

New Family Tradition!

On Saturday December 20th we went to the temple. The little kids stayed in Grannie's apartment with a few older kids and we (Jake and I and parents and all of my siblings, aunt and uncle too) got to go to the temple. After, we walked around the temple with the kids and saw all the beautiful Christmas lights. My mom wants us to do this every year! :)

Cute pic with Dad and baby Tino.

AJ wanted to play with his cousins (friends) not take a pic with his family.

Jake's mom went too!!! :)


Looking down at all the lights



Shane and cousins

Tay's holding "Lucky", her dog that she got the day before.