Christmas in Texas, New Years at Home!

We were invited to a shin-dig in Texas for Christmas this year and we just couldn't pass it up. Thankfully Paul was able to get some time off of work- we were so excited to go and see so much of our family! The day we drove out, our little Corolla was packed to the hilt. Try fitting 4 people, a week's worth of clothes, diapers, food for traveling, A BIKE, and a bunch of other presents. It was crowded.

We stopped and stayed the night in Albuquerque. This is Susie enjoying her free breakfast: 

We had a great time hanging out with everyone. These are some of my favorite people to be around. Susie loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa West. She spent most of the time sitting on Grandpa's lap. We had lots of yummy food to eat all week! As you can see in this next picture, Paul had fun too... maybe a little too much fun.. :) 

One of my favorite parts of the trip was on Christmas Eve when we took time to think about the Savior and his birth. Grandma and Grandpa West brought costumes for the grandkids. They all dressed up and Grandpa read us the Christmas story. The spirit was beautiful, it really touched me.

We slept at Jessica's and had a lot of fun later that night setting up the living room with stockings and presents. We watched a few movies and ate candy and put bikes together. Jessica knows how to make things fun and festive. She made a great Christmas breakfast for us, complete with Rudolph plates and cups. So adorable!! I want some. 

We were able to be there for Joshua's baptism, too. That was a fun day! The little kids watched the baptism up close then sang "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam". We had a fun celebration afterwards with pizza and cake and a nerf gun war in the gym (those Wests know how to party). 

 We survived the trip home and the next day had some visitors of our own. Mom and Olivia drove down to spend New Years with us. We had some fun little activities planned throughout New Years Eve to celebrate. Susie likes popping balloons. Olivia is such a good aunt. Susanna loved having her and Grandma at our house.

We went to "The Place" for breakfast with my Uncle Todd and Weston who were traveling through. They served us ginormous amounts of food!

I couldn't believe the snow the got that week! It snowed a ton!!  

We made lots of treats, decorated a New Years tree, and had a fun time spending time together. Mom and Livy and I got to go on a girls night out. It was a blast! We are so lucky to have so many wonderful relationships and people in our life. It was hard to say goodbye when they left. 

Happy 2015! 

More Christmas Fun

Susie is helping me upload pictures right now. We had a fun conversation:

Me: Susie- all I want for Christmas is you.
Susie: huh? What you said?
Me: All I want for Christmas is you!
Susie: You want me to be your present? I not a present.

It made me laugh. We have done some fun things these last few weeks. I was able to travel up to Utah by myself to attend my sister, Tiffany's, graduation from nursing school. I was so thankful that I could be there. She has worked so hard! We celebrated by going out and getting our nails done and buying lots of ice cream.

We had a little Christmas devotional at our house. We invited a few friends and neighbors to come over and share a thought, scripture or song about the Savior.

We went over to our friends house and made gingerbread houses. I'd never made them before and it was so fun! We had pizza for dinner and watched Elf while we worked on decorating our houses. Susie loved it.

We also bought tickets for the Polar Express! We drove to Williams (30 minutes away) and boarded the train there. On the train we drank hot chocolate and ate cookies. We passed the "North Pole" and saw Santa waving. On the way back Santa wasn't there anymore and we all wondered where he had gone. He was on the train! He greeted each of the children and gave them each a bell. It was a lot of fun.

On the way back Paul held the bell to his ear and said, oh darn, it doesn't work. (Non-believer)

Braden came down with a fever on Thursday and has been pretty sick. I took him to the doctor and she said his ears and throat look fine, it might be the flu. We are still home taking care of him. Poor little guy. He hasn't eaten or slept well in 4 days. We are a little nervous because we were planning on leaving for Texas tomorrow. Paul gave him a blessing this morning and we are hoping he shows lots of improvement today (if you are reading this on Sunday, please say a little prayer for him!) We are so excited to go to Texas to spend Christmas with our family there! I hope every one is feeling well so we can go.

Holiday Fun

Lots of pictures to share. We've had a few busy weeks. I don't like it when the word "holiday" and "busy" go together but we are doing our best not to get caught up in our "to do" list and focus instead on what is most important this Christmas season.

We stayed in Flagstaff for Thanksgiving and enjoyed dinner with some friends in our ward.

Before dinner we spent the day as a family and put up Christmas lights. 

We had fun decorating our house for Christmas, too! Braden tried to help by putting books in the tree.  Susie loved putting up her new Princess Aurora ornament.

Last week we went to Little America, which is a hotel in Flagstaff that puts up an amazing light display. We had a great time looking at the lights and bought ice cream cones afterwards. My kids love to look at Christmas lights, they had a ball! 

Paul and I were asked to be in charge of our ward's Christmas party. We decided to center it around the Nephite Christmas story found in the Book of Mormon. We cut out silhouettes of what was supposed to look like Nephite villages... it didn't look quite the way I wanted it too but it was still neat.

Paul borrowed a suit and played Santa Clause for a half hour before the dinner started. He did such a good job! I was impressed. He ho-ho-hoed and asked all the kids if they had been good. I thought for sure Susie would recognize him... nope! It was so funny. Braden didn't recognize him either...

Last weekend we all drove up to St George for our annual Garbett Family Christmas party. It was so so so nice to see everyone and spend a little time with them. We don't get to see them often enough.  Susie and Braden were adored by all and it was so nice for me to have them spend time with people I love so much.

Here are a few other pictures that make me happy. Braden has a smile and laugh that melts my heart. He is the cutest. He is a handful, too. Susie is my little buddy. It's not always easy taking care of 2 kids but I'm grateful I get to do it. We are so blessed.