Santa

We went with some friends to see Santa last week at Fashion Place Mall and I hadn't posted the picture yet, but I think this is a picture we all need to see. Brooklyn and Carter were terrified, but Alex just sits in the middle like nothing is wrong. What is it about Santa that terrifies children? Is it all his fur? It was sad to see the children cry, but all I can really say is poor Santa!We had an incredible Christmas! Brooklyn really got into the present thing this year and loved everything she received. She plays with everything! I will post more pictures later because we received a new camera for Christmas and I need to learn how to put the pictures on my computer. Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Oh, and Happy Birthday Alex, who turns 1 today!

Welcome Jamon Joseph!

Welcome to our new nephew, Jamon Joseph Harris! He was born last night at 10:21 pm. Weighing in at 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19 inches long. What a small little guy!He wasn't due until January 13th so he arrived 3 1/2 weeks early. He had to be taken by C-section because he was trying to come feet first! We are glad he arrived safely and all is well with him. Isn't he cute?

Gardner Village Fun

We usually visit Gardner Village in October to see the Witches, but I never knew they did so much during the Christmas season! On Friday, Brooklyn and I went with our friends, Liz and Alex, to Gardner Village to see the Elves.


The elves are much like the witches, but I would have to say they are even cuter! Sure it was cold, but it was fun to see the decorations and all the cute elves! We stopped to eat lunch and warm up and even got a close up view of the ducks! The poor things, they must be freezing!

The kids had a lot of fun and were good sports with their moms for taking them out in the cold!
Then on Saturday night, we went back to Gardner Village to see the Live Nativity. This was neat! They actually had people act out the Nativity, including real animals. It was crowded, but Brooklyn enjoyed the singing, seeing baby Jesus, and petting the llama, goat, and sheep. For her, the llama was the best part! I'm surprised she wasn't terrified of such a strange looking animal.
The only bad part was being out in the cold two days in a row seems to have brought on a cold. She wasn't able to go to church today since she has a little cough now. Who knows, maybe the llama gave it to her?!

Tagged for the holidays!

So I was tagged and quite honestly I wasn't sure what that was, but I'm assuming it's much like those forward emails where you copy the questions and answer them yourselves. So thanks Jess for tagging me so I can learn blog language. I sent an email out a few weeks ago that was similiar to this so some of you might already know my answers. However, I can't be tagged and not do something about it! :) Enjoy! And if you feel the need, consider yourself tagged!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping, but there are certain gifts that I think only gift bags will do.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. My mom got tired of putting up her big tree each year and since I was the only child that ever helped her put up the tree, she gave the tree to me when she bought a smaller one.

3. When do you put up the tree? Whenever we have time. There is no set date on this. The earlier the better so we have more time to enjoy it, but we always wait until after Thanksgiving at least.

4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's sometime. Again, when we have time.

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope! Never have and that's a good thing considering how many calories are in it. :)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't remember. I loved Cabbage Patch Kids though.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes and we love it!

8. Hardest person to buy for? My parents. What do you buy people that have it all and go out and buy it when they need it?! hehe

9. Easiest person to buy for? Brooklyn, it's been lots of fun buying things for her this year. I could buy her so much, but I'm trying to control myself.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of anything.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail! I love to get something in the mail besides bills and junk mail.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? The Polar Express and The Christmas Story.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I bought a few this year before Thanksgiving, but the majority is done after Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All the yummy Christmas treats: Homemade Caramels, Cornflake Candy and right now I'm loving Chocolate covered pretzels that people have brought to us. Yum!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Right now we have clear and blue lights on our tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night and Still, Still, Still

18. Travel for Christmas or stay home? We only travel as far as Kamas to visit the in-laws. Our family is all pretty close. It's nice to be able to travel, but also be home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Sure, but I usually have to sing Rudolph to remember.

20. Angel on the treetop or a star? Star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve we open pajamas and the rest are Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The crowds of people everywhere you go...on the roads and in the stores. Let me say that I really love that I can shop during the day while most people are at work!

23. What I love most about Christmas? I love how people are so charitable and Christmas brings a great feeling in the air. It's hard to explain, but I love how Christmas makes me feel!

The End!

Happy Birthday Marty!

Today is Marty's 28th birthday! Sadly, he's sick like he has been the last three years. I guess that's the fate of December birthdays. We are truly grateful for him in our lives and we love him dearly. He is a wonderful husband and father and takes really good care of Brooklyn and me. We have lots of fun together. We hope we can find a way to have fun today, even if he's sick. So here's to you, Marty. We love you!!

Inside decorations & Gingerbread houses

We were a little slow on decorating the inside of our house this year. Well, at least compared to the outside. We put up our tree, nativity and other inside decorations on Sunday, December 2nd. Brooklyn loved helping put on our Disney ornaments. She thinks it great to have a tree in the house and is often found swinging the ornaments at the bottom of the tree! No worries though, they aren't breakable.

She also loved helping with the Nativity and wants to look at baby Jesus every day. We are so grateful that our friends, Jess & Scott gave us their Entertainment Center when they moved because now we have a place to put the Nativity that is out of reach of kids! It's great! Here's a picture of our front room. The guy on the TV is from the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, in case you were wondering.

Then on Monday, we got together with some friends in the Ward and made Gingerbread houses. Thanks to Liz and Dallin for the yummy soup and rolls as well as making the gingerbread for the houses. It was pretty easy for us to just show up and decorate them. I can only imagine the work for making the gingerbread for 4 different gingerbread houses!

It was lots of fun to see the different types of houses we all made and to get together with everyone. I only have a picture of our house. Marty surprised me with his decorating ability. His mom taught him well! He actually wrote Merry Christmas on the back of the house, but I didn't have enough room for that picture. Brooklyn didn't help much with the house, but had fun playing with her friends instead. She likes her "candy" house as she calls it.

Festival of Trees

Brooklyn and I went to the Festival of Trees yesterday with our friends, Mindy and Carter. We enjoyed walking around and seeing the many beautiful trees!

Brooklyn loved all the lights and colors and kept saying "wow" and "balls". She liked it more than last year, plus it's fun that she can say so many words now.

This is something that we enjoy doing each year, except next year I'll actually have to pay for her!

We enjoyed a yummy scone and even bought an elf wand. This is Brooklyn playing with it at home! Doesn't she look like an elf?!