Christmas at last!

Now that I've blogged about our many December activities, here's (finally) some fun pics from our trip to St. George for Christmas! Now that this post is done, I can get caught up with January, February, and March in no time since we haven't had quite as much going on as we did in December. Don't you guys feel that way, too?

Our first stop into town is always to see Brandi and her boys. I love this girl!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with half of my family.

Emily and Hailey thought it was pretty cool to have princess goblets just like on Beauty and the Beast.After dinner, we watched the movie Ruthanne had made for my Grandma with pictures of Grandpa Lang's life since he passed away in July. Then we surprised my parents with a movie we all helped Ruthanne put together of pictures of THEM! It was beautiful, and my parents were really touched.

Christmas 2010 after Santa arrived

coming up the stairs youngest to oldest on Christmas morning to see what awaits them...

a baby doll and crib for Emily

and real make-up...wahoo!

a horse and cowboy clothes for Jonny along with an ocean animal set

making memories

Uncle Austin and Aunt Ruthanne had our names for Christmas, and they gave Jonny a Thomas the Train set, My Little Pony reading books and pony for Emily, and Tai Pan gift card for us. Yea! I have been wanting to buy some new decorations for my house, and now I finally can!
I kept the tradition alive and gave Wade something he already owns...his running shoes...what a lucky husband to have a cheesy wife like me.
My parents gave Hailey and Emily fancy dresses with a matching one for their baby dolls.
They also gave Em a new ballet skirt that she loves!
Cowboy Jonny trying out his new horse and cowboy clothes
We gave homemade cards to Summer, books for Jace, Aspen, and Preston, and a BOX for Nick. That's right, an empty box. There's a hilarious inside story to this, but to be brief let's just say it involves him being annoyed at his crazy little sisters who played in a huge box once for 2 hours. It was 20 years ago, but we always crack up when we talk about it, so I thought it would be the perfect gift.
Nick then decided to play inside the box we gave him. It was the highlight of my Christmas, that's for sure. I could not stop laughing! After he was done playing, I pulled out his real gift, a homemade apple pie I made him.
Here's Sarah with my cute little sister, Ruthanne, who's expecting her first baby in July. :)
After seeing our Great Grandma's loom at the Daughter of the Utah Pioneer Museum, we played laser tag at Laser Mania. What a blast! Here's Taylor and Brooklyn playing air hockey afterwards.

Emily trying to get the apples in the basket

pizza for everyone!

Sarah drooling away getting ready for teeth to come in

One happy family...yep, this is all 30 of us. These guys mean a lot to me!

Merry Christmas!

Bowling Fever

Emily's friend, Zach, asked his mom if he could take some friends bowling just for fun, and we were happy to go. Our kids had bowled once before, so they thought they were seasoned pros.

Oh yeah baby!

"You are 16, going on 17..." or 28 (same thing)

For my 28th birthday, Wade went to the store early in the morning and brought me back beautiful flowers along with donuts and bacon, which we never have at our house, so it was a treat for sure. Cooking for us was an even bigger treat. I love that he knows his way around a kitchen, especially on weekends and special occasions like this.

While I was cleaning the house to prepare for my birthday party, I found Jonny playing with his wild animals on top of the kitchen set. Random, but funny!
For my birthday party, I invited some of my favorite girls over for Papa Murphey's pizza, salad, and Better Than Almost Anything Cake that Kim made. We watched the last 10 minutes of Anne of Green Gables, talked, laughed, and had a 2nd piece of cake..or 3rd or 4th..I can't quite recall HOW many pieces I ate. Man, I love that cake. It's the only kind of cake I like. I usually prefer pie, but not when this cake is around. Those 20 lbs I had lost since the baby was born probably came BACK on that night alone. :)

Best White Elephant Gift ever!

When thinking of a white elephant gift each of us could bring to the Stoney Family Christmas Party, we were blown away when we found this beauty in our friend's DI pile. It's an original Suzanne Somers exercise pole. Pure awesomeness truly. For some reason, Wade's step brother wasn't as excited about receiving it as we were giving it. haha But at least it gave everyone a good laugh at the party. I'll post more pics once I get them from my mother in law.

Reed Family Christmas Party

The moment Emily's dance recital ended, we raced home so we could host the Reed Family Christmas Party at our house, complete with a delicious brunch.

the Reed fam

just the five of us, with Emily and Sarah wearing their matching skirts made by Aunt Elizabeth

I love them!

Jonny was so excited for the wild animal set Grandpa and Grandma Reed gave him!

And they surprised Emily with a darling tea set...

...which the girls put to use immediately. :)

I knitted homemade Christmas stockings for dad and Claudia as well as mom and Keith. They seemed pleased. :) Thanks to my cousin, Carolynn, who helped me with the knitting.

cute cousins:

Ramsi, Raegan, Emily, Sarah, Caleb, Jake, Jonny, and Olivia

Christmas Dance Recital

Emily, the dancer

Sarah, the sleepy little sis' in a matching dress

Santa Claus is coming to town!

With Avery and Sophie out of town, we had a smaller group for our Preschool Christmas Program, but they sure did awesome! Here's Owen, Jonny, Emily, Conon, Vivian, and Taylor. They performed several songs and dances, but here are two of their favorites:

"Jingle Bells"

"Once There Was a Snowman"

After the program, we had a special visitor...SANTA! It's funny how even the most outgoing, enthusiastic kids can become a little shy around this big jolly guy. Here's Jonny sitting on his lap.

Emily

baby Sarah

Hey, I had some Christmas wishes on my list, too! ;)