Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's

Like we normally do, we headed down to Utah after Christmas. This year, all the cousins were there. The girls had so much fun with their cousins-from playing with play-doh, dressing up, coloring, watching movies, playing with Janae's DS, to just hanging out. It was definitely a wild house with all 5 kids! It's probably a good thing that the next family gathering won't be until summer, Grandma's going to need that much time to recoup! It is always fun to get away, but nothing beats coming back home!

Santa's Presents

Despite attempts to keep Christmas small this year, we ended up with a lot of stuff. Janae came into our room at about 8:00, with Addyson following not long after. Unfortunately Scott had been up since about 5:00 sick from the pain killers he was taking. After waiting for him to feel better for a while, which didn't happen, we had breakfast, read lots of books and Addyson even showered. All the while, the girls were really patient, but wanted to know when they could go see their presents. Addyson even asked at one point if she could just go peak at her stuff, but not touch any of it. Finally at about 10:30, the girls and I headed down. We recorded it all but it wasn't the same without dad being their with us.

Addyson's pile, she did get wings that she asked for, but I doubt they will fly her to the North Pole like she wants

Janae's pile-she got her DS and games


Scott finally got up around 3:00, feeling better but by no means great. The girls were excited to show their dad their loot, so it was almost like seeing it all for the first time again.

Christmas Eve

We hosted Christmas Eve at out house again this year. Just part of my family came , so we only had 16 people. The theme for dinner this year was soup. My girls love to help decide on a theme each year. After dinner, it was time to open presents. The girls got shirts, jackets and fuzzy socks from my parents. Addyson was the most excited of anyone when she opened her fuzzy socks!

After everyone left, we ventured downstairs to open our own gifts from each other. I got a hair straightener, tortilla press and steamer so that I can make tamales. I can't wait to try my hand at tamales soon! The girls got new jammies, as usual. The highlight though, was when they opened their new water bottles I had wrapped like a big piece of candy. Guesses on what they were-a big tube of lip gloss or a gigantic piece of candy. They couldn't go to bed until they had put out 9 carrots for the reindeer and cookies for Santa. It's no wonder Santa has such a big belly with all the treats he has to eat all night long!

Scott's Surgery

Scott has been having trouble with several fingers on his left hand being numb. After seeing several doctors and getting nowhere, it was time for surgery. The doctor was up in Jackson and he decided to have it done before the end of the year, you know, for insurance sake. They move the nerve that is usually near the elbow to the front of his arm, under the muscle. Not a very fun surgery. Here is a link to some information about "Cubital Tunnel Syndrome" and the surgical procedure, "Ulnar Nerve Transposition", they did to fix it.

Here is his arm about 10 days after surgery. Notice the yellowing bruise on his entire arm. The first time we took the wrap and brace off, I was a little scared of how it would look. It's not as bad as I expected. He now has the staples out and a new brace. The doctor says he can't start physical therapy for 4 more weeks. Scott is enjoying his time off.

Cookie Decorating at the Wort Hotel

After our sleigh ride, we headed to the Wort Hotel in Jackson where Merilee had signed the kids up for some cookie decorating. What an awesome idea! For only $8, they each got a dozen cookies to slather with as much sugar as they could. I loved that the mess was not at my house! Here's the before and during decorating pictures. I'm thinking that Janae liked the frosting, how about you?

And here we have the finished masterpieces. Jimmy was cute with his box. After he had his all done, his mom put them nicely in the box for the ride home. He then proceeded to swing the box around and shake it all over. Needless to say, he had some nice crumbs to show his dad when we got home.

Jackson Elk Refuge

Scott had surgery up in Jackson, so we decided to go a few days early and spend some time with his sister and her family. The girls were looking forward to going to Jimmy's house. We were looking for things to keep them entertained and remembered the elk refuge. The sleigh ride was a bit expensive for all of us, but it was an experience that they won't forget. It was a little slow going on the sleigh with no snow on the ground. The horses had to work extra hard which meant having to give them more breaks. We rode out a ways to a group of about 40 bulls. They are so used to people that not one of them even moved as we approached. Not being a fan of wild game, I'm sure that I don't appreciate the elk like others do, but they are beautiful animals.

Cousins

Brock and Christine had a company party to go to one night and we were privileged enough to get to watch Hayden. The girls had to take turns holding him, which is harder than it sounds.

My favorite part of the evening was after the girls went to bed and I got to have him all to myself. I sat in the chair and read for awhile then decided to have a nap with him. I LOVE being an aunt!!!

Snow Fun!

After a snow storm, the girls were excited to play outside. They rushed through their snacks to get bundled up.

One of their favorite things to play is doggy.

I made them come in at 5:45, when it was already dark.

Tavaci

Once again, the girls are in Tavaci and loving it. I think that one of their favorite parts of the program is sitting on Santa's lap after the show.

Addyson asked Santa for a mini fridge for her room to keep ice cream and cheese in for a midnight snack, some fairy wings so she can fly to the North Pole and for him to come back and take her for a ride in his sleigh.

Janae asked for a Nintendo DSi and some games to go along with it, some diamond earrings for me and a new Dodge truck for dad. (What a sweetheart!)

After the show with flowers from dad.

Janae-back row,third from the left
Addyson-front row, fourth from the right.

School Programs

We were lucky enough to attend the girls' school programs. It's sad that the traditional songs can't be sung anymore, because of the Christ in Christmas. But, nevertheless, they did great and had fun performing for us.

Addyson-second row back, second from left.

Janae-back row, second from left.

Piano Recital

Janae and her teacher, Sadie.

Janae is our little pianist. This is her second year of lessons and she is doing great. She had a recital recently and did awesome. She didn't even take her music this time, she had it all memorized. Grandma and Grandpa Neff came up from Utah for the evening to hear her. They gave her a cute little piano ornament for her efforts.


For your listening pleasure!

Hayden Bryce

Brock and Christine have added to the Smith side of the family. Little Hayden Bryce was born November 19th. He is such a cute little guy too. I was able to spend a couple of hours holding him just a while after he was born. There really is nothing better than a newborn baby!!

Addyson couldn't wait to get her turn holding him. I'm sure you can't tell from the smile on her face how happy she is to have a new cousin.

Janae patiently waited for her turn, and then didn't want to give him up. She will be a great babysitter in a few years.

Look at those cheeks! They are just waiting for me to kiss them!

Disney on Ice

I saw that Disney Princesses on Ice-Dreams Come True was going to be in SLC, so I made it my mission to find reasonably priced tickets. After spending too much time online, I found an online classified ad selling the tickets for about 1/3 what they were selling elsewhere. I was a little leery to give out my credit card number, but it all turned out fine. Our seats were 15 rows back, which turned out to be pretty good seats. The girls were pretty excited to go, even though they didn't really know what to expect. We parked the car and rode Trax downtown, much better than trying to park ourselves.
Addyson loves Jasmin and was thrilled when she was one of the first princesses out on the ice. Janae's favorite princess is Cinderella (although she probably wouldn't admit it now). I was pleasantly surprised at how well done the show was and at how long it lasted. What I wasn't impressed with was the price of the treats. A snow cone for $12 and a bag of cotton candy for $10? Really, why do people pay that much? You fork over way too much because you want your kids to leave having lived the whole experience, not matter the cost! At least that is what I keep telling myself.
It was a fun day for the girls and me too, I had never been either. Apparently, dreams do come true.

Halloween 2009

Halloween ended up being a several day event. The girls and I had a Mother/Daughter activity with the Girl Scouts early in the week. We carved pumpkins and had pizza. Too bad my camera battery died before I could get a picture of the finished pumpkins. They decided to dress alike this year as pastry chefs. (wonder where they got that idea???) I readily agreed because that meant no planning on my part. For breakfast on Halloween morning, I surprised them with pumpkin shaped pancakes. As usual, they got way too much candy, but had fun getting it. We did the trunk or treat at church, then headed home to go around our neighborhood. Addyson thought staying home to give out candy was more fun, so her and dad stayed home. When most of the neighbors saw that she wasn't with us, they gave Janae extra to share with Addyson. Good thing too, we were getting low on sugar with the 15 lbs. we already had!

Marlene's Wish List

Eric Dowdle print

Lyn Snow's "Sweet Pea" print

dish

Flat iron

Candy dipping tools



Round pan set



Square cake pan set




Tamale steamer
Crepe maker



Tortilla press

Thanksgiving Point

After picking apples, we headed to Thanksgiving Point for the Scarecrow Festival. We went to Cornbelly's corn maze last year, but decided to try something different this year. Good choice on our part. The area we went to had 16 different bounce houses, games, food, a train ride, wagon ride, face painting, even a helicopter landing. We spent several hours there and could have spent several more. Most everything was included in the price of admission, which was great. It was a great day and I'm sure we'll be back for another round next year.