Christmas

Our Christmas Celebrations started off this year with the Traditional Candle Light Christmas Eve Dinner at the Welker Ranch. We were able to enjoy the tradition with Aunt Erin, Uncle Glade, and Uncle Ken and Family. We had the traditional candles, the soda, and the pistachio salad, however, instead of the sloppy joes we dined on ham and potatoes. Although the dinner was yummy, I think my family missed the sloppy joes. We've already made the decision that it will be sloppy joes for the main dish next year!

Christmas morning was so much fun. I loved seeing the excitement in Hannah and Ashley's eyes. Nicole....well, she was just out of control and excited to get a "box" and open anyone's present that would let her help.

Hannah was the first to wake up. If I remember correctly, she came in to our room at 6 a.m. after taking a quick peek to see if Santa had arrived....unbeknownst to Dave and I. She asked if she could go upstairs to watch cartoons, which means, I need to go to the living room to check things out again. We made her lay on our floor and go back to sleep for another hour or until Ashley and Nicole woke up.

Ashley was next to come in at 7 a.m. The little stinker came out of her room, went potty and then snuck out to see for herself if Santa had come. Dave quickly jumped out of bed and corraled her to our room to wait for Nicole, whom woke up within minutes of Ashley.

We kept the girls in our room while Dave and I went to the living room to make sure Santa had been there and to get the video camera ready. Dave then took charge and decided that we were going to do another one of his family's traditions and eat Cinnamon rolls and orange juice in our bedroom just to put off the presents a little bit longer. Thanks to Uncle Glade for giving us homemade Cinnamon rolls the night before along with some orange juice.

These extra minutes of having to eat were pure torture for the two oldest but it ended up working great. Nicole came out of the bedroom first to see what was going on and then here came Ashley and Hannah. We were able to do the presents Santa sat out for the girls and our stockings and then the doorbell rang, which brought Uncle Glade and Aunt Erin to celebrate with us in opening presents! What fun!

Not long after Uncle Glade and Aunt Erin, came Grandma Peterson. After an hour of opening presents.....it was all over. That was that.......until.....Dave gave the girls his favorite present ever. He was so proud of himself and excited to share with them something he LOVES to do. In the garage were two snowmobiles and they are just the right size for the girls! It didn't take them long to get outside and check them out! Hannah was in heaven and Ashley ended up being a bit timid.

Later in the afternoon after trying to get order back in the house and Dave and I frantically taking down the Christmas tree and some decorations because we knew we'd be leaving for vacation the next day, we headed to Grandma Peterson's for a nice Christmas dinner. We were able to hang out with her for a few hours and enjoy some relaxation before heading back home to laundry and packing!

Overall it was a great Christmas! The girls were spoiled. Hannah and Ashley LOVE their dolls and the Wii has been a big hit!

Here's some of my favorite pictures. Thanks Aunt Erin for taking them while I did the camcorder! You'll notice Nicole kind of stole the show. No matter where the camera was pointing, she happened to be there!

TaVaci Winter Concert

December 19 was the TaVaci Winter Concert at the USU Morgan Theatre. Both Hannah and Ashely are in TaVaci this year. Ashley was so excited to finally be on stage. I guess she was getting a bit tired of watching Hannah in the spot light. She wanted to join.

It sure was nice that the girls were by each other on stage. It make using the video camera really nice. We were far enough back in the audience that most of the pictures did not turn out. Oh well! I guess we'll have to make sure we are there earlier next time!

It sure is interesting watching the difference in Hannah and Ashley. Even though they are sisters, we have commented many times that they are polar opposites. Hannah is very timid in her actions. She sings the songs but doesn't over extend in the movements. Not Ashley though. She was a hoot to watch. She was very animated in her movements. We got quite a kick out of watching her.

I hope Hannah and Ashley remember how lucky they are to have had so much family come and watch them at this concert. Aunt Erin and her roommate/friend Nicole drove up from Woods Cross, Uncle Glade and his friend Stephanie came, Uncle Nate and Aunt Kendal came with their kids, and Grandma Peterson came. Thanks to all for showing their support for our girls.

Grandma Peterson bought both of the girls a rose for after the concert. They thought they were pretty hot stuff. After a few pictures, which the girls would not hold still for......thus they are a bit blurry, all of us minus Uncle Nate and family headed to Casper's Ice Cream in Providence for a treat.

The Lights on Temple Square

On Sunday, December 13, after church, we headed to Salt Lake with our friends the Benson's and the Rindlisbacher's to see the lights on Temple Square.


I made sack lunches for us to eat on the way down, which was a fun treat for the girls to have in the car.


We got to Salt Lake around 4:30 and went to the North Visitors Center first to look around and to take the girls up to see the Christus.

We left Mendon in a snow storm and returned to Mendon in a snow storm (the canyon was NASTY) but at least there was no snow (just a little drizzle of rain at the end) in Salt Lake, which made for a pleasant and fun evening.

A Christmas Tree and Letters to Santa

On Monday, December 7, we loaded in the truck and headed to Logan to get a Christmas tree. We did our usual thing of going to the Merrill Family Christmas Tree stand to purchase it. We've gone there for the last five or six years and haven't been disappointed yet. This year was a bit different. We usually are picking out the tree in a snow storm and it usually takes quite awhile. Not this time. It was not snowing, , it wasn't FREEZING cold and windy, AND we actually all agreed on a tree rather quickly.



After returning home, we made hot chocolate and sat at the kitchen table and wrote letters to Santa. Even Nicole joined in and wrote a letter. The girls had the Toy Book from Smith's Marketplace and this is what they used to compile their lists.

Winter Fun

Here are some pictures of the girls outside playing on the 4-wheeler after one of the first snow storms we had that actually accumulated some snow on the ground. Nicole wasn't going to be left behind so she quickly got her snow clothes on so she could go outside and join the fun!

Now it's Ashley's turn to drive!

And here's Dave saving the day......the 4 wheeler ran out of gas so he popped it over to the reserve tank and pulled them to the garage!