Christmas

I started off Christmas Eve by working that morning. I wasn't very excited to work because I still had so much to do, but I ended up being so glad that I did. It was just what I needed to refocus my thoughts on the importance of Christmas and it really helped put me in the right mood. That night we went up to my parent's for our traditional dinner and then came home and the boys got to unwrap the pajamas. I didn't have time to finish the shirts because I was too busy with too many other projects.
Here are the finished pajamas- the shirts were only a month late. :)Then we put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.After reading scriptures we finished the night reading The Night Before Christmas.
Zack and Austin woke up Christmas morning around 7:30 and after making them wait until around 8 we went and woke Gavin up. We always start Christmas morning off reading the scriptures and saying a prayer and then it's time to go out and see what Santa brought. (I can't believe I didn't take pictures of their stockings. I have been meaning to make them stockings since they were born and never did it, but I finally made them this year and I love how they turned out.)I put this picture in just because you can mostly see Austin and Zack's stocking and you can mostly see Gavin's in the one below. I will have to get pictures of them better next year.I love how unexcited Austin looks in this picture- he was actually really excited to get the dragon he had been asking for for at least a couple of months. Zack didn't really start asking for the dragon until about a week before Christmas, but I put in a good word to Santa to get him one before that because the only thing he was asking for was running clothes so he could go running with me. I think that's the cutest thing, but I thought he would be bummed on Christmas if he didn't get any toys.Our boys are obsessed with flashlights so Santa thought they would love some and he was right! This was probably then and still the favorite present received by all of the boys. Gavin also got some food that you cut that's made by Melissa and Doug that he absolutely loves!Aaron got some tools and golf supplies. I got snow shoes, a silpat mat, and some movies.
After present opening we had our traditional breakfast of sweet rolls. Zack was complaining of not feeling good during breakfast, but then ended up finishing all of his food so we didn't think much of it.

We had church at 11 which I loved! There was something so perfect about going to church on Christmas that I wish we did every year.

Right after church we headed straight up to my grandparent's. About 15 min in to our drive Zack said he didn't feel good again. I looked back at him and instantly knew he was going to puke so I told Aaron to hurry and pull over while I started searching for the barf bag which somehow disappeared. Aaron pulled over and Zack started puking before we could get him out. I jumped out of the car and ran over to the other side and ripped him out while he finished throwing up. It was the worst throw up we've ever had in the car! It puddled down in to the back and got all over the seat and was all over the floor and in every little and big nook and cranny of the car seat. We cleaned it up and him as best we could and after he finished we loaded him back up and turned around and went home. When we got home we threw him in the tub and washed all of the pads and the frame of the car seat and steam cleaned the chair underneath and the floor of the car. A couple of hours later we loaded back up with lots of barf bags and headed up to my parent's.

Normally I wouldn't expose everyone to our germs, but my sister and her little boy were flying back to Arkansas that night and my brother and his family were leaving the next day back to Maryland. We ended up finding out that at least 15 people of my extended family were sick with the same thing so we're pretty sure we picked it up at the Stuart family Christmas party.

We had the normal fun and chaos at my mom's that we always have.After Zack threw up on my parent's carpet we decided to hurry and finish the rest of our visits and get home.

So we went to my grandparent's where I just ran in and gave them their presents and hugs and left. Then we went to Aaron's parent's because they wanted us to despite the puking. Right as we were about to walk in the door Zack threw up again, I was so ready to go home at that point!
We exchanged presents and chatted for a bit and then headed home. We had a great Christmas despite the puking. :)

Stuart Christmas Party

On the 23rd of December we had our Stuart family Christmas party. We had an ugly sweater contest which we were lame and didn't participate in. In my defense, I went to the DI a few times and tried to find someone we could borrow some from and neither panned out. My stress levels were a bit high so that was one of the things I decided I didn't care about. We had dinner with a few games and then the great grandkids did the nativity.After the nativity the adults had a white elephant present exchange and the little kids exchanged presents as well. Then to the kids great excitement, Santa came!Zack asked for a football, but I think it was just because he was nervous because he really had been asking for a remote control dragon and then continued asking for the dragon after that.
Gavin didn't ask for anything. He just stared at Santa and looked cute which comes pretty natural to him.Austin asked for a black dragon with red eyes that roars and walks with the remote control. It cracked me up how specific he was. He also asked for a dinosaur that he had seen at the store a few weeks before that.

The BIG 5!

Austin and Zack have been waiting FOREVER for their birthday to get here! They almost couldn't believe it when the day finally came. They both woke up to 5 balloons in their bedroom which they were so excited about.
(I on the other hand must recommend to never buy balloons from Smith's! I went to All A Dollar first where I found out they don't put air in latex balloons anymore. So I figured I would try to save money and it would be cheaper to go to Smith's than to just buy all mylar balloons. I was wrong! I drove up to Smith's just for the balloons where they charged $1 for each latex balloon so I was already paying the same amount plus more for gas and my time; especially because the lady at Smith's was SLOW and I was in a big hurry. The balloons from Smith's were on the floor in under 24 hours as well whereas the All A Dollar balloons were still floating a month later when we just popped them because we were tired of them. Needless to say, Smith's sucked! It was a huge waste of my money and time and their customer service was awful when I called about it. Tangent over. :)
Then we opened presents. They both really wanted scooters and they were in luck.
ZackAustin
They really wanted cinnamon rolls for their breakfast so I stayed up way to late the night before making them, but they are worth it! After breakfast they got ready and went to school. It was their spotlight day at school for their birthday so I went during school and brought posters all about them and talked about them. We also brought Aaron's delicious rice krispy treats. Red per Zack's request and green per Austin's. I thought it was kind of ironic that they picked Christmas colors.After school we came home and I made Beef Stroganof for lunch for Zack. (Aaron felt like he really scored with their food choices.:) Which is just fine by me since it's our anniversary as well.)

Then the boys both really wanted to go to Boondock's for their birthday so we went and played for at least 4 hours. Their main requests were to shoot dinosaurs and do the mini bowling. That place gets more and more fun the older they get! It was so nice because they both got in to the kiddie playland for free so we only had to pay for Gavin, plus they got $5 to play arcade games and all of the mini bowling that they wanted for free. The mini bowling normally costs like $3 a game so we felt like we had really scored especially because that's all Gavin wanted to do. So while Zack and Austin were doing all of the stuff they wanted to; Gavin was over mini bowling, he played at least 20-30 games by himself. We didn't take any pictures because we were too busy having fun and just enjoying our family and we didn't want to worry about the camera. Just picture lots of smiling and laughing.

After Boondock's we went to The Pizza Factory for dinner because Austin wanted pizza. By then the boys were all too tired to eat, but we still had a great day!

We celebrated their birthday with my family a couple of days before which is when we did their cakes. Austin really wanted a blue dragon cake with wings and fire.Other than the frosting disaster I had (my favorite frosting recipe which is very finicky, but I've never had a hard time with decided not to whip up for me. I was having a bit of a freak out when my awesome husband came to the rescue for me. The frosting he made was a bit soft, but it worked and that's all that matters.) it came together pretty easily.

Zack wanted a spider cake. I still am surprised he picked that because he doesn't really like spiders, but I'm glad he did because it's the easiest cake I've ever made! Now I just need to convince all of my kids to pick that for their cakes. :)
Austin is such a good big brother! He is usually willing to help his brothers with anything and he is really good at helping Mommy and Daddy. He is very affectionate and loving and still likes to cuddle with me which I'm grateful for! He loves to play outside and has loved playing soccer this year. He is still very in to dragons and dinosaurs and knows a lot about them. He is a smart little boy. He can quote movie lines like nobody I've ever met. He only has to watch a movie once and I swear he can tell me half of it. His teacher Mrs. Addie just sent home readers for him to work on because she said he's ready to start learning to read. We are so grateful he's a part of our family! I don't know what I would do without his sweet little smile and his frequent cuddles. We love him more than that!!! (He tells me all of the time that he loves me even more than that. He's just learned how to skip the game of "I love you more than this", "No, I love you more than that.")

Zack is also a very good big brother! He's very patient with Gavin, most of the time. Zack has such a fun loving personality. He makes us laugh all of the time with his silly faces and the things he does. He loved playing soccer this year and was really good at it. He also loves dinosaurs and dragons. He loves riding his bike and tells me all of the time how he wants some running clothes so he can go running with me which I think is the sweetest thing ever. He is a really good helper to Mommy and Daddy. He is also a smart little boy. He has such a good memory! He can beat Aaron and pretty everyone he plays at the game Memory. His teacher also sent home readers for him and said he's ready to start learning to read. We love his smile and his hugs and we are so grateful he's part of our family! We love you to infinity and beyond!!!

Cookie Day

Aaron took the kids to his parents to decorate cookies with them. I stayed home and worked on Christmas presents (it was so nice to have some uninterrupted sewing time!).

Aaron said it was amazing to see how many Austin got done in a short amount of time. And it wasn't becuase he was not caring, he was very detailed in his work, he just didn't mess around.

They all had a lot of fun and were very proud of their creations.
AustinZackGavin

Temple Square

Christmas kicks my butt every year! I even tried to make sure I started my presents early this year. I started them the end of October, but I always try to do way too much! My business has just made that even crazier. I have finally almost caught back up and got some of my energy back so now I'm going to continue to try to catch up with blogging.

I've been wanting to make an advent calendar for the last 2 years, but I never get around to it. I finally decided to bite the bullet this year and just buy one. I'm so glad I did because I really don't think I would have ever got around to it and it took a lot off my mind to finally at least have one! One of our activities was to go and see the lights at Temple Square. I think the boys appreciated it a little more this year than before and it was nice to not have to deal with a stroller this year! Although, it was freezing cold! And don't mind my cuteness in the pictures, I had worked the night before and was going on no sleep.
The boys are a bit overexposed in this picture, but I had to include it anyways because it makes me laugh how goofy they are now whenever we try to get a picture.Aaron always loves to play with the camera when we are there so I thought I would include one of his shots.

Chocolate Houses

Yesterday we went up to my mom's church to decorate chocolate houses. My Uncle Brent and Aunt GayAnn spend hours of their time and money making these chocolate houses from molds. Last year was our first year doing it and my kids were really excited to do it again this year.

Austin had been up all night puking about every half hour for 8 hours straight so he was a little tired. Even though he was very mellow he still had a great time. (For all of my family that reads this and is appalled that I brought him; let me just say in my defense it had been 8 hours since he had thrown up and with his puking history it's hard to know if it's from a bug or just because he's Austin.)Zack was obviously being his goofy self. I love the first picture where he has his tongue stuck out in concentration.In this picture he had started eating his chocolate house and we told him that we couldn't and to just eat the candy there. This was his reaction to that, goofy boy!
Every picture that I have of him smiling he's looking at my mom's camera instead of our's, thanks mom.Gavin had a blast! I thought I would need to help him a lot, but he did it all by himself. He apparently decided that he needed to test all of the frosting and candy to make sure it was good enough to make it on to his house. :)
Thank you Brent and GayAnn for a fun new tradition!

Park City

In the middle of November we went up to Park City with my family for 5 days. It was a nice break from real life. We are so grateful to my parents for always inviting us to go up there.

We got up there Friday night and went to dinner with my parents at a place that's name is not worth remembering. Then we went back to the hotel and went swimming. We finished the night off with kids in bed and then we played Dominoes with my parents.

Saturday morning we swam for at least 2 hours and Gavin finally warmed up to the water and released his death grip. I'm so happy he's finally more comfortable in the water (except for the fact that it's terrifying as well!). Then Aaron and I left the kids with my parents and Steve and Mandy (they got there right before we left) and went to the Utah game. It was snowing and freezing cold, but we had come prepared in all of our snow clothes and I was glad! Plus the Utes won so it made it worth any discomfort. :) The kids had fun doing some more swimming while we were gone.

On Sunday we went to church and then Matt and Michelle came. We were going to go tubing on Monday, but since Matt had to leave that night we decided to go Sunday afternoon. It was a bit windy and cold, but otherwise it was perfect and we had so much fun! I know that was a lot of pictures, but I chose that many out of over 400 pictures so I think I did pretty good!

We went swimming again that night and then Gavin decided during dinner that he was done for the day. This little darling decided a few months ago that he was done with naps so now instead he's grumpy during the day and every few days he can't make it through dinner, but isn't he cute!After some bedtime stories with Grandpa the kids went to bed and the adults played some more games. Saturday and Sunday we played the game Bohnanza, it was a lot of fun!

Monday was spent shopping at the outlets and then more swimming. Then unfortunately Steve and Mandy and their kids went home that night.I know this isn't a great picture, but it was very dark in the room. I love how they always have to be touching each other.

On Tuesday we obviously swam some more and then went home that afternoon. We finally decided to take our camera out with us on Tuesday though and got some pictures. Austin was funny and kept jumping in the pool as straight as an arrow. He also was showing us his flipping skills; him and Zack are way more daring than I ever was!Zack flipping and getting some good air.
Gavin showing his jumping skills.