Celebrations

Holidays are insanely crazy for everyone, and when you add kids to the mix...oh boy! So, we are lucky to have the most accomodating family ever! Because they are always willing to be flexible, we get to celebrate Christmas with everyone on different days and it makes for some serious fun!

We went to the annual Gregory Christmas Party (which was expanded to a church gym this year for the first time) and the kids had a blast smacking the piniata...and hiding on the stage to eat all their loot.

The Sunday before Christmas we celebrated with Grandma Becky and Fam...

I think it is every kid's dream to be surrounded by presents waiting to be opened!

We had some fun times giving/opening presents and the kids were spoiled...of course!

The girls were color coordinated with their packages...unplanned, but totally cute!

Morgan got a Leapster and once it had batteries he was off in lala land playing his game!

Chloe got this darling chest filled with dress-ups and she didn't waste any time trying on the dresses and accessorizing!

She even disappeared into the land of pretend for a while while the big people opened gifts...and then came back up and said...

"Everyone. Now we are going to sing Cinderella songs."

And then she proceeded to lead us all in song...with her magic wand, of course!

It was a great time! Thanks to all!

We had planned to do our traditional Snowshoe trip on Christmas Eve morning, but Morgan woke up throwing up, so we decided to stay home and rest instead.

He was doing much better by later in the day, so we visited the Tate clan and then it was off to Grandpa Mark's. Since my dad is getting remarried next week, it was our first Christmas Eve together with his fiance and her family. We had a turkey dinner, the kids got out all the toys at her house and we opened gifts. Chloe got a barbie and Morgan got hot wheels...and they were so excited that they ripped the packages open and played with them right there on the spot!

We always go sledding with the Tates on Boxing Day, and with everyone's travel schedules, we ended up doing our Christmas celebration and gift exchange that day as well. It was so fun to combine them and extend the Christmas fun an extra day that I hope it becomes a new tradition. I didn't take the nice camera with me, so you'll have to forgive the lack of pictures and picture quality.

The kids definitely know who to go to when they want someone's undivided attention...

Grandma Denese pulled the 3 babies born this year in the sled and had the older girls holding each hand.

The present that Seth is so excited about is a Flight of the Conchords DVD from his youngest sister...he was REALLY excited!

Winter Fun

There is snow on the ground, in the air and on the roads and we have been trying to take full advantage of it before we have to bundle a 3rd child every time we do!

On Boxing Day, we went sledding with Seth's family at Sugarhouse park and had a lot of fun. Morgan deemed me the best sledder ever (since I was the only one who didn't get snow in his face on the way down and I don't go as fast as Seth) and Chloe enjoyed going down the first couple of times as well. After about 4 runs, I was pretty much spent - climbing that hill sure took a toll on my prego body - and then it started to get really cold, windy and snowy, so we were all spent. We made snow angels at the top of the hill and took some pictures and then piled in the car and headed home for some hot cocoa and chili! Mmm!

Morgan got pretty good at making snow angels.Chloe got very cold by the end and was ready to go!

And this is my pregnant profile. I don't think they make maternity snow gear, and if they do, it is really hard to find since there aren't really any "approved" snow activities for pregnant people, so I wore my regular snowpants without buttoning or zipping them and barely zipped my coat over my belly! I will be really glad to fit in my clothes again!

The next day, we went on a snowshoeing adventure with the Banks. They were troopers to go without snowpants and boots, but we got out there and made a snowshoe trip happen! Callie was in heaven running through snow deeper than her and Chloe was giggling the whole time. She loved it as long as we were moving and if Seth stopped, she would say, "Go Dad, Go!"Morgan wore his own snowshoes and hiked the whole time. He did so awesome and he LOVED it! I have decided that there is just nothing cooler than watching your kids embrace something you love and love it too!Our hike was pretty short (which was perfect for Morgan and I) because Porter decided he wasn't a big fan of snowshoeing right then, but we had a great time anyway! You just have to be flexible when you combine kids and winter sports (or anything really)! The weather was perfect and the snow was sublime!

More to come on snowmen and hot chocolate later!