Christmas Morning

I love Christmas morning, and the magical time it is for kids. I love seeing the excitement on their faces. My dad decided that he and my mom should come over and watch the grandkids open up their Christmas presents. Since ours aren't the only grandkids, we were first so they could go to my sister's house too. That meant we needed to be up EARLY. Well, apparently when the alarm went off, I hit the snooze button (typical) and kept on sleeping. Suddenly I sat up in bed and realized that my parents were going to be at our house in 15 minutes! So much to do! I had to get the cameras ready and wake up the kids. Here is how we found the boys.

Of course, I had to go in and take a peek to make sure Santa really did come...

Then the kids gathered in the kitchen and got ready to go in.

Their first stop was at their stockings. Each of them got a Webkinz in their stocking. And Bryson found the letter that Santa left us. He got to read it. It was cute.

Here is a little slideshow of all the pictures of the kids opening their presents.

We were so glad to have Grandma Cheryl and PapaBob with us on Christmas Morning. I hope it becomes a tradition. It was fun to have them here.

Of course, this was just the beginning of a wonderful Christmas day. After my parents went to my sister's to watch her kids open their gifts, we all met over at their house for Christmas Breakfast. It was so yummy. We just hung out and played Wii and other games, then went over to my Grandpa's to visit. There is always more good food there, and we definitely got our fill. After that, we went home for a little while so the kids could play with their new stuff. The boys were so cute. They kept saying "Thank you Santa!" Then it was back to my parents' for dinner. It was a fun, family and food filled Christmas Day.

Santa Claus Comes Tonight!

Christmas Eve is the longest day of the year. I remember feeling that way as a kid, anyway. It just seemed to DRAG by. The anticipation is just crazy! I'm not sure if my kids feel like it's the longest day of the year, but I know they love the excitement of it all. We spent most of the day at home, and in the afternoon we read our special Christmas book. It talks about the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of the Savior. It has all the scripture stories surrounding that event, with songs in between. It's something special that we do each year to help us remember what Christmas is really all about. Later on, we went over to my parents' house (something we do every year) for dinner, games, and of course one special gift from Grandma and Papa to open that night! We had this really yummy Southwest Chicken Burrito-type dish. So good! Along with some chips and other snacky stuff, we ate more than enough. Then we watched "Prep and Landing," a cute new Disney/Pixar Christmas special. We loved it. Then it was time. The most anticipated moment of the entire Christmas Eve (next to actually going to bed and awaiting Santa's arrival, that is...) the one gift that gets opened on Christmas Eve. All the cousins gather around and Grandma passes them out, then it's ready... set... go! They can't rip them open fast enough!


NEW CHRISTMAS JAMMIES! My Grandma started this little tradition, and my mom has continued it with her own grandkids. It's a tradition that I really love, and hope to continue someday with my grandkids too. Once in a while, there would even be a little something extra in that Pajama gift. This year the kids each got something to keep them entertained and pass the time for the rest of the evening.

And here they are, modeling their new Christmas Pajamas. THANKS GRANDMA AND PAPA!

Pre Christmas Festivities

Christmas is such a fun time of year. I love all the Christmas parties we get to go to. First up was the annual Ward Christmas Breakfast. The food was SO good (as usual) and there were fun games and activities. And of course, Santa made his appearance. This was the only place we got to see Santa this year, and of course I didn't even bring my camera! Thank goodness for awesome ward members. One of the ladies in our ward was taking Santa pictures, and sent me a couple. Only the boys would sit on his lap (I guess the girls are getting too grown up). I love hearing what they say to Santa, and I'm often surprised what they tell him they want, because it's always something that's NOT on their list.

Then we had an "adult friends" Christmas party. You know, one of those ugly sweater parties, but of course, we forgot about the ugly sweater part... oops! It was so fun, though. We had different soups and salads. It was SO GOOD. Then the exchange of White Elephants, which I must admit, ended up with us getting some pretty good stuff. I wish I had taken my camera. There were some great sweaters, and the food and friends were fantastic!


The Grace family Christmas party is one that I look forward to. It was my favorite as a kid. We always had a talent show, sometimes had a pinata, often did the Nativity (with Grandpa reading it from the book of Luke), and always had great food and fun. Not much has changed. Now it's the great grandkids putting on the talent show and Nativity. And Grandpa plays Santa's helper and hands out little gifts for all the kids. It's fun to see all my cousins and their kids... and there are a whole bunch now!

Here are some pictures of the kids doing the Nativity. Our boys were shepherds, and the girls just kind of helped. I'm realizing how much they are growing up! It's kind of bittersweet.



Our contribution to the Talent Show this year, was a piano duet played by Kaitlyn and Me. We played "Angels We Have Heard on High." She did so great! Here's the video:


When it was time to clean up, Hayden wanted to get right in and help. It was so cute. He was gathering up chairs left and right and getting them over to the grown up guys to put away. He scored some serious points with Santa!

Keep checking back, there are lots more Christmas posts to come. We had a great one... hope you did too!

Twelve years ago I became a mom!

I can't believe it! I have a 12 year old! Life sure does pass by quickly. I remember when I found out that I was due on Christmas Eve, I prayed that she'd come earlier. I didn't want to be in the hospital on Christmas. She came 2 days early, on the 22nd. And we came home on the 24th. It was a long labor, with a whirlwind emergency C-section delivery, but we were just so glad that she was here and healthy. And BEAUTIFUL! Now it's hard to believe that she is all grown up and going into Young Womens at church. I still remember her as a little 2 year old with a squeaky voice using huge words that I couldn't figure out how she knew. She has grown up into a smart, sweet young lady who still uses huge words that I can't figure out how she knows! She loves to sing, and is enjoying ballroom dance. She has lots of friends, including boys (oh dear) and I love being counted as one of her "friends" (most of the time, anyway). It's fun to talk and be silly together. I love it! I just can't believe how fast it has gone. Just yesterday she looked like this:

And now she looks like this!! Where did all those years go?

I had to laugh looking at the pictures of Jared and me. We look SO young, but we were 23 and 25, so really not THAT young!! But we sure were excited to be parents. This sweet little baby girl changed our lives in so many ways, but all good. We have LOVED raising her thus far, and look forward to the next 12.

Saturday night, we threw Eryn a surprise party. Jared took her and Kaitlyn to Walmart while I hurried and decorated, and her friends came. She was definitely surprised. I set up the video camera, but there ended up being a balloon blocking her face in the video. I think she was a little mad, because it scared her, but she got over it quickly and had a fun time. They painted little Christmas Tree ornaments. They turned out really cute.

For dinner we made "calzones" or kind of little pizza pockets. The girls were so funny putting them together. I think half the stuff oozed out while they were baking, but they were yummy anyway.

They had fun playing crazy games, opening presents, and telling scary stories. They even turned on some music and danced around for a little bit... that is, until the Christmas tree got knocked over. It broke the tree stand, so we have books holding it up (under the tree skirt). It's a little crooked, and the ornaments don't quite look as well put together, but oh well. It's all good! It's fun to see Eryn with her friends. She was concerned that KC was the only one from her school that could come, but I think she got along just fine with the neighborhood girls. They are all so sweet, and I'm glad Eryn has such great friends!

Last night we had the family over for Cake and Ice Cream. We had planned to do it on her REAL birthday (Tuesday) but she was invited to go with the Young Women to a fun little activity, and didn't want to miss out on that, so we had to change it up a bit. Grandma Cheryl, PapaBob, Aunt Jo, Uncle Corey and Harlie, Aunt Jana, Uncle Brad, and their boys... and Grandpa Grace and Grandma Kathleen all came. It was fun ;)

Happy Birthday Eryn. We love you! You are a bright light in our family ;)

1st Grade Christmas Program

I love going to the cute school Christmas programs. Bryson is in first grade this year, and he brought this little "part" home to memorize. He was supposed to say "How was it the people knew?" I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, until I went to help out in his classroom for math time. They got done with their math a little bit early, and started practicing their parts. They talked about many different holiday traditions, and even some of the other religions that celebrate their holidays around this time as well. Then was Bryson's part. His line was part of a little poem about Baby Jesus being born in Bethlehem. A lot of schools would never dream of doing anything like that! I thought it was great. Of course they talked about all the other stuff, too, like Santa Claus, Jingle Bells, etc. But I thought it was pretty cool that they talked about the REAL meaning of Christmas too. I got there early enough to get a pretty good seat. Bryson was so cute. I could tell he was a little bit nervous (even though he denied it), because he was SO serious. I don't think I saw a smile once the program actually started. He did so well, and remembered his cute little line. And the music is my favorite part. I love hearing little children singing Christmas songs. I'm such a baby, I even got a little teary eyed at times. I just love it so much!


A few pictures as they were getting ready to begin:




I did video of all the songs they sang, but I'll just post this one, with the poem he was part of. Since some of the kids were further away, you can't hear them very well, but Bryson's part is loud and clear. I love that they learned sign language to do with Silent Night!!

I love this time of year. It can be a little crazy with all the fun parties and activities. On Friday morning Jared and I went to help with Bryson's class party (Kaitlyn and Eryn were both having parties too). It was really fun. Finally the kids are out of school, but things aren't slowing down. Eryn's 12th birthday is on Tuesday the 22nd, and we decided to give her a surprise birthday party on Saturday. I'll be posting about that soon!! I hope everyone is having a fun holiday season! :)

Ballroom Part 2

Eryn's ballroom team at school had their Christmas party, which included performances, so families and friends were invited to come. It was fun. They performed all the different types of dances they've been learning... Cha Cha, Foxtrot, Merengue, Tango, etc. That has been the focus of this first semester. Next semester they will start preparing for competitions (which Eryn is super excited about). She is absolutely LOVING it, with only the occasional complaint about a partner she has been assigned to. Keep in mind, these are 11 and 12 year old boys we are talking about, and the latest complaint about one of them was "he has the sweatiest hands!" That is her only complaint, however, and everything else she says, is how much she loves it! It was fun watching what they've learned. After they "demonstrated" the different types of dances, they performed the dance they did at the Lehi Family Week performance. It was fun to watch them do a fully choreographed number. Here are a few fun pictures... I had to go clear to the back of the gym to avoid other "mamarazzis" getting in front of me (LOL!)







I did video of all the dances they did, but it was kind of hard to see Eryn in most of them. So here is a little video of the tango ;) Oh... and she doesn't smile much in this one, but that's because it's the Tango. All of the other dances are done with a huge grin on her face.

Christmas Cookies

Jared made a great suggestion for a family home evening activity. He wanted to make and decorate sugar cookies. I have a really yummy sugar cookie recipe that has been passed down from my Grandmas and Mom, so I whipped some up. I had my neice all day, so we didn't go to the store to get anything to decorate them with, so we just had to use what we already had on hand. Luckily we had some red and green sprinkles. Decorating cookies (and cakes for that matter) is NOT my talent. I always have great visions of the cutest cookies and cakes, but what is in my head doesn't translate to the finished product. My sisters got that talent! So... I decided to just let my kids and Jared do all the decorating. They had a great time, and really didn't make too big of a mess. I chose to just stay behind the camera and capture the memories!

Is my child licking a KNIFE, you ask? Why yes... yes he is. I know, I know. So not good! But don't worry folks, no taste buds were harmed in the process, and NOBODY would have that cookie but him. He got plenty of icing on his knife the first time, so it was also NOT dipped back into the bowl for more. That would just be gross. Needless to say, this was the one and only cookie Hayden decorated. He was very meticulous and took his time with this one, plus he got to eat it! The rest of us quickly frosted a few more that he could add sprinkles to without licking any more knives ;)

And the best part of making Christmas cookies is giving them away! Jared and the older kids went around to our nearby neighbors and delivered some while Hayden and I played cars. The kids thought it was pretty fun... plus it meant less cookies left here for me to pig out on the next day! Everybody wins :)

Winter Wonderland

Kids love snow. Adults sometimes love snow. I love seeing snow on the mountains, and I don't mind it on my lawn... it's when it's on the driveway, the sidewalks and the roads that it bothers me. I don't really like being cold, either, but that's what hats, gloves, scarves, boots and coats are for, right? My favorite part of snow is when I see the excitement in my kids' faces and the joy in their voices when they yell "It's snowing!" at 6:00 in the morning. And their happiness knowing that they can go out and play in it is the best. Having the tree up and the house decorated, and seeing huge snowflakes falling from the sky really gets me in the Christmas spirit. When my boys asked if they could go outside the other day, how could I say no? We got them all bundled up and out they went. They were out there for a long time. I could hear them laughing, so I had to run out and take a few pictures. They even built their own teeny little snowman. They were a little bummed when they tried to add eyes and knocked the head off, but that didn't slow them down. They had a blast.

Renaissance Feast

Eryn has always loved to sing. I love it! I remember hearing her as a two year old singing in her best opera voice. It always made us laugh. She has become quite the talented little singer, however, and has learned to harmonize. It's so fun sitting by her in church, singing the hymns. We take turns singing Soprano and Alto. I love hearing her pick out that alto part. But she is definitely the soprano of the family. She can hit some HIGH notes that I can't even come close to. She has been in choir this year at school, and has really enjoyed it. Her teacher is amazing, and has really taught them some great things. They put on a "Renaissance Feast" for their Christmas concert this year. We bought tickets, and got to go and eat while they performed. It brought back memories of doing something similar in Acapella Choir in high school. We put on a Madrigal Feast at Christmas time. I loved it! It was so fun. Eryn's choir even sang a few songs that we sang at ours! The older choir was the "nobility and royalty" and Eryn's choir was the "peasants" who served us the food. Eryn made sure we sat at the table she served. They sang while we ate, and there were some dances and other performances. It was fun and entertaining, and the food was delicious. And of course, I forgot to take the camera , so there is no video, and there are no pictures of the actual performance, so I made her stand and pose for a few when we got home. She did great and looked super cute.

O Christmas Tree

It never feels like the Christmas season to me, until our tree is up. The tradition at our house, is that we do it the first Sunday of December. Sometimes I wish we could put it up earlier, but tradition is tradition! We always turn on Christmas music, and after I put on the ribbon, we just let the kids do their thing. I'm a teeny bit of a perfectionist, so sometimes I cringe as they are putting 4 or 5 ornaments on the same branch, but they have so much fun (and I do a little rearranging after they go to bed ;) It also happened to be Kaitlyn's REAL birthday, so that made it even more special. These four kids sure do make the holidays great. I love seeing them decorating the tree and getting all excited. Eryn did mention that a few songs we heard were starting to seem a bit cheesy to her, but that's what happens when you are almost a teenager. Cheesy Christmas songs just aren't as cool as they were when you were 4. But decorating the tree is just as fun for a 12 year old as it is for a 4 year old (or 35 year old), and that makes me happy.



Here are the four reasons that I love the Christmas season (besides the great reminder of the birth of our Savior!)


After the tree was done, the boys wanted to be "presents under the tree." Funny boys. They make me laugh every day!

I blinked...

...and my sweet baby girl grew up!

Time flies way too quickly. I swear it was just last week that I was holding a sweet, freshly born baby girl in my arms and looking into her huge eyes as she took in the new sights of the world. She was so alert and bright-eyed. She was the only one of my four that I got to hold right after she was born, and that is such a sweet memory for me. I couldn't stop looking at her... it was instant love. We did have a little scare a couple of days later when the Dr. heard a murmer. Turns out she had a hole between the ventricles of her heart. We were so lucky, and learned that it was fairly small and that they would just watch it. I think it was her 4th birthday check-up when Dr. Johnson said he couldn't hear the murmur anymore. Hooray! The hole had finally closed on it's own. Kaitlyn has been such a joy. We always say she is a true Stafford (and all true Stafford's probably know what that means.) She is a joke-playing, teasing, silly girl that makes us laugh constantly! She loves to steal food off of others' plates (thanks Daddy!) She is the one that always gets her chores and homework done early, saying "Mom. What would you like me to do for chores today?" I appreciate her help, and her sense of humor. She is a complete joy, and we love her with all our hearts.

Starting with our kids' 10th birthday, we let them pick an "activity" and invite 1 or 2 friends... instead of having a big, crazy party with a million kids. Kaitlyn took us up on that offer last year for her 9th birthday and we went ice skating. Of course, we all remember what happened (Eryn broke her arm). So what does Kaitlyn choose this year? JUMP ON IT! I must say, I did have a small fear that someone would get hurt, but all was well. Everyone had a great time, and there were absolutly no injuries. Whew! The kids had a blast jumping around. Kaitlyn even let Eryn bring one friend (Eryn said she'd pay, so Kaitlyn said, "fine.") The boys had their cousin, Justice, to play with, and my twin nephews had eachother. Everyone had fun.

The only bad part of doing the activity, is when they have to choose which friends to invite. It was a really hard decision, but Kaitlyn decided to bring Elizabeth and Tamsin along.

After Jump-on-it, we came home for dessert and gift opening.

When I asked Kaitlyn what she wanted for her birthday "dessert" she said, "I want to have something that Grandma can eat." My mom has celiacs disease, so she can't have anything with wheat in it. We went to the Good Earth and bought a couple of Gluten free brownie mixes (which are Kaitlyn's fave anyway) so that Grandma could have some too! Kaitlyn is always very sweet and thoughtful.

Kaitlyn wanted Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner, so we loaded up our little family and went out to eat. You know you've done something wrong, however, when you leave KFC and your kids say "That was the best restaurant ever!" Poor deprived children. Shows you how much we eat out. It was fun and pretty yummy, though. :) Then we came home and Aunt Christina and Tim, and Jodie, Corey and Harlie came for MORE dessert and MORE presents. Since Kaitlyn's birthday was on Sunday, and we had to do the majority of the celebrating on Saturday, Kaitlyn called it her "pre-birthday." She said she had the best pre-birthday ever!


Happy Birthday Sweet KK. We love you so much!