Christmas at Gram & Grampy's

We spent Christmas at my parents house in Coalville. It was a good day especially because my mom was there and able to come in for a minute to watch the grandkids open some presents. This is also the first Christmas Grace has really been excited for so she had a lot of fun. Here are some pics:

Grace shows Max the ropes to opening a present on Christmas Eve. We always get a new pair of p.j's to wear to bed that night.

We had a hit with the jumparoo for Max, he was all smiles for a while.

Stalkings. . .a good way to lose an arm.

Max and dad ready for high adventure.


Grandpa Higgins and his two glitzy grandaughters, Chloe in her party dress and Grace in her 'Dora splora' dress.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I'm especially grateful for the Christmas we had this year. I'm mostly grateful to celebrate Christmas and the Savior's birth. It is because of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we can be families forever and have the hope that we can be together always. Merry Christmas!

Here Comes Santa Clause

Me, the kids, and some friends went to visit Santa Clause today. I've been getting great mileage out of Grace when telling her she has to be good because the elves are looking and they tell Santa if she's been good or bad, so it was time to let her actually meet the guy- Santa that is. Grace told Santa about the 'doctor baby' she wants (a baby doll that you play doctor on to help it feel better) and got a free coloring book too. All in all a good visit. This is Max's first picture with Santa Clause and he is so much bigger than Grace was in her first pic with that jolly man in red. These are good memories.

Kicking Off the Christmas Season

Christmas Lights
We took the kids to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights on Monday. It was beautiful as always but it was the best trip because it was actually warm and not crowded.

The Gingerbread House
To get the holidays rolling (and to occupy the day that Adam is at work and school) Grace, Max, and I busted out a gingerbread house kit. I thought it would be fun for Grace to let her hair down and decorate something with candy so this was the best option. Grace saw the kit the day I bought it and has been dying to 'build the house' so during her nap I assembled the house so it was ready to decorate. I feared nothing would stand up if Grace started the house from scratch. Max was an excellent audience and spectator, poor guy doesn't even know what he's missing out on yet with the candy, but that also made life tons easier. Grace was actually much more particular and reserved about placing the candy than I expected. It wasn't until she snuck a taste of frosting that the real enjoyment began. Here is the before and after pics of this year's gingerbread excursion.

I just had to add this picture of Max because he's hard to see in all the other pics. He's just such a handsome and happy baby that just goes along with whatever we're doing around him (lights & gingerbread house making). This picture was taken the same day as the gingerbread house.