The weekend before Christmas I went to Vancouver to see Kate and Mike and their kids. We went and had a blast. Korben and Landon played together so well and Logan was always on their heels or in the thick of the action. We went to Kate and Mike's ward Christmas party and first stopped in to see Santa!
Korben wouldn't go to sit on Santa's lap, but when we went back into the room to have the boys run around while Mike helped clean up, he had no qualms jumping in the chair and posing for the camera without the bearded Santa present. It had me laughing pretty hard.
This would be Mike wrangling up Logan after the 15th or so escape attempt. lol Logan has so much energy and I love how Kate stated it in her blog... Logan wants to escape where ever he is to get to.... who knows, but the other side is always greener for him. I didn't realize that she wasn't just elaborating this up, it is dead true. Logan loves to escape and who knows where he thinks he's going, but he aims to make it there. lol All I gotta say is Good Luck Mike and Kate!
This is Kate and Korben sitting together at the table waiting for them to say a prayer over the food. I love this picture because I was fiddling with my camera and finally found how to do black and white photos! So I took a testing shot and it was of Kate and Korben. Korben was enthralled with his WallE box game thing and Kate saw what I was up to and wanted! Kate's amazing. I love being around her!
I saw my college roommate there! She used to be Heidi Kidd, but now is Heidi Daniel! I was so glad to see her! She hasn't changed a bit in her demeanor. She is still as sweet, caring, kind, and lovable as ever! She has a family now too! Two little girls and a little boy. Heidi's husband is tall! But they make such a BEAUTIFUL family together! It was so good to sit and chat with her and catch up. I can't wait till I get to go down there again to see them! (and I didn't know till after I left that Landon had indeed placed stickers on my shirt... lol)
The day that we were leaving Kate and Mike's, I pushed my bed up against the wall so the kids could play on the floor of the guest bedroom/toy room. Well little did I know that the bed would actually be turned into a jungle gym toy for them. They climbed, jumped off, and rolled around on that thing for hours it seemed. It was so good to see those three little ones together playing and having fun. Landon is around so many women and girls that I love it when he is able to interact with boys close to his age to counteract all the girlishness he might get at our home.
This would be the boys playing all sorts of games and characters on the "put up bed" in the playroom. I never thought it was possible for a mattress to become the most popular toy in the toy room, but indeed it was. The boys didn't tire from it and I had to pry Landon away when it was time to leave and head home. Landon loved playing with Korben and Logan. "They's my best buds mom!" - Landon
Christmas was fun. It was relaxful for the most part and full of family and friends. I stayed home for Christmas and my family came up from Quincy to be at Leah's house on Christmas Eve to exchange Secret Santa gifts and to have Christmas dinner as a family. This is the first time that our family hasn't celebrated Christmas in Quincy! New traditions are happening. But it's not where you celebrate the holidays it's with whom your spend your holidays with. It was so much fun to see everyone together... even Jonathan came down from Job Corps. to be with us. Drake was only a couple weeks old and was fought over the entire time. lol
That night on Christmas Eve, Tiffany and I with our families got out sheets and towels and blankets to reenact the Nativity scene. My family had done this when I was about 5 or so.
I have pictures and video of that Christmas where my Grandpa Waggoner read from the scriptures as Leah and I were shepherds and Misty was Joseph, April was Mary, and Jenny was the Donkey that Mary rode on. We used Robes for outfits and hand towels for head coverings tied with string to keep them on. Mary wore a sheet tactfully wrapped around her and Jesus (the doll) was wrapped in a baby blanket. My dad and mom and Grandma sat off to the side and watched as Grandpa read from the scriptures. And when he told about Mary and Joseph traveling back to their place of birth, April, Misty, and Jenny entered from the hallway. April riding on Jenny's back with Misty helping to support her through the stifled giggles that inevitably happened. One thing that did happen that time that didn't this time was that Mary's sheet started coming undone during the reading. By the end of the reading, Mary was red-faced and calling for her mom to help her after part of it had fallen off. lol You see it was one of the best years of my Christmas memories.
So I decided to do it as a tradition. No matter if it was just Landon and I or others. Thankfully this year there were others. Tiffany was there and Nicole was supposed to be, but ended up staying with her dad that night... so we did a different scene the following day with her as Mary. But the night before it was Tiffany as Mary, Landon as Joseph, Landon's giraffe as Baby Jesus, and me as the Donkey. James read from the scriptures and Ashley conveniently was up in her room reading. Landon didn't like the fact that he had to stand by the donkey instead of riding on it with Mary, so he ended up jumping on too for the remainder of the reading as well as holding His Baby Jesus as he said. :0)Then Christmas morning came and I had to wake Landon up! lol He was up late into the night and so was not a happy camper. But when I mentioned opening presents he was more than willing to come downstairs to join us. This year was the best for me. His dad gave him a Bumblebee Transformer which was automatically his favorite toy. He still hangs onto it and I find it in his clothes as I am doing laundry. Plus Landon's dad got to call and talk to him on Christmas, and so did Aunt Cami! It was fun to be able to talk to them both and I hadn't talk to Cami for so long that it was good to catch up. Back to presents...
Landon got a book from Grandma Fullmer. Last year he got The Fairy Godcow book which is like Cinderella with a Texas spin on it. This year he opened There's A Nightmare in My Closet! It's been a HIT! Landon asks me to read it every night before bed. He's now heard me read it so many times that he takes over on some pages to say what he knows is going to be read. It's so cute. Thank you Grandma Fullmer!
This is Tiffany and her two daughters Nicole (5) and Ashley Rae (17) on Christmas morning. She is my roommate and someone I look up to and a very good, dear friend of mine.
Landon got a face coloring set from Ashley Rae and so I volunteered to be his first model. He did a very good job as you can see. :0)
It was so much fun to watch Landon open his gifts and to have him sitting on my lap as he did so. This Christmas was so enjoyable. I realized that as I was getting stressed out with not being able to get Landon the amount of presents I had wanted, that it wasn't about presents. A girlfriend of mine said that she only gets her kids 3 gifts each because Jesus was given 3 gifts. I liked that thought and think that next year I will also make that a tradition.This Christmas I was blessed with so many things. Some of the things that stand out in my mind is my ex-husband, James, and the friendship we are able to share now. My amazing in-laws families who still keep in touch with me. My family who still supports me and loves me though at times it's not easy. The amazing roommate I have who is more like a sister to me than a roommate. I am blessed with Landon and his amazing caring soul. He knows when I need a hug or kiss, he tries to scratch my back because he knows I like it. And he even says the dinner prayers when he is feeling confident and comfortable. I love him so much.
(Landon's new style of playing the piano that he thought of on Christmas Day. =) )