Post Christmas Fun

 Since Christmas it feels like all we've done is Legos.  The boys were able to do a lot of the X-Wing by themselves and were really excited about it.

 Today, Dan spent nearly six hours helping them put together the Millenium Falcon.  I guess when they put for ages 9 and up they really do mean it. :)  As each hour slipped away, so did some of Dan's Christmas Spirit.  They are so excited, though.  They had a complete photo shoot to show off their handiwork, this is only a small sample of the pictures taken. 

I was given a tour of all the cool features.

Christmas Day

 Santa surprised the boys with some pretty sweet Legos this year.

 They also got a new 3D movie and gloves

 Santa comes through our front door since we have no chimney. We left out reindeer food that the boys had made at school and it was eaten.  Reindeer are apparently sloppy eaters, it was all over the floor

 Then we loaded up and drove to Machas to open presents and have breakfast with the Stapletons. Aunt Nancy got all the kids monkeys that gave give you hugs; they were a big hit.

 It's hard to believe that the Millenium Falcon could be beat out by anything, but the boys were most excited about the gifts they had picked out for each other.  Since we can't take them to the store very well, we have them take turns choosing a gift for each other online.  They exchanged Hero Factory action figures.

 Dan rocking his new scarf

We then went to Grandma and Grandpa Ogilvie's house to exchange gifts and eat lunch.  I ran out of steam taking pictures so I'll have to wait for Grandpa on those.  The highlight may have been the bubble wrap that they got to pop.

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve festivities were spiced up with Fussball this year.  We had the traditional prime rib as well as some other meats that Tim smoked.

 Kids Bingo

 We gave the Nativity a go.  As Sophie so accurately pointed out about being pregnant "this is weird". 

Sophie and Great-grandma Brown

 Nancy and Jonathan

  Brad playing Grandpa Ogilvie's card because he kept falling asleep.

My Uncle Glen was able to join us this year.

 Ogilvie Family 

Brandon took these pictures and based on the quality and his awesome photo stance, he obviously knows what he is doing.

Stapleton Family

We finished Christmas Eve by letting all the boys (Dan included) open new pajamas.  

Tis the Season

 

 We decorated the Christmas tree.  Enjoy this picture, because currently 3/4 of the lights aren't working.

 The boys remembered going to the Festival of Trees last year and apparently it made a bigger impression on them then we realized.  They asked to go back.  This Hotwheels tree was their favorite.

 The Spanish classes at their school had an evening program at the middle school.  They sang Jingle Bell rock in Spanish as well as Feliz Navidad. They're in this picture, but quite blurry.

 The Utah Symphony does a family Christmas concert each year. Seth was pretty wiggly, but Brad was really paying attention.  There were several songs with singing, which he was annoyed by because he "wanted to listen to the music"

 It may be years before I get happy, normal smiles as a standard

 We went to see the lights at Temple Square with Aunt Allie and Brandon.  I feel accomplished in this experience because it was Brandon's first time seeing the lights, even though he's lived in Utah for 30 years and lives within walking distance of Temple Square.  We got a tour of their sweet loft apartment as well.

 We hosted Dan's work party for the fourth year in a row.  We had 31 people and tons of food.

 There were some great gifts.  You'll have to ask Dan what he won from Ben.  As Ben said, "he and Daphne shop at different stores" :)  I also hosted a party for my college sorority friends, but didn't take any pictures.  We're gearing up to host Christmas Eve in a few days.

Dan made his first craft from Pinterest.  I showed it to him and he doesn't like to be reminded that it's from pinterest, but he nailed it.  When our blinds are closed our kitchen looks a little like a spaceship has landed in the backyard.

Reflections

 The school had a fund raiser carnival at the beginning of the month.  We were there at the tail end and got killer deals on doughnuts, which made the boys really happy.

 In my efforts to gain popularity points as a cooler parent, I took the boys to dinner while Dan was at a campout.  Fortunately it was Family Night, so we got balloons.

 They made these cool potato monsters in school

 We painted pumpkin "turkeys"

 The boys each entered a picture into the school Reflections contest.  Only 49 kids entered and there was a little awards ceremony at the school. Brad's is inspired by Vincent Van Gough's "Starry Night".  He just finished his art class rotation and the teacher did a great job.

Seth

Soccer

 Dan coached the boys soccer team this year.  He did a really great job, I was proud.  He would spend at least 15 minutes setting up practices with flags, cones, and nets, and had a full sheet paper with his game plan for practice.

 Brad (he wears blue socks, because even we can't tell them apart when they're running on the field)

 Seth

 Dan's mad coaching skills

 Brad makes the pass to Seth

 Hooray!!

Halloween

 Last year we made "monster face" pizzas for dinner Halloween night and apparently this is now a tradition.

 Dan actually got to be home for Halloween this year.  He's been scheduled to work for the last four years, so even though it wasn't easy getting his partner to switch shifts, it was great having him home.  Dan hates to dress up, but the boys really wanted him to, so he went as an "Antarctica Explorer".  I'm not sure it counts as a costume, but everyone was happy. I stayed home this year to hand out the candy, we had about 225 kids.  I did get to take the boys out for a few houses because they really wanted to do our entire ward and had missed one street.

The haul