New Year's

On New Year's Eve, we had our friends Tabitha and Jonathan (who were in town from Georgia) and Bart's brother and sister-in-law, Sam & Holly over. There were appetizers that seemed more like a meal, yummy drinks, literal music videos, and laughter for all. And, the best part about the whole night was that Bart FINALLY found an AWESOME hot wing recipe...okay, maybe that wasn't the best part of the whole night, but it was a huge highlight for me. I've had to endure plenty of nasty wing recipes. This one's a keeper. :o)

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures.

Fortunately, I remembered the next day when Eric and Addison built a snowman.

Ooooh, mean uncle!
Ahh, there's my snow baby.That's right, sculpt that snow body. I wish it was that easy to sculpt my body.

What are you doing to that snowman bro? Man, you need to go on a date.The finished product. I was impressed. It's definitely better than any snowman I've ever made. Although mine did have more bling. ;o)And the proud snowman builders with their masterpiece.

Christmas Day

And finally Christmas day.

My mom's Christmas tree was amazing...although I couldn't, for the life of me, find all those ornaments I made in elementary school. Maybe they were just hiding on the inside of the tree... ;o)
Our family in their Christmas pajamas. Addison changed pajamas because we had breakfast before we opened presents, and, well, it ended up all over her.Yes, her pile of presents is taller than she is. There are some advantages to being the first (and only one of 2) grand kids.My sister's present to Addison was AWESOME!!! She got a doll for her and then made clothes for my sister and her doll that match!!! Addison started putting on the clothes and didn't want to open the rest of her presents. She also got two other baby dolls. She calls them her babies, and this one the sister. She LOVES them!
I made a book of all of the General Conference talks of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (his favorite apostle) from the time we were dating until now. I put it into a book with pictures of family members, meaningful places and pictures, etc. to illustrate it. He really liked it. That made me happy. :o)

I also made a scrapbook for my mom. She also liked it, which also made me happy. :o)

Stacy got a Snuggie.

The best thing about her getting this was seeing BOTH my brother AND Bart wearing it (is that what you do with it..wear it?) over the next few days. And yesterday, Bart actually said, "I'm cold, we need to get a Snuggie." Wow, that was really on my short list of things I never imagined I would hear my husband say... and be serious about. True, he was sick and had a fever, but still!

Eric got this Nerf gun, and Addison LOVED it. This was a regular site all of Christmas morning.

You'd be sitting somewhere talking to someone, and turn around to be face to face with this little girl in a fancy faux fur lined coat with a mischievous smile half hidden behind the Nerf gun that was aimed straight at you. At first it was just really funny/cute, but by the end of the day I think all of us were ready to strangle Stacy for getting Eric that gun. Still, good memories. It was a wonderful day.

Christmas PJs

Another tradition of ours is getting presents from "Eve" that we open on Christmas Eve. They always just happen to be pajamas that we can wear all the next day. Here are my sisters and I donning our nighttime apparel.

Amy is noticeably absent. Did I mention I miss her!?!?!

And here's my brother in his lovely PJs serenading us with a little ditty. I bet you didn't know he was an accomplished pianist. So accomplished in fact that he can make the keys move, even when he's not touching them. I know, impressive.

I think the highlight of the evening this year was when my mom opened the packaging of Addison and Hannah's pajamas. As she pulled them out she gasped and then started laughing. They were little boy's pajamas! Te he he. Oh well, they were cute, even if they won't be using the little pocket in the front any time soon. :o)

I must take a break from my holiday posting

And show you this picture of my youngest.I have been trying to capture this face of hers for quite a while, and finally was able to do so. I absolutely love it. I can't believe how well she is able to COMPLETELY hide her lips! It reminds me of a "bitter beer face" post card I saw in Germany on my study abroad...in fact, I think I might have sent it to Bart. I'll have to ask him.

Anyway, Addison used to attempt to do this, but was never quite as effective in completely hiding her lips. She also pulled her chin down more which resulted in a look I affectionately called her "piggy face." Ahhh...I love my babies.
Speaking of baby Addison, check out the cheeks on that girl!

I keep telling people Addison's cheeks were even bigger than Hannah's, but I must confess, lately I was starting to doubt. This picture cleared up any doubt I had.

Gingerbread Houses

So last year after Thanksgiving we made Gingerbread houses. This year we did it again, so I guess that makes it a tradition right. :o)
Eric, Don't do that, my daughter doesn't know you're just joking and not really licking the gingerbread house.See!Oh well, I guess they survived. Here's the finished product.