New Year 2010-11, Christmas 2010

New Year's Eve and Day

Kevin didn't have to work all week, so we enjoyed having him around.  We stayed up late, slept late, ate out, saw movies, etc.  It was fun.

On New Year's Eve, the kids went to my parents' house with cousin Emma.  They stayed the night there.  Emily organized a party, complete with a fancy dinner, games, and balloons.  They stayed up till midnight then went to bed.

Kevin and I went to see a movie then drove to Logan to see his cousin Les (Cunningham) play in his band Nervous Les and the Side Effects.  They played in a tavern in Logan, where it was -5 degrees!  We rang in the new year there then drove to Ogden to stay at the Marriott Hotel.  My parents had some rewards points they needed to use so they gave them to us.  We didn't get to bed till 2am and didn't wake up till almost 11am!

Later we picked up the kids at David & Shannon's house.  We went ot dinner at The Sonora Grill, one of our favorites, then played in the hotel pool. We hung out and watched TV till bed.

It's been a fun round of holidays and it's been fun being off our normal routine, but I think we are all looking forward to going back to "normal," then going to California on January 20!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas!

Christmas Eve, Dad went out to do some errands, then Em and I went to the grocery store.  I spent a lot of time cooking, cleaning, and preparing for dinner.  My parents, who returned home from Washington, D.C. the night before, came for dinner.  I must say, I did a good job with ham, rolls, jello, vegetables, and yummy brownies with frosting.  We opened gifts from my parents.  Emily's favorite gift from them is a pretty doll she named Anna.  James' favorite gift from them is a marble tower thing. My favorite thing from them is a DVD of family photos dating back to 1972.  It is a collection of the "Growing Up Books" my mom made for my Grandma Williams, every year till 1998.  James also loved the bucket of beach toys (in preparation for our trip to Cali in January) and even wore his swimsuit to bed.

Christmas morning, we slept till after 9am.  James came in our room, then went and got Emily.  Once the video camera was ready, we let them go see what Santa brought.  Emily got a pink Razor scooter she asked for, and a Taylor Swift CD.  In her stocking was a necklace, 9 pairs of earrings, and other items.  James got his beloved and sought after Nerf Shotgun.  He has been talking about it for weeks.  He too got a new scooter, a blue one.  In his stocking were some paints and paintbrushes, because he recently took a liking to "arting," or so he calls it.

From Nana, James got a cool set of remote control trick cars.  He has already worn the batteries out.  He also got some cute Star Warts T-shirts.  Emily loved her little sewing/craft kit from Nana.  She already decorated a shirt with fabric paint.

The kids have had fun on their scooters.  It was dry weather on Christmas day, so they were able to be outside.  Today it's been snowing so they have played inside.

We saw the Disney movie "Tangled."  It was a cute movie and the kids loved it.

Today is Sunday, so we went to church.  Kevin and I had a nap after church while the kids played downstairs.  I have been organizing and creating a photo book of the year 2010.  I have over 1,000 photos from the year that need to be put into a book and printed.

Kevin is taking the week off and I have time off as well, though I will be working a couple hours per day (there are days/weeks when I don't work a full 40 hours, so it's fine that I work during the break).  We plan to sleep in, hang out, go to movies, etc.