Christmas 2008

This Christmas has been one of the funnest Christmases of all time for our family. Brielle and Braden were both so fun on Christmas morning, we all had smiles on our faces the whole time we watched them and helped them open their presents. Brielle kept saying, "Santa brought me a pony!" She has been asking for ponies for months now and Santa was very generous to us all! It was so fun to see their little faces light up when they saw what they got. Christmas with children definitely is so much fun. (But, I have to say that I've had more than my share of Polar Express for 2008...both kids have requested it almost every day since November started...so until this coming November no more Polar Express!!!) We have been enjoying these last two weeks. It is so nice to have Scott home. He is such a good dad and husband. We sure miss him when he's in school all day almost everyday. We have been having so much fun relaxing at home, going out with the kids and enjoying our time as a family. I think the 3 of us are going to cry on Monday when Scott starts school again!

A few weeks ago, we had a ward Christmas party and Santa was there. I was curious to see how Brielle and Braden were going to react when they saw him. Braden was hesitant but he didn't cry and Brielle was NOT interested in him whatsoever, as you can see from the picture.

The Sunday before Christmas we went to the Festival of Lights at the Washington D.C. Temple. It was freezing cold but it was beautiful! There were LOTS of people everywhere mostly gathered inside the Visitor's Center. They had different things to do inside but the lines were so long we basically just went in to get warm. They had a live nativity outside and that was fun but it was sooooo cold...we felt sorry for the Mary and Joseph...they were probably freezing their butts off!

When we were at the Visitor's Center, Brielle specifically asked me, "take a picture of me mommy!" This is the picture in front of the Christus.

Then Braden joined her...and I have to say that I love this picture of both of them looking up...

Christmas Morning was a blast!

Braden got this little car for Christmas and when he went down for a nap on Christmas day he wanted to take a nap with his car!!! What a silly boy!!!:)

...not the best picture of me...BUT...this is how I feel about my Christmas present! I'm excited to put it to use...I have been wanting a sewing machine for a while now...Scott wanted to get it for me last Christmas but I felt guilty because we were so broke...we are still broke...BUT we got such a good deal I couldn't resist!!!:) I have a few projects in mind...I'm excited!!:)

After our Christmas dinner, which by the way was DELICIOUS!!!!!:)--Oh my heck we ate soooo much!!!!! We all definitely have to start working out after this holiday season!!! My gut is definitely not getting any smaller, let's just put it that way--...anyway, after dinner we decided to go to D.C. to look at The National Christmas Tree right in front of the White House. It was BEAUTIFUL and so worth going.

We have been having 60 degree weather here and there...we get 3 really cold days, in the 30's and then a day or two of warmer days. We check the weather everyday here because it is not predictable. When we do get 50 or 60 degree weather we try to spend at least one or two hours outside! The kids LOVE it and Scott and I do too! During this break we've been on walks, to the playground and we also went back to Clymyjontry Park, it was Scott's first time and we had a blast!

Oh! and we went back to the Museum of American History and saw the original Star-Spangled Banner. It was neat to see it and read about it. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the exhibit, so this picture is courtesy of the Internet!:)