Our family had a great Christmas! I didn't take very many pictures, and most of them are of Diddy! I couldn't help it. She showed so much excitement this year...like she finally understood what was going on. 
I love getting my Christmas dishes out every year. They're not fancy, but I am grateful to have them. Christmas Eve was with my side of the family this year. We switch off with Jim's family every other year. We decided to try a cooking Prime Rib this year. I did one 2 years ago and over-cooked it a little. I was really mad, because they are sooooo expensive! The internet lied to me about the cooking times, and that is all I will say about that! Anyway, this year, my Prime Rib was PERFECT!!! Yay! I should've taken a picture of it, but I was too busy watching, nervously, as Jim cut into it. Seriously, our Prime Rib was almost $200. I did not want to screw it up. We had so much food, and it all sooooo yummy! 
Later on, we had a special visit from a certain jolly fat man. Please ignore the tattoos on his arm! Dylan loved the visit from Santa.
Taylor got the new Jonas Brother CD. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. I remember when she used to ask for Barbies for Christmas. Now it's CD's and mp3 players and cell phones. I wish she would stop growing up!
Brookie got the Fairies from Pixie Hollow. She and Diddy are obsessed with Tinkerbell and Pixie Hollow right now!
Diddy got a Tinkerbell costume! So cute!
I love getting my Christmas dishes out every year. They're not fancy, but I am grateful to have them. Christmas Eve was with my side of the family this year. We switch off with Jim's family every other year. We decided to try a cooking Prime Rib this year. I did one 2 years ago and over-cooked it a little. I was really mad, because they are sooooo expensive! The internet lied to me about the cooking times, and that is all I will say about that! Anyway, this year, my Prime Rib was PERFECT!!! Yay! I should've taken a picture of it, but I was too busy watching, nervously, as Jim cut into it. Seriously, our Prime Rib was almost $200. I did not want to screw it up. We had so much food, and it all sooooo yummy! Later on, we had a special visit from a certain jolly fat man. Please ignore the tattoos on his arm! Dylan loved the visit from Santa.
Taylor got the new Jonas Brother CD. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. I remember when she used to ask for Barbies for Christmas. Now it's CD's and mp3 players and cell phones. I wish she would stop growing up!Brookie got the Fairies from Pixie Hollow. She and Diddy are obsessed with Tinkerbell and Pixie Hollow right now!Diddy got a Tinkerbell costume! So cute!
All the girls got their own video cameras! They eache video taped the whole night! Thanks Nana & Papa!
For dessert we had homemade Pizookies! YUM! Jim got me 12 pizookie pans for Christmas and he gave them to me a little early so we could use them. This is my favorite dessert. A hot, gooey, chocolate chip cookie with ice cream on top. It was so fun to make them ourselves!
Christmas Day was quiet and cozy! It was cold and rainy outside, so we had an excuse to stay in and be lazy all day. The kids woke us up at 6:30am! They have never gotten us up that early on Christmas morning before. I was a little disoriented when they woke me up, because Jim & I didn't get to bed until about 3am. They are so good at following the rules. Nobody went downstairs until we were all ready. Because of the system we have in opening presents, it took us almost 2 hours to finish opening up everything. I like it that way. It's more family time, and they seem so appreciate it more when they don't open everything in a 10 minute whirlwind.
Our favorite things list:
- Jim- "The Joseph Smith Papers" book and massage.
- Kirsten- sweet new speakers for my iPhone!
- Taylor- mp3 player & Lego Indiana Jones
- Blake- My Sims game for Wii
- Lincoln- Sonic game for XBOX 360.
- Brooklyn- Barbie Diamond Castle
- Dylan- Disco Wow Wow Wubzy
- Whole Family- Guitar Hero World Tour! Yeah! Now we can all be rock stars!
Thanks, Nana, for the yummy Cinnamon Rolls, and don't be jealous that we had Prime Rib dip sandwiches for dinner last night! Our Christmas couldn't have been more perfect. I hope everyone had as great a Christmas as we did!
Christmas Sunday. Thank heavens I got a picture before Dylan threw up all over herself in Sacrament meeting. 
This is my cousin Aaron "wheels" Fotheringham. He's kind of a celebrity. He has been without the use of his legs, since he was born. He is a extreme wheelchair skater. He completed the first ever backflip in a wheelchair. Westley & Lincoln think he's awesome, 'cause he was in the X Games. He was on that show, "Secret Millionaire" this past week. The millionaire gave him $20,000. Google him if you want!
Nana & Papa!
Grandpa played Guitar Hero!
Taylor had her winter piano recital. She was amazing! She is sooooo good on the piano. She has a gift.
After every recital, we always sneak into the "high end" piano room and have Taylor's picture taken with the expensive pianos! Oh, to own a $100,000 piano... 
We got some snow in Vegas yesterday! None of it actually stuck. By the time it hit the ground it was all just a big wet sloppy mess! And you all know how I LOVE to mop my floor! The kids had fun playing in the soaking wet snow. You'd think they had only seen snow a couple times in their whole life. Oh, wait, they have only seen snow a couple times in their whole life! I guess it was fun while it lasted, and I hope we get some more. 
Blake started playing the violin when she was 3 years old. She came up to me one day and said,"Mom, can I have a violin?" I asked her how, at 3 years old, did she even know what a violin was. I kind of dismissed it, and after a few months of her nagging me, I signed her up for lessons. 5 years and 5 violins later, she is quite the little musician! She has never once asked to quit and she looks forward to her violin lessons. She had a recital on Saturday. She played 3 group numbers, a duet, and a solo, and she was great! Good job Blakey!
Don't they look excited to do family pictures! I dread family pictures. It's way too much pressure to try to make 7 people look flawless for any amount of time. It's been 2 years since we have done them. However, I was excited to save some money and take the pictures myself! So, we headed out into the backyard on Sunday afternoon. We even got a couple pics of all of us, thanks to Jordan (one of my YW). We just might get that Christmas card out this year! Get ready for a picture overload...
I know I posted alot of black & white, but I love the look of them. We ended up having a good time. The kids even had a good laugh, 'cause my shoe fell in the pool! 
