A cozy quiet Christmas

pretty much describes our Christmas this year, and it was just right! This was our first year without my parents here, they are spending Christmas in Colorado with the Keane's, and it was our first year not hosting Christmas Eve. Michael had to work all day Christmas Eve so the kids and I went to see the movie We Bought a Zoo, my friend/neighbor joined us and we all enjoyed a great movie! Afterwards the kids and I ate at In & Out and then headed home so I could start preparing our Christmas Eve feast. When Michael got home we all enjoyed this on our plates...

 All ready to eat!

 After dinner, and I mean before we even swallowed our last bite, we were in the living room opening up a few Christmas Eve presents. The kids got their annual Christmas PJ's and they also got a bath towel- we love to promote personal hygiene around here. :)

 We also gave Pepper his present, he loves his new soccer ball and bag of treats. He's a spoiled dog, we are well aware of that.

 Anna enjoyed this little treat before bed, a cup of hot chocolate with whipped topping.

 And before we knew it, it was Christmas morning! We started with stockings this year.

 Anna is wishing to play soccer in the Spring and has been asking for a soccer net and ball to get some practicing in before she plays. She was pretty excited to see her special gift!

 Camden's special gift was a Dremel 300 tool. He has been wishing for one for quite some time now. I do believe he has gotten a power tool for Christmas the past three years. He is so into tools and we love allowing him to use special gifts that God has given him and he has certainly been blessed with a creative mind and works well with his hands.

 Jadon was totally surprised when he opened an iPad 2. No, we don't buy $400 dollar gifts for our kids. Jadon had saved a little over $300 for the past several months and was planning to buy it in early 2012. We decided to surprise him and cover the difference. Jadon is such a responsible saver and very good with money, he was very thankful for this special gift.

 And just like that it was over, now on to playing with all the new stuff.

 It's been a great Christmas! Only 6 more days left of 2011 and then we say hello to 2012!

Snow day!

It's not very often we are spontaneous, yesterday morning our converstation went something like this:

Michael- What are we going to do today?
Me- I don't know, it sure would be fun to go find some snow.
Michael- let's do it.
Me- Ok.
Michael- Kids, go get your winter clothes on, we are going on a drive.

And that's just what we did! We were out the door in about 30 minutes and headed to Payson which is about an hour and 15 minute drive from our house. Once in Payson we headed up towards Christopher Creek, about a 25 minute drive from downtown Payson. There was a lot of snow and the kids were in heaven. We pulled over to a church parking lot and that's where we had our fun.

Christmas with Papa and Grandma

We had to celebrate Christmas a little early this year with Papa and Grandma since they will be spending Christmas in Colorado. We went over to their house earlier this week and enjoyed dinner and presents with them. My mom served a delicious meal! It was even cold and raining outside which made it feel like Christmas. It was a great time had by all.

What's up December?

Busy you say? That would be a true statement. I think things are finally starting to settle down, the Christmas shopping is done, my photography season has come to a close, we have 3 days left of homeschool and then we are on a two week break (insert a big YIPEE right here), and the house is decorated and cozy for the upcoming festivities. 

Our Christmas cards have been sent out. If you are reading this and didn't get one, I'm so very sorry. I only ordered 40 and tried only to send them to people who I don't see all the time on facebook. 

 Our sweet Anna is on day 3 of a fever, she still has a smile on her face so that is good. Whiskers (the kitty) also has a fever. I take care of Anna, she takes care of kitty. It works out quite well.

 I have not gotten many Christmas cards this year as compared to years past. I really think with social networking not many people are sending them out. Makes sense to me. Here is what we have so far.

 We have candycanes, lots of candycanes. I LOVE candycanes, especially in hot chocolate. YUMMY!

 We are doing our Jesse tree devotional this year, I love it. Not sure the kids are enjoying it as much this year but it gets us in God's word everyday and it's such a great overview of the whole Bible. Maybe it's time to change things up next year and try something new, to capture the kids attention a little better. This is our third year doing the Jesse tree.

 I got our prints ordered from our recent photo shoot, it's so nice to see some new pictures in our frames.

 This is the first day in about 2 weeks I have picked up my camera. I was burnt out after a busy three months with KandidsbyKorri and my camera and I needed a break from each other. Absence did make the heart grow fonder because today I saw my camera laying there and my heart skipped a beat and before I knew it I was taking pictures all over the house.

 Yes, I took a picture of the shower curtain in the kids bathroom, specifically the hooks. I had hooks on it that were not full circles and every night the curtain would slip out of the hook. It would drive me nuts. I finally spent the $1 to get the cheap kind of hooks that are full circles and haven't had a problem since. Little things make me happy, you should know that about me by now.

 Pepper also makes me happy, he is so soft and furry and is probably tired of being petted so much. It's a rainy day and perfect dog petting weather. Isn't he a cutie!

 I let Camden choose his own spelling words this week, his words didn't surprise me at all. He got an A + on his test today. I'm sure it helps our last name is Ray and he already knew how to spell gun and sun of course but he had to work hard on nuclear power plant but he got it down pat. You never know when you may need to spell nuclear power plant ray gun sun rays! I will mention here that the white board is a well used object in our home, it brings spelling success along with bringing our words to life with art work, don't you like our art work?

 Camden enjoyed doing some Christmas projects with me this year along with my friend and her son.

 Last weekend I flew to Denver, along with my parents to surprise my sister for her 40th birthday. We pulled it off and she had no clue we were coming. The look on her face was, well, one of surprise when we walked into her house. Her husband did a great job planning the perfect weekend for her. I brought my camera but it never left my suitcase, these ones are compliments of my dad's camera and a tripod.

 My wonderful sister.

 Why do I look so large? Maybe it's the boots or the fact that I am taller than both my mom and my sister.

And then this past weekend Michael and I got to go to his Go Daddy work party. It was pretty darn amazing. I'll have to get the pics off my phone and dedicate an entire post just to that. Let's just say I have never in my life been to such a party. It was so awesome, and loud, and fun, and loud, and did I mention loud? And fun too!