Alright, is everyone ready for this? I'm warning you, there's going to be a lot of pictures!!!
We spent Thanksgiving with our friends the Baileys in Pocatello, it was so great to see them. Marren and I grew up together, and she has remained a wonderful friend, she is always there for me and I love her dearly. I don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving, I thought I did, but you lucked out.
In between Thanksgiving and Christmas was the chaos of trying to get ready for Christmas. Every year I bite off too much to handle, I have every intention of staring Christmas in July, but it just never happens. I always start about the first of December and work like a mad woman until the last day to ship priority, December 20th this year. So that's what the beginning and middle of December looked like.
Jared's parents were suppose to come down and spend Christmas with us, but due to some crazy weather in Washington, cancelled last minute. We were all gearing up to spend Christmas as a little family, when Jared's parents called me and said that they were on their way. There was a break in the weather and they thought that they would come down and surprise Jared. Now if you know Jared, you can never surprise him. He knows everything! Every Christmas he knows exactly what I got him, even if I took extreme measures to make sure he never saw or heard anything! But we got him this time, he answered the door late Tuesday night, and he was so surprised!! We had a great time with Jared's parents, it's so nice to have them here. Chase absolutely loves his Grandpa and Grandma and they play so hard. It's nice not to have to be the sole entertainer for Chase! Christmas was nice with a lot of presents, Thanks every one! Chase enjoyed the gift wrap more, though some of the toys were very memorable. If you ever have to buy a gift for a two year old, let me tell you a secret: hand-held back massagers, flashlights and beanbags. There you go, in less than $10 you have the best gift ever!! Don't forget lots of batteries.
So Christmas is never Christmas without a few blunders, here's mine. My Mom always made us Christmas pajamas growing up, with the exception of one year because she was too sick. I wanted to carry on the tradition of homemade Christmas pajamas, and so I bought fabric, Sponge Bob, of course. I took precise measurements of Chase, cut out the appropriate size and started sewing at 11 pm on Dec 23rd--pulling a Fay, right Mom? Well, I promise you I measured correctly, I promise!!!! But Chase will probably be wearing those pajamas for the next 3 Christmases, I can just rewrap them every year. His nickname was bigfoot, I swear I could have fit into those feet, I don't know what kind of child the pattern was made for, but it wasn't made for any normal child. I put them on Chase and he immediately threw a fit and wanted them off, "all-done, all-done." I just kept telling him, "I don't think so, if I have to pin those pajamas to you, I will. You are sleeping in them tonight, and you are going to like it!! I was up till 3 am making those for you!!" Oh the joys.
So that's the holiday in a short, we had a wonderful time, and we hope that you all did too. I meant to post a picture of my Christmas card, and our family letter, but I deleted the file accidently and I don't really feel like retyping the letter. Sorry, next year.
We love you all and are so grateful for the holiday season. It's easy to forget to take a step back from the hustle and bustle, but when you do, it's amazing to drink in the wonderful spirit that encompasses the holidays. W are grateful for our Savior, for his birth, his earthly mission and his amazing sacrifice for us. I hope that we can all remember Him all year long as much as we do during the Christmas season.
Just a cute picture of Chase
The new trampoline, he gets quite a bit of air on it.
The remote control fire truck. It's cool, but gets old fast, especially when you're trying to put toys away during nap time and the siren goes off. Joy.
Coolest toy #1: The flashlight
Jet airplane from Chase's buddy William, he loves it!
As I said, the gift wrap was more exciting...if only he knew what laid underneath the paper.
Farm animals from Grandma and Grandpa
Family Christmas picture that Chase just wouldn't comply with, hence the pose.
"Bigfoot"
Chase opening his pajamas and realizing that they're "Bob-Bob." It was very cute.
The cool new bath toys that Grandma and Grandpa gave him.
Chilling out, watching Mr. Noodle on Elmo.
Chase loves his Grandpa!
Trying to take of the pajamas and being threatened to keep them off. He was midway taking
them off.
Decorating cookies at the Bensons. See the lovely green bruise on his forehead? He fell from his chair while attempting to help me sew Christmas gifts. This is about 10 days after. It finally got better, and then he hit his head again, in the same spot. That's my Son!!
