We Always have Fun in the Snow

On one of our lasts days visiting we enjoyed the Winter Wonderland there is Utah, which we miss. We went sledding up Hobble Creek Canyon at Jolly's Ranch. We rented tubes and had an absolute blast. The memories that were made will surely last. Colton and Sarah were bundled as tight as could be. Colton even made sure to protect his eyes with some snow goggles. He is there under all the snow clothes somewhere.
Sarah was in her adorable pink hat, pink jacket, and pink snowbibs and lets not forget the pacie!!

Everytime that we went down the hill with Sarah she let out a joyful, "WEEE!!" and at the bottom Colton would say, "Let's Do It Again!!!" So Again, and Again.... and Again.... and Again we went for over an hour.

We really did have tons of fun together as a family at Jolly's Ranch and we left just in time as the winds began and the temperature dropped. I don't think the kids could handle any more cold. As for Jay and I we got a work out. Who knew that you could sweat when it is around freezing outside. None the less, what a BLAST!

Our Great Visit to Aunt Lynn's Home

We are so grateful for Aunt Lynn. Her thougthfulness and love that she generously shares with all of us but especially with Colton and Sarah is truly priceless. Colton not only adores Aunt Lynn but her puppy, Cloe, too.
Our little Sarah has always been a strong spirit. We have never had to teach her about folding her arms for prayers, she picked up on the reverence for our Lord early on and still sweetly folds her arms for prayers wherever we are.
Sarah and Colton were thrilled when Lynn was kind enough to let the kids help her open her Christmas presents from the family.

We had a fabulous time at Aunt Lynn's house and were very thrilled to have good weather to drive up to Salt Lake and to visit her. Even Sarah shared a moment of love and affection with Lynn as well did Colton.

We send our Love and look forward to seeing her again soon.

Fun with the Cousins

One of the nights while in Utah, the cousins got together and had a fun night at Grandma's.Sarah even joined in with the girls to play dolls and kitchen. She really liked being included as one of the kids and getting to run around too.
All the kids had fun watching a movie in the theater room and eating yummy popcorn!! Lora even joined in on the fun!

We love, Nicholas, Alexandria, Tyler, Alyssa, Michael, and Avery. And miss each of them! We hope they all had Fun like, Colton and Sarah.

Our First Snowman

After the snow melted just a bit we decided to bundle up and create this FANTASTIC snowman. It has actually late afternoon, not night time as the picture portrays. But you can also see this is at least a 6ft Snowman. Jay and I heaved the second ball up and it was terribly heavy, WOW!! But we got him put together, bucket on head and everything. The Snowman was just part of the family after all the hard work it took to put him together.
It was a BLAST to play in the SNOW!! Oh how we miss the snow here in California.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!

Christmas Lunch with Everyone

It was a wonderful afternoon on Christmas day when the Gilliams and the Omans came together to celebrate Christmas and enjoy a wonderful meal. It is not very often that any family gets to enjoy the holidays with both sides of their family but this year we were very blessed and enjoyed every moment of it. Smile and Pose, Like Mother Like Daughter, do you think?
Colton simply adores each and everyone of his cousins and getting to play with them when we visit Utah. Here is Colton is having a great time with his cousin, Nicholas, playing Play-doh. One of Nicholas' Christmas presents. Thanks for sharing Nicholas!!

We are extremely grateful for each and every gift we received this Christmas. But the greatest gift for us was getting to spend time with everyone, it doesn't happen very often. And the gift of snow was a really fun gift too. Colton and Jay were full of smiles Christmas day!!

What a blessed and beautiful Christmas it was for us this year!!

Santa came to these two Very Good Children

Twas the Night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, only Colton. He and Sarah were good children this year and were definitely on Santa's Good List. Colton didn't waste anytime to put on his new clothes from us. He still loves wearing all one color and pretends that he is one of the Power Rangers.
Sarah enjoyed every gift and in fact it took some convincing to get her to open her other gifts after she opened Santa's gift, a shopping cart and great-grandparent's gift a Doll. But all in all she was a happy girl Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun and the kids were excited about everything. Colton even said after every gift, "This is what I always wanted!! Thank you, thank you!!" Those are the words that make a parents heart swell.

I loved that we kids were working together to open their gifts. At first Sarah just wanted to eat the candy in her stocking and open Colton's presents. It was a nice Christmas and we are grateful that Santa found us, even miles from home. Colton made sure that when we visited Santa that Santa knew what he wanted AND that we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009

Christmas Eve with the Gilliams

This year was lots of fun on Christmas Eve, as we all gathered together at Morgan and Crystal's apartment, which ironically is the same complex that Jay and I lived in during our first year of marriage there in Provo. We had a relaxing evening with dinner, presents, laughter and can't forget some wrestling for Colton. Sarah was decked out with her new princess cell phone, boa and Tinker Bell heels and a new outift. She can be a real Girlie Girl!! Colton was also dressed for success to enforce the holidays with his police gear and new outfit. You better be nice, not naughty or Colton will find you.

Brandon never misses the opportunity to style up the occassion, even just for family, because we missed his fiance, Nicole, that night! Sweet hat!!

Christmas Eve was the night for everyone to dress-up. Even Morgan and Crystal broke out their cozy PJs. But what was so cute was that their PJs matched Colton's and Sarah's in color. SO CUTE!!

What a fantastic night, We LOVE you all!!!

See you Soon SANTA!

Annual Oman Hayride

We were so excited to be in town for the Annual Oman Christmas Hayride this year. We treasure family and tradition so much and having the opportunity to gather together with so many friends and family members at such a great time of year brings so much happiness and gratitude to us, for all those around us that support and love us. Thank you to Rixa and Lonnie for conitnuing to have such a fun and special gathering each year. We love it!!

Here is Sarah giving cuddles to her new Aunt Crystal. After Christmas Sarah will have another aunt to warm up to and be loved by. You can see below, here is Morgan with his new wife, Crystal and Brandon with his soon to be wife, Nicole. We enjoy all the LOVE!, aren't they all so sweet and happy.

It was a lot of fun to have my family at the hayride this year. This was the first year that any of my family was there to join in the festivities and they seemed to have a great time, look at the smiles!!

Early Christmas at Home

The Kids were absolutely thrilled to open presents before Christmas. Here the kids got to open their presents from Nana and Granddaddy. They loved every minute of that night. Sarah got a talking Little Tikes kitchen which actually both kids continue to enjoy, making things for Mom and Dad to eat. Colton got his own hand held Leapster Lmax which once again both kiddos have had fun drawing with the Art game. Thank you so very much to Nana and Granddaddy!

Merry Christmas 2009

Snell's Preschool "Informal Winter Program"

Colton always enjoys the opportunity to show off what he has learned at preschool. At Snell's they have a great music and movement activity time. Here the boys are taking their turn to show how well they can move around the room in circles. Colton enjoys any moment to be active, running, skipping or sliding. Colton's other favorite activity is reciting nursery rhymes and stories. Here the kids are acting out the Three Little Bears and Colton is Papa Bear. He even said his part with a big Papa Bear voice. He was really cute!!

Lighting of the Oakland Temple

We made the drive to Oakland for the annual Lighting Ceremony. It really was beautiful. We enjoy the spirit of the holidays that was in the air and all the happy people that covered the grounds.

Our favorite moment was the incredible display of Bronze Christ statues that were on display in the Visitor's Center. The depictions were incredible and extremely moving. It was a privilege to see these works of art.

Never a Dull Moment in Our Home

Dressing up is not only Colton's favorite past time, he has enlisted Sarah in the entertainment. So we never know what outfit will be worn or what character our kids will be. Here are a few pictures of our little pirates, A-hoy matey!!! The swords are essential to being the best pirate and when you have two then you are the toughest there is...
Sarah has discovered that Colton's superheroes and bad guys are not the only fun dress up outfits, Princess costumes are lots of fun too. And Sarah is Daddy's little Princess!

It is laughs and FUN on the Oman ship!

On the good ship Oman, it is a grande trip to the candy shop...

Oops, can't forget Our Thanksgiving with Friends

Every holiday is celebrated with a hand-made decoration and Colton made this pine cone turkey at preschool. Pretty creative, don't you think?! It was a GREAT Thanksgiving at our house with the Holm's(this is the second year we have enjoyed Thanksgiving with them) and the Holladay's. We ate good and...
played hard, a little Rock Band. Even the adults were jamming.

I know that this post is a little out of order but I couldn't forget our friends and the fun times that we had on Thanksgiving.

Christmas Traditions in the Oman house

What is Christmas without Grandma's German Christmas cookies. They are full of goodness and spice and we never fail to make a mess rolling and cutting out the dough, then icing them with the signature lemon frosting and rainbow spinkles. And sorry you can't see Sarah in this picture but she is trying to devour as much dough as possible while everyone else is posing for the photo. Sarah says, "Cheese, I am happy now that my bell is full of Daddy's favorite cookies!"
We have not missed a holiday season yet of decorating gingerbread. This year we mixed it up a bit and made a gingerbread train instead of a house.

One of our favorite activities is completing the Lowes' Little Builders activities. Here Colton is finishing up his wooden gingerbread house. He is adding stickers for decoration and you can tell he is concentrating because his tongue is sticking out.

Sarah just loves passing the time, when ever she can, by going through mom's purse or mini make-up bag. She is a tough girly-girl.