Merry Christmas!

Santa was VERY good to us this year. (most of which was courtesy of a recalled baby item...we got a sweet rebate check that we had to spend on fisher- price stuff. Lucky Tyler)Christmas Eve we enjoyed a great turkey dinner and read the Christmas story out of the Bible. Tyler enjoyed leading the music as we sang some Christmas Carols. We let our little guy open one present on Christmas Eve and he chose his super cool tool chest/work bench. He sat and played with it for at least 20 minutes straight. For anyone with kids you know what a miracle that is. Santa came and got the tree loaded up and it was only a few hours until Tyler woke up (at 5:45 am) and wanted to come downstairs to play. We spent the early morning making coffee cake and sticky buns. The family came down to join us for Christmas at 7am.

Tyler's first gift of the morning was a new trike from Granny and Grandpa! He loves to hop on it and scoot around the house. Tyler was spoiled rotten. He also got an awesome fire truck, a bull-dozer, a hot wheels transporter with some extra cars, play dough, 4 books, 3 movies, a training potty, a bed rail, and new bedding for his big boy bed (which he will hopefully be in before his little brother gets here). He also got a new top and some goodies in his stocking. As I have said many times this season- this Christmas will never be topped and I hope that Tyler is young enough to forget how many gifts he got. I am completely enforcing a 2 gift maximum from here on out!!

Ryan got two pairs of shoes, a Volcom beenie a new sweater, two movies, a video of the early years including his first steps and Christmas, and our family gifts were new pots and pans and some serving dishes.

I got two maternity shirts, a Volcom jacket, and the pots and pans and serving dishes.

We were definitely spoiled rotten- no question about it! We have enjoyed having family around and Tyler is going to miss his company. He is loving his Granny, Grandpa, and Uncle Kyle.

Thank you to our family far away for taking such good care of us. We love you all and know how blessed we are to have you. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas guests have come to town!

We are enjoying ourselves here in Vegas. We were home-bound by the snow for a few days (mostly because Ryan didn't want us out on the roads if we didn't need to be). Tyler and I were also getting over a cold/cough thing so we were just laying low. We did venture out after a few days to check out what was left of the snow and we had some beautiful sights.

This picture is taken at the end of our Master Planned Community. It was absolutely gorgeous for a few days after our surprise snow storm.

Back home, Tyler pulled his daddy's jacket out of the closet and insisted that I help him put it on and wear it around. We sure are lucky to have such a cute little boy around to make life a little more interesting when we're stuck at home :)

Our sweet Tyler smiling for a picture to send to daddy at work.

Our real fun started Friday night when Uncle Kyle joined us. Kyle came down from BYU and is staying with us until Saturday. Granny and grandpa joined us Saturday afternoon. Kyle got to be Tyler's best bud by playing around and sharing fun games on the computer.

We have quite the cuddly boy on our hands now. Tyler giving Granny loves while staring at his train and the lights on the tree.

Sunday morning Tyler loved waking up with other people around to play with and love him. He has been super cuddly with all of his guests but especially his granny.

Yummy bran flakes for breakfast! So fun to have everyone around.

Monday morning Tyler had his own breakfast...and then some of everyone else's! Here is Tyler enjoying breakfast (for the second or third time) with Grandpa. He is definitely forgetting what it's like to NOT get his way. I love to see Tyler enjoying himself so much- I just hope he will still love his boring ol' mom and dad when this fun holiday is over.

more snowy fun

Tyler and daddy went out for some more fun in the snow. I couldn't get a really good shot because it was already so dark, but you can tell from the mini-snowman that there was plenty of snow around!Weathermen are saying that the snow will continue through the night...which is kinda scary since it took Ryan over an HOUR to get home with just an inch or two on the roads. Maybe we'll just have to take a snow day tomorrow...

No- really, it's SNOWING!

Today the snow has been so much fun I almost feel like I'm in Provo. I love how quiet snow makes everything seem. Tyler and I have enjoyed ourselves playing with the train around the Christmas tree, watching the snow fall outside the big slider, making muffins, watching movies, and even playing in the snow!It is so unreal- but so beautiful! These pictures were taken around 1:30pm and it has been snowing ever since and sticking the whole time. I've got to try to remember to take one more picture before it gets too dark so you can see this whole snow in Vegas thing is very real.

Tyler enjoying a little snow off the driveway (gross)

Hey Mom- where is this stuff coming from?!

Now, going back a few days, we took a few pictures on Sunday night/ Monday morning while my parents were here visiting. My sweet mother helped me make (aka she made) some stockings for our cute little family. I did a few things here and there but she is a whiz at the sewing machine.

Just grandma and the boys working on our stockings.

Tyler loved playing with grandpa. The two of them played with the train all Monday morning after we got batteries out for it. They also got ready together for the day. Tyler got to shave and grandpa did his hair- which actually ended up being super cute for the day!

Two boys enjoying their toys

Unfortunately for us, the snow here meant that the 15 was closed for mom and dad to get back to California which meant they had to leave us early to go an alternate, and much longer, route back home. To add to the length of the trip, my poor parents ended up getting in an accident on the way- but thankfully nobody was hurt- except the big dog that they hit :(

That's catch-up for now. I need to take some pictures of our fantastic stockings and the snow that is piling up! Hope you are all enjoying today as much as I am!

SNOWING

Just wanted to let you all know that it has been SNOWING at my house all day. And, yes, I still live in Las Vegas.

We tried to take some pictures and video but they aren't very clear- I will try to post them later though. It may be a white Christmas after all.

A fun weekend!

We started off the weekend with my good friend Morgan stopping by. She was in town to have fun with some co-workers and made time to go to all-you-can-eat-sushi with Ryan and I. Well, Ryan had the sushi, Tyler and I shared some Chicken.Saturday morning we got up early and baked our sticky buns to take to the ward Christmas breakfast. There was quite the spread; pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, ham, english muffins, cinnamon rolls, egg casserole, potatoes, hash browns, hot chocolate, and juice.As part of the festivities there was singing and a special visit from a certain man in a red suit. Tyler thought it was awesome...until it was his turn to actually say hi in person. Granted, our little guy was super tired, but the whole Santa experience was classic. He was so excited until we handed him over...then the water works began. He was screaming in record time!

I had the privilege of sitting with Santa as well to try to get one picture- this is the best we got!

After a nice long nap we all headed out to Henderson. Heather and Taylor were getting ready for their fancy work party and my Mom and Dad are in town and offered to watch all the kiddos. Ryan and I enjoyed an evening out doing some Christmas shopping and a fun dinner, just the two of us. We tried Lucille's BBQ and most importantly, fried pickles! They were actually pretty good. Ryan and I enjoyed each other's company but we sure miss our cute little guy. Grandma and Grandpa said he was great but now they understand how crazy he is. Tyler really doesn't ever stop moving- but we love him! We got home and laid the little guy down and now we're ready to pass out ourselves. Good night to all.

Our Daily Life

Nothing too big going on around here- but it doesn't have to be a special day to have a fun time with Tyler.

The first two days of the week Tyler was a little slower than normal- don't think he's feeling 100% yet. He fell asleep on my lap watching a movie both days- and he NEVER watches movies. We watched Kung Fu Panda Monday and Cars on Tuesday. My robe was sitting around downstairs (even though I clean the house all the time ;) ) and he wanted to put it on to stay cozy- so we tied it tight, tucked in the long tails, and rolled up the sleeves. He loved it! He must have walked around in my robe with his blankie and pacifier for the last 30min. of the movie. I love it when he's cuddly!

Today was Ryan's early day- he got off work at 4pm. He and Tyler were back to being buds and had a great time playing around. We ran some errands to get out of the house and enjoyed a little In-n-Out for dinner. We got home and tried to get Tyler ready for bed but he just wanted to play and be silly with dad. As you can see- they were being very silly. These two boys can have so much fun together sometimes.

I am so lucky to have two wonderful boys in my life (and a third on the way) I love it when Tyler lets his daddy be his best buddy because we all know the day will come when he doesn't want me around anymore. I love this time of year when we get to focus on all the positive and be grateful for the little mundane things that make us smile. I hope my cute boy can make you smile a little too :)