Christmas Day 2009

After eating our classic Christmas feast, we capped off the day with this decadent chocolate cake that Alyssa made. Yum.

The missionaries joined us for dinner and a game of Carcasonne. I sat at the table and read 2 of my new magazines.

Branden Lewis joined us for desert and the after dinner games.

We got to meet our new sister missionary tonight--Sister Carter. She is wonderful and likes to fish. She and Sister Hansen are a great pair and they even teamed up to do good at Carcasonne.

Brady was feeling the Christmas love.

Lexie was really excited to show off ALL of her presents.

Brady loves his snuggie and is eager to go spend his cash that he got for Christmas.

Brandon put his bench press together first. We all took turns trying it out today. I discovered that I am the biggest wimp in the family. ;-(

Alyssa and Branden were happy to get a good look at all the loot. He is happily helping her set up her new lap top!

Christmas Morning

An exhausted Gary on Christmas morning. Poor guy.

My mom was so excited to find this present for me. (If you don't know why-see the post titled "Da Bears"). She made Alyssa promise to take my picture so she could see it. Don't I look lovely at 6:30 in the morning!?

Given the fact that I am very hard to surprise--I was super curious what my mom had gotten me. We opened just after the Santa presents and the stockings.

Santa can never go wrong with lip gloss for Lexie!

Alyssa was a little unsure about the "Crabby Patties".

Santa provided Brady with the means to rock out--i-pod connector for his big stereo in his room. Even Santa knows how much that boy loves his music.

Santa is a genius--tools for Brandon to have in his room. We all know who really fixes stuff around here anyway.

After the "Crabby Patty" there can be no where to go but up.

There must be candy in here somewhere...

Alyssa trying to be excited about her present from Santa--an empty laptop bag. (He does have a sense of humor--the lap top was in a box under the tree from Dad and Mom).

Brady was up at 4 am!!! Can you possible believe it? Crazy boy!

Her very own Wii motion control sensor!

The hoodie from Santa is hanging behind him on the entertainment center--he is hugging the bench press set that he knows is hiding under the paper--it was his gift from Dad and Mom. :-)

More to come after dinner!

Fall Pagent 2009

Lexie and a few of her fellow first graders were asked to dance in the Thanksgiving program. They were dancing leaves.

They did an interpretive style dance with colored fabric to represent the color of leaf they were.

This was right up Lexie's alley. She was born to be in interpretive dancer and she took her task, of bringing the leaf to life, very seriously.

Christmas Lights 2009

Even though it was pretty cold over the Thanksgiving break, the boys diligently hung my Christmas lights.

Brandon was so careful with Brady. Brady wanted out on the roof really bad. I thought Brandon was going to lash him down. He was so worried that Brady might fall.

Brandon has been itching to get out on the roof since we moved in! He was so happy!

He was so careful and planned out the lights diligently. I will post a night shot soon. Thanks Brandon!

Us girls had to get in on the act.

The ladder was a lot taller than it looked from the ground!

Happy Thanksgiving

We look forward to the food all year long. I love when we all pitch in and hang out together in the kitchen.

This year Brady was in charge of the stuffing. He did an excellent job!

Alyssa did all the pies and the mashed potatoes.

Our yearly ritual of eating the yummy, crispy turkey skin as soon as it comes out of the oven!

Lexie spent the day decorating the tree. She did an excellent job. She divided her time between helping the girls cook in the kitchen, supervising the boys hanging lights, and creating the perfect tree!

Ginger took her job of holding down the couch very seriously. Neither she nor the couch moved all day long!