Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas! We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was filled with lots of company, lots of food and lots of fun. We had an awesome Christmas. Thank you to all of our family and friends who made this season special for us. We are lucky to have you! Here is a slide show of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day pictures:

This was an especially exciting year for Jack. We spend Christmas Eve with Chads parents in Bountiful. Jack was asking when we got to go home (which is a first) because he knew that he needed to get to sleep in order for Santa to come. When we finally got home, he was bouncing off of the walls with excitement. He crawled into bed and with a huge smile he said "I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight!" Well, with a little help from the red medicine both of my boys fell fast asleep.

In the morning I could hear Jack's little feet climbing down the ladder of his bunk bed, his bedroom door slowly open, his door close, and then his feet climbing up the ladder. This happened three times in a very short period of time. Finally Chad went and got him. He was so excited! He could not sit still. Nixin, on the other hand, had to be shaken out of his deep sleep. It was sure fun to see Jack so into Christmas. Here is the video of the kids when they came into the front room on Christmas Morning:

The Grinch

It was "Grinch Day" at Jack's kindergarten class today. The kids were supposed to dress up as the Grinch or a Who. This is what we came up with:

He looks pretty Grinchy, right?

Jr. Jazz!

Jack has officially started Jr. Jazz Basketball. He is so excited to be playing with all of his neighbor friends. I am optimistic that this just might go better than soccer :) To keep Nixin happy during Jack's practice, we allowed him to be the family photographer. He didn't do too bad.

Temple Square

Last weekend we met up with Grandma Becky and Grandpa Ken to see the Christmas lights at temple square. They were, as always, gorgeous. My camera was not working to the best of its ability, but we did capture a couple of good pictures:

One More...

Okay, one more funny thing that Nixin said...

We were in the car the other night and we were trying despirately to help Nixin understand what sounds the first four letters of the alphabet say (he's having a very hard time understanding this!).

We start off with letter A.

Erica: "A says aah. A says aah. What does A say?"
Nixin: "Aah"
Okay, got that one.
Erica: "Yes! Aah apple".

Erica: "B says buh. B says buh. What does B say?"
Nixin: "Buuuhhhh"
Okay, got that one too.
Erica: "Good job! Buh, Buh bird".

Erica: "C says cah. C says cah. What does C say?"
Nixin: "Cah, cah, Sophia". (Instantly grinning from ear to ear!)

Chad and Erica laugh uncontrolably! (Don't you just love how I spelled the sounds that the letters make?)

Girlfriend

After brushing his teeth last night, my 3 year old Nixin had the following conversation with his dad:

Nixin: Hey dad, I want to tell you something.
Chad: What do you want to tell me buddy?
Nixin: I kind of have a girlfriend and her name is Sophia...
(Nixin shyly runs away)

Nixin has his first girlfriend! Sophia is a cute little girl in his preschool class. He tells me often that he "played with Sophia today". I guess he's finally decided that she is girlfriend material. I love this age that he is, I love him!

Happy St. Nick's!

It is tradition in Chad's family to celebrate St. Nick's. Every year on December 5th we read the following story, put our shoes out, leave celery and water out for the horse and go to bed. When we wake up in the morning we find goodies in our shoes. It is so much fun! When Jack went into the living room first thing this morning he shouted "We have been so good this year!". Jack has started collecting nut crackers and "St. Nicholas" has supported the tradition by bringing the boys a nut cracker each year. The boys also got Transformers and pajamas (thanks Roxy!).

Here is the traditional Saint Nicholas Eve story:

In the Netherlands, December 5th is Saint Nicholas Eve, or Santa Klaus Eve. For over 600 years, Saint Nicholas and his Moorish servant, Swarte Peit, have been bringing Dutch children their holiday gifts. In Dutch tradition, Saint Nicholas, the fourth century Bishop of Myra, was born in Spain. The long bearded bishop wears a white robe, crimson cassock and tall red miter (official headdress) and in his white gloved hand he carries a gold colored crosier, shaped like a shepherd’s crook. Each year he and Swarte Peit journey to Amsterdam from Spain.

Usually the saint makes his trip aboard the steamer “Spain.” His retinues follow in the “Madrid.” The boats arrive amid a clatter of ringing bells, gun salutes and the shouts of thousands of boys and girls. When Saint Nicholas lands, he mounts a white horse and rides through the streets in a grand parade with city officials in attendance. The saint always has a whole brigade of Swarte Peits accompany him on foot, on bicycles or on scooters that puff, blow and make explosive noises! The saint and his helpers have a busy day since they always visit and leave presents at the schools and hospitals. In the small villages, he traditionally rides over the housetops on his white horse. He jumps from rood to roof with Swarte Peit at his side. Swarte Peit is traditionally dressed like a medieval page with a plumed hat and black doublet, hose and gloves.

Naughty children fear Swarte Peit, for he carries a large black bag. In it are gifts for the good and switches for the bad. If youngsters are really bad, he may stuff them into the bag and take them back to Spain. He will not return them to their parents until the following year, when they are more polite!

Early in the evening Saint Nicholas and Swarte Peit appear at every door in the village. Shortly before the visitors arrive, Swarte Peit throws pepernoten, or hard round spice cakes, down the chimney or the door opens a crack and the black-gloved hand appears and strews a handful of pepper nuts across the floor! Children sing songs of Saint Nicholas and enjoy eating sweet cakes and wassail. Later that same night while the youngsters sleep, Saint Nicholas and Swarte Peit make their rooftop visits. Swarte Peit slips down the chimney, for the saint must not soil his fine robes with soot. Swarte Peit puts presents in the wooden shoes which the children have set in a row near the chimney. But first he removes the offerings left by the children for the saint’s white horse. There may be a lump of sugar, a carrot, a wisp of hay or a cup of water—each child giving according to their means. Among the presents are chocolate letters, spicy cakes and colored marzipans. Often times, switches are left behind along with the sweets to remind the children to behave.

When his work is finished, Swarte Peit climbs back up the chimney and rejoins Saint Nicholas. Together they whisk through the night from rooftop to rooftop!

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

Great Book

In the past I have not been a reader. Over the summer I picked up a book to read on a family vacation (The Kite Runner) and to my own disbelief I really enjoyed it. Then I had to read the Twilight series, of course loving those. I followed those off with A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I also really enjoyed.

My friend Amie suggested that I read The Hunger Games, which I am reading now. I am almost finished with the book and I have to say that I LOVE it! I can't wait to pick it up and then after I do, I have a such a hard time putting it down. I wanted to recommend it to all of my book loving friends.

I learned something about myself the past few months. I really enjoy reading! I never thought I would say that, but I do. I would love to hear what your favorite books are so that I know what to pick up next (Just don't say The Host, I didn't like that one at all, in fact I gave up on it.).

Kitchen...Done!

It is officially done! The granite was installed yesterday and the appliances arrived this morning. I LOVE my new kitchen. It could not have turned out any better...okay, well it could have if we would have added a few more square feet, but with what we had to work with, it turned out gorgeous!

Here is a close up of our counter top:

And the finished Product:

The Lists

The lists are in and will be on their way to the North Pole soon (aka Grandpa Ken and Grandma Becky's house). They were so cute that I had to share: