Christmas Morning Slideshow

Our 2007 Christmas Memories

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday, this year being no exception. We spent the night before Christmas eating prime rib and shrimp. Thank you mom for cooking the prime rib. Very yummy. We all ate too much but still had to squeeze in some of my mom's trifle later on that night. Collin was very wound up that night. It took forever to get him to bed. I wanted him to hurry and fall asleep so I could finish getting ready for the next morning but everytime we thought he was asleep he would wake right up. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night. Eric had to work that night but I heard him come home early in the morning. He was just barely getting to sleep when we heard little Collin's excited voice that Santa had come. We hurried out of bed to go see what Santa left in our stockings.

Carlee wasn't feeling good at all that morning the poor girl. She threw up a few times and didn't even want to open her presents. I hated seeing her so sick at a time when she should have been having fun. Thankfully she had a nap and some crackers and started to get into some of the action and finish opening her presents. She loved her shopping cart from her brother and Collin loved the ken doll that Carlee got him. Eric wasn't too excited that she got him a doll but that's what he wanted. He also told Santa that he wanted a Squawkers McCaw and was so excited when he opened it and saw that Santa's elves made it for him. Santa spoiled the kids a little this year.

Brewer Christmas Slideshow

Christmas Eve 2007

Every Christmas Eve we head out to Grandma Brewer's house for dinner and fun. We love to get together as a family and enjoy each others company. We held it on Sunday this year so Eric and Levi could come. It really messed me up though because I still had alot to do before Christmas and I didn't know how I would get it all done. Eric had to remind me that I still had another day, thank goodness.! It messed Kaitlyn up too so I'm glad I'm not the only one.

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We always have the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings. The best part: the pies! Grandma and Tina set up the tables and everything looked wonderful. Kaitlyn found out why we don't like to sit too close to Carlee though. She ended up with food on her shirt and arms from Carlee's wandering hands. ***Collin is the slowest eater ever. It took him forever to finish and I bet he only had about 10 bites total. Eric and granny tried to play a game with him to guess what food they put in his mouth to get him to hurry up.

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Every year we have a present exchange. Grandma places everyone's names in a bowl for us to draw usually the previous Thanksgiving. This year Eric drew Matt, I drew Tammy, and Collin drew Tina. (Tina already knew what her present was before she even opened it.) Carlee drew Uncle Johnny's name and I let her pick out his present. What did Carlee pick out for him? A pretty dolly.

That's right Uncle Johnny. You got your payback for all the babies you gave Matthew. Thank you everyone for making Christmas Eve so special and for the hard work (Tina!) that you put into the occasion. Thank you grandma and grandpa Brewer for letting us invade your home. We love you and love spending Christmas Eve with you.

Bowling Night!

Collin's aunt Mandy came home for Christmas so Collin had to take her bowling to show off his skills. The kids had a great time but grandpa kicked all of our butts!Carlee looking at all of the bowling balls.

Collin giving me "5" after my turn.

Carlee loved the air as you can see from one of the videos below.

Collin at the Bowling Alley

Collin at Bowling Alley

Collin bowling but still not forgetting about the swords that were in our hamburgers!

Carlee discovers air

What a silly little girl she is!

Carlee Rolling the ball

Carlee was soooo excited to be able to bowl with the rest of us.

Leslie Ward Christmas Party

Collin was so excited to go to a Christmas party with grandma and grandpa Christensen this past Wednesday. He couldn't wait to see Santa again and remind him to bring his Squawkers McCaw parrot. Unfortunately for me Collin and Carlee were so terrible that night! They were fighting with each other, Collin was back talking, and Carlee didn't want to stay in her seat. I was already feeling horrible so their behaviour didn't help at all. I was ready to go home but I let the little onery ones see Santa anyways. After Collin talked with Santa I told him that Santa knows if he has been good or bad and if he acts bad he might not get his parrot for Christmas. To that he said, "Santa can see me?" Hopefully he'll be good until Christmas.

Carlee was very excited to see Santa. She ran up to him with her arms out smiling all the way. It was so adorable!

Carlee had everyone laughing while she performed an impromptu dance routine while we were singing Christmas songs.

Free donuts! Carlee was is heaven.

Christmas Cookies!

Every year my mom and I spend days making our special Christmas cookies. Most people think we're crazy for spending so much time on something that is gobbled up in just a few bites, but we love them. It gives us time to spend together although every year we make more and more batches and it still doesn't seem to be enough! This was the first year we made them at my house and will probably be the last. Mr. Grinch came home and saw the mess and said, "This is ridiculous!" You can't make these cookies without making a big mess too. Oh well, next year back to grandma's house we go!

Collin loves getting in on the fun too! Below are a few of his cookies although he probably ate more frosting than what he actually put on the cookies.

All That is Kaitlyn

Ten things that describe our cousin Kaitlyn:
1. Imaginative
2. Creative
3. Girly
4. Funny
5. Adorable
6. Thoughtful
7. Wild
8. Caring
9. Lovable
10. Wonderful!

Christmas Decorating

I absolutely love decorating for Christmas. This year I probably went a little too far and put everything up before Thanksgiving. I know it's too early but I don't care! Besides I don't have any Thanksgiving decorations yet. This year Eric wanted to start a tradition so that every year the kids could put a special ornament on the tree with thier name on it. Collin loved it! He placed his ornament on the tree (and Carlee's too) and was so proud to have contributed. Unfortunately Collin is in his underwear again for the pictures decorating his Christmas ball. I made him put on clothes though to take pictures by the tree.




Collin the cutie (fully clothed) by the Christmas tree!







Eric worked hard this year! This is our first year with Christmas lights up. Last year we only got them up on the garage. Thank you Eric! I love having Christmas lights up and the kids enjoy them even more.

Elf Yourself!

Mom found a site that you can upload pics of yourself onto elf bodies so she had to "elf" us. Here's the result:




http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9630602705

Carlee with 7-Up 2

This is Carlee's reaction to pop, she's not too sure about fizzies. Her reaction isn't as good as the first time she drank it but you can still see what she does with it, the silly girl!

Collin's Silly Photo Shoot

Predator 101

Last night when I was going through some of my stuff I found six free animal pictures I received once in the mail. Collin went crazy over them. He loved hearing where each animal lived, what they do, and especially what they eat. His favorite was the tiger although he kept calling it a jaguar. After I told him a little about each animal he "read" the pages back to me. Here are some of the comments he said about each one:

1. Sharks: I don't want to get in the water with that one 'cuz he'll eat me but I swim fast like this whooossshhh and go faster than him.
2. Tigers: Tigers eat bulls. They like to play with each other and their claws go in and then they go out.
3. Bald Eagles: He eats mice? Ew gross! If he stands on our roof he can see all the way to South America.
4. Crocodiles: His mouth looks orange and mine looks pink. He likes to eat zebras and they fall down and the crocodile gets them and bites their heads. Then they have lots of blood!
5. Snakes: Look at his tongue! It looks like a wrench! Some snakes are nice and you can put them on your neck.
6. Polar Bears: Polar bears live at the North Pole. They don't live with Santa Claus because they'll eat him.

Holey Teeth and Holey Balls

On Tuesday Eric, Collin, and I loaded up in the car for a trip to the dentist in Challis. This was Collin's first ever trip to the dentist so he was still a little apprehensive. We've read Collin a book about Dora the Explorers' trip to the dentist so he wouldn't be scared of the "explorer" tools the dentist uses. Daddy got whisked away to fix his cavity while Collin watched the assistant clean my teeth. He asked lots of questions about what everything was and what everything was for. He loved it when the dentist squirted him with the air hose. They took Collin to get his teeth x-rayed but it took a lot of convincing since mommy had to wait in the other room. Finally he agreed and he was so good the whole time. Then the bad news came. Eric had another cavity, I had a small one, and Collin...well he had 5! I couldn't believe a little boy could have so many. Too many holey teeth. Little Collin won't be getting as much sugar from now on!

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Holey balls, bowling balls that is. That's what we did after the dentist. We had lunch at the bowling alley (no milkshakes for us though!) and then bowled two games. I really wished I would have had my video camera because watching Collin bowl was so hilarious! He would put his hands in the air and say, "Oh yeah, oh yeah! I'm the best bowler!" It was so cute. I did have my camera but the batteries were dead. Oh well, next time I'll get him!

Collin and Carlee with Santa

We went to the Festival of Trees today so Collin could tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. "Squawkers McCaw" is what he told him, the bird that dances, squawks, and can repeat what you tell him. He wanted it ever since he saw a commercial for it. (He watches too much TV.) Carlee actually didn't cry when she saw Santa. Alot of improvement from last year when she just wailed at the sight of him.

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This is the first video I have taken with our new camera. I like it! I just need better practice at where I'm aiming it. I'm so excited that I can put video on the computer now! I'll have to take a lot more video from now on.

Thanksgiving

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. Between being sick, tired, all the Idaho Falls trips, and getting ready for the holidays, I just haven't made the time to write anything. I haven't even taken any pictures. I'm kicking myself for not getting any pictures of anyone on Thanksgiving. Luckily my mom took a few pictures to remember Thanksgiving by.



This past Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! The kids and I went to two dinners that day. The first one was with my dad's side of the family. I got to see people I haven't seen for a long time. JoMax and Mark both even came out. It was held in the Leslie ward's gymnasium so it would accommodate all of us. Some of the kids were disappointed they couldn't play basketball, including Collin, because all the tables were under the hoops. Carlee had a blast running up and down the hallway and playing with her favorite Leslie nursery toy: the shopping cart. My nephew Alec is getting so huge! I couldn't believe how tall he was! It was so much fun seeing everyone and catching up on their lives. Eric and I get so involved with the other side of the family that we don't see this side as often so it was a lot of fun to share the holiday with them.

Carlee ate a lot of bread...

...especially with Aunt Lenora's yummy raspberry jam on it!

Collin with a mouthful.

Cute "big boy" Alec

The second dinner was with the Brewer clan. Where was it held? My house. I didn't mind though. I love having everyone over. I ate way too much though with back to back dinners. I made sure that I saved room for Tina's salad and the pies that Tina and granny B made. They are so good! Tauna introduced us to a new game where you had to remember what animal everyone had in their barn. With a lot of players (and fighting a head cold) I was lucky to even remember my own animal. It was entertaining though with this group. Ofcourse we had to play the usual card game scum which is so fun, especially since you don't have to think as much. I liked that!

And then came the day after Thanksgiving. I don't know why Eric wanted me to go to the "Black Friday" sales. It was a nightmare! We waited about an hour outside of Circuit City in the freezing cold and then had to wait another three and a half hours in the line to get a TV for Eric's brother Levi. Larry and I went to Target while Eric and Tina finally made it up to the register only to be told they couldn't order that TV anymore. Needless to say, we were all a little bit ticked off. At least Tina and I enjoyed our $3 lipstick sale! We were only allowed one per customer so Larry and Eric purchased some nice colors as well.

Later that night my mom and dad, Mark, and I met up with my Aunt Lenora and her daughter Amy to see "The Forgotten Carols" by Michael McLean. I've seen it before but I love the story and the music. Jordan Bluth (http://www.jordanbluth.com/) sang many of the characters and I absolutely loved his voice! He was definately a tenor! I couldn't believe some of the higher notes he was hitting. I might have to check out his CD. I'm just suprised that I was able to stay awake for it considering that I had been up since 3:00 that morning. All in all our Thanksgiving was one to remember. We had a blast!

A Pretty Princess

Carlee loves to play dress-up at grandma Christensen's house!

Carlee is ready for Christmas!

Last night Eric hauled up the Christmas boxes full of decorations. Little Miss Carlee was so excited to see the Christmas treasures! She is going to be so fun this Christmas but also such a headache. Why you might ask? She can't stop touching! The only thing I put out so far is the nutcrackers and she has a hard time remembering to just "look". Posing for pictures.

She loved these Christmas bears. She was dancing to the music they played in her new holiday jammies.

To see Carlee's video click the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zUQliD1IiA

Light Saber Show!

This is what my knuckleheads did when grandma Christensen watched them one night for me while Eric and I were in Idaho Falls. Collin found these in his closet and I completely forgot they were there. My mom bought these at the Blackfoot fair a long time ago. I remember putting them up because Collin was being so bad the night after so I told him he couldn't play with them. Both of the kids loved them!

Okay, so I still can't figure out the whole "post a video to your blog thing" but if you want to see them in action you can click on the following links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9tDq7YAMWQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYP3fds1LU4

Water Baby Pics

Ahhh...the joy of the shower!My Carlee absolutely loves getting into our big shower. She doesn't care if the water is cold or hot just as long as she can play!
She loves to sit on the shower floor and just let the water roll over her. Collin has an absolute fit if water gets in his eyes and doesn't like to stand under the shower at all.

Carlee has the cutest birthmark! It looks like an upside down heart. You can't see it that good from the picture though. I wish I would have taken the picture when she was a small baby instead of as the busy little toddler she is now.

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween 2007

The Witches Quartet

I didn't have a costume but by the time I got home from

work Tina and mom rounded up enough stuff for me to

be a witch too!

The Cutest Army Duo

Heading off for trick or treat fun!






Collin and his loot!



Collin's favorite treat? Grandma's suckers!



Trunk or treat time! The kids had a lot of fun trick or treating this year. Poor Carlee was sick but was still able to participate in the fun. They trick or treated granny Jensen and Gary and Dawn then headed to the school for the trunk or treat. Next we went up to the hospital to get candy from the long term care patients. We went around the hospital hill houses for awhile before heading out to grandma Brewer's house. Collin couldn't wait to get out to their house. He loves his granny B and her suckers!