Christmas 2013

We had a great Christmas this year! It came and went pretty fast it seemed like. Utah got a ton of snow right after Thanksgiving and people (including us) didn't get a chance to put Christmas lights up. Josh also traveled for work quite a bit in the beginning of December. We did have a chance to make sugar cookies, make gingerbread houses, add to our small decoration collection, and wrap presents before Christmas Eve. Which for me was a lot of fun. Waiting till last minute makes me too tired to enjoy Christmas. I have a photo of the presents at day AND night:).

 On Christmas Eve we went to Ken and Lyn's for a fun family Christmas party. Aaron has his famous homemade egg nog that we love and we seem to always have Wingers chicken wings there. It is also way fun to see all of Josh's cousins, their kids and spouses. We love chatting and letting the kids play. Our kids got anxious to get home and open their Christmas PJ's.

 Charlie and Presley slept in the same bed and woke up multiple times during the night. once at 3 and once at 5. Josh started to get up at 3 then we realized how early it was! Presents for the boys included lots of guns and weapon type toys! Presley asked for lots of bling! She got diamond rings and earrings and a jewelry box that she could paint. Josh got luggage and a shaving kit and I got some cute kitchen things (butter dish, cake stands, dish towels) from Anthropologie.

Mabel was sooo tired. It was a shame to peel her out of bed so early!! After presents we went to Al and TK's for more family fun. Josh and the boys went out with Noah's new bb gun and Pres disappeared to the upstairs and basement with the girl cousins. After Christmas we all passed around a brutal stomach bug. It was nice to get a lot of rest over the break. We are now excited and ready for 2014.

Halloween Party 2013

Another great party this year at Denise and Aaron's. We had 98% in costume!

Forest Gump

'The Situation gone wrong" and a devil

Black Cat and Medusa

Crow and Pilot

Fox and Two Face

 Snow Wolf

 Hipster and Lady Bug

 Cow

 NBA player

 Ninja

 Witch

 Tourist

 Skeleton

 Cat

 Egyptian Princess

 Elephant and Cow

 Robbers

 Dead Brides

 Flight Attendant and Pilot

 Indians

 Tired Bug

Easter 2013

We had such a wonderful Easter this year!! It felt so spiritual to me. In Primary we spent the month really talking in depth about the Savior. The kids were asking us all sorts of questions about the resurrection and about Jesus. Noah's questions can be so complicated he says "they make my brain hurt." 

We spent Good Friday at Al and TK's where we had a Passover dinner. This is our second annual with them. It was really special. We joked around a lot before it started, but once we got going, the kids were attentive and I think we all learned a lot and felt the spirit. 

Charlie and I had a fun morning making Grandma Burnidge's recipe, "Berries in a Cloud" for the dessert. I kept thinking a lot about our relatives that had passed away. I'm so grateful for the resurrection.

 Here we are at the dinner. We got dressed up and it made the whole thing feel more sacred. There is a lot of talk about the coming of Elijah in the Seder Dinner. As Mormons, we believe Elijah has already come. He has introduced us to temple work for our ancestors "turning the hearts of the children to their fathers." I believe that the all who have lived and all who will live on this earth are important to the Lord. 

Then on Sunday came Easter!! It was so fun to have Easter morning in our new house. Josh and I cleaned  the downstairs while Charlie worked his little heart out to clean his room. He was so proud. The easter bunny brought the kids books, candy, and some cute items to wear to church. 

Noah was really wanting some more "Big Nate" books to add to his collection. He read both books in one day. They totally make him laugh. He said he likes the character, Nate, better than Greg in Diary of a Whimpy Kid because Nate is more athletic. Noah loves to relate to the characters. He quit reading Harry Potter when Harry started growing up too much for him. Too much emotion in those teen years!! 

 Boston helped out in the egg hunt. The kids were either in jammies or clothes they had slept in! We had a late night at grandparents' house on Easter Eve. SO FUN to live by family!! Noah keeps noticing how when we lived in Boston we had to do without so many things. He thinks it taught him to appreciate things. I don't know if Presley and Charlie will remember enough of Boston. 

 Noah was so tired. He couldn't get himself to find many eggs.

Presley was the total opposite. We had to hold her back to save some eggs for the others!!

After that we had dinner in Cedar Hills with Josh's parents and siblings. We are still enjoying the fact that Josh is in town after a long business trip last week. It just made Easter even better to have him around.

Christmas in Utah

It wasn't hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. We were surrounded by family and weekend activities to get us so geared up for the big day. One weekend we took the new front runner train from Provo to Salt Lake and went to see the lights at temple square.

 City Creek's lights were really pretty too!

 Family pic in temple square

 Josh's brother, Jason and his family

 Christmas bokeh

 Cuties

We spent Christmas Eve night and morning at our house. Here is Charlie's reaction to his first peek at the presents. This was at 5:30 am!!

 Opening presents!

We had a wonderful holiday!