Christmas morning

One of my favorite things about Christmas is when the kids wake up early in the morning, and I can hearing them whispering in their rooms. Wondering if Santa came, and if so, what did he bring? They were so excited this Christmas, and made Christmas so fun!!

Riley was examaning the "loot" before any presents were opened.
Jacob LOVED opening presents!! He was so excited with each one!

What was Jake's favorite gift to GIVE? Well, when I asked him what he wanted to get Daddy for Christmas, he said, "Coke". He wasn't kidding. I tried to persuade him to choose something else, but the 2 yr. old knows what dad likes best.

Riley was happy to get more legos! He is getting really good at constructing new things with them!

YEA!!! She was a good girl! Abby got the princess vanity that she has been dying to get. Notice her cute leotard & tutu, which has not come off for 4 days.

Darth Vader invaded our house Christmas morning. Jake is always pretending to be one of the "bad guys." Is that a sign?

Riley was happy w/ his Pokemon cards.

These next two pictures show what made our kids the happiest... Chipmunk dolls, and a new little roller coaster. They have had so much fun with Alvin, Simon, & Theodore. Who knew they would be such a hit!

Santa brought Jacob a cute little roller coaster. I need to take a better picture of it, but it is a 10 foot long track that this little car rolls down. They LOVED it! I got the idea from my friend, and have never been so pleased. This was the "in-between" entertainment as they were waiting for their turn to open their gifts. Friends, cousins, and even Grandma (ask me about that one) have ridden the roller coaster. It is a hit!!
Over all, we had a great day!! We spent the afternoon with my family at my parents, then saw Tyler's family as well. I love Christmas, and was grateful that everyone was good this year!

Christmas Sunday

I am so lucky to have such a great family. Just seeing my kids in their Christmas clothes makes me smile (even though I wasn't smiling while taking the pictures. No one would cooperate at the same time.)

What cute boys!!
I love Abby's Christmas dress! She looked darling, (even after church). She is such a sweetheart!!
Jakey sporting his new outfit. I could not get him to hold still to get his picture taken.

Busy day/night

I guess packing your days full is expected this time of year. On Saturday, we started out w/ Grandma K's Christmas Party. She is Tyler's Grandma (and Grandpa) and they are the greatest people in the world.

Then we were off to Abby's dance recital. She is taking tumbling, Jazz & Ballet, and is doing so good. She loves taking w/ her "girls" - 5 cute friends from our neighborhood.

Her cousins Camri & Avery came to watch her dance. They were so excited to see Abby on stage.

My mom comes to almost every event the grandkids are involved in. She is the best!!

After the recital, we were off to Grandma Price's house for her Christmas party. We had a great dinner, then the kids did the traditional Nativity. Abby was Mary this year, and Issac was Joseph.

Jacob was Luke Skywalker, the Shepherd. Hey, we will do anything lately to get Jakey to participate.

I love his pose!!

All the kids

My mom is the best pianist ever! She literally can plan anything on the piano!! I so want to be like her one day. She played all the songs, then we had a little talent show where all the kids played the piano, pretended to play the piano, and sang. It was really fun!

The kids always look forward to Santa coming. Jake of course, freaked out, and would not sit on Santa's lap. I literally had to drag him to where he is standing in this picture. Take being a timid little boy, to being forced to sit on some big scary guys' lap... not so fun.

Jakey does, however, love his little cousin Finn. We just couldn't resist their matching monster jammies. Too cute!!

I love Christmas time

I usually either stress-out during the holidays, or sit back and enjoy... So far I have done both. I am the activities chairperson in our ward, and we just had two big activities that I was in charge of. We had a Christmas breakfast (which I highly recommend instead of a dinner), and neighborhood Nativity. Both turned out really well, but that was the stressful part. Now that they are over, I get to really get into Christmas. All of the shopping is done, and presents are wrapped (almost). So I am really looking forward to the rest of the holiday season.

Riley and Abby made these cute mini gingerbread houses w/ my mom on Thanksgiving, and have been displaying them on the kitchen counter ever since.

My sis-in-law is a great photographer, and wanted to take some pictures of the kids at Gardner Village on Friday. Can I say "COLD"!!! The kids were freezing, but still had fun. Of course Jacob wouldn't cooperate and be in any of the pictures. Maybe next time... (These pics are from my camera- not Nicole's good one)

My neighbors Tyler and Marie were Mary and Joseph for our Nativity last night. All the kids got to come up and be part of the Nativity as well. It was a great night!

Cute Kids

I came into my bedroom to find Abby & Jake snuggling together as they watched a Christmas movie on my bed. They are too cute!

Have you ever tried a 3-tiered pyramid on top of an unstable ottoman?

Um... it doesn't always work...

and always seems to end up in disaster!

Random pics

Does anyone else feel like the days, or even weeks go by without blogging? I have the best of intentions, but the day seems to fly by, and by 11:00 at night, I just simply don't have the energy to post all of our fun adventures. I am making a goal for the new year to be better at this. So, to feel like I am doing at least something, here are a few random pics in the last couple of weeks...

Jake was so excited to finally put his shovel to good use a week or two ago. Now, he will have PLENTY of snow to shovel for me!

Jacob always makes us laugh! He loves wearing Tyler's hats, and thinking he is a big kid!

Jacob playing "pilot" in the "copter" at Discovery Gateway.

Oh ya... This is the best Turkey Bowl attire ever!

I don't know who Riley is pretending to be with his big bum and belly... maybe me?

Ok. So for some reason, whenever I ask Riley to strike a pose, this is what I end up with. It is so him!

At least Abby had fun eating her peas.

Draper/Sandy Junior Miss

We had our Jr. Miss program on Oct. 29, and it was so much fun! We had 11 girls, and they were all amazing! Talk about talented, bright young women! I had a great experience directing a whole program, which I am not used to. I do the Production for Utah's Jr. Miss, which is always in March, so this was a new undertaking. The girls made it worth it! We are taking 4 girls to the state program. The winners are: Shelby Erasmus, Lauren Dixon, Shelby Dixon, and Lexi Childs. I just found out that Shelby Dixon (#5) won't be able to go to state, so Megan Abrahamson, who is the next runner-up is going to take her place.

Me w/ the girls

Awwww, my kids were so good during the program. I always look forward to their hugs when it is over!

Happy Halloween!!

I loved having Halloween on a Saturday!! I feel like we are always rushing around on Halloween, but we just took it easy this year. Thanks to Tyler, being our designated pumpkin carver, he got the kids out at made them dig out the "guts". Of course Riley hated sticking his hands in the gooey mess, but they had fun.

Cute kids, getting ready for their big night out.
I didn't spend a dime on costumes this year. My sister in law, Emily let me borrow her costumes for Riley and Jake- Thanks Emily!!! Another friend in my ward gave me Abby's lady bug costume last year, and we have just been waiting to use it. Thanks Kim Schipp!
Luke Skywalker

Cute little Lady Bug Abby. She just HAD to wear her angel wings. "Mom, don't you know? A lady bug can't be a lady bug without her wings." Ok. Whatever.

Buzz Light Year. a.k.a. "Bud lite". We would ask Jakey who he was over and over again just to get him to say the name of a beer. It was so funny!

Sandy City Volunteers are the best! Thanks for the candy!!

And off they go...

The kids had so much fun trick-or-treating. They went around with their friends. Tyler had fun too, since he was with the kids dad's, who are his good friends. I got to stay home and pass out candy. Does anyone feel bad for throwing their kids' candy away? I think ours needs to go soon.