The Holidays

Yes it is now March and I am trying to catch up on the holidays. I am going to try really hard this year to keep caught up on my blog. So here is a quick recap of our holidays. For Thanksgiving Canyon had a Thanksgiving program at his preschool. It was pretty much adorable. They sang songs and each got to stand and say what they were grateful for. On Thanksgiving day we watched the parade and had Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Furr's. Then I was off to do Black Friday Shopping-which was awesome! It is one of my favorite nights of the year and we got some great deals. And on the plus side we did not go to Walmart so there was no near death experiences :)



For Christmas we got to enjoy some fun holiday activities. Canyon had another Christmas program at preschool. This is his partridge in a pear tree that he painted. They sang some more songs and the teacher gave all the parents a CD of a whole bunch of pictures she had taken of the things they had done in preschool. She also had the kids make really cute ornaments for the tree with a picture of their faces on it. Darling!

We went to Festival of Trees.


This was the Cars tree. The kids' favorite of course.
We got a Christmas tree at the tree lot with Mater.

We wrote and mailed letters to Santa Claus. Canyon asked for a Cars 2 watch and a Lewis Hamilton race car (from Cars 2). Oakley wanted a sucker and a Chuggington train.

We went on the Christmas Cruise. This is one of my favorite yearly traditions because it is awesome! The cruise director pulls the boat along a cable strung from the trees.


Santa rows up on a canoe and gives everyone tootsie rolls. Canyon likes to yell what he wants at Santa while Santa makes his way around the boat.


It is some serious fun. We also went to temple square and visited Santa at the mall. (I don't have pics of these events because 1.I forgot my camera at temple square 2. the mall no longer lets you take your own pictures of the kids sitting on Santa's lap. Stupid mall!)
On Christmas Eve we went to the Nickels for their famous fancy dinner of prime rib and king crab legs. Delicious. The kids got matching Mickey Mouse pjs.

Devin and Daniel also got matching jammies. Surprise :)

Grandma Ruth also came to visit which was so much fun! Here she is with Canyon and Oakley. (Canyon just had a head on collision with his cousin and had not yet recovered from his injuries.)

Then Papa Dean read the kids Twas the Night Before Christmas. Canyon thought it was very intense and was surprised at almost every page :)
On Christmas day the kids slept until 9:00. Merry Christmas to us! We opened presents and went to church. We then visited grandparents and had a very happy Christmas.
For New Year's we went to the Furr's party but took our kids home and put them to bed way before midnight. Daniel and I watched the ball drop on TV to ring in the new year. We decided that was boring so we got into our stash of fireworks (the fireworks may have been illegal) and lit them off in front of our house. It was a great way to start off the new year!

Trick or Treat

Buzz and Woody




Halloween + Trick or Treating with Buzz and Woody=Best Halloween Ever!

October

We love October. We try to do a lot of activities to get ready for Halloween. We made our annual trip to Krispy Kreme and ate Halloween donuts...




Picked out pumpkins....
and then carved and painted them...


We decorated cookies


Went to the pumpkin walk at the Centennial Gardens (this one was our favorite pumpkin)



We also watched Nightmare Before Christmas several times (which my kids love...weird they take after me with my love for scary movies) and drove around to see "bad guy houses" almost every night. I love people who decorate their yards for Halloween!

DISNEYLAND!!!

What do you get when you have one big van....

full of supplies...

Six adults (girls only)....

Lots of strollers....

5 kids ages 3 and under.....

lots of delicious snacks.....

and some super fun rides?

The most magical adventure on Earth!

Some memories:
*the heat wave of the century. We suffered through 104 degree weather...plus humidity.
*All of the yummy yummy snacks every took turns buying to help us cool down
*Riding Winnie the Pooh...8 times in a row
*Landon's binki falling off of the bridge and into the moat around the castle...and the Disneyland worker that fished it out.
*Oakley's tiny smile he got when he rode the carousel.
*Trying to get three strollers, a giant cooler, and 5 young kids onto a crowded shuttle.
*The night Amy almost didn't make it onto the shuttle
*The dead duck at the Country Bear Restaurant
*Putting the kids to bed and then eating take out with the adults
*Having to pull off to the side of the freeway twice...to let the three year old's use the bathroom.
*Riding Splash Mountain and having Kimberly and I the only ones walking away totally dry :)
*Canyon seeing the "Lamanites" on the jungle cruise
*My fist ever visit to the Tiki room
*Canyon and Oakley spilling large amounts of syrup on the hotel floor
*The cockroach in the bathroom

I really hope with make this a yearly tradition :)