Let the fun begin!

We are hoping that you all had a wonderful Christmas day. We sure did! Gavin wasn't at all interested in anything, he cruised the house in his walker all morning while the rest of us opened gifts. Tanner on the other hand was in seventh heaven. He had so much fun and was so excited that Santa brought him everything he wanted. We hope that you all enjoy the pictures. There are many!


^ Here is what Santa brought Gavin. He hasn't stopped playing with it all day :)

^Tanner's stash included Pixos, a sleeping bag, and lollypops

^Gavin on Christmas morning

^Tanner waiting for Grandma June to get out of the restroom so that he could go see what Santa brought him :)

^Looking for the loot

^Ah-ha! Here it is!

^The smile says it all

^Gavin just pushed anything out of his way so that he could go for a stroll

^Tanner loves his color wonder

^So excited about the blanket that Nana made for him

^Dad trying to get Gavin interested in anything...didn't work

^He really was excited to get Horton Hears A Who, his face just doesn't show it

^However, I think you can tell how excited he was to get anything with Spiderman on it

^And let the meltdown begin! Tanner told daddy "no" and had to go sit in the corner (It may be Christmas but that doesn't mean we stop punishing :)

^The aftermath..at least some of it

^Michael can pretend all he wants that he doesn't like BYU..but his face says it all

Tanner and mommy relaxing after the excitement died down. We were actually waiting for the orange rolls to come out of the oven.
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good night!

We just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We hope that you all have a wonderful day spent with family and friends. Being that we are away from both of our families we have made our own tradition and we open our home to the missionaries on Christmas Eve so that they have a family to spend Christmas with. Tonight we will have 4 missionaries over for dinner, a Christmas movie, and of course a few presents for them.
We love you all and pray that you are safe and happy!

Christmas Cookies & Fire Fighters

As we were out delivering Christmas treats today we passed about 9 fire stations. Tanner loves fire trucks and he kept saying, "Mom, we need to make Christmas cookies and take them to the fire fighters, they are really hungry." So after a morning of driving around and an afternoon of making graham cracker houses (see post below) we made sugar cookies (thank-you pillsbury) and Tanner frosted and decorated them. Tonight when Michael got home we took a drive to the nearest fire station and delivered the cookies. The fire fighters were very sweet and Tanner got the full tour. He even got to see their bedrooms. Here are a few pictures... oh, Gavin stayed home with dad and had a bath so we took his picture when we got home...such a cutie!^The fire fighter had to hold the helmet on Tanner's head because it was so heavy and Tanner almost fell over when he let go :)
^This was Tanner's reaction when the nice fire fighter turned the lights on the truck and made then flash^And of course, Gavin all clean and ready for bed...such a big boy!

Graham Cracker Houses

Today Tanner invited some of his friends over to make graham cracker houses. They had so much fun. This is Tanner's masterpiece.

A night of fun & and a not so happy baby

We went to our ward Christmas Party on Saturday night and had a great time. It is always fun to hang out with your friends on days other than Sunday when you are in class and can't really talk.
Tanner was so excited to see Santa and tell him that he really really wants Pixos for Christmas. Santa knew exactly what he was talking about.

Gavin on the other hand was not his usual cheery self when it came time to sit on Santa's lap. I was very surprised at his reaction. Tanner has never cried on Santa's lap, in fact, every Santa that he has gone to see in the past 4 years has been shocked by his cheerfulness. It also didn't help that Gavin is getting to the age where he is scared of everyone but his mom and dad.

I would say he was just a little upset, wouldn't you?

Dear Santa...

I found this tonight while searching for something online..thought you would all enjoy it :)


Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my own doctor's, and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmas', since had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt, in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother", because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.

Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in to dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM

P.S. One more thing ...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

Is it a girl or a boy?

Little girl or little boy?
The Stone's found out today.
They were all excited
To see what was on the way.


The baby is healthy and wiggily too,
The news brought lots of joy,
And if you haven't guessed it yet,
They're having another boy!

Zachary Brandt Stone

Isn't she lovely?!?

This is just a small tribute to my sister's teenage years. Love you guys!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I feel that I have slacked badly this year because it took me an extra week to get my Christmas tree up. hehe
After Christmas last year we threw our fake tree away because of disfunctional lights and we hadn't been out to get a replacement.....until today. I have wanted a slim tree for a long time. I don't know what it is but I love the look of them. We went out as a family today and found our tree. Here is the finished product....We also finished getting everything on the fireplace. This is probably my favorite.