"Santa came to my house!!"

Peyton was so excited because, "Santa came to my house!!" Every year my Uncle becomes Santa's helper and visits the kids on Christmas Eve morning! It was very cool!

They were so excited! Kael just stared at him at first, but once he realized that Peyton was excited to see him, then he could be too!

Say "cheese" Santa!

See? So excited!!

Claire however, not to so excited!

I think that she had the death grip on her mom! Oh well, maybe next year!!

Thanks Uncle Scott! What a fun tradition!!

Gardner Family Christmas Party....

Every year Bryan's mom's side of the family has a Christmas party. They always have delicious brisket and put on a cute nativity.

The three little shepherds waiting for the nativity to start.

They all looked so cute!

Peyton bailed on being a shepherd, but the show still went on without a hitch!

Jana and Peyton watching the nativity.

Every year Grandpa Gerald and Grandma Lois give the kids presents.
Kael couldn't wait to see what was inside.

Squinkies for both boys!

Nate always tries to get Kael to smile, sometimes he is a little grumpy at new people. I guess tickling will do the trick!

Peyton saying, "thank you" to Grandma Lois.

All of the great grandkids watching a movie on the air mattresses!

It is so good to get together and see everyone!

In Utah we did lots of things....

In Utah we did lots of things....

We played in the "skiff" of snow....the only snow Utah received before Christmas....it melted by noon.

They didn't care that it was only 1/8 of an inch! ;)

Kael was happy no matter what!

We went to a gingerbread house contest....and there was a stage...these two, totally took advantage of that with some dancing!

They danced with the polar bears!!

And saw SANTA again!!

Kael loved dressing up as Batman. It was so funny! Every time we went to Bryan's parent's house, he had to be Batman!

And Cor-bud went to a dance!
I can't believe you are that old Corey!

Santa at Chick-Fil-A.

We saw a lot of Santa this year. My mom had made arrangements for the boys to go to see Santa at Chick-Fil-A. It was very cute, they even had presents for the kids! My little brother actually works at this Chick-Fil-A in Layton.

As soon as we opened the door Santa was ready to see them! I love how he opened his arms and they both ran to him.

Kael pretty much does anything that Peyton does. It is pretty cute!
At first Peyton told me, "Why do we need to go see Santa again, I already saw him at Bass Pro Shop!" We had to convince him that he needed to see Santa again to tell him that he was now in Utah and needed to deliver the presents there instead of Texas.

He remembered that he forgot to tell Santa that he was now in Utah instead of Texas! Luckily he was able to stop Santa before he left! It was pretty cute!

Bryan's family also came to have breakfast with Santa at Chick-Fil-A!

Farewell to our good friends....

Before our friends, the Gibbs left for Washington, we had a surprise farewell party for them. We got a bunch of friends together to celebrate.

All of the girls!
Love all of them!

Take a look at this!! All BOYS! Most of our friends have all boys...so funny. There were only three girls out of 16 kids! The little girls were a little afraid of being in a big room with bouncing balls....and boys! Who could blame them? We had the party at a couple of our friends' club house at their apartment. It was perfect....we locked them in the racket ball room while we visited!

Bryan and Joel keeping an eye on the gaggle of boys! I don't think we had too many injuries that night....that was a miracle!

Our group of friends are funny....we all have two kids each, 6 of us have just boys, 1 has just girls, and 1 has one of each! What is up with all of the boys?
Anyway, it was good to get together so that we could say "goodbye" to our friends...but we were sad too{and i may or may not still be sad} :)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town.......

Santa Claus is coming to town......
Or to Bass Pro Shop.

I have never been to Bass Pro Shop, only to its rival....Cabella's.
They are very similar, both are pretty cool stores.
We have been twice this season. We went to see Santa Claus with our friends and then we went back with my mom to ride the reindeer merry-go-round.

Peyton found a sheriff hat and a $35 dollar rifle.
Maybe Santa makes those?

Kael found a hat too.

Peyton found a few stuffed animals to shoot at.

Mrs. Claus found the boys.

The cutest little friends waiting to see Santa Claus.

Peyton walked right up to Santa. Kael was a little apprehensive at first, but as soon as he saw Peyton hop up on his lap he knew that it was okay.

Peyton and Bric trying out the 4-wheelers.

Kael decided he was a little hungry in the middle of the store and found a bag of popcorn {at kid-level mind you} and opened it...spilling popcorn all over...forcing us to purchase it....and it was gross.

After we went to see Santa we decided to go out to dinner to Cheddars. They didn't have a table large enough to seat us all so we had to sit in opposite booths. Stupid, I know....but the food was still good. I was lucky enough to sit by Rhett....love this baby!!

The kids table....need I say more? What a perfect fit, Jill!

Trying to keep the children entertained....with the nasty popcorn. You can imagine how well that went over.

The mom/kid side. Seriously, trying to keep 3 rowdy 3 years olds in check....in a busy restaurant...not the easiest, but we managed.

The dad side.
We had to throw a couple of the kids over there just to make it fair.

These girls are the best!! They seriously made my first year in Texas awesome! Thanks to both of you for being so awesome and friendly! I am going to miss both of you more than you know!
I am already going through Jill withdrawals now that she has moved. It's only going to get worse when Nicole moves in April!!
So who wants to be my new friends?
He he!

This Kid is Killing Me.....

This goofy child right here is testing every ounce of patience that I have.
{which recently, doesn't feel like much}
:)

Like I have said in previous posts he is a very strong-willed child and has his own ideas and own opinions. This test my patience. Today was one of those days where you want to curl up and hide....lock the door and change your name from "Mom". {which i eventually sort of did...it didn't turn out to well}

I have mentioned before that Peyton has and OBSESSION with Home Alone and Home Alone 2. They are the movies of choice when it comes to "Quiet Time". He has seen them so many times that he literally has the lines memorized and actually acts them out along with the movie. It is pretty funny and cute to watch. He has taken the "reality" of the movies a little too far though. I have caught him dumping bottles of water, Vitamin Water, and Sonic Strawberry Limeades on our sidewalk {strawberries and all} trying to create ice so the bad guys will slip and fall. We had to have a talk about how this only happens on movies and that Texas doesn't get ice that often.

A couple of weeks ago I saw him eying a couple of my pearl necklaces. As kindly as I could I told him to not even think about it! He thought that they were broken because they were not "hooked together" making a circle. I then had to show him how they clasped together and that they were indeed not broken. I did not want him recreating the pearl necklace scene from Home Alone 2.
Today, after 3 spilled glasses of juice, cleaning up Cheez-its, and pieces of sandwiches, I had had enough! It was nap time for Kael. I told Peyton that he could watch Home Alone for quiet time and that I would put Kael down and be right back. Well....after only getting a short nights sleep I fell asleep next to Kael. After I woke up and realized that I had fallen asleep with Kael I panicked and ran out to the living room to find Peyton watching a movie. I was relieved that the house wasn't a total disaster. Shortly after, Bryan came home and we decided to run to the store and pick up a few items that we needed. As we were getting things together to leave I realized that Peyton had been a little too quiet for my liking. Bryan went to check on him and discovered Peyton's entire bathroom floor was covered in water. After making Peyton mop up all of the water with towels {and peyton crying because his knees were now wet} it was time to go. I ran to get my shoes from my closet and made a discovery.......

Three of my pearl necklaces broken and scattered all over the floor. {this is what he must have been doing during "quiet time"} I called out to Bryan and told him that he had to come and see this. I also called Peyton to come in and explain himself. He knew he was in trouble....he went and hid in the laundry room and kept peeking around the door to see what his dad's reaction would be. I didn't want to come down on him too hard because he had just gotten in trouble over the whole water in the bathroom incident. Bryan and Peyton had to have a sit-down chat about how things on movies are not real and that we can't really do them.

The pearls were everywhere. Kael thought it was great, he was in there kicking them around having a great time. After we returned home from the store I got the vacuum out and cleaned them up.
Just before bedtime Peyton went and used the restroom. We heard him shut the door and the toilet lid open. Bryan went running to make sure that he wasn't making another mess. Peyton had locked the door and Bryan was trying to get him to open it. Peyton said, "I am going potty, Dad!" Bryan waited for him to finish and open the door. He went in and discovered that the there was nothing in the toilet and he never heard it flush. He then opened the shower curtain and discovered that Peyton had peed in the shower. What?? Why do they do that? Why do the test every single ounce of patience that we have! :) We had to have another chat about why we go potty in the toilet ONLY!
What a day! Ahhh....if I survive him it will be a miracle.
:)