Christmas

Our good friend gave Jack this Christmas Tree train. We set it up a couple days before Christmas. He loved watching it go round and round the tree. 

We picked up a fun tradition from some friends. We wrap the doorway that leads to the "Christmas room" for Christmas morning. And there are no presents under the tree until Christmas morning (or late Christmas Eve night after little boys are in bed). Then Jack was able to run through the wrapping paper Christmas morning to discover a magical room full of presents. (He was too nervous to run through it. He would speed toward it giggling, and then stop right before he hit it. He eventually stuck one finger through it, and then dragged a large rip down and stepped through it. Clever little guy). 

We. Were very spoiled this Christmas. Tony's friend drove out the week before Christmas from Utah and brought us many gifts from our family. Plus, we have great friends who spoil us. And then to top it all off, we had a visit from the real santa, who dropped off several large presents 2 days before Christmas. We are so overwhelmed with gratitude to all those who are so giving and thoughtful of our little family. 

I picked up this great Thomas the Train set off of craigslist for Jack and he was instantly obsessed. We also got him a thrift store bike. And my parents got him a map puzzle of the world since he is so obsessed with his states puzzle. He knows geography better than I do. 

And this was one of the presents that Santa gave Jack. (Thank you anonymous Santa! Jack loves it sooooo much). This Thomas the train is remote controlled and it even gives off steam and makes train noises. He also got this cool robot learning game. He takes it with him everywhere and it sings learning songs in robot tone. He is getting very good at matching because of it. 

Our neighbors joined in on the train fun. Still can't get over how similar these two boys look. 

Then we headed to dinner at Paula's. Norm and Deb got Jack this fun magnet doggie and bone game. Dinner was delicious, as it always is, and we enjoyed the visit.

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

Visiting Santa

Jack is at a very magical age. He was so excited to see Santa. He danced the whole time we waited in line. Once it was his turn he ran full speed ahead and gave him a big Giant hug. 

Then he jumped right up into his lap and had quite the conversation with him. He told him he wanted a Orange car, a bus, and a penguin. And would you believe it, Santa whipped out a penguin for Jack and gave it to him. 

I was so shocked I forgot to keep taking pictures. Jack was so excited. He loves Santa. And he skipped out of the mall and then asked to go back every single day for the rest of the week. 

Here is a picture of him with his penguin. He sleeps with it in his bed every night. 

Hand Bell Choir

This is the second year that the Handbell choir I play in has had the opportunity to play at the Temple Visitor Center. We had a great time. Jack's favorite song was Jingle bells and he's been singing it ever since.

Visit from Larsens

 Shay shay and her mom, who Jack fondly calls grandma Larsen, were able to come visit us a few months back. They came with Jack and I to the zoo. We had a blast visiting with them. 

Marvel Universe Live

 Back in September Tony and I were able to go to see a very cool show. It had all the most important things like motorcycle chases, fire, people flying, fist fights and explosions. Oh and don't forget super heroes. It was called marvel universe live and I'm pretty sure the target audience was ten year old boys. But Tony and I are young at heart so we loved it. 

Ward Christmas Party and Thai Chi

First off, please enjoy this awesome video of Jack doing Thai Chi with me. I have a DVD that he likes to do with me. The funniest part about this video is that at no point in the DVD do they touch their toes. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IaXpno30zw&list=UUna3B_p516w0d-G5yzf_gug

The relief society president of our ward asked me to make a backdrop for our ward Christmas party of a Mansion. We read the book The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke. It is a great book. They acted out some of the scenes in the book. It was a great party. (The backdrop I painted was 12 ft by 9ft. It was a really fun project).

At the end of the party, Santa came out. Jack greeted him at the door and then followed him all the way to his chair and then climbed right into his lap. That answered our question of whether Jack would be scared of Santa this year. Jack explained to santa that he would like some trains for Christmas. 

Family Pictures

Out here in Virginia they don't have many snow plows. Instead, they have leaf suckers. Everyone just rakes or blows their leafs into piles on the street, and then a giant truck comes by and sucks them all up. Well, we decided to take advantage of those awesome leaves.