Gag... another Christmas post you're thinking. Well, this one is for me. I always love taking gobs and gobs of pictures of all the Christmas decorations, much to Jeff's dismay, but never do anything with them. They end up taking space on our hard drive and trust me, there's a lot of them! So I decided to have one last shabang with the holiday season and post pictures and memories of all my decorations.
Besides, it gives me another excuse to not write any New Year's resolutions. Tomorrow, I'll feel guilty but for now, I'm going to relish in the Christmas spirit. Oh and to save me the headache of going through all 7 gazillion Christmas photos, I'm breaking this one last Christmas post up into four.
Being the True Aggies that we are, we have a tree dedicated solely to the Aggie Blue and Fighting White. Technically it's Jeff's tree (even though I set it up and decorate it) but this year, Pearl claimed it as hers and her best friend's tree. Everything on the Aggie Tree is silver or blue from the big blue glass balls to the tiny blue glass balls, blue candy canes, blue and silver stars, silver and blue star garland, and blue lights. 
Our tree topper is of course Big Blue. And yes, Big Blue has blue balls. I can hear the rolls of laughter now. My husband is funny!
It's ridiculous how much I paid for 10 of these ornaments when you consider they are just stuffed with silver garlandly things. But I just couldn't help myself when Jeff found them at the USU Bookstore one year. It was the one surprise he got for Christmas, 10 of them individually wrapped and stacked in a pyramid. 
I'm tempted to leave the Aggie tree up all basketball season. It matches our big "A" banner hanging in our bedroom window.
I need to be Chinese. Really, read this article.
It might blow your mind of all parenting skills you'd ever hope to have, desire, and strive for. It just might explain why some cultures treat their elderly as the treasures they should while us Westerners give the old geezers the boot to just rot away, alone, and forgotten.
This article really made me question one, if I even know what my parenting style is or should be and two, if I need to throw it out the window and give the Chinese mothering style a try. That, or maybe we just need to get a piano.
This is what happens when I stay home... only I'm surprised the couch cushions are actually on the couch. They are usually turned upside down, right-side out, and up-and-over for some sort of kitty fort, rocket ship, or princess castle. Pearl was watching Sesame Street and when Elmo, Telly, and Zoe had their pom poms and were doing cheers, Pearl zoomed into her room to get hers. It was really funny to watch her copy their moves and I must say, she's got moves!
Pearl loves sports. The problem is, she isn't very coordinated. Now I'm not saying cheerleaders aren't coordinated... but I often think that Pearl will have to be cheering from the sidelines unless some drastic improvements in "kick the ball, run in a straight line, throw the ball where it should go" department happen. She'd be a great cheerleader too. Seriously, she runs around the house doing USU cheers all the time. She knows all the words to the "Scotsman" and her favorite thing to do is taunt us with the "Winning Team Losing Team" chant. Only she personalizes it to "Winner Team Loser Team." At first it was hilarious but now it's annoying, and sometimes down right mean. We've tried making a rule that you can't do "winning team losing team" unless you are at a basketball game. It's not working. She's even broke out the "winner team loser team" bit playing puzzles with my Dad.
I tell ya, if I can keep up with Pearl for the next 15 years it will be a miracle. She's got more spunk, sass, and personality than just about anyone I know. Beneath all this, she has a really tender, sweet heart too. It almost always come out when she's with her little brother. She just loves Cole. And I'm fairly certain, Cole is smitten with his big sister too. One night after dinner, she was playing peek-a-boo with him. He was giggling and giggling and had the biggest grin on his face every time she poked her head around the corner. Then she came over to her "snuggly bear" as she calls him, grabbed his hand and shook it while saying this little thing she says to him all the time... "nice to meet you, nice to meet you." I don't get it but they sure seem to understand each other. I'm sure at some point this sibling love will turn into sibling rivalry... probably when when Cole is big enough to tackle Pearl to the ground since that seems to be his favorite game to play with her. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy my two little munchkins.
This year was the first year we've spent Christmas morning at our house, just our little family. And the second time in my entire life I've had Christmas with my immediate family.
It was weird.
But fun, lovely, and magical.
I just might insist we make this our new tradition.
My kids slept in until 9 a.m. BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER!!!! Jeff was surprised I didn't wake up at 6 a.m. - little did he know I was up that early with Cole - because I've had to practically drag him out of bed every year we've been married to see what Santa had brought us.
And boy, did Santa deliver! I guess our note to him paid off. 
Pearl was so excited to open presents. I never thought in my entire life, I'd pull out a "mom" quote and tell her "Slow down. This is all the presents! Take your time!" but I did. Several times in fact.
When Pearl opened up her new pair of cowgirl boots, she squealed, "These are exactly what I wanted! They fit perfect!" It was hilarious. Good job Santa! We rounded up the loot with a Toy Story 3 DVD, Toy Story figurines (yes, all of them... Rex the Dinosaur, Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, an Alien, and Hamm the piggy bank), doctor play set, new quilt, pom poms just like the Aggie cheerleaders, CD of Mamma Mia songs, clothes, and stockings stuffed to the brim with surprises. Santa goes a little overboard with stockings but we loved it.
Jeff got a new helmet and was ready to go for a ride with Pearl on her new 4 wheeler. He also got some boring, grown-up gifts from me... work shirts. I know, boring. I got some "Peacock blue" Fiestaware plates (my Aunts would be so proud) and the wall sconces I had hoped for. 
Cole made off with a bunch of new big-boy clothes and a few toys. We should have just gotten him a stack of wrapping paper and boxes since that's what he was the most interested in. Oh and thank heavens he woke up happier than he had been the last three days!
After we opened presents and visited our neighbors, we had the traditional Christmas breakfast casserole. It was delicious and way, way better than cold cereal and toast like Jeff suggested we have. Well worth the effort.
Grandpa and Grandma paid us a visit for breakfast and then all chaos ensued when my side of the family showed up and more gift giving took place. We definitely need a bigger house if we ever have Christmas at our house again! Seriously, I'm not kidding. I couldn't even see the floor with all the wrapping paper, boxes, gifts, and people. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.
Remote control cars all around!
Look, we got a treasure box filled with...
gold coins! Awesome.
Then headed over my Aunt Julie and Uncle Bob's for some visiting that afternoon. 
Finally, Pearl collapsed (with a fever too) in exhaustion from all the excitement. 
What a whirlwind. A wonderful, magical whirlwind.
There's so many pictures of Christmas and so many families to talk about, I decided to break up the memories with a Christmas Eve and then a Christmas Day post.
We always do two things on Christmas Eve... visit my Grandpa and Grandma then head over to Jeff's parent's house. I was really excited to give my grandparents their gift. Usually we give them something like a fruit basket or loaf of bread. Lame really, but what do you get people who have everything. Really, I'm pretty sure my grandparents have everything. Except a memory book of Bear Lake. Remember my "trailer trash" post a few months ago? I turned all those photos into a big picture book. Then on the last page I listed out all of the memories Bear Lake has given us (you know, suburns and tan lines, raspberry milkshakes, sand in places I don't want to mention). I wish I could figure out if and how to post a link to it so you could all see it. It's awesome, if I do say so myself. I made it using a site called Picaboo and was so happy with how it turned out. The pictures were true to their original images and gorgeous. My grandma got a big kick out of it and was giggly and smiling over it. She kept laughing at all the little knick knacks in the book and told us all kinds of stories about them. 
I'd been waiting for months to give it to them and my mom is totally jealous of it. Best gift EVER! Oh and we also gave them another photo book of just our family and the adventures we've had this year. Yes, I spent a ton of time making these a few months before Christmas, stayed up way too late, and probably spent way too much on them but they were worth it when all the parents, grandparents, and David & Vickie opened their personalized books. 
Jeff's Dad always makes a delicious spread of food anytime we visit. I feel bad because I think all he does when we're there is cook for us. But man, is he a good cook. And Jeff's mom can always tell when I'm on my last straw with kids and way too tired so she's more than helpful in the holding a sick, ornery baby department. Poor Cole was horribly sick over Christmas. He'd been fussy for a few days but then had a high fever, couldn't sleep, refused to eat, and was just miserable. He stayed up until 2 a.m. Christmas Eve Eve (get it?) screaming. I was starting to worry that he might have an intestinal blockage instead of a mild ear infection and virus because he did nothing but scream and cry. He tried hard to be a good sport but just wasn't interested in presents, cousins, and all the craziness that Christmas brings. But like I said, that's why we have grandmas... to rock and snuggle with. I swear the kid only cuddles with his grandmas!
It wasn't just Cole who was sick though. Jeff's brother, Roy, didn't make the trip over from Malad for the party. He must have been pretty miserable to skip out on Christmas. But no worry, Jeff and his mom made sure to carry on his rambunctious shinanagans with a squirt of Redi-whip right into Pearl's giggly mouth. 
The build up all day of waiting to open presents made certain Pearl was at all time peak hyperness at this point so she was more than willing to carry on Uncle Roy's tradition. And Jeff was happy to eat his first slice of pecan pie of the year, topped with about three inches of whipped cream.
Pearl was pumped to finally get the present opening underway! And even more excited to get Despicable Me from Grandpa and Grandma, one of several DVDs on her wish list. The personal minion was pretty exciting too. 
She also got some new jammies from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Roy, which she promptly stripped down to put on and an "Angelina Ballerina" doll that she can strap to her feet and dance with. It's a little freaky looking but she loves it! And the best part is we can tell her to get Angelina when she wants to dance with us. 
Cole got some new blocks and stacking toys that I'm sure his big sister will claim before too long. I had to take a picture of them because I knew as soon as they got opened, we'd never get them to fit back in their box again without a reference photo!
Jeff and I got some new pots and a Ninja blender. I think it was a hint by his Dad to start cooking again!
Loads of fun, loads of loot, and loads of sleep needed from all the excitement and sickness. And Santa hadn't even come yet.
Our tree topper is of course Big Blue. And yes, Big Blue has blue balls. I can hear the rolls of laughter now. My husband is funny!
It's ridiculous how much I paid for 10 of these ornaments when you consider they are just stuffed with silver garlandly things. But I just couldn't help myself when Jeff found them at the USU Bookstore one year. It was the one surprise he got for Christmas, 10 of them individually wrapped and stacked in a pyramid. 
I'm tempted to leave the Aggie tree up all basketball season. It matches our big "A" banner hanging in our bedroom window.
