Happy 2010!

Our New Year's Eve was pretty fun this year! Especially when you consider that ever since we had B, we spent the holiday falling asleep on the couch.

My Dad and Stepmom came up to our house on New Year's Eve to celebrate with us. We had a great dinner of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the fixin's. We ate until we were stuffed, and then waited for Ben's parents to come over and join us. We all visited and played with the boy's new presents (which included a large assortment of games) We also ate tons of treats and appetizers. I think we prepared enough food for triple the people, but it was rather tasty nonetheless.

The adults then played a variety of games like "catch phrase," "cranium," and "battle of the sexes." We were having so much fun, that I didn't even realize how late it was until CJ crawled into my lap and said, "Mommy, I so tired. I wanna go night night in my bed." I looked at the clock and it was already 11:30! I tried to convince him to stay up a little later, since he was so close! We got our party horns out and our confetti poppers, and rang in 2010 with the ball drop on TV. This is the first year in almost 6 years that our whole family has stayed awake till midnight!

Right afterwards, the kids were ushered off to bed so the adults could clean up and and get to sleep too. After sleeping in to the late old hour of 8:00, we had a nice pancake breakfast and gathered to watch UP with the kids. Ben and I didn't make it more than 30 minutes into the movie without falling asleep. We got up and got ready to head over for a New Year's meal at Ben's parents house. Jeanne made us a southern traditional meal with black eyed peas for luck, and cabbage for wealth. After eating once again to the bursting point, the ladies ditched the kids and the guys to do some New Year's shopping! We all scored some major deals on shoes, lotions, and clearance Christmas decorations. I got some really great stuff for my new Christmas tree, and I really can't wait for the holidays to come back around so I put up my decorations and do it all again!

Our Happy Holdays

We really had a great Christmas and New Years this season. We got to spend a lot of time together, do some fun activities, and start new traditions.

I really love the holidays, and it is a MUST that the Christmas tree and decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving. So, after shopping a few Black Friday sales, where I got half of my shopping done, the boys and I decked the halls. I let the boys decorate their own "Santa Tree" downstairs, and I always do my pretty tree upstairs. In the midst of an already crazy weekend, Ben was busy hooking up our new present. We got a 32" flatscreen for our bedroom, since we got such a crazy deal on it. And anyone who knows me, knows that I would never have the patience to wrap it and put it under the tree and leave it for a month. We just hooked it up and enjoyed it knowing that we weren't going to get anything else for Christmas.....

Well, that was the plan anyways. We ended up getting totally spoiled like always. We spent Christmas Eve hopping houses to visit everyone. We started out by visiting my Grandparents on the way down to SLC. We had some close calls with my Grandma this year, and was told on more than one occasion not to expect her to live. I am so grateful that she defied those doctors and worked hard to make a recovery. Just getting to see her and hug her on Christmas was the best gift I got this year by a long shot.

After that, we stopped by to visit my mom. We exchanged gifts and watched the craziness ensue by both my boys and her two kittens. I don't know what the boys liked more-playing with their presents, or playing with the kitties! Every time I visit my mom, I get close to caving in and getting the boys a cat, but it only takes a day or so to come to my senses :)

We made our final stop at my Dad's place for a Christmas Eve dinner with all the kids. This is the first time since my Dad and Stepmom got married 8 years ago that all of their kids were together at the same time. It was a great time, and again, we got spoiled with gifts. We put the boys in their new jammies and headed home to sleep (or try to sleep) in our own beds.

Ben and I were totally excited for Christmas morning, but somehow managed to get to sleep by midnight. We were hoping to sleep in a little, but CJ came in around 5 am. We tried (not very hard) to get him to go back to sleep in our bed, but we were all too giddy. At 5:30 we went into B's room and woke him up. That's right. I woke up my child at 5:30 in the morning to open gifts! We all got really spoiled again. I got Ben an illustrated edition of his favorite book 1776. He surprised my with an upconvert player for our HDTV in our bedroom! B got his much anticipated Lego Indiana Jones 2 for the Wii. I think CJ had the most fun of all. He got his "little cart" shopping cart that he wanted, as well as a play kitchen and play food. B got him a play cash register, and now the boys play store together.

Following the morning madness at our house, we all took a much needed nap before heading over to my mother-in-laws house for Christmas dinner and even more gift giving. My boys had fun running all over the house with their 5 other cousins, and the adults enjoyed good food and conversation late into the evening.

This Christmas was truly fun and exciting. This has definately been the first year since Ben and I got married that our holidays were not on a shoestring budget. That, however, was not the highlight or even the important part of our celebrations. I count the fact that we were all healthy, together, and happy as the best gift of Christmas.

An Early gift...

Back in october or so, my little sister moved into the basement of my Dad's house. He had a large entertainment center down there, that basically he never used, and needed to clear out. Ben and I were more than happy to take it off of his hands, especially since he also offered us the TV and surround sound system that was already in it!

We borrowed my father-in-laws truck and covered trailer to go down and help my sister move out, and to move the center up to our house. It was a very nice 3 piece oak center, but it needed a little TLC. The wood was pretty dry, and not really a color that went in my house. I asked my dad if he would object to us painting it, and he told me that it was mine to do as I please.

After moving the center up to our garage, I knew I had a large job ahead of me. The center would need to be sanded, primed, painted, sanded again, and painted. I was less than enthusiastic about the job. However, after going into Bennet's paint to pick out my materials, I found out that a black laquer would do all that in one step! The only catch- it had to be sprayed on, not painted.

After some phone calls, we negotiated with a guy in our ward who works with my brother-in-law. He had the sprayer, location, and the time to do it for us! It may have cost a little more than we anticipated, but in the end, we had a tremendous result. I love our new entertainment center, and the surround sound isn't bad either!