Christmas 2010-Part Home

Our "December the 25th" started on the 23rd at home.  Not wanting to pack extra stuff just to pack it back home (especially when you are trying to pack for 4 people, 3 of them staying for over a week, all in 3 carry on's) we had Santa come early.

Jackson patiently waited all day until Jason got home from work in order to see what was in his stocking and to open the presents under the tree!  I think next year he will have a harder time testing his "patience for Santa" then he did this year. 

It was pretty cute when it came time to open gifts, the first thing Jackson wanted to do was get the present that he wrapped for Jason.  I really tried to let him wrap it himself, but when it came time to put the tape down I had to help guide his hand over the actually area rather then just anywhere on the paper.

Here is the before shot.  Jackson is just grabbing Jason's gift.

Jackson opening his first gift.  You can kind of see Jason's gift from him in the cream colored paper.

Axel with his first gift. 

He tore it once and then just started crawling around and playing with opened gifts.  It didn't take long for his big brother to come over and help him though!

Jackson with another present.

He finally got his "Rockers guitar"  which I meant to give him for his birthday last April but forgot about.

Here is Axel with his gifts, he got a "busy ball popper" and some bath tub toys.

Both boys (actually all the family) had fun with the ball popper, but who wouldn't enjoy a toy powered by 4 D batteries!

Jackson's guitar was also quite the hit...

Axel...

Jackson...

Decked out in his gear...

 

He had taken a potty break and when he came back he put on stockings, his sun glasses, and started jamming out with his guitar.  Jason and I had a really good laugh at his outfit.

Here is my surprise Christmas present from Jason

I think we might have a future cowboy, or at least he looks cute in a cowboy hat.

As part of their stockings, the boys got some bath towels.

Jackson got a tiger and it made him roar!

and Axel got a duck.

It was a fun filled evening with all the gifts and playing with all the new toys.

Here is the post picture.

Maybe Santa's helpers will come clean it up whil I am away!

Ear Plugs

Ear plugs are now a major part of my life.  Our little Axel is charting up the surgeries with ear tube surgery added to the list.  Jason commented that Axel just might have had more surgeries in his first year of life then he has in his 32 years!

This surgery pails in comparison to the heart surgery (in my mind) seeing how it is an outpatient surgery and doesn't require intibation, IV, or all the other monitors and devices he was on following heart surgery.  He doesn't even have a visible scar to show off!  He needed the tubes put into his ears because at 9 months of age he already has had multiple/recurring ear infections.

Here he is early in the morning before the surgery and not very happy because he was on a no eating restriction and he is not one that likes to be hungry and tired on top of that.  We had to be at the Hastings hospital at 6 AM and it is a 2 hour drive from us, so it was an early start and despite being able to go back to sleep while I drove, 6 AM is still early for him to be awake.  Thankfully a heaven sent angel in my life was willing to let me drop Jackson off at her house at 4 AM.  I also had several other 'saints' who said they would watch him and I am reminded just how many people the Lord has blessed my life with.

The procedure took about 15 minutes with a few more minutes for the Doctor to use a scope to look at his throat and vocal chords.  Ever since heart surgery he has had a raspy and hoarse sounding voice and breathing, so we just wanted to see how everything looked since he was already going to be sedated.  Which, things do look good and the voice is actually improving. 

Now when Axel is around water he has to wear ear plugs.  It was such a quick moment when they asked me what color to make them that blue was better then pink and those are the two colors I remember.

Axel is good at leaving the plugs in his ears which is a relief because I thought he would be pulling them out quicker then I could get them in.

Bath time is one of the favorite times in our house and both boys just love playing in the water.

Despite enduring trips to other cities for doctors and surgeries, we are blessed to live in a day where medicine is very good and full of modern technology advances!

Christmas Festivities

This week has been full of Christmas celebrations and events.  It started out with a story time Christmas party at our local library.  They do a really good job with the kids and after reading stories for the first part, they had games, lunch, and even a take home goodies box.

Here is Jackson by the wreath toss.

 Axel hanging out with mom.

 Jackson with a Rudolph nose after the reindeer run.  (Sorry a bit blurry, i had turned my flash off and this was such a quick moment I didn't have time to get another.)

 Eating lunch.

 Showing off his cool goodies bag filled with candy, a flashlight, a Santa cup and a few other fun things.

Our next Christmas festivity was making treats to share with people.  Jackson was really excited and enjoyed helping.  I just had to make sure he didn't sample too many of them!

Ready to decorate with his apron on.

 First treat: the gingerbread men.  Jackson was mostly responsible for cutting out the little ones.

 Second treat: chocolate dipped pretzels. 

Jackson looks tempted to sample this one! 

 Axel even joined us at the counter.

Here is all the dipped pretzels.  It was a fun treat but a little time consuming since Jason helped me realize one person could probably eat more then just a couple like they would with a cookie.

It is amazing how quickly the treats go when you start to spread them out onto plates- I ran out of them before I got my list of people crossed off.  But seeing Jackson have fun with not only making them but delivering them, I guess I will have to make some more!

Wednesday night was our Branch Christmas party, complete with dinner (Ham, cheesy potatoes, salad and lots of cookies), music, cookie decorating, and a treat from Santa, who sadly was unable to make an appearance.  We had such a good turnout that there was not much room left to sit.  If we keep getting good turnouts, who knows maybe we will get a bigger building (and yes my fingers are crossed)!!

Jason and Christian were on Ham duty!  They also did a good job at stopping "seconds" before everyone got their firsts.

The young women had gingerbread notebooks for the kids to decorate.

Here is Jackson with his completed gingerbread notebook.

The primary presidency brought sugar cookies to decorate.

Jackson came out with his cookie all decorated and was very excited to show it off to me and Jason before he ate it.

After cleanup commenced, the kids were to be found playing in the Relief Society room.  I peeked in on them to find they had discovered a hiding spot.

I thought it was too cute when they would close the doors to have hands and feet still hanging out but they thought they were hiding so well.

Jackson and Travis' feet are showing here where Parker ( the oldest of the 3) had scooted himself all the way in.  He probably is a little better at hide and go seek!

And last of our festivities this week: we went and saw Santa.  After he was unable to make the Branch party I told Jackson we could see him Saturday (today).  He talked about it between days, and we tried to prep him for it by asking what he was going to ask for (he always replied a deer or reindeer) but when it came time to actually do it, he turned into a shy, hide behind mom toddler.

Axel, who I thought would be the one to disapprove, actually went to Santa and sat on his lap while I tried to talk Jackson into doing the same.  I kind of looks like Axel is not to excited, but he is actually smiling and was happy.

This was the closest that I could Jackson to go to Santa and the longest that he was not hiding behind my legs...at least until it was time to go, then he was back to normal, saying bye and waving at people.



With 7 more days till Christmas we just might be ready after all the fun things we did this week.

Christmas Tree

We finally got our Christmas tree! We were deciding back and forth on whether or not to get an artificial tree or real tree.    Last year we had a real tree that dropped more needles then stayed on it it seemed and they were not nice to touch at all, unless you like touching a cactus!  Which made me lean toward artificial but wasn't finding one I liked in the price range I wanted.  So last Monday we got a real tree.  We got a Douglas Fir, nice on the hands and easy on the pocket book.  I think we traded height for soft needles in doing so (which might be why we got the tall poky tree last year...we went for height).  It took until Wednesday night for us to get it decorated, but it is nice to have as it adds to the whole spirit of the season.  Jackson sure loves it and thinks that the lights need to be plugged in all the time.

Here is Jason carrying it into the house.

Jackson and I decorated it.  Or you could say Jackson put them on and I rearranged them!

Today (Sunday) I took pictures of the boys by the tree after church.

Jackson wanted to go first...  

Then I tried to get some of the boys together and this it pretty much what I ended up with..

 and this...

 Then I tried to get some of Axel by himself, but every time I moved the ball he would get upset so this is the best I could get of him.

Who knew at 9 months you could throw such a fit over mom moving a ball!

I can't believe Christmas is less then 2 weeks away.  I guess I better get to work on baking some yummy goodies for us to take around and spread our Christmas cheer!

Garage

The garage is making progress.

 

This is what it looked like a week ago after two days of cold weather (I'm talking low 30's as a high and up to 30 mph winds-but it was the only days Jason had to work on it.)  The progress was slow, everyone who drove by probably thought we are crazy, but slow progress is better then no progress!

And after some warmer weather this past weekend and a nice friend who endured the rain and cold with us yesterday (who knew someone would join us crazy people!) this is what the garage looks like now...

The front of the garage. 

The garage door is up but not really in.  There are some nails "dog eared" to hold it up until we can get the rails in.

The side: the siding was the existing garages old siding that we re-used.  the rest of the siding is on back order so who knows when we will get that.

The back.  There will be a door where there is a gap or hole in the house wrap.

When I went out to take pictures I threw on a pair of Jason's shoes since they were already by the front door and when I can back Jackson was making his way out in another pair of Jason's shoes!

Boys will be Boys

Yesterday afternoon Jackson was coloring with some markers.  I was partly aware of what he was doing but it wasn't until later (after the markers were cleaned up) that I realized just how much I wasn't paying attention.

 This is what his face looked like...

..and his hands.

This is the only part I thought had marker because I saw him trying to trace his hands (see I thought I was paying attention), but when I was changing him into pajamas I learned that his legs, ankles, and arms also had marker on them.  Who knows maybe he was trying to trace them too!

Thankful at Thanksgiving

The list of things I am thankful for continues to grow every day.  But here are a few pictures of things from this weekend that I am thankful for:

*-A very nice November day that allowed for us to get work done on the garage walls and roof. (it was 55 degrees yesterday!)

*-Also thankful for the Elders and their willingness to come last minute and help us get the rafters up.   

*-For a husband who knows how to do all this "building stuff" and is patient with me in trying to help him :)

*-How excited Axel gets when I start to run the water for his bath.

*-Cousins that will suck on the cupboard nobs with Axel!







*-Axel













 *-Cousins (and grandmas) to watch Axel and play with Jackson while their moms have some girl time shopping on Black Friday!








 *-Cousins to wrestle and play with.

*-Jackson

*-People who endure reading my blog because I feel like no matter where you are you can know what is going on with my family and in return your blogs that keep my updated on the happenings in your lives!

The list could go one for blogs and blogs but I am very grateful for many things in my life most specially my family and my Savior Jesus Christ. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.