December 2013

Is it January 2014 already?! December was absolutely CRAZY for us!  This post will be about all of our pictures BEFORE we left for our South Carolina Christmas vacation.  And (yes, I know you are not supposed to start a sentence with 'and') because there are so many photos, I am not going to write a lot.  Lazy me. So here goes...

We love going to Bass Pro Shop during December!  There is a free merry-go-round, games, and Santa is there.  Unfortunately when we got there at 11am, you could get a wait card to come back and see Santa at 6pm - should have gotten their earlier I guess!  So we snagged a picture of me and Avery in front of the place Santa was sitting instead. 

 Avery and Jaxson both thought the bow and arrow shooting practice was fun.

 And Jaxson loved the guns too ... surprise surprise.

 This is what Avery loved.  She was screaming while we were waiting in line.  I had a lady ask me if Avery was scared to go on the ride, and I replied "No, she really wants to get on it now."

 Avery got to ride two times in a row and screamed her head off (after I pried her hands off the pole) when we had to leave the ride.

 One Sunday afternoon while Avery was sleeping, Ryan took Jaxson to a wooded park and they explored.  Jaxson loved it and I know Ryan enjoyed spending that quality time with Jax.

 One Monday night for FHE, we made Christmas trees from sugar ice cream cones, icing, and candy.  Jaxson and Avery both loved it and made a mess.  I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy the sugar cone covered in icing was :)

 I believe the kids were watching TV one day and I thought it was cute, so I snagged a photo of them.

 Jaxson's December kick was putting all the soft things (blankets, stuffed animals, soft chairs) in his closet so he could have "sleep overs".  Ryan did sleep in there for about 30 minutes one night while Jaxson went to bed in there too.  Too bad Jaxson then woke Ryan (in our bedroom downstairs) at 1:00am saying that he needed Daddy to put him back in his regular bed.

 Decked out for our ward Christmas party.  I couldn't help it, its fun dressing up a little girl!  My favorite was the red and white striped leg warmers with the white fur on the bottom.

 Pre-Christmas morning.  We gave the kids most of the presents we had purchased for them before we left for SC.  Traveling with gifts is just too heavy and annoying. Santa did, however, make an appearance on Christmas Eve night in SC.

 Thought this was so cute.  It still is cute 3 weeks later except that Jaxson pushes her fast down the hallway and into the wall.  We are trying to work that one out.

 Jaxson was stoked to get the batman jail (and cave).  This was definitely a batman Christmas for him.

 Avery loves books and wanted Daddy to read her a story as soon as she opened a book.

 Trying out her new dolly's paci.  Avery calls it a "bobby"

 The batman cave

 Jax also got some awesome dress up clothes

 Later that day we went to the Children s museum - the kids loved it. Avery's favorite was climbing the stairs and playing the piano.

 Pretend airplane

 This ball place was definitely Jaxson's favorite.

 HAHAHAHA

 Family hand prints!  I actually could spend a while playing with this one, I think its fun.

 The night before we left, we went to a friends house for story time and hot chocolate.  The kids also made a fun treat using green chocolate, mini m&m's, and giant pretzels.

 Num Num Num

 Jaxson and his good friend Joshua.

 One of the neighborhoods near our house had this huge Christmas tree ornament - so awesome!! It was about 38 degrees out, so we jumped out of the car, snapped a photo, and then jumped back in.  We left for SC at 5 am the following morning. Next post will have all our Christmas photos.