Picts. Cont.

Christmas Pictures

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve we went to Matt's mom's house and the kids got to open their gifts from her. Paige got an adorable new outfit and Parker got a jacket and some new toys. Matt and I got a picture frame and a throw blanket. After we opened gifts we went to Matt's brother's house and had home made tamales. They were so good!! It was fun to be with Matt's siblings and spend some time with them!

Christmas day was a little different this year because I was by myself with kids...well not really by myself, but had to handle them without Matt's help. We had the traditional Yancey breakfast at my parents house in the morning. then the kids and I went to Matt's parents and the kids got to open their gifts from grandpa and grandma C. They were both spoiled with a new outfit and several new toys. Parker got about 4 new guns and a dinosaur toy. Paige got a life sized doll, with clothes and a blanket and a smaller baby doll, a stuffed pony and a little my little pony. Paige sat on the couch for about 20 minutes right by her new stuff and wouldn't let me even touch anything to look at it. I think she was in heaven loving all the new stuff and didn't want me taking it from her. She finally let me look at it, but not for long. She played with he dolly for most of the time we were there. After a few hours we went to Matt's uncle Kendall's for lunch and a gift exchange. The family is getting quite big and the exchange game took an hour and a half to play. Which is shorter than years past. It was fun to be together and spend time with them on Christmas. In the evening we got together at my Parents house and had dinner with my sister and her fiance. Matt was able to join us when he got home while we opened presents. I was spoiled and got a new dishwasher...which I am loving. The kids got several new outfits and a lot of toys. By the end of the night Paige was a pro at opening gifts, although she wanted to open the packages all the way, so the process took us a while. My sister and I also got a new cricut cartridge and Matt got a chess set and a golf scorer. We had a great time spending the holiday with all our family. We love each and every one of them so much a truly appreciate all they do for us. It was a great 2009!!!

Christmas

Well better late than never. I just realized I had a only a few hours to post for the year 2009. I thought I had better get a post in about our wonderful Christmas. We were all spoiled and had a wonderful holiday. Matt had to work the entire day of Christmas form 7 in the morning until 7 at night so we had to do things a little different this year. The kids had "Santa" come on Christmas Eve morning. They are still small enough to not really know the difference. We had a good day, Matt and I kept it pretty simple and didn't really go crazy with a ton of toys this year. Parker got a Ben 10 watch, some Cars from the movie Cars, Play dough, some learning games, and a church bag that I made both kids that had coloring books, crayons, stickers, magnet sets, treats, a book, and a clipboard. That was a big project that took me about 1 month to complete. I think they will like them once they finally get to use them. Paige got some pots and pans to go in her little kitchen, a my little pony, play dough and a church bag. They also got the game candy land to share. So we had a fun little morning and enjoyed spending time together playing with the kids.

Ward Party

Our ward had their Annual Christmas party on the 11th and we were able to go. This year they did something different than they normally do and it was a fun change. Instead of the usual potatoes/ham and salads they had different soups/chili's with a baked potato and cobblers. It was fun to see all the different soups that people brought and to be able to try them out. I even came home with a new recipe from my friend Lauri for a White Chili. I am excited to try it out at home. The kids did alright, but during the program part of the evening they got a little restless and wanted to run around like some of the other kids there. The primary had a little part in the program and sang The Shepherd's Carol and Christmas Bells. They did a good job and started the program off on a good note. Parker was in the front row and tried his hardest to sing the words to the songs. It is pretty hard for those little kids to learn a Christmas song in a couple of weeks and then not sing them again for an entire year. We have a pretty small ward and every voice we had there that night was needed. I ended up helping during the round of A Shepherds Carol and I hope my voice didn't drown out the voices of the kids. It was a fun night out and we were able to visit with some of our friends from the ward that we don't get to visit with on a regular basis.

Gingerbread Train

I am just a little bit behind in updating the blog. We had a fairly busy December and I can't believe it is almost over along with 2009. So here are a few new posts of the things we have been up to lately. My mom had the kids over on the 2nd to decorate a gingerbread train. Parker had a fun time decorating and most of all eating the decorations and frosting as we went along. Parker is still a bit too small and wasn't that interested in helping, although she did have her fair share of candy as well. This was fun to start us off for the month of December and to get us in the Holiday Spirit!

Candy Making

Growing up around Christmas time my mom always made holiday candy. We looked forward to it every year and we would eat enough to last us the entire year as well. As I got older I paid attention in the kitchen and my mom taught me how to make some of her recipes. After I got married, for some reason I was hesitant to try the recipes on my own and would get together with my mom to help her makes the candy so it wouldn't get messed up. Well this year I decided to try it out on my own. I made fudge (which I have made on my own before, it is pretty easy) English Toffee and Homemade Caramels. I am proud to say they all turned out quite delicious. There is something about eating a homemade caramel, it puts all others to shame. Now my family will enjoy the product of this day for the next couple of weeks. As I was stirring and stirring and stirring my pot of sugar and butter, I realized that there is a lot more work put into making homemade candy than you realize. I especially didn't realize it when I was younger, but it does take a long time to get it to the right temperature and requires constant attention and stirring. Good thing I have been lifting weights! My kids were surprisingly well behaved and I was able to get all three things done in one afternoon. But cutting and wrapping the caramels took me a whole other day. If you have never attempted to try a new recipe or to make some homemade candy, you should give it a try. I think it is becoming a lost art and it is always so wonderful to give something homemade to the ones you love. I am so glad my mom, and her mom as well, started this "tradition" and that it is something that helps us remember certain times in our lives and reminds us of the people we love!! I am sure I will regret it when I step on the scale, but I am going to hit the gym even harder in January and the season only comes once a year, might as well enjoy it!!