Sunday, December 30, 2012

Over the River and through the Woods...

It was a Lee Christmas this year. And while we missed Laurel, Michelle and all their family... I've gotta say, we had a really great time.

Here we are packed as tight as possible and watching 'Elf."

On the road. Jake was puking his guts out for the last 2 1/2 hours of our trip... then I got sick late in the night. It sucked, but it thankfully didn't last long at all. Also, no one else got sick because of us. *Phew*

This in my parents' Sacrament Meeting (I know... irreverent.) Anyway, my mom drew a picture of Jakey and, or course, Matt and I wanted her to draw us too. Seriously, this is what she drew. As Matt said, "looks like a toilet bowl with a face."

Christmas Eve means two things: Mexican food and a hilarious Nativity re-enactment. My mom went all out this year with each character's costume ready and bagged to be picked by us. It was awesome.
Blaine was the donkey.

Matt, an entranced wise-man.

Sarah was Mary.

Brett and Robyn were shepherds.

My dad was the inn-keeper.

My mom narrated. (I was the angel/photographer).



"No room."

Baby Jesus was a black Cabbage Patch Kid, right?

Bearing gifts.

Matt, Megan, and Scotty looking very wise.



Oh, these two... :)
Christmas jammies.

Cookies and milk for Santa. Oats for Rudolf.

Now that's true Christmas spirit.
And a great throw-back to 2006. 

Les Miserables. Can you tell who didn't like it?

Voo Doo Doughnut in Portland. The Portland Cream knocked my socks off! (Right, Mom?)

We found this flyer outside of "Bunk" (a great Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives sandwich place).
"The Mormon Trannys" and "Clackamas Baby Killers". Wow.

The kiddos eating their sprinkle doughnuts at the little table. Yes... Sarah is wearing her Rupunzel dress and is feeding her new Rupunzel doll.

It stopped raining for about ten minutes and Jake was pumped to ride his scooter outside instead of inside. Thanks Steve and Chris for the scooters and thanks, Mom and Dad for allowing the kids to ride these in your house!

Hours of entertainment for our drive back home.

Baby, it's cold outside.

We had a wonderful Christmas in Washington.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Carter Cousin Gift Exchange

We Carters gathered together to exchange cousin (and sibling) presents before everyone took off for Christmas break. These kids are at such a fun age. I just love that they are really starting to "get it". So fun.







Sunday, December 16, 2012

Instagram Recap

A boy, his Daddy, his balloon, and a bag of marshmallows... what more can a kid ask for?

Shopping the new outlets with sisters and cousins.

Sarah dumped chocolate milk all over everything, so I ran to find a bathroom... luckily, we found Santa too! This Santa was such a sweetheart and was so kind and cute to Sarah and Benny.

Primary kids' birthday present wall-hangings for 2013.

We finally joined the "Elf on the Shelf" ranks. We loved having "Rosco" around for the season.

A peek inside one of Sarah's purses. I love her little "things".

Reading the instruction manual like a fairy tale book is adorable.

We were invited to the zoo with some friends. Seriously, it was such a perfect day! The weather was great and we got to see all the animals get fed. The polar bear was especially active. It was awesome.

Blaine as Santa at our ward's Christmas breakfast. We had to laugh that Jake and Sarah didn't even realize their daddy was missing... but they made sure to tell him that Santa was wearing "Daddy shoes". Hilarious.

Busting out "Guitar Hero" was maybe one the best things that could have happened to Jakey and his inner-rocker. This boy is so funny.

The kids loved having their own tree in the basement to decorate however they wanted. (So did I, actually.)

One of my very favorite parts of Christmas is using my pretty Christmas dishes for a month. I love them!

Major track-building.

Shoveling snow together. We didn't finish and I only fell twice. (And haven't attempted to shovel snow since!)

The cutest take-home from preschool ever. (Allie's--not mine.)

Two kids all shopped out after a day at University mall. (Their Santa sucked.)
The McFlurry. Delicious.

Sisters are for following each other to various errand destinations so they can run into a store and not have to haul their kids in too.
Here are Kaiya and me hanging out while Michelle was in Home Depot... with Jake and Sarah asleep through it all. :)

My little shopper-elf at Target.

One of my most very favorite things about the holidays is getting Christmas mail! (Peltekians' card killed me this year.)

And the Shermans win for feeding my McDonald's love.
A fun F.H.E. night with Hardys and Hadleys at Gardner Village.

Very cool green tree at Gardner Village.

Waiting for the OBGYN and reading about Christmas wrapping.
My own Christmas wrapping.

I helped to throw a baby shower for my cute friend, Heidi. I'm so happy we are both having baby boys together.

Oh, Sarah... you are such a snuggly sweetheart.

Impromptu lunch-time picnic.

More Rosco shenanigans. And, no... I didn't realize the phallic thing until it was pointed out to me on Instagram. Oops.
Finally getting my "White Christmas" on. Probably my very favorite Christmas movie ever.

Rosco eating cereal.

Michelle outdid herself this year with Kaiya's Barbie birthday party. This life-size Barbie box was amazing... if only it lasted longer than fifteen minutes. 

Temple Square with the Carters. Why I don't have any pictures of Doug, Jen, Brent, Markelle, or any of their kids is beyond me.

Family picture.
Pretty lights.
And a Starbucks snowflake on the way home.

My new H&M ten dollar kicks.

Christmas neighbor gifts: Hot Fudge. I gotta say, I am still pretty proud of how these turned out.

My favorite (received) neighbor gift from our sweet widower across the street. He actually made this!


And finally, Snow White for Snow White. Thanks Aunt Jen (I mean--Van) for this darling doll for Sarah... I don't who is more excited about it though... Sarah or me.