Kaiya is Three!

Kaiya had a Mickey/Minnie Mouse-themed party. Sarah especially loved wearing her birthday ears... she is all about Minnie these days.
She's pretty adorable.

See? Told you. :)

I think she is waiting for Brad to give her a treat or a drink or something when I asked her to pose for this picture. She is such a ham. I love her.

My little butter-ball, Scarlett.

Isabel playing with Kaiya's big present from Michelle and Brad.
And, just in case anyone is wondering, Ben can climb up into this house and fit comfortably on the second floor.

Sarah must be a true Italian with that weird backward-hand-wave thing. :)

Gingerbread Kids

Sunday evening was kind of crazy... we had the annual Gingerbread Festivus at Molly's house and Kaiya's birthday party in Payson to go to as well. So, we hit Molly's early and let the kiddos do their own little houses. These pictures are kind of redundant, but I just love the expressions on their faces as they are fighting over the candy and decorating their tiny cottages.

Sunday Morning with Nona and Poppy

We were a little early for church while the Carters were in town this last weekend, so I thought we had better get a picture of Sarah's dress Nona bought well before she could even dream about it fitting her little girl.

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward's family-friendly Christmas party was pretty great. We sang songs, ate amazing food, and even met Santa. :)

Jakey was hilarious and wanted to go sing with the rest of the Primary kids during their special number. Once we saw some other Nursery kids up there on stage, we let him go. He loved it and pretended to sing his little heart out. I don't know where he learned to lip-sync (Ashlee Simpson?) but he was pretty good at it. 

After waiting in the longest line ever to see the big man, Jake ran up to Santa's lap happily, but Sarah was scared to death of him. 

I actually wish these pictures turned out better... there are few things greater than a screaming child on Santa's lap photo-op.

Jake was a champ. He made sure to tell Santa exactly what he wanted and we decided the line was worth this moment.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

This time of year plays home to some of my very favorite movies ever... which just so happen to also be Christmas movies. Some are more appropriate than others, but I love them all nonetheless.

 "Flick says he saw some grizzly bears near Pulaski's candy store!" 

"Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window. "

"That's shocking!" 

 "Invite him out for a drink and then, after about twenty minutes, casually drop into the conversation the fact that you'd like to marry him and have lots of sex and babies." 

"There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?"

 No third quote here... this movie is so great is deserves two pictures.

" I believe... I believe... It's silly, but I believe." 

"Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles."

 "Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny [f-ing] Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white a$$ down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of [a-holes] this side of the nuthouse."

 "Miss Haynes, if you're ever under a falling building and someone offers to pick you up and carry you to safety, don't think, don't pause, don't hesitate for a moment, just spit in his eye."

"What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary."

"A toast to my big brother George: The richest man in town."

Christmas-Themed Girls' Night

This year's gift-exchange-dinner-with-the-girls was, as always, exceptional. We talked about anything and everything, ate great food, drank a lot of coca-cola, and laughed at how each of us brought a gift we would have bought for ourselves if given the chance. :)
I love my friends.

Emily, Lizzy, me, Rochelle, Dot, Ang, and Janelle.

Liz and me.

Liz brought sweet baby girl, Lauren with her. She is perfect.

Cho, Ange, and Janelle.

Dottie holding baby Lauren Emily.

Sleeping Boy

Found this little boy {with a present with his name on it} in our new, comfy bed the other day. 

Too cute not to post.

Couldn't have said it better...

My cousin, Robby's blog made me smile (and cry a little) today.

I thought this was a fitting 500th post topic given the time of year.
Actually, I had no idea this was my 500th post until just now.

Family Pics

We had a little photo session with the talented Kristin. {Check her out!} Kristin was nice enough to accommodate us by having two sessions-- since Sarah was barfing during the first one {SERIOUSLY??!!}. So, some of these are at Daybreak's lake and some are across the street from our house.
Here are a few favorites...