Christmas Eve in Delta

I am only just a little bit behind on getting Christmas posted... what do you think? But it is definitely something worth documenting, so here you go. We always do the same thing every year. Christmas Eve in Delta and Christmas Morning at Grandma and Grandpa Hatch's. This year we talked long and hard about doing Christmas morning at our own house and then heading out, but last minute decision, once again, we ended up doing it at Grandmas. And it was great. It is always great. It really doesn't matter where we are, it is always all about the boys and that is the important part. So here are a few pictures to show just how much fun we had. This was Ethans first Christmas and he thought the festivities are just great.

As I said before, we were in Delta for Christmas Eve. There are always so many people there and we always have such a fun time. We start with some very tasty food, then we have a program with all the wonderful talents from all the kids, then we always act out the Nativity. This is always a favorite of the kids. This year, worst then most, there was a serious competition for who Mary was going to be. There was so many choices, at it actually had the children up bright and early bugging Grandma to get the part. I have never seen so many little girls get so worried about something. So after the Nativity, then all of the Grandkids get presents from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson. This year it was personal, hand made pillowcases made by Grandma Caren. And there was also some very cute Christmas ornaments included. Eli got a BUZZ pillowcase, of course. His all time favorite super hero. Ethan's was a very cute little pillowcase that had little penguins playing in the snow.

Our two Mary's Caitlyn and Shaylee holding baby Jesus, Baby Jesus James, and Tommy playing Joseph.

The whole crew. Eli played a wise man this year and he did such a good job. He thought it was pretty dang fun.

Eli with one of his favorite cousins, Elise.

Ethan being his ever so cute and adorable self. His smile still can just melt my heart. He is always just so happy, and he has the biggest smile.

I am always guaranteed to get a good picture of my boys with there Grandma and Grandpa Anderson each year. I don't know why I can't manage to get more through out the year. But I really do love these pictures. It is fun to see how much the boys grow from year to year.

This is all of the Grandkids that were there on Christmas Eve. Only about half the crew, but still a fun picture.

This is Grandma and Grandpa Anderson holding the three new grandbabies that were born this year. Ethan on the right is 8 months old, Danica is 4 months old, and James is about 1 week or so old. He was really new, but made a perfect Christmas gift for his cute little family.

Thanks to all my family for making it such a fun holiday this year. It always is and we love you all so very much. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson for letting us crash there house each year and also for the amazing and generous gifts, not only for the grandkids, but also for us as the parents. You two are amazing. Thank you for all that you do for us.

Love you Ethan!

So I really don't normally torture my children to get a cute picture. But I just couldn't resist. The first time we put the glasses on them, he didn't mind them at all. But I couldn't find my camera. The second time we put them on, once I did find my camera, he hated them so much. and because I was trying to get him to keep them on, my picture turned out fuzzy. But I still think it is once stinking cute little picture.

The cutest Santa on the block if you ask me.

Ninja Ethan. Don't mess with the little man!

I love this totally perfect, totally cuddle, totally lovable smile. He is such a charmer. And his smile will melt your heart.

Once there was a snowman..... WELL, snow fort

Eli loves the snow and was super excited when we had a really good snow storm and we were actually around to go and play in it. Eli and definitely mastered making snow angels and he thinks they are so much fun to make. Also, they started to create a snow man, but the snow wasn't packing super well, so they decided to turn it into a snow fort instead, but then it actually turned into a snow wall instead of a fort. Needless to say they had a lot of fun and I got some really cute pictures out of it.

I don't know if Ethan was really sure what to think about all of this. But he was definitely a happy little boy just sitting out there watching his dad and brother work in the snow.





I love this picture of daddy and his boys. They were having such a good time out there. He is such a good dad and loves every minute that he gets to spend with his boys.

Cottle Christmas Party

The weekend before Christmas, we went to the Cottle Christmas party. This is Matt's Mom's side of the family. We had it in Centerville and Jason and Kristens house. It was very fun to see some of the family that we have not seen for a long time. Honestly, about once a year is when we seem to see them all. We had some really good food and way fun entertainment. We played a few games, and then we decorated some gingerbread houses. It was really fun to hang out with that side of the family.

This first picture is off all of the Great Grandchildren. From left to right, Eli, Ethan, Savannah holding Milee, Sophie, Max and Kade.

This picture is of all the grandkids. All of them were there except for Justin. I was impressed that everybody was there. I think this is the most that I have ever gotten a picture of at one time.
This is the girls. Heather, Kendra, Chelsey,and Amy.
This is all of the Cottle Children. Jason, Kevin, Gaye, Cheryl, and Lesa.
and this is all the children, their spouses, and Grandma and Grandpa Cottle.
And I love getting picture like this. I wish that Ethan had been being a little more corroborative, but I will take what I can get. This is the boys with their Great Grandpa and Grandma Cottle.

My little big man!

My little Green Monster!

This is what happens when you leave Aunt Heather alone for just 5 minutes with the imagination of Eli. Once there was one streak of green on his body, of course , much more needed to be added. And really, why not? It washes...... right? Needless to say, next time Eli and Aunt Heather pain, there will be a little more ADULT supervision.

JUST KIDDING HEATHER. Eli loves hanging out with his Aunt Heather. In fact, i'm pretty sure that he would make it a daily thing if that was possible.

Don't try this at home!

Should I really trust Uncle Justin.... OF COURSE. I have to say I was a little nervous when my three year old, batman mask included, son, goes flying across the living room. Literally ALL the way across the living room and even a little ways down the hall. But Eli thought it was the best thing ever. And once he had done it once, of course there were numerous more tries after. Each one going just a little farther down the hall. I'm really not sure what goes on in these boys heads but I suppose they were all having fun.

Temple Square Lights

Going and seeing the lights on Temple Square has kind of become a tradition with our family. We do it every year and Eli loves it. Ethan, even for how small he is was totally into it this year. He loved looking at them and seeing all the bright lights. I really love the picture of him in front of the temple.... SOOOOOO CUTE.

Santa.... TAKE 2

This time we went and saw Santa at my work. River Meadows did free pictures and minus the whole fact that Ethan is very not so happy, I actually thought it turned out to be a pretty cute picture. I love the one of Lara giving Santa her letter. She wrote a very long, very detailed letter about what she wanted for Christmas this year. I thought it was so cute. Eli was loving life and he was very excited to tell Santa that he wanted a computer this year. Ethan on the other hand, he did okay the first time that we went to see him, but not so much this time. He immediately started crying.

Not much to say about that!

Christmas PALS Performance

Lara attended another dance.....

Doesn't she look beautiful. She always does. She has so much fun at the dances for the school. She never really goes with anyone, but I don't really think many of them do. They all just show up and have so much fun. I think Lara would dance every single night if she had the opportunity. It is definitely a love of hers.

Ethan and Danika

This is Ethan and his closest cousin in age, Danika. Now they are only just a few months apart, but looking at them, you would guess much more. He is so big, and she is so small. I will be excited to take a picture of them one year from now. I have a feeling that there size stats will not have changed all that much, but we will see. I do think that Danika may catch up to him on the height, she is a very tall slender little girl. But I just had to share this picture of these cute little cousins.

Santa.... TAKE 1

This was our first adventure seeing Santa for the season. We had numerous through the holidays, but I only snapped pictures at a few of them. Eli was much better this year. He still wasn't in love with the idea, but he humored his mom by letting me take a picture of him on his lap. Ethan was great, for the first time ever seeing him. He wasn't really sure what to think about this funny looking man. As you can see by the slight look of terror on his face, he wasn't really loving it, but he never did cry. He just kind of sat there and looked at him with a funny face. This was down in Delta, just a few days after Thanksgiving. Eli is really starting to get the whole concept of Santa this year and he was super excited to tell him that he wanted a computer for Christmas. So, Santa Adventure #1..... SUCCESSFUL.

How do you play your games?

This has become more of a frequent sight around our house. I am not sure why he enjoys playing games like this so much, but he does. He wedges himself down between the two couches, were we store his little buzz couch, and plays his leapster. He is so funny and turning into such little kid. He has an amazing personality and there is never a dull moment with him around.

Sugar Cubes + Frosting = Happy Boy

So, I am incredibly behind on my blogging and I have about 100 posts to come in the very near future. We did so many fun things during the month of December. I will just have to start at the beginning. So check often and enjoy are fun adventures of the Holiday season.

To start things off, Eli and Heather made the cutest little igloo out of sugar cubes, frosting, coconut and a little imagination. Eli absolutely loved this activity and had so much fun with his Aunt Heather.