Fancy dresses

Bart's mom always gives the girls the most beautiful dresses for Christmas. Here they are looking beautiful on Sunday morning.

Christmas morning

We had a very nice Christmas morning. The kids were very happy with all their gifts. Bart got a Garmin watch he's been wanting for a long time and he surprized me with an iPod touch! I wasn't even wanting one but now I love it! Here are some pictures from Christmas morning. Their new favorite show is Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place. They each got a Wizards of Waverly Place wand. And Kenzie got a Wizards of Waverly Spell Book from Santa.

Bart got a Utah Utes mug.
Ainsley and Kenzie were VERY excited to each get an Our Generation doll.


Above: Grandpa is trying out his new alma mater Snuggie

Below: My mom painted me this picture from a photograph I had taken of an Afican sunset while I was in Namibia.


Bart got the girls a jumpy house. Luckly, it's down in the basement now.

Snow much fun!

We got dumped on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. What a perfect time to get lots of snow! We've been staying cozy and warm in our house but the kids loved going outside and playing in all that freshly fallen snow. Bart had the day off of work on Christmas Eve and they made a pretty big igloo on our front boulevard. Bart and the girls can fit in there all at once! Here are some fun pictures of that day.




Bart, Ainsley & Kenzie are inside the igloo and our neighbor's dog tried to join them.

Was it the real Santa?

Mackenzie really wanted to know if this was the real Santa or just one of his helpers. We told her she had to decide for herself. As for me, I tend to think it was the real Santa.

I am so done with standing in those awful long lines at the mall to get 15 seconds with a sweaty old man in red fur and a fake beard. And then finding out that I can't even take a picture of my kids with "Santa" with my own camera. But of course, I could pay $15 for a lovely 5x7 of my kids crying on Santa's lap. I hate to say it, but last year we didn't even go see Santa because of my just stated frustration.

Well, what a relief it was to walk right in to our local credit union and spend a good 15-20 minutes visiting with Santa with no other kids in front of us or behind us. Santa had a real beard and must've been eating healthier this year. He was so good with the kids. Summer giggled the whole time she sat on his lap and she even sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to him. It was soo cute! The girls loved it! And I'm so glad we've found a new tradidtion!