Creative!

It's tough keeping these two out of mischief when we're indoors all day long.  I was upstairs putting in some laundry and when I came back down I heard Sam say, "Mom's coming!  Hide"!  When I walked around the corner, I saw this...

A few days later, I went into the office for a few minutes.  I heard the boys going up and down the stairs, but didn't know what they were up to.  When I came out I saw the back door open and went to check on them.  They had taken every pillow we own and put them out on the lawn.  I found out later that Sam was going to use them as his bases in his baseball game.

Oh what fun!

Since Bill was so busy with work up until the end of the year, we decided to take a nice long vacation in January.  We started off with a few days in Salt Lake at my parents house.

At the Aquarium

With Grandma & Grandpa Ellison at the Children's Museum

Then we headed further south to St. George.  Bill's youngest sister, Tina was still in town from Christmas with her two boys that are close to Sam & Daniels ages.  It was a bit warmer than up north, but still chilly.

Climbing the red rocks with Grandpa Whitaker and cousin Andy

Then, since we were so close (another 5-hour drive), we decided to go to Disneyland for a few days.  On our way to SLC, we stopped to visit our friends, the Gardiners, and we started planning with them to meet in LA.  We left early in the morning, caught up with them near Las Vegas and got to the Magical Kingdom by noon.  Bill tricked me and booked a room at the Grand Californian.  It was gorgeous and so nice to be so close to the parks!  We had a blast!

Cars Land.  This place is AMAZING!

Sam's buddy, Drew

Drew & Sarah

Bill & Ted

Bill & Sam in the Ferris Wheel

Watching for the Monorail from our balcony

Sam and the "Big Cheese"

After 2 1/2 days, we drove back to St. George.  Then it was back up to Salt Lake for a night and finally home.  We were all exhausted by the time we got home, but had a wonderful time!

A Merry Christmas

We were really looking forward to Christmas this year.  It's just so much fun to see the excitement of little children.  It really was the perfect day.

The Sunday before Christmas

We had the Wilson's over for Christmas Eve dinner.  Except for my boys hardly eating anything nutritious, it was a wonderful meal.

Decorating cookies for Santa

Our attempt at acting out The Nativity before bed.  Sam & Daniel played Mary & Joseph, the shepherds and the wisemen...they're very versatile.  Really they just laughed at each other the whole time.

One last picture with Santa's cookies and carrots for the reindeer

Christmas morning was a lot of fun.  The boys were so excited at everything they got and were so sweet to each other.  Santa really spoiled us.  

That evening we went to dinner at my sister, Becky's, in-laws house.  It was so nice not to have to cook again and so fun to relax and chat with everyone.  Merry Christmas!

Tree time

We opted for a pre-cut tree this year due to Bill's hectic work schedule.  So for FHE Monday night, we drove to a Christmas Tree lot and coincidentally, our friends the Wilsons arrived at the very same time!

The tree we picked turned out to be a bit bushy for the corner it's in, but its a nice Noble Fir and the boys loved decorating it.

The next morning we woke up to a thin dusting of snow on our lawn.  The boys bundled up (Daniel chose Sam's church shoes) and went out for some fun.

Green snow angels

Yum!

The Big 4

Sam is another year older and wiser too!  He had a great birthday weekend.  Saturday morning (December 1st), we met my sister, Ann and her kids and our friends, the Wilsons at Just Kiddin' Around for some birthday-eve fun.

Everyone loves presents!

Playing with the trains with Whit

Shooting

 Shopping

Sliding

Climbing

And cooking!  I was worn out just watching them!

Sunday morning, Sam opened all of his presents.  He also gave his first talk in Primary.

Decorating his Superman cake (it wasn't my best, but he loved it)!

What a happy 4-year-old.  We think we'll keep him!  Happy Birthday Sam!  We love you!