Christmas 2012

Christmas was so much fun this year.  After checking the carrots out front for the reindeer and the cookie left for Santa, we went in to the family room and she spotted all the gifts.  Hearing her gasps and ooohs, made all the work worth it.

Callie asked Santa for a scooter and a computer, but Santa only brings one gift and a stocking full of goodies.  So Santa got Callie a pink scooter that she loves.  Callie loved each gift so much that she didn't want to open the next gift, she just wanted to open and play with the gift she got.  It took a while for us to get through all the gifts, but it was so much fun.

Callie got lots of dress up clothes, regular clothes, a new handmade kitchen, pretend food, and pretend pots and pans.  She had an awesome Christmas.  Loren and I had just as good of Christmas.  Loren got an air compressor with nailer, a shop vac, a flashlight, and a hitch for the truck.  I got new white dishes, some pregnancy clothes, and a storage/organizer for the garage.  As a family we got a food processor and a miter saw.   I think we are pretty excited to start all of our new projects for the new year.

After cleaning up and grabbing a few bites of breakfast, we were of to Loren's sisters house for the extended family Christmas.  Callie loved getting even more toys and spending some time with Loren's family.  She sure does have fun with all her Uncles and Aunts.

Christmas was so wonderful here at our house.  Not only the presents were great, the spirit of the holiday was at our home.  It was nice teaching Callie the true meaning of Christmas this year and remembering our Saviors birth.  I hope all of your Christmas's were as nice as ours.  May there be peace on earth and good will towards men!

Christmas Eve

     We have a tradition every year that Callie gets to open one gift on Christmas Eve. The gift will always be the same,but it is still a lot of fun.  This year she got matching jammies for her and her baby doll.  She was pretty excited for it.  We read the Christmas story from the scriptures, put out a cookie for Santa and went to sleep. I think I was more excited for Christmas morning than she was.

Gingerbread house

     Every year we try to do a gingerbread house with Callie.  This year all she wanted to do was eat the candy.  We got a few pieces on and ended up turning out pretty cute.  I'm pretty amazed at the imagination that a 2 year old has.

Train ride with Santa

Because my mother was coming out for Christmas, we decided to take a ride on the Thunder Mountain Express to go and see Santa.  It was a really neat experience, but I think once every couple of years would be fine.  Callie had a blast though.  Hopefully she remembers it for years to come.

Personalized Christmas Ornament

 My sister gave me a personalized Christmas ornament of my wedding pictures a few years ago, and I decided to do an ornament of each year of each child.  By the time they all are gone, I can do a whole black and white tree of photos that will last a life time.

Gather all of your pictures from the past year and turn them black and white.  Size them small so you can get lots of them and the curve of the ornament won't cause too many creases.  Print with a ink jet printer.

Cut out all of your pictures.

Clip each side of the picture to help with the curve of the bulb.

Mod Podge the bulb and place pictures around the ornament.  To keep the bulb from rolling away place on a cup.

Make sure to overlap each picture a little bit to cover all the bulb.  Mod Podge over the entire ornament for a smooth finish.  Also dab a little mod podge on your finger tip and press any of the creases and edges that have raised back down. 

Add a bow or gift tag for the most memorable gift you can give.

Sand dunes

 On the way home from the elk ranch we stopped by the sand dunes for a little fun.  Callie loves playing in her sand box at home, so these big mountains of sand were just heaven.  She loved digging a hole for daddy to sit in and she loved running and jumping down the side of the hills.  She did get a little dirty though.

In the velvet

 Grandpa Turnbow knows a guy in the Rexburg area that has an elk farm.  While we were there this past summer, we got to go and see them while they were in the velvet (the horns are still growing and they look and feel like velvet).  Each elk was so careful not to touch another because their horns are so sensitive at this time.  It was pretty amazing to see how big some of these animals were.   

Horse back riding

 We started off by Callie riding with Grandpa, but then she quickly got on her own horse.  I think we have a little cowgirl on our hands.