Family Pictures.

The last time we had professional family pictures taken was when Macey was 3 months old. Yeah, we're awesome. The rest of our pictures were from our camera's tripod. ;) Oh, wait. We've had a couple taken by friends that were good, but you know what I mean. The last time we were all in a studio and paid for family pictures was when she was 3 months old. She's almost 5, by the way.

I was super excited because I've heard really good things about this studio and I was getting a $15 discount for booking in January. The kids' pictures turned out pretty good. I LOVE the ones of Collin, they are so him. But our family pictures left something to be desired. I was not thrilled. In fact, they are so not flattering for any of us that I will not be posting them. I'll probably even delete them from this computer. ;) The lighting was horrendous and our pose was even worse. To be completely fair though, Collin was an absolute nightmare to work with and there was another family there (whose kids just happened to be perfect little angels... jerks) so our photographer wasn't able to work with us as much as she probably wanted (needed) to. Well, I guess the family attempt wasn't a complete failure, we did get this that I think is ok. Still a little too close and cropped kind of weird (because it was such a close shot), but it works. We will be attempting another family photo op sometime soon... one that I can hang in the living room without being embarrassed. ;)

Here are my favorite pics of the kids:

Definitely some keepers, right? My favorites are the ones of Collin and his truck (his most favorite toy in the world), Macey doing her ballerina moves (in the outfit that I swear, was designed with Macey in mind, it is so her). Oh and of course of the two of them together. Especially the one where Collin has his hands in his mouth. Now you see why we call him the Bobo's? Such a monkey. In that same picture is a classic Macey face, too. I love pictures where they're not posed, ya know? They don't have to be smiling perfectly. I love seeing THEM. :)

Christmas Break.

We packed up and left for Logan on the 26th and stayed there until the 29th. The Slade family party was the night of the 26th. We played games and had a white elephant gift exchange where I was the hit of the night, if I do say so myself. I gave away my snuggie. Randy was not amused. ;) We went around the room that night sharing Christmas stories... of course we hadn't prepared one, so I got suckered into talking about my Mom and this time of year. It took me like 2 minutes to even start talking because I was dealing with ugly-cry-face, and when that happens you can't even understand me because my mouth is all contorted because I'm crying! It was embarrassing, but felt good to talk about it. I'm pretty sure I rambled because afterward I looked at Randy and asked if it made sense and he lovingly said "sorta". Haha! Oh well, I was told afterward that I got the point across and it was very touching. It came from the heart, that's all I can say. I hate when I cry and have to talk at the same time. The rest of the time we played games, visited, shopped, got massages (I know, life is hard right?) and visited some more.

Macey showing off her new necklace that came with a REAL pearl (that we had to dig out of the clam!)

 BAPA time!

Randy and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on the 28th. I had scored a killer deal on Priceline and booked a 4 star hotel for $45. Randy's parents graciously watched Collin and Macey so we could have some time to ourselves. We didn't even know what to do without our kids by our side, it was so funny! We went to the Logan Temple and did sealings, then went and had a nice quiet dinner at The Coppermill (my favorite, I was soo craving their rolls) and then enjoyed a peaceful night at the hotel. It's so weird not putting kids to bed, can I just say? We so loved the night off and with just each other. I know we're not the mushy gushy type, but I would marry him again in a second. He is such an amazing husband and dad. We have so much fun together! We spent the night reminiscing about our inside stories, how naive we were when we were dating and first got married, how silly we were etc. But what surprised us the most was how much we have gone through in just our 6 years of marriage and how we have weathered the storms together. He's my rock and my best friend. Love you, Randall!

On the 29th we furthered our trek up north to Idaho. My Dad had decided he was going to finish his basement and was in the process of recruiting people to come help with the drywall. Most of it was already done when we got there, but I did watch. And I'm pretty sure Randy drilled some holes. It was AWESOME to see it. My family is huge and this basement will be the perfect meeting place for us when it's finished. Our time in Idaho was spent visiting, shopping, more shopping (for Dad), and having fun with the fam! OH and I met up with my best friends from high school! I really cannot believe that that was the first time we all had met up SINCE high school. Almost 8 years ago. That's really sad. I'll admit most of it has been my fault since I'm in Utah and it's hard to break away when you're only visiting family in Idaho for a couple of days, but it was so nice to see them and catch up. I love those girls!

New Years Eve was spent at my sister Heather's house where we spent the whole time laughing, playing games, and stuffing our faces! It was a BLAST! We played Pit, Rock Band, and Just Dance 2 for hours. It was hilarious watching the men dance and get into it.

Randy and Rick whooping it up!

Our family party was on New Years Day. Everybody went swimming at Heise except for us. Pouty face. Besides not packing any swim suits, we couldn't go because Randy had recently had a cyst removal surgery that he was healing from and I had some moles removed and let's be honest... who knows what is in that water! We were bummed we couldn't be with the fam, but what can ya do. When everybody got back from swimming we had dinner and the gift exchange at my Dad's. It's always nice when we're all together. Except for Collin was an absolute TRAIN WRECK because we had been gone for a week at that point and he had missed that day's nap and was sooooooo onry and I was soooo done with it.

I think everyone was so glad they were not Collin's parents that night

 See my eyes? So done. Thankfully a good night sleep cured his onry.

It was a memorable break, but I think 8 days gone with little kids is too much. We were lucky that we were able to do that, though. Randy's bosses weren't working all break so he had no reason to go in, so he had the whole break off of work! Don't know if that will be the case every year, but I doubt it. When we finally got home Macey said "Wow, I forgot how much I love our house!" Haha. Not me! Nothing beats your own bed (and separate rooms for the kids)!! Here is what our trip home looked like:

He fell asleep playing with his new laptop. So cute!

 Nodding off.

 8 days of scruff.

This is how we left my Dad. The holidays wear him out, too. Poor guy. :)

Christmas Jammies!

I forgot to include this in my Christmas post. On Christmas Eve I hide everyone's Christmas jammies in the front room. It's a fun tradition that both of our families did growing up.

Collin found his first thing!

Macey's took a little more effort, but found hers by Daddy's cello case.

Then we had to play "hot" or "cold" with Randy. He was bummed he didn't get footed one piecers like the kids. ;) Maybe next year. This year he got basketball shorts and a thermal top. 

I opened my Christmas jammies early. I can't handle it, jammies are pretty much my favorite thing ever.

So cute! Macey calls those kind of jammies "sleepovers", they are her f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e. Collin is always doing this with Macey. Those are his cuddles (which he calls "tunnels"), he just throws himself in her lap and rolls around while she laughs her head off.

Christmas.

Holy moly, I'm behind. The day after Christmas we left for Logan for a few days and then headed up to Idaho until the 2nd. We've only been home less than a week so I guess that's not bad when I put it into perspective. Oh, and I started school again on Monday so I guess that makes me pretty much amazing for posting Christmas already.

This year I started shopping for Christmas early. I got tons of bargains, so Christmas was actually cheap. I am really going to miss this stage where you can buy your kid literally anything, and they will love it. One of Macey's favorite possessions from Christmas came from the dollar store. Behold, the pink star wand (below).

Randy and I decided since we had so many presents (again, mostly all cheap that I scored on clearance or Black Friday), that Santa should drop the loot off downstairs. When it was all said and done, I'm so glad. All those boxes would not have fit in the living room upstairs!

The before photo.

Collin's pile.

Macey's pile.

About 5 seconds after those pictures were taken, we went upstairs and polished off the cookies that had been left for Santa (except for a few bites) and were asleep in about 10 seconds. It's a tradition that we make Santa Claus cookies that day and leave him some out on a plate with a glass of milk. This year we decided to make Randy's grandma's famous sugar cookies put through a cookie press. And for dinner I decided to start the tradition of making my Mom's famous clam chowder. It was delish. We also make magic reindeer food (glitter and oats) and leave out on our sidewalk for the reindeer to eat. So fun, I love seeing how into it Macey is.

With how excited she was on Christmas Eve, I thought she'd be an early riser this year. So I was surprised when it was actually Collin who woke us up at 7:30! I went into Macey's room and she told me that she was so good and never opened her eyes. HAHA! I think she had been awake for a while but was too scared to open her eyes because Santa would KNOW! :) Her face was priceless when I whispered to her that Santa had come. Ohhh I remember the feeling. Santa does not wrap at our house, mostly because he gives them the presents that you can't wrap, and I love the gasp factor when they see what he brought.

Most of the pictures of them running in is blurry, but I love this because you can kind of see Macey's ecstatic face, and see that of course, Collin went to the barbie car first thing.

Randy quickly guided him to his pile and had him open up a more manly toy.

The after photo. It was a great Christmas, and a great mess! 

Macey made it all worth it when she exclaimed "this is the best Christmas EVER!" :)

I concur. It WAS the best Christmas ever, mostly because we got up at 7:30, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we all took 3 hour naps at 9:30. Oh my Heaven!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I'm a little loco, I guess. I really like decorations, and taking pictures of them. Makes me happy. I actually looked up my post last year of my tree and printed the picture off so I could decorate it the same. Saved me hours.

This year I added in some gems. There is a WalMart right down the road from me that is a goldmine. It gets stocked, but not a lot of people go there to shop. So the after-Christmas clearance was awesome!! I went the 1st week in January (after we get home from all our traveling to visit family) not thinking I would get anything (pout), but boy was I wrong! And since it was so long after, the clearance was up to like 85% or something crazy like that. So I ended up getting a 6' see-through piece of junk tree for my downstairs to put the homemade decorations on for $7, and got Macey a PINK tree for her room for $5, and scored some really, really cheap decorations. I have literally stayed awake at night thinking about how awesome that was, and how I can't wait to decorate for Christmas! And it was everything I thought it would be, and more. Mostly because I have a little girl that was so excited for decoraysh (Macey-talk for decorating). She makes for a fun companion most days.

My tree. Actually this is the exact photo from last year, but it looks the exact same. Muah. Still can't believe we scored that thing for $35. Still loving the colored lights.

 See what I mean about the colored lights? Magical. 

 

Collin's BYU tree.

  Macey's pink tree. She redecorates it everyday.

The banister.

The landing.

This is where Buddy the Elf is usually (safely) watching our kids. If you haven't heard of The Elf on the Shelf, I highly recommend it. 

My buffet. I didn't have this last year, so my decorations are lacking a little here. I plan on hitting the after-Christmas clearance with this in mind. 

My bookshelf, the only safe place for my nativity this year.

My wreath that I made from Dollar Tree balls. It's the wreath that you see on EVERY craft blog in the history of internets. And my candy cane that my Dad made for me (and I painted).

Our Christmas lights. I can't ever get the picture to look right, but we have red flood lights and green lamp lights, and the light by the door is green. I LOVE it! So much easier than hanging lights!

And here is the downstairs tree. It's the tree where all the homemade decorations will go in years to come, but since we don't have a lot right now... it got decorated with my leftovers from the upstairs tree.

Aaaand of course one without the lights on.