Two posts in one day...lots of pictures...scroll down!

Here are some pictures of Sunday morning, a CUTE sweater outfit on Alisa (thanks, Grandma!) and Christmas morning.

The Seaman's always order Olive Garden Christmas Eve, and I really like that tradition because there is no prep and little clean-up. We listened to Candlelight Carol sung by the MoTab. Though in years past it has been accompanied by tender moments of reflection, this year was not. Jake couldn't stop talking about the candles and the fire and smelling them and the smoke and don't touch them, etc. I loved it! I know there are special times to be reverent, but I loved how excited he was over something as simple as candles on the table. He loves the dark anyway and is always turning off all the lights in the house to play "ooga-booga" (chase in the dark) and he was eating it up! So, I am pretty sure the kids are putting a new twist on an old tradition! 

After the kids were in bed with humidifiers blasting, we watched The Nativity Story, which was excellent! It was very realistic and really left me with a feeling of awe for Mary and Joseph and the conditions/time in which the Savior of the world was born. It is amazing. I was really grateful for the time to reflect on His birth. I always seem to get caught up in the lights and twinkles and even the fun music of Christmas (all good things) and remember the birth of Christ as an afterthought. It was a great movie. We decided it would be irresponsible to sleep two stories down from our kids as they had been getting up every night, so Bethi and Kelsi opted to sleep upstairs on the loft floor so we were all kind of together. I love that tradition...everyone sleeping in the same room. I don't remember exactly when it started growing up, but I'm glad the Seaman's do it, too. It's a fun bonding time. 

Alisa woke up early, as usual. I fed her and then left her with Scott while I slept another half hour. When I came out, everyone except Jake was awake and waiting there in the loft. We waited a while for Jake, who finally appeared just before 9 am. He was sick, so we held off waking him up for awhile. We opened stockings and presents. The Seaman's open youngest to oldest, too, so I was after Scott! :) We got a beautiful iMac computer from Les, Linda, Mom, and Dad and ourselves. It is great so far...Jake loved his Ratatouille figures and played for at least an hour straight with them. Simple pleasures. Around noon we made scrambled eggs with turkey bacon and orange juice and some pastry loaves. We lounged in our pajamas a few more hours. We all played the Wii that Linda got Les...it was a great day! 
Waiting for Jake to wake up Christmas morning...we finally woke him up at 8:45 or so...

Ali, Kelsi, Grandpa, Alisa

Grandma, Bethi

Sleepy Jake

Jake will ONLY hold mama when he's sick! Oh, joy!

Jake opening presents...yea for Christmas!

Polar Express

Scott's parents took us on the Polar Express (The Grand Canyon Railway does a Polar Express ride for Christmas). It was so much fun! They passed out hot chocolate and cookies, read the story, sang songs, and visited the north pole. Jake loved his new "Choo-choo boy" jammies and robe. He looked like the boy on the movie! It was freezing cold! He was soooo sick that night, and has been for a week and a half. He coughed so hard he threw up on the way. Maybe it was a mistake to take him so sick, but he loved it!










I was cutting Jake's nails the other day, and he very seriously said, "Mom, you be careful with me 'cuz I a special boy!" Where does he come up with these things?


Alisa is growing up more and more. She has started getting up on all fours, rocking back and forth, scooting, chatting more than ever (she even says ma-ma-ma now!). It's great to see her so big and grown up except I don't think I'm ready for her to crawl! Sometimes I wonder why my kids can't just wait for the end of the development time period--grow teeth at 6 months plus, crawl at 8 or 9 months, etc.! Here is Alisa dancing...how funny! :)

I am still alive...

Just an update...I left this morning at 7:30 (6:30 Cali time) in zero degree weather to attempt my lonely 14 miler. 2 1/2 hours later I came back alive...barely! Freezing weather, snow-covered hair, chapped and frozen face, frozen snot (very literally), and sore knee, not to mention being followed by some psycho guy on a bike and having to hide twice in the local gas station and hardware store...yeah, don't know why I do it sometimes. This run was dedicated to all the marathon mommas. Can't wait to run together again! It's so much more motivating. But, hey! I did it!

Jake woke up at my parents house screaming in the middle of the night. He was weezing and had a barking cough. It was scary. Sounded like he couldn't breath and was having an asthma attack. Scary! My mom quickly filled up her bathroom with shower steam and had Scott sit in there with Jake for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, she and I looked up what else we could do for croup. Nothing! Get humidifiers going and sleep by your child. If he has blue around his lips he's not getting enough oxygen so take him into the ER. Ok. Thanks. Panick! I slept with Jake and he was a bit better with the two humidifiers running. It was better the next day and turned into the never-ending cold the day after that. He had it all through Christmas and even past New Year's. And of course, once one has it, the other gets it. Alisa was sick as well with a cute cough (her tongue stuck out every time) and a running/stuffy nose. So sad! So, playing in the snow started and ended in Utah. I'm glad we got to do it there. Jake loved it. Sad we couldn't play in the snow in Flag. There was a lot this year and it wasn't melting. Well, there's the sick report. 

It was fun at both parents houses. At mine, we played a lot of bridge and other card games. At Scott's we played a lot of Wii. I can only do so much of that game, but everyone had a great time with it. Even Jake did it.  

Bath and the 'rents

I forgot the bath picture. There's something about little kids in the bath together...so cute! Here's Alisa ;laying cards with my dad and Jake playing the batman track with my mom. We had a fun few days with them before they left for Utah for Christmas. Love you guys!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow! A TON of pictures!

Snowboarding at Brighton...Thanks, Jenni!

We love Utah! It was so good to go back to Utah, even if our trip was short. We stayed with my Sister Jacqui and her husband, Jeff. Scott got to go snowboarding with his sisters, Jenni & Bethi, and Jeff. How fun!

Jake had so much making snow angels and playing with his cousins outside. Above is Jake with cousin Livy. He loved it. Unfortunately, this is when his "accidents" began...in the snowpants. Ew. These "potty accidents" happened every day we were there. I was really not happy, but that was the only unhappy part about our trip. We loved it! Thanks, Jacq and Jeff! Here is us below at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert with the King's Singers. It was sooooo good. I loved it!We actually got drawn for tickets (it's a lottery). It was cold for us So Cal peeps. Fun stuff! (Thanks to my mother-in-law for the scarf. Awesome, huh?)

Jacqui and Jeff took us to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was great! Jake was in Heaven with cousin Ethan. It was a great time. Then Jacqui took me out to dinner at the Cheesecake factory...Yummy (we went out as a reward for letting the hubbies go skiing on Saturday)! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We miss them already!

Sprinkle Addict

We made sugar cookies the other day. Jake is crazy with the sprinkles! He dumped half the bottle on each cookie. It was a mess! He had so much fun. He especially liked tasting all the sprinkles and cookies. I love that he's old enough to enjoy things like this. I had major vacuuming to do afterwords, but hey! it all cleaned up.

Half Marathon Happenings

On Saturday the "Marathon Mommas" ran the Southern California Half-Marathon in Irvine. It was beautiful. It was clear and sunny and not too hot. Perfect weather! I got talked into trying to run it in 2 hours or under, and did it! I felt like I was going to die at the end, but it was fun. It goes really fast when someone else is running with you. Thanks, girls!

Scott had quite the adventure with the kids...I'll let him tell all. It was nuts! Thanks, hon, for all the support. I really appreciate it!

The darndest things...

He was playing on the ground with Alisa and said, "Mom, we are friends! We are friends!" with his big, cheesy grin. So sweet. He has also started spontaneously saying "I love you!" to us.

We made sugar cookies for some friends, which of course took me two days to finally get out and deliver them. While they were on plates on our table, Jake kept saying, "Those are for MY friends. Don't eat them, Ok? Those are for MY FRIENDS!"

Scott was eating a lot of cookies the other day (I had my fair share, too) and Jake said, "Are you eating lots of cookies, dad? Too much, dad. You will get sick. Too many cookies will make your tummy sick...[Scott said thanks, Jake, and reached for another one] No, dad! That's too much!" So I'm not the only one encouraging healthy eating! :)

Jake's new favorite is lime yogurt. He LOVES it and would eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks if he could. Scott was eating a lemon yogurt the other day. Jake wanted it, so he offered to get Scott another one, which he did. It was lime. He looked at both yogurts, then said, "Dad, you have the lemon. Mine is the lime." When Scott teased him that he wanted the lime, not the lemon, Jake said, "Mine is the lime! You have the lemon!" Then sweetened his voice and said with a smile and excited expression, "You have the lemon and you be happy, ok? It's your favorite! The lime is mines. The lemon is yours. Ok? Ok." End of story. Jake had the lime yogurt (second of the day).

Tonight he was saying "Die! Die!" (Thanks, Hallie! :) ) I said I didn't want him to die. He said, "I want to die. Heavenly Father wants me to die so I can be happy, ok?" Where did he get that?

Christmas Party!

Christy and I threw a Christmas Party this year at her parents house (Thanks, Frank and Debbie!) It was fun. We ate bread bowls and soup, plus yummy side dishes. We had hot chocolate and hot spiced grape juice and did a white elephant exchange. It was hilarious. The best presents were the Japanese "Party Time" dehydrated, sweetened, sesame crabs and fish heads, the "do rag," the Spyware (sorry you didn't get this, Adam! Aw, sad!) and the maxipad slippers. Quite stylish... :)

Somehow I was feeling the peer pressure and tried the crab. Ew. I am NOT a seafood fan! I think I was the only girl who did it. They were quite questionable...but not too bad. It was mostly mental. I am not the only girl who ate them! After watching Christy's podcast, I saw Jen eating one in the background. Ew! You go, girl!

We love our friends. It was great! Thanks, guys!

maxipad slippers...one size fits all

crabs and fish heads

the do rag

Scott and I

Emily and Sonny

Lindsay and Sean

Sonny was the first to try the crabs...

Cambrie and Steve

Adam, Ashley, Megan, Christian

Andy and Jen

Ashley and Wes

Devin and Christy

Just a p.s.

Party pics coming soon! Just as a P.S. to the last post, Scott and I ran for almost 8 miles, and he hadn't run in a long time...then he almost puked. He has informed me that he sounded a bit wussy (sp?) in the last post. Now you know...my man is TOUGH!