My lil' dancing queen

On Dec. 19th Ky had her 2nd dance recital. Her little group danced to "I'll be home for Christmas." It's so cute at this age because the girls get so distracted by the stage, the lights, and all the excitement that they can only remember little tid bits of the dance while the teacher is yelling at them from the side stage. I have to say, my little girl was the cutest! (I am not biased or anything) She was so excited that we all showed up to watch her (me, Paul, my mom, Ali, Auntie C and Grandma Stoker.) After the show, one of her friends got flowers from her parents and Ky turned to us and said "How come she got flowers and I didn't?" Good thing I was prepared and brought flowers for Ky too. I would have hated to see her little heart broken face if she didn't get any. She was beyond excited when I gave them to her.

Paaar-tay!

Christmas celebrations started about 4 days before Christmas. It seemed like all we did is go to one party to the next! The Monday before the big day, my mom's office had a party for the girls. They figured it would help take the edge off for Ky and then maybe she wouldn't be bouncing off the walls until Christmas. Well, it didn't really work, but the girls sure had fun! I almost think the office enjoyed it more! My mom's office is the best! They are always making things fun and exciting for my girls! The same night, my mom had our family Christmas party at her house. Good food, Santa came and more presents! Does the fun ever end?!

Christmas in Utah

This year we ventured down to SLC to stay with Paul's parents for Christmas. We left on Christmas Eve day and luckily had good roads all the way there. We got into town around 5 p.m and so we decided to take the girls to Temple Square to see all the lights. It was so fun! It wasn't even that cold which made it all the more enjoyable. After that, we decided to have a quiet family dinner at Joe's Crabshack. I think the last time Paul and I spent a holiday alone was on our honeymoon over Christmas. I must admit (no offense to our family) having Christmas Eve with just the 4 of us was so wonderful. After dinner, we got to Papa and Grandmas and got the girls ready for bed. Ky set out an orange for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Christmas morning, was of course, wonderful. It was fun to be there with Paul's parents and his brother Brett. I know the kids loved being there too. Ky woke Papa up at 6:30 a.m and they snuck out to see Ky's stocking! Naughty Naughty! Of course, watching the kids open their presents was tons of fun. Ky gets soooo excited and is so animated and really this was Mudge's first Christmas to really interact. However, the absolute best part was watching Ky give everybody else their presents. Honestly, she is just as excited, if not more, to watch other people open their presents than to open her own. For holidays and birthdays, we always take her to the dollar store and let her shop for that person. She loves this, because let's be honest, whatever she picks, it's $1, so she gets to pick whatever she wants! Sometimes, we have to guide her in the right direction, otherwise Paul would have ended up with some butterfly statue! So this year she bought me a plastic black purse with hot pink tiger stripes. It's awesome! I also got dollar store lotion, but the most important part is that it had a jewel hanging from the bottle! Who can say no to that?! Paul got a bunch of random things like socks, screwdrivers, a frame for his office, a flashlight and pens. Ky chose for my mom, a gold purse and a pink keychain to put a pict of her and Mudge in! The best part is my mom carries it around every day! For Paul's parents Ky got screwdrivers and a tape measure for Papa and for Grandma eyeglasses that apparently magnify everything and a beautiful statue that I talked her out of getting for Paul and Grandma was the lucky recipent! Anyways, you get the picture. I love that she gets such joy out of these little gifts she gets to give to people! What a thoughtful lil' gal! Christmas night, Paul's parents made an awesome dinner of Prime Rib and Chicken. Later, the grandkids got to open their presents from the grandparents and then acted out the nativity. It was a perfect end to a perfect day! When we got back to I.F. the next day, my mom came over to finish watching the girls open the presents she got them. Can you say spoiled?!

Winter fun at the cabin

Every year for New Years, Paul's whole family comes up from UT and we all go up to Island Park to stay at my mom's cabin. Although it's total chaos, all the kids love it because they get to play all day in the snow, eat sugar non-stop and stay up waaaay past their bedtime. However, I must admit, when the weekend is over, I need a whole week to recooperate! Whew!

Grizwalds in Idaho Falls

Anyone remember the movie with Chevy Chase and he goes to the extreme decorating his house for the holidays? Well, we have found the Idaho version! Tonight, my mom, Ali, and us all went to a house in Iona on Barnes Way. It is decorated by a family named the Klinglers and the whole thing is synchronized to music! It is awesome! Seriously, this family has gone all out and is beyond talented! If you haven't had the chance to see it, GO! Your kids will love it! Heck-I loved it! We were singing and dancing along with the music. Ky and Mudge were both giggling. WAY TOO FUN! Now that we have found this lil' gem, we will definately make this a yearly tradition!

Countdown to Christmas!

It's offically Christmas season at the Nigbur house! We got our tree, completed the decorating, made gingerbread houses, visited Santa, (which Mudge hated!)and all of our Christmas shopping is done! Yahoo! I have to say, I am exhausted! However, I am very relieved that we are pretty much ready for the big day. The girls have had so much fun the last couple weeks getting everything ready. Here's a few cute little stories in the midst of our busy couple weeks. When we were decorating the gingerbread, Ky chose to do a sleigh with a Santa in it. Of course, the sleigh has reindeer and when we were all done, she says "Uh-oh! We forgot to put reins from the sleigh to the reindeer." So what does she do, gets two candycanes and makes reins! How smart is that! If you looked at it, you would think we copied the model on the box! Nope, my smartie pants thought that up all by herself! Another cute story is when we were going to visit Santa, Ky just randomly says to us, "Sadie is making me lose my appetite!" What? So we ask, "What did you say?" She says,"Sadie is making me lose my appetite!" I said, "Do you know what an appetite is?" She says very matter of factly, "Yes, it's when you get so frustarated with someone!" I said, "Do you mean Sadie makes you lose your patience?" She says, "Oh yeah, same thing!" Ha-Ha! What a funny lil' girl! Anyways,sit back, have a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the pictures!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas....

I started to decorate today! I don't think I am going all out like I usually do. Honestly, I just don't have the energy or patience to keep Mudge or Jax out of all the deco. Last year, my mom got Ky a little tree to put in her room, so of course that was one of the first decorations to go up. Also, Ky and Mudge had tons of fun playing with an empty box from one of my decorations. So here's a little sampling of what's completed so far. We haven't gone to pick out a tree yet, so stay tuned...P.S. There is some picts of when Paul's parents came to visit this weekend. Paul and Papa were practicing relentlessly to try and get Mudge to walk. No luck yet. There's also a few picts of Paul opening his Bday presents from the girls. Ky was sooooo excited to give them to him! Too cute!