Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Being together as a family and celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It doesn't get much better than that!

Plus, we woke up to a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!! Growing up in Western Washington, I cannot recall an actual white Christmas. There was definitely at least one or two snow days a year, and the mountains would get plastered, but to actually have snow on Christmas AND enough to play in, was quite the treat.

Fun Fact: Paradise Ranger Station on Mt Rainier is the snowiest place in the US with 645.5 inches of snow a year! Second place is Alta, UT with 200 inches less, this is even including Alaska.

One of the best parts of being a parent is watching the look on your kids face on Christmas morning. Our boys are still pretty young to understand the whole Santa bringing you presents concept. I can barely get them to sit on his lap and talk to him.

But they were pretty happy when they saw what the big man in the red suit brought them Christmas morning!

 This was in our stockings and apparently I didn't get breakfast fast enough to Jake, so he took matters into his own hands.

Traditionally we always go to my grandmas in the afternoon, have a big lunch, open presents, act out the nativity, play games and have a great time.

Vince got to play the part of Joseph and was SO CUTE!! I was the narrator and didn't see him until he came down the stairs dressed and ready. He took his part very seriously and never cracked a smile, which was partly why he was so dang cute!

Look at that face!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

It's so great living by family. We have so much around here that we got to celebrate Christmas multiple times. The day before Christmas Eve we went to my moms for dinner. It was fun but one of the best moments was when we gave Jake some ice cream.

I gave him a scoop, turned around, and he had grabbed it and was just sucking on it. He did that for about 20 seconds and then was fussing because it was cold but didn't want to put it down because it was too delicious!

It was so cute!!

(Don't worry we helped him eat it without freezing his little hand off)

Christmas Eve we went down to Olympia to be with Ryan's brother and his family. It's fun because they have 3 kids that are in between Vince and Jake's age. They have so much fun playing together and it's fun to watch. I wish we lived closer, but we get to see them a good amount. The kids played and played, then we went to the park and played some more. 

For dinner we went back to their house and had clam chowder and cheesy potato sausage soup. Ryans family always had clam chowder and oyster stew on Christmas Eve. Ryan LOVES clam chowder and so do I, so we've carried on the tradition. 

After we watched a video about the nativity and Jesus Christ being born and talked about it. It's so neat to see our children learning these precious truths and how they are so close to the Spirit.

I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and that He came to this earth, taught and sacrificed so we can live again.

First Snow of the Year

We got our first snow of the year the Monday before Christmas! It's been really fun living in Enumclaw because we have gotten a lot more snow than where I grew up, which was only 30 min away. It was only a few inches but enough to make driving a little slippery and we were able to make a snowman the next day.

Our New Home

We moved to Enumclaw and absolutely LOVE it! 

This house was a short sale we found back in July and we were able to close about 5 months later. It's a 3 bedroom rambler built in the 50s. 

The best part is the land. It's 2.5 acres with a barn and a shop. 

This was such a blessing from our Heavenly Father and we are so grateful for this home. Seriously, everyday, I still can't believe we got such a great house!!

One of my favorite parts of this house is that they converted the garage into a huge family room. It's perfect for our giant couch, and for the boys to play and run around in.

This is right off the kitchen and turned into our eating area.

I LOVE the kitchen! Its big and has ton of cupboard space and I love how it's a walk through and not confined into a corner. We painted it like a wallpaper of oranges which is really fun. 

(I'll do another post about that)

My aunt Hilary made this awesome nativity set for a house warming gift! She's amazing :) I absolutely love nativities!!

This is the formal living room (I feel pretentious writing that haha). It's the original living room of the house but the family room is where we spend more time. I really like it though, because the piano is there and a fireplace.

(Ryan was fixing the fireplace, hence, the barricade)

  

This is the dining room, but I wasn't about to eat out here with the carpet. I've done that for the past few years and will pass with children and eating over the carpet. I have to sweep after every meal with Jake eating and I don't want to even know the amount of food thats in our previous carpets!

We did Vince's room orange and he loves it. The first time he went in there he was just touching all the walls :) Jake got a blue room and loves it too.

The backyard!! We have great yard space and then two huge fields in the back for our future garden and animals. We can't wait!!

Santa!!

Santa Claus is coming to town, the Farm and Feed store and actually stopped by our house tonight.

We went and saw Santa at the Farm and Feed store last week and Vince jumped right up on his lap. He was a little shy talking but told him that he wanted a Spiderman action figure. Jake, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him :)

This store also houses the biggest rabbit we have ever seen in our lives. This guy is HUGE! We had to get a picture. He definitely doesnt look as big as he is right there but I'd say sprawled out he was 3-4 feet long, no joke. I mean, look at his cage for crying our loud!

Santa visit number 2 actually happened tonight when Santa showed up at our front porch. Vince again got right up on his lap and Jake wanted nothing to do with him, except he did take the candy cane that was offered to him :)

Jake wasn't pleased after being forced on Santa's lap. It also doesn't help that we have one o'clock church and he didn't get an afternoon nap.

See you in a few days Santa!