Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve afternoon, we get together with our neighbors, the Wilkersons. It's always a good way to kill some time and get the kids' minds off of the big delivery that takes place that night. We either go to a movie or go bowling, and since Max is at a terrible age to go to the movies, we headed to the bowling alley. It was crazy busy out there and luckily we were able to get a couple lanes. The kids always have fun and we love being able to spend time with our good friends.

We spent the evening with Nate's parents, eating, singing, and just enjoying each other's company. Nate's mom made a delicious meal, and then the kids entertained us with a little program. Trey played the piano for us while we sang, and Quincy danced away. The kids always get to open new pajamas and can't wait to put them on.

One of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is listening to my dad read a new children's Christmas book. This year was "The Wooden Shoes". After he reads the story, my parents give us a little keepsake to remind us about the book. They had found little miniature wooden shoes to add to our collection. I love getting these items out each Christmas to display.

While we were in NYC, we found these pjs for Q and her doll. We couldn't pass them up! She was so excited to have matching clothes with her Bitty Baby!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I just wanted to tell everyone Merry Christmas and to share some pics of my kids from before church on Sunday. I love shopping for Quincy's Christmas dress each year. Nate and I saw this while we were in New York and knew that it was "the dress."




The church missionary department did a YouTube video about Christmas. If you have a minute check it out here: http://ourldsfamily.com/docs/ChristmasGreeting.html

We're truly grateful for this time of year. We're grateful for the birth of our Savior, his life, and his atonement. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas day!

For All Of You Moms Out There

I thought this was great! This clip is a video of my life, and I'm sure many of you will relate. Happy viewing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMhuAtyFCrw

Christmas Lights

One of my very favorite things to do during the holidays is drive around and look at Christmas lights. Nate always does such a good job at our house. He complains about it every year, but I think he secretly enjoys it, and is always happy with the end result.

Growing up (and even still), I thought I had the coolest Christmas house in Cedar City. Over thirty years ago, my great-grandpa Neeley started putting up a Nativity and Santa scene in his yard. When my parents moved into the home, my dad continued the tradition. Once he has put the decorations up, it truly feels like Christmas is on its way. I'm so grateful for this tradition. My kids look forward to seeing it each year, and many people in the community comment that it's one of the homes that they have to drive by each year.

Another fun thing we were able to do this year was join Alayna's family at the Ogden Christmas Villages. The local businesses each donate and decorate a little "house" that gets displayed around the Ogden downtown park. The kids had a great time peeking into the windows to see how each of the homes were decorated. The Grinch was even there to spread a little holiday cheer!

While we were up north, we also had the opportunity to walk around temple square. None of the kids had ever been there during Christmas, so they loved seeing all of the lights. Tanner even told Nate that our lights at home looked just as good. That made me smile. Nate's good, just not that good!

Family Pictures

Over the weekend the whole Cowan Family traveled up north to Madelyn's baby blessing. Tim did an awesome job and little Maddie looked beautiful! It's so fun to see Alayna with a little girl. Since we were all going to be in the same location at the same time (something that doesn't happen too often) we decided to get family pictures taken. The last time we had pictures done was at Alayna and Tim's wedding. We felt the two of them were a little over-dressed, so it was time for a replacement. Tim's cousin met us at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and started snapping away. The process was actually quite quick and easy, which was a pleasant surprise. Here are a few of the end result. Don't I have a good looking family? And those grandkids...

Thanksgiving

I know I'm a little behind, ok, a lot behind, but Happy Thanksgiving! We had such a great weekend filled with family, food, fun, food, laughing, food, and shopping. We're so lucky to have both families right here in the same town. We ate dinner with the Esplins this year, and as always, it was DELISH! Nate's mom is an excellent cook (I really need to learn to make gravy and pies like her), and we were definitely well-fed. The kids loved spending time with each of their cousins. We loved having them stay at our house and "partied like rock-stars" (as the kids said) each night.

What I am most grateful for.


Quincy, Parker, and Kaylee

Kaylee, Jackson, Quincy, Parker, Max, and Treyson
(Don't we have cute cousins?)

Quincy, Dawson, and Maddie

Grandparents Day and Share Fair

The day school got out for Thanksgiving break, Tanner's class had a grandparent's day. The kids could invite their grandparents (or a substitute if one isn't close by) to come and spend the afternoon with them. Tanner's lucky to have both sets of grandparents living here. Grandma Esplin (Grandpa E. couldn't get away from work), and Grandpa and Grandma Cowan joined Tanner in some games, recess, and a short program. Tanner was able to read a little thing about his grandfathers that have served in the military and show a picture of his grandpa Cowan in his uniform. He was so glad to have them share this day with him.

Treyson has been working on a project for school for about the last month. He had to research an ancestor that immigrated to the USA and then create a board displaying some of the things he found out. Can I just say that it was a huge pain! It was one of those "parent projects" that the student needs help all along the way. Thankfully, Nate's mom has quite a bit of info on various ancestors. She made the job much easier. In the end, he did a great job, and did most of the work, with a little guidance. I wonder though if Tanner can use the same project when he's in 5th grade. Wishful thinking.