Ringing in the New Year

I am STILL so far behind on posting, but that is business as usual for me! We had a fun New Year's Eve. I will say that I think it is one of the most overrated holidays there is. Unless you are single or drink, what is there to do? Especially if you have little ones who aren't going to be staying up until midnight? (although ours made it pretty close...)
Anyway - We started our celebrations by going to the movie "Bolt" with our good friends, Robb and Carlie. The kids LOVED this movie! Darren and I thought it was pretty cute and funny, too. Logan talked the whole way through asking what was going to happen to the dog, and Rylee called it "The Doggie Show" the whole time.
The kids at the movie - Logan, Oliva and Rylee I think Logan had a little TOO much popcorn!

Darren had to go into the office for an emergency after the movie (my brother-in-law) so me and my sister hung out with the kiddies and then Darren made us all a yummy steak and shrimp dinner! It was great! Darren did get a pretty nasty burn while putting the steaks in from some splashing grease and it left a nice big mark for a week or two.

Rylee in her "baby seat" and Heather and JayRylee loved her dinner....even the shrimp!
Logan Logan telling me NOT to take his picture!Me and Darren

Next, we were off to the Aggies game! We are pretty lame to celebrate New Year's Eve by going to a basketball game, but it was pretty fun! It was the championship game for their holiday tournament and they beat Wyoming in OT. Rylee loves to wear her "aggie shirt" and cheer for the Aggies!
This is Rylee's new silly face! She makes it all the time and thinks she is hilarious!The game had a late start (8pm) and Logan didn't have a nap that day, so he was out pretty early on and slept most of the game. He did wake up for the OT. The fam!Rylee doing the Scotsman. She is getting pretty good at most of the Aggie cheers, but I think this one is her favorite! She also likes to yell, "Fight, Fight, Fight" and "Utah State - Aggies all the way!"

Rylee acted pretty tired most of the game, and then got SO hyper! She was running all over and clapping and cheering so funny! She didn't seem to mind that the game didn't get over until almost 10:30!

We got home a little around 11, and the kids were still awake but pretty tired! So we let them go out and bang pots and pans on the porch to ring in the New Year before bed. This is something we always did growing up and the kids had fun, even though it wasn't midnight yet! My mom recently revealed to me that I really never made it til Midnight either....She would turn the clocks ahead so that me and my friend Lyndsi (who slept over almost every New Year's) would think it was midnight and go to bed. So sneaky!!!Darren and I put the kids down and finished our New Year's Celebration by watching the ball drop on TV! Exciting, I know!!! We also had some "bubbly" or Martinelli's, which Darren decided to drink straight from the bottle! It was a pretty laid back, but fun, New Year's Eve!

Girls Night Out!

After Christmas, I got together with a bunch of my girl friends from high school for a girls' night out dinner at Mimi's! It was so fun! I love seeing old friends and catching up. We seriously talked and laughed for 3 HOURS!!! (Good things that Mimi's wasn't busy that night....) I have so many great memories of these girls and loved seeing them again! We should make it a regular thing girls! My husband was great to watch the kids so I could go, even though it was our anniversary. (We celebrated the night before...) Here is the crew!
Melissa, Nat, Emily, Kirby, me and Jackie! (We missed you Lace!)

Celebrating Six!

Right after Christmas, Darren and I celebrated our SIXTH wedding anniversary!!! It is a little hard to believe that that much time has gone by, but I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world everyday! I have been so blessed with such a wonderful husband, friend, and father to my kids who takes such great care of me and makes me laugh everyday! I LOVE YOU BABE!
Last year, we wanted to do something big to celebrate our 5th anniversary, but it didn't really work out! Rylee was a baby who didn't like being left with ANYONE and wouldn't take a bottle so going anywhere was out of the question. We wanted to go to dinner and a movie, but only made it to dinner. We ate at Outback Steakhouse and Rylee cried THE WHOLE TIME we were gone, so we felt too bad to go to a movie and cut it short. Now that Rylee is happy at Grandma's, we decided to take advantage of it and have a great anniversary just for us! It was FABULOUS!!!
We stayed at the Hilton in Downtown Salt Lake. My brother-in-law works for Hilton and got us a good deal, but we ended up with the wrong paper to check in with and they were SO RUDE!!! Just a note to anyone looking for a hotel, DON'T STAY THERE!!! I was NOT impressed!!! Anyway...We finally got checked in and planned to go to PF Chang's (one of our favorite restaurants) for dinner, but the wait was over 2 hours, so we decided to find somewhere else. The Melting Pot was around the corner and we got a reservation right away, so we tried there. WOW!!! It was AWESOME!!! If you haven't been there, GO!!! It is pretty expensive, but it was DELICIOUS!
Darren dipping in the cheese - This stuff was SO yummy I could have eaten it all day long!!!The BEST part was the dessert! WOW!!! It was AMAZING! The main course was really good, too, but I could have just had the cheese and dessert and been just fine! Here we are TOTALLY stuffed!
Darren and I walking back to our hotel. It was FREEZING outside! We were planning on going to a movie, but dinner took over 2 hours, so we decided to hit the hot tub instead. It was great! There was lots of entertainment - there was a big group who had been skiing all day who were SO drunk, with their kids, of course! They provided some good laughs...
The next day we went to PF Chang's for lunch. We got there a little before noon and there was only 1 other table in the whole place - It was kind of weird! The food was great, as always! I even discovered a new menu item - Walnut Shrimp!!! SO GOOD!

After lunch, we went for a couples massage! Neither one of us had ever had a massage before and it was heavenly! I did hurt the next day though....is that normal??? They messed up our reservation at the massage place too and we almost decided not to do it, but I am glad we did! It was great!

Thanks again D for all you do and for a FABULOUS night out! (And thanks to everyone who helped with the kiddies!!!) It was a great anniversary!

A Little More Christmas

I know that you are thinking there couldn't possibly be any more after my last LONG post, but there is! And this one is LONG, too!
A little after 4 on Christmas Day, we FINALLY headed down to my parent's house to spend the evening with the family. Since it was so late and because Darren and I had anniversary plans that weekend, we decided to stay at their house for a couple nights, so it was a lot of craziness trying to get everything packed amidst the Christmas chaos! But, we finally made it out of town! The snow was awful, so it was a LONG and slow drive. The kids were SO exhausted!!! Rylee fell right to sleep!I love this one with Logan and his thumb! My new camera does much better with closeups! He was trying to stay awake, but it didn't last too long...Isn't he sweet? This is his Beckham (it is dressed in soccer clothes and has a soccer ball. A good friend in Vegas gave it to him when Rylee was born and he loves it!)and is what he usually decides to sleep with!

We FINALLY made it to my mom's house! The drive was a little scary with SO much snow. We were really glad that we borrowed my parent's suburban with 4 wheel drive! We actually made the drive at a good time. Right after we got to my mom's, a real blizzard hit!This one of Rylee is one of my favorites! Isn't she cute in her new Christmas sweater?

Family Photo!!! One where we are all actually smiling and kind of looking at the camera - it is a Christmas miracle!!!

The ones of the kiddies, did not turn out so miraculous! But I had to get pictures in their Christmas clothes...

Here are the kids ready to eat! My grandmas came out in the blizzard, so we waited for them for awhile. We were pretty scared that something had happened to them, but they finally got there and we had yummy dinner with lots of finger foods - Shrimp, Little Smokies, Hot Wings, Mozarella Sticks, Cheeseball, Salsa - It was SO good!!! Rylee chowing down! Both the kids REALLY loved the Honey BBQ wings (as you can see...) and Rylee even ate a Shrimp and really liked it, too.
I'm pretty sure that Logan got ALL the meat off the bone from his wings! Mmmm...Finger Lickin' Good!

Logan opening his stocking from Great-Grandma with Grandpa. He found lots of good stuff in there! My Grandma has made ALL of us really cute stocking and always stuffs them with lots of good stuff. We were hoping to make it in to her house on Christmas, but we ran a little late, so we were so glad that she was there when we opened our stockings and gifts from her. We gave her a photo album with a "Photo of the Month" club membership (better than jelly of the month, right?) I saw it in a magazine and thought it was a cute idea - I'll send her a photo of the kids each month and by the end of the year her little album will be full! I also made her and my other grandma photobooks with ALL the grandkids from all the family. They turned out really cute! He was really excited about this Spongebob Basketball hoop from Great-Grandma Boman, too. He also got some cute sweats, some books and a fleece blanket. Thanks Grandma!Here is Rylee trying to get her purse on her arm - Great-Grandma got her this cute little High School Musical purse with a brush and some hair stuff, an outfit, a book and a little music player. Grandma also got Darren and I sweaters.The kids with Great-Grandma - She always spoils us! I meant to get a picture with my other grandma but things got a little hectic! She gave us all cute new Christmas Pjs!

Just a few more pics of the kids - I think you can see ALL of Rylee's teeth in hers! I love her CHEESE!

After my grandmas left, we headed downstairs for more present opening! It was like Santa all over again - The kids were SOOOO spoiled between my parents and all my siblings and had so much fun! We didn't finish opening until 10:30 pm!!!

Rylee and her Tickle Me Cookie Monster from Grandma and Grandpa. She is tickling him through the hole in the box. She thought that he was so funny!

Once the Cookie Monster was out of the box, it was a little crazy! I wasn't sure Rylee would like it. Logan hated anything that talked or moved when he was little, but Rylee didn't mind at all and kept trying to pick him up like a baby.

Logan got this Sesame Street Sports movie from some of my siblings. He LOVES it - They have "ESSN Sports"! It is like Daddy's Sportscenter just for him! Rylee also got a movie about Abby Cadabby and she really likes it, too!Rylee showing Uncle Kyle her new Fancy Nancy game from some of my siblings. She loves Fancy Nancy!

Logan got a game, too. His is Elefun and the kids have a great time with this one! It shoots butterflies out of the elephants trunk and the kids try and catch them with nets - They think it is so fun!

This is Rylee's new bow board from Aunt Heather! It is SO cute! She made it herself! She also made both kids some really cute scrapbooked frames with their names.

My mom made Rylee this cute little quilt for her babies. Rylee LOVES it! A Thank You kiss for Grandma!

Rylee trying to take a nap with her new blankie!

Logan opening his new GeoTrax airplane. Logan LOVES his new GeoTrax airplane from Grandma and Grandpa. It even does loops and has a remote control!Grandma and Grandpa got Rylee this cute set for her babies. It has a stroller, swing, highchair, car seat and pack and play and diaper bag, which Rylee LOVES!!! Between this Nursery set and her kitchen, she needs her own apartment!Grandma and Grandpa also got Logan this new fish, which was a surprise to ALL of us! I wasn't sure about it, but so far, it has been good! It is a Blue Betta fish and Logan named him Nemo. Logan likes to tell everyone that he has a "Siamese Fight Fish" since that is what Uncle Kyle told him he is called. A few days after Christmas, we went to a basketball game and when we got home, he had to go tell his fish about the game. It was so cute! He got right by the cage and talked to him in this funny, high voice and went on and on about the Aggies and who they played and the cheers we did and that the Aggies won. It was hilarious!

Logan checking out his fish.

Rylee didn't waste any time trying out her new stuff! She had her baby crammed into the baby seat as soon as it was open.

Strolling her baby - Note the diaper bag on her arm. She LOVES accessories!
Rylee laying down with her baby under her new blankie. She kept telling us "Shh-Quiet! Baby sleeping."

Logan and Rylee also got new PJs and slippers from Grandma and Grandpa and these HUGE cardboard cutouts that I have NO idea what to do with! They are really cool, but won't fit in their rooms - Logan's is Lightning McQueen and Rylee got a Belle and a Cinderella! Darren and I got spoiled as well - We got some new china and some food storage and I got new shoes and some stuff for the house and Darren got a new razor! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Since I forgot the Christmas Pj's the night before (which I was still pretty sad about!), I made the kids wear them on Christmas night and take some pictures!

I loved Rylee's cute candy cane PJs!Logan was a little harder to get a picture of! He was too busy playing with his uncles!

Aren't they just so CUTE?
Since Darren's parent's weren't able to make it to our house for Christmas, we made a trip down there about a week later. It was Christmas all over again! We went down to watch the Utes in the Sugar Bowl at Darren's brother's house and stayed at his parent's house and the kids got to open their presents the next morning. I don't know who was more excited for them to open presents - Darren's parents or the kids!

Tearing into their stuff...I LOVE Logan's face in this picture! He is pretty excited for his new....
Screamin' Banshee!!! It is something from Cars, so he LOVED it! Logan checking out his present - Do you think he could get any closer?Rylee opening her new Little People doll house! She was so happy about it and wanted us to "op'n it" right away! (That is what she said after she opened EVERY present!)It was kind of nice for the kids to just have one toy to open and play with! They LOVED their stuff and had so much fun playing at Grandma's house. Rylee loved this house!!! She especially liked the flushing toilet noise, the doorbell and the phone. I think the little people spent most of the morning "going potty!" She also LOVED that there was a baby and the mom had a bottle to feed her and loved the table and chairs.Logan had so much fun with his Banshee and drove it all over! It also came with a little Mater and will "eat" him. I think Darren had just as much fun as Logan with this toy and they both had a great time playing that morning. Darren and I were also spoiled with some money!!! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Later that night, we went to Cabela's, which the kids really liked and then to the BYU-Wake Forest basketball game with most of Darren's family. That will have to be another post....