Christmas with Family

We had the most wonderful Christmas present of having Grandma, Grandpa and Robby all fly out to visit us and since Laura was already here, that meant the whole family was together. We enjoyed lots of gaming, movie watching, meal preparing and spending time together.

We had the first snow fall of the year, so we went out and bought a sled and the boys slid down the backyard. (Is slid a word? IDK)

Charlie looking a little nervous... but he LOVED it! We had our second snowfall last week and it wasnt enough to sled on so they were pretty disapointed (it was enough however to close school for 4.5 days... hmm Virginians and snow, I guess they don't mix.)

Here are the boys sprinkling magic reindeer dust so that Santa will be sure not to miss them.

Jack's legos got some good battle playing in.

Decorating cookies. Favorite pastime for snowy days.

And gingerbread houses and gingerbread babies, even better.

Playing games and eating- our two favorite pastimes.

Charlie liked leaving cookies and carrots out for Santa.

Santa definately spoiled us. We got packages mailed in from Adam's parents and felt very blessed. One of the boys favorite things this year was an advent calander from Grandma Julie. Every morning in Dec ember after breakfast the boys took turns opening a little door and getting a treat. Charlie was sad when it ended and keeps asking if he can open "Christmas tree, me?"

Christmas jammies- I love that tradition- mine even have footies.

Charlie decided he was a hair dresser and had to do Grandma and Grandpas hair everyday. He tried Mommy's and Daddy's but they had more problems for obvious reasons.

Charlie's new piano game- name that tune- just like in BIG, you can play this piano with your feet.

"Buzz Woody" Charlie's new passion.

DC Trip - Dec 2010

We went up to the Washington DC temple with Grandma and Grandpa to show them the beautiful temple lights. It's almost like a mini-temple square. We got there early enough that Grandma Grandpa and Becky could do some sealings (Adam was a good sport and tended the little boys). Laura and her friend Erin from our branch did baptisms. It was a quick trip but enjoyable. The DC temple is our temple that we are assigned to (even though it is 5.5 hours away - 8 if you have children and pregnant ladies needing potty breaks.)

Beautiful lights

On the way up, we watched Night at the Museum II. We went to the Smithsonean and saw as many things as we could from the movie. We went to the Air and Space and saw Amelia Airhart's plane. We went to the art museum and found Mr Thinker, and we went to the Natural History museum of course. Grandma Grandpa and Erin went to the Holocaust museum and got sufficiently melancholy.

Here we are eating our $15 happy meal. Seriously we got like 8 chicken nugets and one drink and a teeny pizza and it was $15. Adam doesn't look to happy about it.

We stayed right across from the action in a place where we had a view of the Capital building from our room. It was beautiful in the early morning and at night. Now when Jack sees a quarter, he says, "That's the temple we went to." The boys LOVE hotels. We scored a great priceline deal and got the rooms for $60/night but then they added on an extra $25 for parking. The nerve of these big city people...

dad and I demonstrating the freezing temp.

We ce;ebrated Adams birthday dinner at the Mexican restaurant. Nothing says Happy birthday like whip cream up your nose.

Our crew with Erin (She's the other curly red head in the picture- the one who's coat actually zips) She is probably our sister in another life. She is a lifeguard swimmer and does triathlons too).

Fighting Ninjas

In December, Uncle Robby came to town and the boys played Ninjas with him in the backyard. They had so much fun and got nice and dirty and loved every minute of it.

Playing war at President Hodnets house with their new nerf guns. Needless to say, Robby takes his battles very seriously.

Fall Leaves

We attempted to take our own family portraits this year with the beautiful fall foliage. We feel bad for our poor families out in Utah and Wyoming who are dealing with a bunch of snow so we thought we'd take advantage of our 60 degree weather in November and take some pictures. We went out before work one day so it was really bright and we just used our little tripod. We found this spot when Adam and I were walking one morning. It happens to be just across from the park on the road to the dump. We got a few strange looks as people drove past us with their pickups full of trash but we didn't mind.