Christmas Festivities!

Ok, finally getting some time to blog :) Here's what we did for Christmas!! I didn't take as many pictures and I should have, but that's what happens in all the excitement!

On Christmas Eve, we went to my mom and dad's house for the Lowe family festivities -- we had our traditional AWESOME Christmas breakfast -- my mom and I made it the night before, and it was a LOT of work! Everyone seems to have their own favorite part of breakfast, so we made everything! Monkey bread (for me), egg casserole (for Steve), fruit salad (for Sarah), hot chocolate from scratch (for my mom), creme brulee french toast (for JD), strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar (for my dad), and bacon and sausage for everyone!!! :D Yum yum yum!!! It was divine!


After breakfast, we opened our stockings -- Grayson got some ADORABLE wooden animals that he LOVES -- especially the new elephant!!! I didn't seem to get a picture with the new ele, but he has carried that thing around with him everywhere, along with his original Ele. The boy has a thing for elephants, what can I say?! He got quite a few for Christmas, too. He's spoiled :) I got a Pandora charm bracelet from my mom -- with a cutest elephant bead for Grayson :) I'm so excited to keep adding to it! Sarah got me a Veggie tales nativity set that is AWESOME!!! JD got me a fun frame that will look perfect in Gray's room. Steve got some great video games that he's been having fun playing ever since. Gray got some cars (LOVES cars), some animals (LOVES animals), a bike (and helmet and pads), a puzzle, and other various treats and toys!
Here is Nana with her two grandsons! Gray was too busy playing with toys to stop and take pictures -- he didn't want to cooperate!
Poppa and his grandsons
My sister Sarah and her cutest boy Rowan (in Gray's Christmas outfit from last year! So cute, huh!)
Kisses and snuggles captured in the midst of all the running around.

Nana and Pop gave Gray a BIKE! Gray was so excited, he just kept saying "BIKE, BIKE BIKE!!!" -- I didn't even know he KNEW what a bike was!! It doesn't have pedals, you just sit on the bike and push with your feet -- supposedly it helps him learn how to ride a bike better than a trike. He loves it, and has been carrying it/riding it all around the house since. Can't wait til it's warm enough to actually go outside and ride it a long ways!
Gray and Row in the midst of all the Christmas mayhem.
Cutest Row got a push-toy from Nana -- isn't he adorable?!
My mom made Kailee a cutest blanket -- I helped pick out the fabric :) Cute, huh! I made Kailee a princess pig -- per her request -- that turned out pretty cute -- but I didn't seem to get a picture of that either.

The cute Porter family!

Then we went to my grandma's house for our traditional home-made soup in bread bowls dinner! Yum yum! And so fun to see everyone! Again, no pictures there. I'm a slacker.

That night, Steve and I opened our presents to each other! Steve-o got a Playstation 3 (he now has every game system. Oh my.), and various games and Blu-Ray movies (our main reason for getting a PS3). I got a cookie press (WHOO HOO!), and a Slanket (a higher-quality version of the Snuggie), and a super-cute Fossil watch that I've been wanting for years! I also got a fun snowflake necklace, and a cute shirt! Thanks, baby!

Then on Christmas morning, we had our own little family celebration first.
Here is what Santa brought for Grayson! He got the A to Z Learning Zoo, some movies, teddy bears, some books, a Sesame Steet DVD, and a kid-sized chair with his name embroidered on it!
A close-up of his name on the chair.
Gray enjoying the chair. He loves it -- it's light-weight enough to carry around the house -- and we take it up to his room to read books in, down to the family room to watch TV in, and anywhere else he wants it! He climbs into it all the time and gets so excited about it! So cute!

After Gray opened his presents, we went up to Steve's parents' house. Again, didn't take enough pictures. But I got a KitchenAid stand mixer!!!!!!!!! HOOOOOOOORAY!!!!! Been wanting one of those for years!!!!!! I can't even tell you how excited I am for that one!!! Thanks again, Jeanne and Scott! You're awesome! Steve got a drill press and sander (he wants to start making wooden toys). Gray got a cars racing ramp, some hand puppets, and a gigantic elephant toy/pillow!
Hugging said elephant
Asking for more "please", of something -- probably cookies :) His Gram (as he calls her) loves to spoil him with treats -- as is her right as a grandma :)


After that, we went home to take naps :), then headed over to Steve's grandma's house for a few minutes (sorry, guys), before we had to get to the Wayments' again so we could talk to Steve's brother Jordan -- who is on his mission, but is getting home in ONE WEEK!! Good to talk to him!
We then made it to my grandma's house for a few minutes again, then back home to CRASH! It was a BUSY few days, but SO much fun! Thank you everyone for your generosity, and then fun times! Christmas is my favorite time of year -- and it's only BETTER with having a kid!!

Our Own Little Ralphie

The other day, we bundled Grayson out to play in the snow. This was our first snow outing in the snow this year, because Gray has been sick lately. But in between his illnesses, we decided it was time for play time! Gray has been asking to go outside every day, so I thought he'd be excited to get out there!! Well, you see for yourself how it went:

Getting him all bundled up. Doesn't he remind you of Ralphie from The Christmas Story?!
Oh my cuteness. I love it!
He did NOT love the snowsuit as much as I did.

Then after all the bundling, we got him outside. He was a bit anxious about it all, and didn't quite know what to think.
He was a bit concerned that Ele got snow on her!


We broke out the Bilibo that was supposed to be a Christmas present -- so we could do some sledding :)



It doesn't look like it in the pictures (mostly because Steve went back inside and took the camera with him), but we had a LOT of fun out there -- mostly after Gray realized that he COULD walk in his snowsuit. We slid down a little hill in our back yard like 20 times, and walked all around the yard, saying "CRUNCH" with every step :) Gray SCREAMED when I made him go inside. We were both cold and tired after, but it was worth it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

I don't have everyone's address/email addresses! So I wanted to post my Christmas card on here, too! I love you all, and hope everyone has a Merry Chrismas and a Happy New Year!

Avatar

Steve and I just saw "Avatar". It was AWESOME. Seriously, the BEST movie I've seen in a LONG time. I was skeptical -- what with all the blue cat people and all -- but it really exceeded my expectations! I would even shell out the money to go see it AGAIN in the theater! LOVED it! You should go see it :)

Welcome Home, Steve-o!!!

Steve has been in Brazil for work this past week! He just got home, and I am SOOOO glad to have him back! I hate when he's gone! This week was particularly tough, because Gray got sick literally the day Steve left, and of course that meant that *I* got sick shortly after. And it snowed a TON, and I didn't have Steve-o to shovel for me -- so on Thursday I was out there shoveling my driveway and feeling like I was about to keel over -- but then my AWESOME, AMAZING, WONDERFUL neighbor snow-blowed my driveway for me on Friday after the BIG snowstorm!! Oh man am I grateful for wonderful neighbors!
Gray also felt the need to wake up SUPER early every day (usually 6, but some days at 5 or even 4 one morning! OUCH.), and I don't sleep well when Steve is gone, so I was sleep-deprived the whole week, and had NO breaks except when my wonderful mother watched Gray for a bit while I ran some errands on Friday.
Anyway, enough of my little pity party -- I'm just SO glad Steve-o is home!! Steve brought home some matching Brazillian soccer jerseys for him and Gray -- look how cute they are:
(Gray did NOT want to leave his mommy. Guess we got a little too attached the past week.)
(Wow, this is fun!)
(Ok, I guess I like you again, Daddy!)

New Creations

I just wanted to post some pics of more of my crocheted creations. I'm taking these to the boutique today, so if you like these, or any of my other things, head on down there and take a look. I've got a whole shelf there, and there are SO many fun things at the boutique! Here's some info:
Simple Gifts Boutique
3660 Lincoln (behind Costco in Ogden)
Mondays - Thursdays:
3:30 - 7:30 pm
Fridays & Saturdays:
12:00 noon - 5:00 pm
Closed: Sundays

And if you have an idea for something you want created especially for you, just let me know -- I just make all my stuff up as I go along anyway -- I'd be happy to make some just for you!

A lavender purse with a dark purple flower accent. $10
A yellow little girls' purse with orange flower. $7
Red, green, white stocking.$7
My newest owl creation! He's a hoot! hahaha!! $10
His eyes are vintage buttons

Cookies!

Last Saturday, we took Grayson to the Treehouse Museum's "Cookies and Milk with Santa" event -- we never got to go see Santa -- Gray was too busy playing! But I don't think he would've liked Santa anyway! So we had fun :) Gray LOVED the cookies, as you can tell :)

This was his first "dunking of the cookie in milk" experience -- it was a hit :)


And then today, I thought we'd make and decorate some Christmas sugar cookies! It's a holiday must, right? Well, here is Grayson's idea of helping:

He ate all the icing/sprinkles off the cookie, then ate the sprinkles in the bowl. *sigh* well, he thought it was fun, anyway. And I decorated the rest while he was busy with his :)

Happy Sinterklasse Day!!

If you didn't know, today is Sinterklasse Day -- it's the Dutch version of our Christmas (Christmas Day for them is more of a religious day, not a gift-giving day) -- and on Sinterklasse Eve you put out your shoes with hopes that Sinterklasse will leave you treats and presents in them the next morning (sound familiar?!). My grandpa was Dutch, and we always celebrated Sinterklasse Day at my house, and I wanted to keep up the tradition with my family. Now, my mom had darling little slippers especially for Sinterklasse Day for each one of us growing up. I don't have any of those. So we used our real shoes.
Not as cute. But way funny. I don't think Gray got the hilarity of the situation, though. He picked his treat out of his shoe, looked at it in confusion, said "Shoe??", then put the treat back INTO the shoe. It's still there. He won't touch it now. But he also got a fridge magnet farm animal toy, and he played with it all morning. He was so smart, he went right over to it and started matching up the halfs of the animals -- no problem! I showed him how to put them in the barn, and how it made the animal noises -- which he didn't like so much. For some reason, Gray is afraid of anything that makes animal noises -- he's fine with songs, but sounds, he hates. So we turned the sound off, and he was happy again. Thank you, Sinterklasse! If only Grandpa was still around to sing the Sinterklasse song!