Two Christmases

On Christmas Day afternoon, we headed over to Green Forest to celebrate Christmas with the Collins' and Sieberts.  We had such a great time and were blessed with so many wonderful gifts.

We first headed to my parents for Christmas with them.

Our cute little reindeer, nephew Hayes

Pa-Pa and Carter

I remember when there used to be just 4 stockings up there....wow...

We got Hudson some tractors.

Mom's church friend, Alphina, joined us and we were so happy to have her there!

Collin got his talking clone helmet

And Carter got his Darth Vader one.

Carter was super excited to get some Batman pj's

The boys were happy to get the "Pop the Pig" game they asked for.

Collin got a new fishing game for the wii

Hayes loved his new shoes that we got him. :-)

Pa-Pa even tried on the clone mask

Carter and Hudson in their matching pj's.  Poor Hudson looks like he's in a choke hold. :-)

Next we headed to Mimi and Papa's for Christmas with them, Uncle Joey and Grandpa and Gigi.

Carter loved his new Transformer Bumblebee hat.

Collin got new Star Wars sheets for his bed which he loves!

Carter was excited about his new Batman lunchbox

The boys all got new Nerf guns, so there was lots of fighting and target practice that day.

Were were so happy to have Grandpa and Gigi with us from Colorado!

Mimi had this cool new skateboard swing made for the boys...and they LOVED it!

Collin and Gigi swordfighting

Swordfighting!!

Gigi took this last picture.  Just love the acting skills. :-)

Christmas Eve and Morning

We had a great Christmas this year.  It seems to get better each year the boys are older.  To see the anticipation and excitement on their faces is priceless.  I hope to never forget it.

Our Christmas Eve was pretty low-key.  We went to the candlelight service at church and then headed back home for some yummy brisket for dinner.  Then the boys and I quickly made some cookies for Santa.

Santa came!

 Both boys did SO great about staying in their rooms this year (ok, a little threatening before bedtime helped too).  Collin came in our room about 7 am screaming, "Mom! Dad!  Santa Came!  I was really good and stayed in my room ALL night and he came!  He came!  He brought me and Carter both dirt bikes!"  We then went and had to wake Carter up to get in on all the excitement.  Before the boys opened their gifts, we made sure to remember it was Jesus' birthday, and so we wished him a Happy Birthday before we opened our gifts.  So thankful for God's greatest gift to us!

Santa has now made a tradition at our house of playing a "trick" on us.  This year he hid some of the boys' legos behind the fireplace glass.  Collin thought it was pretty funny.

Both boys got new dirt bike bikes from Santa!

They also got the Batman Cave they asked Santa for!

Carter is all into superheroes now, so he was excited to get a Batmobile.

And Collin was excited to get the marble racetrack he asked for.

Collin being silly

Each year we let the boys pick out and buy a present for each other.  This year they both got each other Captain America figurines and some cars from Cars 2.  Here they are showing each other some love after opening their gifts to each other. 

We also let the boys buy some gifts for Lexi.  Collin was so excited for her to open her gifts.  She got some treats and an Angry Birds toy that she loves.

The boys got a lot of new dress up costumes too.  They have been having a blast with those....although, I do get tired of changing their clothes 50 times a day.....oh well, they're having fun. :-)

Carter as Wolverine

 Josh let each of the boys pick out a present for me as well.  Carter picked out the necklace on the left and Collin got the one on the right.  Love those boys!

Santa's other trick that he played was lining up all of the boys' Star Wars guys up on some pictures in the living room. :-)  Sneaky Santa.....

We are so blessed!

Funny Friday!

Our funnies for the past couple of weeks.....

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The boys got some new swords/shields for Christmas from Mimi and Papa.  While we were at their house, the boys were fighting with Daddy and Uncle Joey.  Joey and Collin were on a team against Daddy and Carter.  Collin cornered Josh and Joey yells, "Knock him down at the knees!"  Collin goes up to Josh and goes, "A-choo! A-choo!"  He thought Joey said 'knock him down with a sneeze!'.  We just couldn't quit laughing.

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Josh was watching the movie "True Grit" over the Christmas break and Collin and Carter now both have a favorite line from that movie and use it whenever possible......"That's bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!".  Don't be offended if they say it to you. :-)

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The boys each got a ton of new costumes for Christmas.  Here is a funny pic of Carter in his pirate costume....

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Collin has been learning how to read and write new words.  I walked in one day to find this..."toot"...boys....

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The boys watched Alvin and the Chipmunks countless times at mom and dad's house at Christmas.  Me-Ma decided to transform everyone's red shirt into an "Alvin" shirt. :-)

Catch up....Crystal Bridges 9.18.11

The new Crystal Bridges museum opened on 11.11.11 in Bentonville.  We have been so excited for this world class art museum to open up in our quaint town.....thank you Alice Walton!  So excited that our boys will have the opportunity to grow up around all this great culture.  Josh and I were able to go tour the museum the week after it opened.  It was a fun night and we look forward to going back!  Here are a few pics of some of my favorites pieces of art and some of the museum.  Sorry for the poor quality.....these were taken with my phone. :-)

We ran into my photographer friend, Katie and her husband Dan, who graciously took a picture of us. :-)

museum restuarant

George Washington

These little bird paintings were one of my favorites.  Such nice, bold colors.

Kindred Spirits

Rosie the Riveter by Norman Rockwell

Pinocchio

Dolly Parton by Andy Warhol

looks like a real guy, but it's not....really freaked me out, but amazing. :-)

The Last Supper done in 20,736 spools of thread!