greatest cars. ever.

When I saw these cars at Target the other day, I knew Jacoby would love them. Two of his favorite things put together: cars and Toy Story. Score. He loved them and so he bought them with his money from his great-great-grandparents for Christmas. What's even more perfect about the Woody and Buzz cars are they're Hot Wheels cars and he got some Hot Wheels car tracks from my grandma so they work great on them. I might even like them more than him. Hey, they're adorable.

white christmas

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted, but I'm not surprised. After Christmas I get a little down because I LOVE Christmastime so much. I'm so sad when it's all over. We had such a great time in Idaho for Christmas. It was nice having a white Christmas too; it wouldn't be the same without it. We're so grateful for our families; they are the best. We did so many fun things together and just enjoyed being all together again. We're grateful for all the nice gifts we received from everyone! This year has been fun to explain to Jacoby that Christmas is when Jesus was born. It's good time for me to think about the birth of thy son and recognize how blessed my life is because of Him.

Before Jacoby and I left for Idaho, Jacoby opened up some bigger presents that we couldn't haul there. He got this fun car track from my parents. This year Jacoby's presents were mainly cars and car tracks. He is obsessed.
The first night we got there we went to Taylor's basketball game in Rexburg and afterword we looked at Christmas lights. This is at the house by my parents' where the lights go with the music. Jacoby couldn't stop talking about Christmas lights.

Sleeping with Grandpa T

Tyler's mom took Jacoby out in the snow and taught him how to shovel and pulled him in the sled.

The tramp doesn't bounce like it's supposed to. :)

Out to breakfast on Christmas Eve with my family.

My mom puts up at least five trees each year and they are each beautiful. One of my favorites is in her room and she has pretty frames with pictures of all of us in them.

She thought it would be fun to set up a tree to decorate with the grandkids. The big girls (what my dad calls Becca, Steph, and I) each came up with something to decorate it with and did the activity with the kids. For mine we did these fun snowmen ornaments with marshmallows inside. I found the idea online.

You crazy kids. Eden, that's what my hair looks like in the morning too. :)

We went to watch Aunt Livi cheer.

Matchy pajamas. This is a funny story, Tyler's mom gave Jacoby these pajamas and Lonnie's mom gave Johnny the same ones. The first night we were at my parents' I put these on Jacoby and went down to find Johnny in the same pair.

Sleepover in the fort Aunt Annie made.

Christmas morning. Look what Santa brought.

I was super excited for us to give my dad this milkshake maker. My in-laws have one and love it and my dad loves to make milkshakes. I think he was pretty excited. My dad is always so nice about presents and always acts very grateful.

Tyler's parents' gave us a milkshake maker too. I was so surprised. We've already made milkshakes three times and are loving it.

We got my mom a bike.

Race car tracks from Great-Grandma Long.

Jacoby loves hot chocolate.

Saying goodbye to cousins.

I love Johnny's fistful of treasures.

Bye Eden, see ya soon! They're coming to visit us this month! We can hardly wait.

gum advent calendar

I saw this fun idea on this blog that I just loved and couldn't wait to make them for my family and friends. It's a mini gum advent calendar. We started today, twelve days until Christmas. Jacoby and I go home Friday and I can hardly stand it. I haven't seen Becca's family in six months; I think that is ridiculous! I'm so excited for Christmastime and to spend time with our families and friends. One of the things I'm most looking forward to is talking to Thomas; it's so great to hear his voice. These two were for Tyler and Steph. Tyler's birthday is tomorrow so I put a little present on that day. Also, Steph's birthday is six days before Christmas.
I wrote the days with Sharpies.

pictures and notebooks

My good friend Lisa just got a nice new camera and has been practicing taking pictures. She snapped a few of Jacoby that I thought turned out cute. It's hard to get him to stay still for very long, but I took some bubbles and that entertained him a little. Thanks, Lisa!

When I went home for Thanksgiving, I worked on some projects with my mom and sister. I had seen these notebooks on one of my favorite blogs, eighteen25, and wanted to do one. I didn't know it, but Steph had went and got all the stuff for all of us to make them and even one for her to make and send to Becca. Steph is really good about doing nice things like that. She is a very thoughtful person and always makes good treats for a party or gets stuff to do fun activities and projects. Thanks, Steph. These are really fun and I have used it a lot for all my Christmas planning. It's nice to have it all in one place and it even holds coupons and receipts, two things I always have. They were all a little different, but with coordinating papers.

home for the holidays

If we hadn't gone home for Thanksgiving, it just wouldn't have been the same. We had such a good time and are so grateful for our wonderful families. We love you all!
On our way to Idaho. We already knew that Jacoby wasn't a good traveler, but both plane rides were more stressful than we thought they would be. I brought all kinds of snacks, new toys, movies, and stickers for him, but he just didn't like sitting in one place. Can you believe that a two-year-old wouldn't do that? After the flight, Jacoby was getting a kick out of the luggage popping up onto the track. He was laughing real hard. :)

I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Festival of Trees the last night it was open to see my family's trees; they looked awesome. It was sad to not have a tree in it this year, but still great to be able to go. Festival of trees really kicks off the holidays for me.

Jacoby loves his Aunt Annie and learned her name very first out of the family. Loved their matching hats!

Jacoby with Grandma Debie on her birthday

I've missed little Eden so much, it's been four months since I'd seen Steph's family. Way too long. She is growing up so much.

Love my sisters...but where is my Becca? Oh I wish I could've seen her this trip; I can't wait for Christmas!

My boys on Thanksgiving

Jacoby and Eden are always willing to hug and kiss each other.

When we first got to Idaho, we went to lunch with both of our families. When Eden walked in the restaurant, Jacoby saw her and they slowly walked up to each other and hugged for a really long time. It was real sweet.

Priceless. I was so excited to get this picture that I started screaming.

I love my family and miss them everyday.

We had a really great Thanksgiving with both families. We kicked off the day by having lunch with my mom's side of the family. We had tasty food and played some fun games.

Later we went to Tyler's aunt and uncle's for another meal. Yum! It was so nice to see our families.

We left Friday morning, but I decided to wake up real early to do a little Christmas shopping with my family. My mother-in-law even made hot chocolate to go for me and all of my family who was going. She is a thoughtful lady. :)

We had a great time and can't wait to come home for Christmas!

Jacoby was even more of a stinker on the way home. It didn't help that the DVD player died after 45 minutes. He threw a few tantrums and kept laying in the aisle. I kept picking him up and setting him on his seat. Finally, he had his legs out in the aisle and was being good and I had had enough fighting with him. When I noticed the flight attendants looking back at us, they got on the intercom and said, "Keep your children in their seats and off of the floor. The floor is filthy. People are constantly getting on and off the plane and the floor is a very dirty place for them to be." By this point I was so overwhelmed and couldn't believe that they would go off about it. While I understand that it's not safe for kids to be on the ground instead of in their seats, I don't think it was necessary to give ME a lecture over the intercom. I would've appreciated them approaching me and kindly asking me to put my son in his seat.

Here's to hoping our next flight goes well and I hope so since it'll be without Tyler. :(