Christmas 2012

December was a crazy busy month for us, as it is for most people. But it was more fun than ever with Jadon this year. This is such a great stage of life! He was so much more aware of and interested in things.
Here are some more of our highlights:
Austin's 16th birthday:
We wished he was getting his license more than he did, but apparently that's not as much of the thing for teens around here. Go figure! So, no car, but his mom did come over and make him his favorite meal, her special wings and a red velvet cake.


Legoland with Grandpa and Grandma Sanders:
When we bought our passes, they got some, too, and we look forward to many more trips with them to Jadon's favorite park!

 Early Christmas at our house:
Since Jadon has no concept of dates, we did everything a day early at our house, celebrating our traditional Christmas "Eve" (with lasagna dinner and walking around to look at lights) on the 23rd, and then Christmas "morning" (with monkey bread and presents, etc.) on the 24th. This year, we got our first dose of extensive assembling of toys with the trampoline my parents got Jadon and the kitchen set we got him. Fun times!

 

 (Jesus' birthday cake...Jadon couldn't wait to sing him Happy Birthday and blow his candles out! We really emphasized that as the reason we celebrate Christmas this year, and we told Jadon (thanks to a great children's book we read nightly) that because Jesus loves us so much, he gives us presents on his birthday...and he'd even let Jadon blow his candle out.)

(Jadon never noticed the behemoth of his trampoline sitting just outside. If only he could stay like that...it would sure make keeping his gifts secret easier!)

"Real" Christmas up in Davis:

After our Christmas Eve services at church, we hopped in the car and trekked up to Davis to celebrate Christmas morning with Jim's family. We made amazing time, and the ride was much more enjoyable and stress-free in our economy rental car. (Jim's Jeep is just too small and my 16-year-old-200K+miles Saturn just doesn't run quite like it used to. Our original goal was to get a new car for Christmas, but hiring a new writer for our script wiped out that money (hopefully, good news on that, though, soon), so renting a car was an affordable slice of peace-of-mind.) 

(OK, I caved...I never thought I'd be the type of parent who would use the TV as a babysitter, but it turns out, it's pretty useful! So yes, we even got Jadon a portable DVD player for the long drive.)

 (It was so much fun to see Jadon and Kylie getting along so well. Jadon's language skyrocketed after just a few days with her!)

(I think Jim had more fun with the stomp rocket than the kids!) 

 

What a great season, and we feel so blessed by the wonderful family we have!!!