A Series of Fortunate Christmas Events

We have had such a busy Holiday season, we haven't had much time to update our blog, so here are a few pics from December that we thought you might enjoy! We had a wonderful Christmas with the VanOrden family. Santa found our house and left so many presents. Blake got a John Deere tractor, and a huge turtle, and lots of books and other toys. Laura got a black leather jacket and scrapbooking stuff, and Doug got a 24V cordless drill.... just in time to install new kitchen cabinets! We ate lots of good food and now we are enjoying a few days off until Doug goes back to work! Read the captions below each pic...

Doug and I decided to try our hand at making homemade candies this year. We made cream fondant and turtles and then hand dipped them in chocolate. We also made divinity, which as you can see above, was Blake's favorite!

I pu tBlake on our bed early one morning to watch PBS while I was sorting laundry. He was laying on his belly watching TV and it was so cute. When I came up from putting a load of laundry in the washer, he had found the window above our bed, and was watching the snow fall through a small area that was not frost covered. It was so cute! He kept pointing at the snow like it was so cool! Who needs a Seseame Street when it's snowing!

We made a trip to Salt Lake City in the middle of December. We went to "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Centre Theatre, and it was such a great performance. We also went to IKEA to pick up our cabinets and then on Sunday morning, we got to see the music and the spoken word, and then a mini concert of the Tabernacle Choir and the King Singers Christmas show. It was so fun to be able to go. Jessica and I had never heard the Choir live before so it was especially fun for us. Here is a pic of the choir and audience before the show started. The First Presidency was there as well!

Here's a pic of Blake riding his new tractor. Grandma and Grandpa got his clothes to wear for when he visits the farm or rides his tractor. His hat says "Grandpa's little helper." He also has his favorite Christmas toy, an electric Shrek toothbrush, is his hand!

Here is Blake all bundled up on Christmas Day! He found a matching hat and gloves set in his stocking! We wrapped him up in a blanket and went sledding down the hill at grandma and grandpas house. Doug and I even went sledding in the pool. We would slide down three stairs and then into the deep end. Every time we would sled into the pool, Blake would start screaming and crying. I think he was afraid we would get hurt! (I was a little worried too.) We will have to find him a coat before we go snowmobiling at the cabin for New Years Eve!