A Very Hawks Christmas

Christmas came to our house with lots of laughter and lots and lost of presents. The kids had an absolute blast and really got into the whole Santa thing this year. They rushed down the stairs with so much excitement, I thought they would both burst. They wanted to open every present and play with it immediately!



By far, the favorites were the scooters that Santa left them. They rode those scooters all day Christmas Day and the day after until Mom had enough of them running into things and had to banish them to the garage for use when the driveway and sidewalks get clear enough to ride them outside.



Too many other pictures to include, but here's just a few more of some of the other presents they received.



We had so much fun with them this year and can't wait until next year when they are even more excited. Christmas is so much more fun when you have little children around. In fact, I was so much more excited than I remember being in a long time, maybe even more than when I was a child. Seeing the excitement and anticipation on the faces of your children is something you almost can't beat! Hope you all had a wonderful and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Cookie Decorating

What would Christmas Eve be without some cookie decorating? In the letter that Santa wrote back to both of the kids, he specifically asked for sugar cookies with green frosting. So we had to make him some special cookies with not only green frosting, but a bunch of other stuff on top just because he is special.


Don't forget the sprinkles ...


Or the M&M's and Marshmallows!


Don't they look yummy???


We had to test them out just to make sure they were good and THEY WERE!


After our cookie decorating, we decided to sit down and watch a movie. Home Alone was on and Zach loved it. They were so cute laughing that I couldn't help but put on a little clip of them. I think my kids have the most unique laughs, Jeremiah and I were laughing more at them than the movie!



They are just too much sometimes - what a fun Christmas Eve we had!

Pretty Toes

How do you say pretty? Why, toenail polish of course! On the 23rd, right before our Family Christmas Party, Hailey's Aunt Holli painted both Hailey's and her cousin Jocelyn's toes. Hailey has been fascinated with toenail polish since the last time I painted my toes. I don't do it often (maybe once or twice a year), but she hasn't forgotten in all the time since. Aunt Holli promised a pedicure for both girls the next time they came down and she was true to her promise!


Do these girls look happy and excited or what?


Letting them dry was the most difficult part for out little busybody, but she did great! She held so still, I was so proud of her.


And a pedicure wouldn't be complete without a little bit of jewelry to go with it. Hailey was so excited to finally have a pair of earrings to wear, even if they were stickers. She couldn't wait to show everyone that came to the party that night.


The earrings fell off later that night, but the toenail polish is still going strong. In fact, Hailey has refused to wear socks since because she always wants to see her pretty toes. Thanks so much Aunt Holli for making her day!

Kindergarten Carolers!

Yesterday we were able to go and see Zach's kindergarten class put on a little christmas program for us. They were all so cute in their little reindeer hats - but Zach was definitely the cutest!



They sang Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, All I Want is Chocolate in my Stocking, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. They were all so cute, especially our Zachary. And we could forget to take a picture of him with his sister.































Jeremiah was in charge of the camera and I forgot to tell him that when you take video clips, you have to make sure the camera isn't turned because I don't know a way to turn a clip 90 degrees. So sorry for having to turn your head to the side to see this, but it was just too cute not to add to the post. This is a little clip of him singing Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer - they all learned some actions and it was just so darling!



We are so proud of our big kindergarten boy! We had so much fun watching his program and can't wait until they do another one! And to see what we did when we got home from the kindergarten program, see the post below!

Is it really snow?

Seems like the winter has taken so long to get here, we weren't sure it was really coming. But these last few days it has really come and made itself known. We've gotten over 7 inches of snow in less than a few days and we have loved it!

Do you remember the first time you got out and really got to play in the snow? Well, this was Hailey's first full blown snow playing. We got out the snow pants, coats, boots, gloves, and hats and turned them loose to play while we were shoveling the driveway. They both had a blast!



And playing in the snow just wouldn't be complete without making at least one snow angel. Zach is a master and decided he would teach his sister. She was more than happy to lay in the snow and even got her legs moving. Not bad for her first time!



We are already being asked if they can go back out and play in the snow. We haven't let them yet because today it's been cold and windy. But we're hoping that we can all go out again before long, they just had too much fun!

Christmas Decorations

For those of you who don't live near us or who are interested in seeing our Christmas decorations, I thought I'd post them on the blog. The kids had such a fun time helping me decorate this year, I wanted to take some pictures so they could remember. Luckily, we managed to get everything put where they wanted it (with a little guidance from me) without breaking anything. I'm enjoying the fact that as Hailey gets older, I'm able to place more "breakable" things a little lower. Here are some pics of random places in our home with decorations.






And last, but not least, our Christmas tree. We had quite the experience getting this finished (it's a long story), but we're happy to finally have it done.



I think by far, the outside is the favorite, despite all the work we did on the inside. The kids can't wait until it gets dark every night so that we can turn on the outside lights. In fact, we don't make it past about 20 minutes after sunset before the kids are asking if it's time to turn them on. Usually, our blow up Santa gets turned on before the rest, in an effort to keep them happy until it gets dark enough.




This is our new purchase this year. It's a bit hard to see, so if you can't tell, it's Snoopy and his doghouse. We found it on sale and the kids were so excited, we just had to get it for our yard. The kids love it and can't wait to plug it in and get the lights blinking.




And lastly, our blow up Santa who spends more time blown up than not, I think. He's not very big, but the kids love him and are always shaking his hand or giving him hugs when they're outside.



Decorating for Christmas sure has put us in more of a Christmas mood since we don't have any snow down here to help us feel like it's Christmas time. Supposedly, we have a big storm on the way this weekend that should leave us with a bunch of snow on the ground, so that should help too. We are so excited for Christmas and can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away!

Light on Temple Square

Last night we spontaneously decided to take the kids up to Temple Square to see all of the lights. The kids were mesmerized by all of the lights in so many different colors. Hailey was quick to point out all the pink ones and Zach couldn't decide if he liked the blue or the green lights best.

Based on past experiences, we took our wagon as we didn't want to have to carry either of them or have them fight over the stroller, which they are both too big for anyway. It actually worked out great, although it was a bit tricky to maneuver it with all the people there. Both the kids had coats, hats, gloves, and blankets on and I think they were more than comfortable.



We found some really nice sister missionaries that offered to take a picture of all of us. They were both still in the MTC and getting ready to head off to the church history sites in Kirtland, but were using the Temple Square experience as some practice. One was from Southern Utah and the other was from Hong Kong. They were so very nice and we were happy to have met them. We were hoping to get a picture with them, but some people came up and wanted to ask them a question, so we waved and left them to the more important thing they were doing.



Despite all of the beautiful and colorful lights, there was no argument that the temple was the most beautiful thing there. Both of our kids have a hard picking out the temple from the freeway as we're driving by. You can see it, but with all of the other tall buildings, it's hard to make it out unless you know what to look for. Hailey was just loving being able to see it up close and personal. Zach was continually pointing out the Angel Moroni (or Angel Foroni as he says it) every time he saw it.



The reflecting pool on the east side of the temple was completely breathtaking with the little nativity scene of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus right in the center in white. The kids loved looking at it and didn't want to move on to anything else.



Ironically, we ran into some friends we knew in Connecticut who were having a little get together with others from CT at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We had been invited, but apparently didn't get the message. So we headed over there and got to catch up with about 5 or 6 families we haven't seen in a few years. All have moved back to Utah now, but most live up near Brigham City, so we don't get to see them often. It was a great reunion and we felt great that we had decided to go on a night when they were all there.



Inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building is a huge Christmas Tree - the kids were loving looking at how tall it was. We haven't gotten our Christmas Tree for our home yet (that's the plan for Family Home Evening tomorrow night), but Zach wanted to know if we could get one that big! We told him we'd get one as big as we could, little does he know it won't be near as big as that one, but we're counting on him forgetting the actual size of that one and just being glad that we have one in our house.

We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the evening. It was a bit crowded, but so worth the effort of maneuvering around everyone. There's nothing like seeing the light on Temple Square, it really puts you in the mood for Christmas!