Christmas Day

We spent Christmas morning with Alan's family. While we waited for all the boys to wake up to open presents, Deacon had a little jam sesh with uncle Mikey. 

Back on Black Friday (or should I say Thanksgiving night) Alan and I waited in line at Toys R Us for two hours to get Deacon a little cleaning cart. I have never really braved the Black Friday madness and we really just did it to experience it once in our lifetime. I don't think I will ever do it again but it's a great memory and it was a good deal. 

I really thought Deacon would like it because he loves pushing around the attachments on our regular vacuum. He ran straight for the little cleaning cart as soon as he saw it. He loves the mop and broom but hasn't quite yet figured out the vacuum and he gets scared when we turn it on. 

Mikey got Deacon this basketball hoop and Deacon loves it! Mikey is the best uncle and seriously is one of the most giving people I know. 

One of Deacon's favorite toys was this $5 truck we got him...go figure!

Deacon got some darling new pajamas. 

I'm so glad we decided to do Christmas in Poky before we left for Utah. Deacon was so out of sorts on Christmas morning and was quite a little grump. I think he was in major sensory overload and he was running on very little sleep. 

Alan and his brother's with their Grandmother and Granddad. 

Around lunch time we headed over to Alan's aunt's house to spend some time with his Dad's family. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to put Deacon down for a nap because he had had it. 

Later that night we got together with my family for dinner, presents, and the traditional matching game. 

A couple years ago my mom started this fun tradition of a matching game with awesome prizes and gift cards. It is so much fun and gets quite competitive. This year she also did a matching game for the grandkids. We look forward to it every year!

Deacon wanted nothing to do with opening presents and instead played with this phone and climbed up and down the stairs. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the end of the night! 

We had such a fabulous Christmas! We all received some amazing gifts and most importantly loved spending time with our families!

Christmas Eve

I LOVE Christmas Eve and this year it was so much fun! We spent the morning at Alan's house for a brunch Laurie hosted for friends and family. Deacon was the center of attention and entertained the guests. He loves playing by the fire, although we have to keep a close eye on him. 

 We always spend Christmas Eve night with my family and we look forward to our fondue dinner all year. 

As we were just about to sit down to eat, Deacon tripped and started screaming. He hardly ever cries when he falls so I knew it was bad. I ran over to him and found a mouthful of blood. I freaked out because he has never had a fall this bad. He must have bit his lip when he fell. It was quite traumatizing for both him and me. Needless to say, he ended up with a fat, bloody lip!

After dinner we acted out the nativity story and opened some gifts. 

We missed my sister's family this year, but it was fun to face time them while we opened our sibling and cousin gifts. 

We ended the night with chocolate fondue...so delicious! 

Mock Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was all about Deacon this year. We were so excited for him to wake up and see what Santa had brought him. As soon as he saw his kitchen he ran straight for it and knew exactly what to do. He especially loved the pots and pans and the faucet. He loved putting his hands under the faucet and pretending to wash his hands. 

I was really thrilled that he loved his kitchen as much as we thought he would!

After he played with his kitchen for a bit, we took a break from presents and had german pancakes for breakfast. They don't look very pretty but they tasted good!

After breakfast, Deacon was back at it!

 Alan and I's present to each other this year was a new computer, which we had already opened but I did buy Alan a coat to match Deacon, which he had wanted for awhile!

Alan surprised me with the Taylor Swift CD and a 4-hour spa package...I can't wait!

With a little help, Deacon enjoyed helping unwrap his presents and it was so much fun to see the excitement on his face. He loved dumping out the magnetic letters for the fridge and he was going crazy with his new bells. I think my ears are still ringing!

Here he is with all his loot...little did he know he would have to leave it the very next day.

 We had the best morning spending time with each other and watching Deacon play with his new toys. I can't wait until next year when he understands everything even more. It was the the perfect day...minus the worst sore throat of my life. However, this face made it easy to forget about!

Mock Christmas Eve

Before we headed to Utah for Christmas, we decided to have a mock Christmas celebration with just our little family. As much as we love spending time with our extended families for the holidays, it is so much fun to start new traditions and make memories with our growing family. 

We started off our Christmas Eve celebration with Hawaiian Haystacks. They were delicious!

I am so blessed to have these two boys in my life!

 Deacon absolutely loved his food and was being quite the little entertainer at dinner. This kid truly is hilarious and is bursting with personality! We could not stop laughing at all the faces he was making and he was totally putting on a show for the camera!

I honestly don't think he could have opened his mouth any wider! 

And this is what he did when we asked him to show us his teeth! I'm not sure how we survived before this little sweetheart came into our lives. He is constantly making us laugh!

After dinner we bundled up and loaded into the car. We made a stop to get some hot chocolate then drove around town looking at the Christmas lights. We may have almost slid down an icy cliff but we made it home in one piece. Oh the memories!

This was the first year starting the tradition of giving Deacon an ornament on Christmas Eve. 

A monster for our little monster!

We really had the best night and made some wonderful memories. It was a night I will never forget!

Alan and I had a blast playing Santa and setting up Deacon's toys! I couldn't wait for him to see his kitchen. Christmas truly is magical with kids!

Sledding

Our little fam has had a blast playing in the snow this year. I got Deacon a snow suit not knowing how much he would use it, but I'm happy to say I think I got my money's worth! 

We were in Utah the first part of December and there was a huge snowstorm. We bundled up and took Deacon sledding for his first time. I found this cute little sled to pull him around in but his favorite thing was going down the big hills with mom and dad. He was such a daredevil. After going down the hill he would yell "go, go" indicating he wanted to go again!

It truly is the best thing in the world watching your child discover new things for the first time. If only I could fully see life through Deacon's eyes!

Utah also got tons of snow while we were there for Christmas. We bundled Deacon up again and took him out in my parents front yard. 

 He had so much fun being pulled around in the sled and again kept saying "go, go" every time the sled stopped. I can't get over his precious face in this picture. I am the luckiest!

We went sledding in Poky on New Year's Day and hopefully we will have many more snow days before spring...ok maybe just a couple! But sledding makes the cold days bearable and I love this new tradition we have started!

Gingerbread Houses

My mom has a fun tradition during Christmas of decorating Gingerbread Houses. We haven't ever been able to participate since we have lived in Pocatello, but this year we lucked out and were in town! Unfortunately, not very many family members were able to come but we had fun with Scott, Luke, and Millie!

Deacon had fun coloring, aka playing with crayons, while we decorated. I can't get over his cute face!

 Thanks mom for a fun night we had a blast!

Temple Square Lights

Every Christmas since I can remember, I have gone to Temple Square to see the lights. We decided not to go last year since Deacon was only a month old so it was at the top of our list to do this year. We went with Brent, Angela, and Leah and had a great time!

We dressed Deacon in his snow suit...partly so he didn't get cold and partly because it cost me an arm and a leg and I was determined to get some good use out of it!

Deacon did not love this activity, probably because he wanted to get down and run. Why am I not surprised? His favorite part of the night was when we went into the visitor's center and let him run wild!

We love beautiful temple square. 

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Although last year was technically Deacon's first Christmas, I couldn't wait for the Christmas festivities this year since he was older and had more understanding of what was going on. Although, I still think he was clueless, it was so much fun to start some Christmas traditions with him. 

Deacon showed a little interest in decorating the tree. 

 But mostly he wanted to play with his favorite pot. 

I totally thought Deacon would mess with the tree all season but he was awesome and didn't take one ornament off. He liked touching the ornaments but was super soft and he actually listens quite well when we say no. 

 There is something magical about setting up the Christmas tree. It was a great start to the Christmas season!