Christmas 2011

 For Christmas this year, we spent Christmas Eve with Eldon's Family.  As is tradition, the kiddos made "spud nuts".  They are homemade donuts that taste just like Krispy Kreme donuts only better!  This kiddos love to put the frosting on!         

 Eldon was testing out our new camera for Christmas.  So here is our cute puppy Zeus!!!  He is a very happy puppy, who smiles all the time, but not for the camera.  He was not so thrilled with his puzzle toy on Christmas.  He couldnt figure it out.  A few days later, he was a pro and gets every treat out of the puzzle every time!

 Our niece Shelly may hurt me for posting a pic of her just out of bed without any make up on (even though she is gorgeous anyway) but I couldnt resist because of her face.  She was so stinkin excited for this gift.... it was a Justin Beiber singing toothbrush.  Ive never seen anyone so excited for a toothbrush for Christmas, but she was in Heaven! hahaha!


 My Christmas morning was awesome!  Watched my lovely niece and nephew open their gifts while enjoying a very relaxing massage in this chair!  Lets just say that I was greatly coveting this chair.  Zeus enjoyed the view of the gifts from the safety of mommy's lap in the chair too.

Our little nephews helped to bring the Christmas spirit to the morning.  They were very cute opening gifts.  Our nephew Dax is 2.  He really liked the gifts but wasnt too sure about the wrapping paper.  This little boy is all BOY!  He got a gift of a toy car.  One button made the car make noises from the "radio".  He made the funniest frowny face.  He didnt like it at all.  The next button made a "vroom vroom" noise.  Man, did his face light up to hear the car noises!  So cute!  And just because he is adorable, I included a picture of our newest little nephew Ryker.  We think he looks alot like Eldon.  So cute!  It was a very Merry Christmas!  We were grateful to spend it with our family.

Christmas Time Fun

We were able to go up to Snowflake for Christmas Eve and enjoy some of the fun traditions of the Larson Family Christmas.  It was a lot of fun and we were really glad to spend time with our loved ones. Check out these super cute family pics.

We drove back home Christmas morning to spend time with the Seals side of the family for the remainder of the day.  My little brother surprised our family for his gifts, he gave us all matching outfits so we could take a new family photo.  Our last family photo was at his mission farewell (more than 4 years ago).  We went out to the park by my parents house and took some super cute family pics, if I do say so myself

Hand Made Ornament Exchange

My cute friend has a super fun Christmas tradition of doing a homemade ornament exchange party. When she asked if I wanted to participate, I have to admit at first I wondered what in the world I would do with 17 homemade Ornaments (especially with the hopes that we will have a house full of children some day who will provide a great deal of homemade specialities to add to our tree) but after she explained a little further and directed me online, I was in.  She invited 17 different people to participate and then each person had to make 17 of the same ornament.  This cute little guy was my creation.  I wish I could take credit for the idea (I found it online), but I did make it from scratch.  My wonderful hubby even helped me.  The Marshmallows are made out of clay, which I had to spray paint white because they dried gray (grrrrrr!) the chocolate is brown foam and the graham cracker is cork.  The rest is paint, ribbon, and wire.  I am pretty proud of how cute they turned out, but I have to say making 17 was a lot of work!  It was really neat to see what the 17 different people came up with.  We each did something unique and different!  It was a great time and I am super excited for next year's party.  I am totally hooked and already have planned my ornament for next year :P

Christmas Mania

This was a very full and very happy Christmas! Christmas Eve we spent with my family. My Grandma, her husband, uncle and aunt and cousins came over to my parents house for some yummy super chicken rice and gravy (inside joke....but soooo good!!), opening a few presents, and playing some games on the Wii. My grandma even tried to play Wii bowling which was probably the most entertaining part of the evening, she just couldnt grasp the concept until right at the end, and then she was done.

We got to open one present on Christmas eve and as protocol goes it was ......Jammies! you gotta love Christmas Jammies, at least I do!

Doesnt he look cute!

The next morning we woke up really early to a phone call from our niece and nephew. They were told that when the first number on the clock was a 5 (yes 5 in the am) they could get up and open presents.....so we got a call at about 5:03 or so, saying that their clock said 5 and it was time to open presents, so we bundled up, grabbed the dog and went over to watch them open their presents. It has been tradition for Eldon and I to visit family with kids on Christmas morning and watch them open presents....it just helps to bring the excitement for the day.

They kiddos were so cute opening their gifts and were super good about taking their turns. I remember having such a hard time waiting for my brothers to open theirs! After that we went back to my families house to see what Santa brought. We were expecting the traditional "im gettin nuttin for Christmas" deal but Santa delivered again ( apparently he is recession proof ;) We got some wonderful gifts and had a blast playing with them with my siblings.

Wake up....Santa came!! Ha Ha

I felt like a little kid again! Santa even remembered Zeus and brought him a big bone and a laser light to play with. Just Watch....

Then we made the trip up to Snowflake to spend the rest of the weekend with Eldons Family. We had a blast with the White Elephant Gift exchange, and there is never a shortage of good food, great family and lots of laughs. Unfortunately, i was dumb and didnt take any pictures in snowflake, but we had such a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone for our great gifts and even better family memories! Merry Christmas!

Its Christmas Time at the Larson House...

And we are decorating our very first house....We need a bigger tree, but we still like it! Here are some of our Christmas decorations including the first gift under the tree. We are still working on the outside. Its a bit more difficult than we first imagined...but those pics to follow soon. Enjoy! I did!