Christmas Break

We had a wonderful white Christmas this year. We had plenty of snow!

 Each year the kids get to open one gift each on Christmas Eve but this year Jason and I added ourselves to this fun tradition. We all got new Pajamas.  We also got an extra gift on Christmas Eve this year from Jason's Grandparents(Milligan). They got us 4 new ornaments for our tree. A great treat for us. 

We spent Christmas Eve with my family this year( Yes,with our new PJ's).   I was so happy seeing my grandma and grandpa. On Christmas morning we woke up to find Santa left us just one present this year. A Wii for our family. 

That's all we asked Santa for this year because we felt it was a pretty big gift, bigger than what we usually ask for.

As our morning continued Maddie opened her cupcake maker my parents gave her. She couldn't wait to make her first cupcake.  Her first bite was not what she expected.  Her face said gross all over it. 

My parents got Korbin got Star Wars battleship (It has a name I just don't know it). G-ma Cheryl gave Mads a movie and Korbin a Hot Wheels toy plus clothes of course from all the Grandparents. The clothes are always on my request list. More gifts.... I gave Jason  a subscription to The Economist this year and Jason got me a white winter coat. Jason and I gave the kids books.  They don't seem to get super exited over this because they know what's coming. They look at the covers and set them aside. I know they appreciate them later even if they don't show the excitement when they first open them. After getting ready we went out to have Brunch with Jason's Grandparents and family to Brunch.

  After Brunch we continued onto G-ma and G-pa Eckardt's.  More Clothes for the kids and toys. A few years ago we started having the cousins draw names for X-mas gifts. Its been great.  Korbin got a Spy kit from Cooper that he uses all the time and Maddie got a Color Wonder coloring book that makes her happy wherever she takes it from Kennedy.  Our last stop for the evening was going over to my other Aunts house and playing Rock Band/Guitar Hero for a few hours.  What a fun game.  I did OK on the drums, OK on the guitar but my singing was off and Jason's wasn't that much better. The kids are by far better coordinated than we are.

 We missed Ryan and Dena and the kids on Christmas morning. Plus Jason's dad,Lisa,Colton and Sadie didn't arrive here from Colorado until Sat. So on Sat we had a smaller version of Christmas all over again at The Eckardt's. A great dinner and more gifts. Colton pinned Maddie down a few times.  He'll make a great Football player someday.

We hope you had a great Christmas! 

With Lots of Love,

Claudy,Jason,Korbin and Madison

Other random things we've done this month......

 We've done so many things during our Christmas break that it's all a bit of a blur.  In other words the only description I have is that we just simply had a Blast.  We've been bowling twice.  Once with Maddie's friend Jaycee and her family and the second time was with my scouts and Korbin.  Jaycee is a great friend to Maddie and Korbin is starting to warm up the other kids in scouts. Yahoo! Another fun activity we did was playing in the snow with some of our friends (Malinda,Ben,Elise,Abby and Emily). They have a perfect spot in their back yard for sledding. If you want pictures go to Malinda's blog.

 A few other fun memories... playing Castle Risk at Kati's house the night after Christmas. We had 6 players.  Kati,Josh (Katis Brother from SLC),Brent(Katis friend), Emma,Jason and I.  We played for about 4 to 5 hours. We laughed a lot and enjoyed each others company. 

Something new for this holiday season was going to see the light at Willard Bay. Kati,Maricco(Katis sister) and I took the kids on a wagon ride around the park and also paid a quick visit to Santa. It was cold! Jason and I took the kids to the lights at Thanksgiving point last year and we're a bit disappointed. The lights at Willard Bay are great and much closer.

 And to top it all off we have had so many delicious treats every single night during the month of December thanks to our neighbors!