An Intimate Brimley Christmas

Because Matt and I virtually have no family in Utah, and because Nicholas is on his mission, our Christmas this year was very quiet and intimate.  I actually really enjoyed it this way.  Of course, having Christmas fall on a Sunday is even more special as we start the day with church and really helpsset the tone for the rest of the day.

I don't have much to say. The photos show it all. I love this age!  I hardly sleep the night before as I am just as excited as my kids to see them open their presents.

We started Christmas vacation with letting the kids stay up longer than usual which means we let them sleep in the same room. They share a room but Aidan, my little talker keeps Ella up so we usually separate them until they fall asleep then put Aidan back in his bed. This is just one of many nights where they fall asleep with each other. Notice they're holding hands. Priceless.

 Ward Christmas party. Aidan is so into Santa but he realized this one was one of his"helpers."

 Same with Ella. She had a whole list, though.

 We got ski lessons at Park City for the kids. There are about 3 to 4 to an instructor. It is so great. Matt and I get to drop the kids off then go have lunch and shop!

 Our tradition with just our family Christmas Eve is to read and act out the Christmas story then Ella and Aidan get to open two presents. The two presents are always a new Christmas book with an inscription and date from me and the other is always a new pair of PJs.  Then we drink cocoa and eat more treats.

 I think Matt was a happy camper this year. I made him tell me exactly what he needed.  :)

 I love these adorable panda blankets from Costco. I mean from Santa.

 I love this age!

 I love Aidan.

 This was Ella's highlight. A Moxie Doll and horse stable set. She played this for hours all Christmas vacation. I love listening to her imagination as well as Aidans.

 Aidan's big wish this year was a remote control helicopter.   He got two!  One from his Uncle Anthony and of course, one from Santa.

 I'm pretty happy myself. I have had my heart set on this painting for a long time.  Thank you, Matt!

And this is how they fell asleep, new jammies and new blankets, old traditions.

Happy New Year!

"All Aboard!" The North Pole Express

The last time I took this train ride was when Nicholas was 5and I was a single mom. Yep, that's 14 years ago.  I have been wanting to take Ella and Aidan on it but it is pricey. This year I saved for it and we did it. I have to admit I had lots of fun. What is not to like with a train ride overlooking beautiful Heber Valley, drinking hot cocoa, eating chocolate chip cookies, singing lots of Christmas carols and of course, the best, seeing the big smiles on your kids' faces the whole time.  I'm glad we did it. 

Photos were taken with my IPhone, hence the blurriness and quality.

 Cheese, anyone?

And yes, Santa!  He wasn't the greatest looking Santa. We just tell the kids Santa has lots of "helpers."

A Missionary Moms Christmas

Dedicated to my missionary son. I feel so honored to know him, be his mother and share this life with him:  Elder Nicholas Shelton, I love you!!

A Missionary Christmas (author unknown)

I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving.
The thrill just wasn't there.

No pictures taken with Santa Claus,

My decorating has no flair.

His presents are shoes, shirts, and
ties, two suits and socks...no fun.

I've bought him all white clothes
because...

This year I'm
giving Christ my son.

I've spent more time in the temple, my testimony
stirred.

Our family prays more frequently.

My tears are quick to run.

Abraham seems closer because

This year I'm giving Christ my son.

I wonder how those Lamanite mothers
gave their sons to war.

Or how the pioneers chose Zion,

their sacrifice was so much more.

My loss will be his presence,

I'll miss his smile a ton

For two years we will pray for him,

I'm giving Christ my son.

I stare at his face when he's not
looking. I memorize his eyes, their shine.

He's always hungered for the part
of Him, that makes his soul divine.

The stories and lessons he always heard,
His choice and mine are one.

I'll put my faith in God's hand,

This year, I'm giving Him my son.

Past gifts have lost their glitter;

I think I finally understand

Christ's birth should be celebrated by
giving Him a hand.

It's because I know Christ lives and
reigns that all his packing's done.

My gift has taken years to make,

This year...

I'm giving Christ my son.

I know there's One who understands,

The sacrifice I'm making.

Who knows the gift I willingly give,

The toll it will be taking.

For He has done it all before

Greater love - there could be none.

For years ago God gave to me,
His only Begotten Son.

The hands I washed, the hands I held,
The hands I taught to pray;

Now knock on doors to find the ones 

who will listen to what he'll say.

Because I know Christ needs him until all the gathering's done.
My gift has taken years to make.

This year...

I'm giving Christ my son.

 Since we have no family around, and because our biggest Thanksgiving feaster is on a mission, we usually travel to California or Arizona. This year we decided to take a trip to Disneyland as I have never been there during Christmastime. IN addition, my dad, brother, sister-in-law and niece met us there (they live in CA) - Double treat!  My dad loves Disneyland just as much as me.

My brother, Anthony, kept referring to me as the "Target" woman. I guess there is this Black Friday commercial that comes on every year showing this mom prepping for the sales. She's on a treadmill and pumping weights to get conditioned to beat everybody. Well, I am a serious Disneyland fan. I choose my routes ahead of time knowing which ride we will ride in order and when to get fast passes for which. You have a two hour wait from your first pass before you can get the next. I had fun directing Matt and Anthony to different attractions to get those for us.  I mean, I am serious!! Waste no time - get it all in.

We thought we would take advantage of the short lines and no crowds - ha, ha, ha!  Not a chance. It was just a busy. When is it not?  Anyway, I thought I would simply post some photos for those of you who have never been during Christmas time - DO IT!  It is truly beautiful.  Disneyland, I must admit is one of my most favorite places. I feel like I could live there and enjoy the magic, escape the world and just be a kid again with my kids.

Here we are at Sleeping Beauty's castle. It is truly the most beautiful at Christmas time. At night during the Christmas fireworks show, it lights up with different colors synchonized with the music and fireworks. Breathtaking

It's a Small World is probably my favorite ride, I must admit. What can I say, I 'm just a big kid. During Christmas, they sing Jingle Bells and It's a Small World and every doll and country is decorated for the holidays - pretty amazing. 

The Princess Walk is always at least a 50 minute wait.  Matt didn't want to wait to save a spot for the parade and I was determined to be front row and center and at the beginning so I waited. It was great traveling with other adults also so that they could watch the kids that were to small to ride a ride or too scared.  :)

At 7:30 am I wasn't about to ride the tea cups but the kids were dying to and neither Matt nor I did. Can you tell who won?

I love this photo for some reason. 

And now, the Christmas Parade!  Yay!  It was so wonderful. It's obvious the people in it have to have a certain look to make Disney's cast. They are all so wholesome looking.  I love it.

This, of course, was the best. Aidan's jaw dropped and he said he hoped Santa knew he tried hard to be good this year. Ella is beginning to be more quiet about it. I'm so sad.

Yes, that's me with the big smile. I have to laugh at myself sometimes

My wonderful family. What a great Thanksgiving!

The next day, the type A in me got all the Christmas decorations up and made gingerbread cookies and candy cane cocoa. It's great to be home.

I know, on with Thanksgiving but . . .

So, I'm a week late. Here are some photos of our Halloween festivities.

Mummy hot dogs. I love to make different "goulish" dinners during Halloween. We also did "tarantula" tacos where I made the olives look like spiders. Way cute! The kids loved eating these.

Graveyard pudding for dessert. Bwaahh, ha, ha, ha!

Just some good old fashion pumpin carvin'

Jack O'Lantern pizzas anyone?

Me and the kids get ready for some trick or treating! It's was kind of funny how many people liked my costume. It was just stuff I had except for the hat. I had a blast trick or treating except I could barely keep up with the kids in my high heel boots. Can I just say blisters?

Happy Halloweens-giving!

UEA Weekend!

Okay, call me the Blog slacker because I certainly am. It's not that I don't have anything to blog about because my life is very full, maybe a little too full is the issue.

Anyway, we had a marvelous UEA weekend. We usually leave town but we learned everyone else does also so this year we decided to stay close to home and just do a few mini-trips. Ella and Aidan had a fabulous time. So did I but can I just say - "exhausting."

First stop: Hogle Zoo. We were going to try and squeeze in This is The Place Monument but didin't make it. I love the zoo everytime we go. I have never been to a zoo where you can get so close to the animals. Ella, always the princess was determined to get on the snow leapord. We even waiting an extra "turn" when it was taken so she could have first pick. Oh, now what am I creating here?

We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather this weekend. Can you tell?

After the zoo, we ate dinner at Costa Vida and used our free kids meal coupons. Don't you love those from the schools? We then went to see the play "How I became a Pirate. " I was pleasantly surprised and the kids laughed out loud. Way to go, Scera theatre!

Saturday, we put on our BYU gear in preparation for the game. We're headed to our annual tradition of Cornbellys!

First stop was this cute corn maze (we did three that weekend) for little kids where they got goodie bags and met characters along the way with more treats to hand out and not all candy. They got these cute capes and masks.

I love the focus on Aidan's face - determined to win at this duck race.

Seriously, I can't believe how fun this was and how hard! I thought I was in shape but after bouncing this huge inflatable horse I'm not so sure. I couldn't stop laughing. I love this photo of me and the kids.

No matter where Ella goes, she will always find a horse!

This was also fun. We played volleball with this huge, heavy cornball. They had these haystack to throw over and I didn't want to leave I was having so much fun. Aidan could barely get his arms around the thing.

We always end on these giant bouncy pillows. Very fun! We also went on a hayride and another train. I was a little disappointed at how scary one of the mazes was. They said it was daytime so the kids would be fine but once we went inside, it was dark, there were scary noises and statues that looked like people. Ella actually started crying and had to be picked up. I was carrying Aidan and lost Ella and Matt and tried to gain my composure while I covered Aidan's eyes and he covered his ears. Sheesh! Never again on that one.

All in all, we had a wonderful time and feel so blessed to live in such an area where so many good people live and wholesome entertainment for the family is at our fingertips.

Happy Halloween - coming soon.