On Christmas Day. . .

. . .and the Eve of



The boys got dressed in their new PJ's and went to bed to await the arrival of Santa





. . .in the Morning

We started the day by going to church. Craig got them all ready for church and I came down and put their top hats on.



"What Handsome devils!" I exclaimed.

Big H looked at me all confused and asked, "Devils?"

"Yeah Devils."

Still confused, he inquired, "What's that?"

I explained that it meant they are so good looking they may break a few hearts. That boy is getting to be so grown up.

We sneaked the boys out the side door so they wouldn't be distracted by the toys.




Upon returning home we were greatly excited for the big unveiling. Santa had brought us some wonderful surprises. The best being their new Thomas. . . Train sets.



Little H, however, was not impressed. He grumped and grimaced at every present that was to be opened. he even spent some time in time out. We finally put together one of the train sets in hopes that Little H would let us have an enjoyable Christmas.

Santa also brought the boys a dual screen DVD player for the car. This was a long awaited gift by children and parents a like. Lets face it, it's more of a blessing for us. After these were opened all hope for the other presents was lost. Baby M even swatted gifts, that I tried to show him, away.



This was the gift I was most excited for:



I bought this for Craig and I couldn't wait to watch him open it.

Craig got me some fancy new boots, and a cool photo organizer. I also got some anti-freeze-- my car has a leak and needs to be refilled often or the heater won't work-- and some deicing windshield fluid.

All this, and much more, graced the Stratton home in the form of Christmas gifts that morning.

Big H




Little H





The train from his new train set is sitting next to him.

"Who's that?" He kept asking.

"It's Dash." I'd say.

"No, it's Ferdinand."

"No, it's Dash."

"No, it's Ferdinand."

"OK, it can be Ferdinand if you want it to."

If you watch Thomas. . . often then this conversation makes a little more sense.

Baby M



Enjoying his penguin ring pop.



Craig and I




Our Little Martinelli's Family



Baby M and I playing with a Stocking Stuffer.




Got to love the unwrapping mess! It's hard to believe that such beautifully wrapped packages could create such chaos.




. . .Afternoon

We headed to my parents to take part in a lovely Christmas meal, and some more exchanging of gifts.



Little H insisted the new Thomas. . . set be brought to Grandma's. Here they are enjoying the excitment of their first real Thomas. . . train set. Given just to them.



Such fun they had. But trains can turn into not so much fun when you try to drive them through mom's hair. Twice! Did I mention they were turned on? I lost a few good clumps of hair to Dash one and Dash two.

Little H and Baby M really let their exhaustion show. Baby M was dead tired and kept throwing fits because he couldn't play with the Thomas. . . toys. I brought down some other train sets for him, which did seem to please as long as the train stayed on the tracks. Which it didn't. Little H was kind of a little grump. Throwing fits here and there. Pushing Baby M and not letting him play. I was sad that he couldn't just be happy on such a special day.

Baby M and Nephew M playing together, so cutely.



What adorable hors d'oeuvre's grandma got this year.



The families were all so generous this year. We got so much fun stuff! We are so grateful for everything.




. . .Night

The boys put on their fuzzy reindeer pajamas and prepared for a much needed rest. They had a fun day full of new toys, yummy treats and family and friends. I tried to finish the night by listening to our new audio CD that came with our . . .Polar Express book, but instead I spent it rocking a tired and hysterical Little H to sleep.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

. . .And the Day After

I tagged along with my parents as we visited Grandma's and went to see what everyone got from Santa. Little H was in another mood, but seemed to be better after a little nap.

When we finally returned home the boys, and I, set up their new cardboard castle. A gift from their cousins. Isn't it so cute?




Baby M's new PJ's.



Apparently he doesn't want to be a cowboy.



See that little toy he's holding.



He's upset because I can not execute, with perfection, the operation he wants it to perform. What is that operation? You've got me. He gets extremely picky and finicky when he is tired.

Every cow boy needs his mom.




We have had a truly wonderful Holiday. And we are so grateful to our friends, and family, for making it so special. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Christmas Letter 2011

Click on the images to make them larger and more readable :)

Christmas Time is Here

Just an attempt to catch everyone up before I post the Christmas Card and letter.

Last weekend

I took the boys to the dollar store so they could buy presents for each other. The twins had fun picking out gifts for each other, but when I told them they needed to pick one out for Baby M my suggestion was met with a resounding, "No!"



It took some convincing, but they finally picked something out for him. They even got a roll of Thomas. . . paper to wrap them in. Grandma Andreason made sure they each had their own roll. After all there were two different colors. ;)



Monday

Baby M got a sweater from Great Grandma Guthrie quite a while ago. Sadly it had two iron on baseball patches that were falling off. It sat at my mom's house waiting to be fixed. Months went by, still no sweater was worn by Baby M. Then I asked for it the other night, and, after a neighborhood Christmas Goodies Get Together, finally tacked the patches on.



How clever I thought I was, until I washed it. The patches crumpled up in the wash, and I just took them off and tossed them in the garbage. All that wasted time for patches that just got thrown away. They were certainly cute, however, their purpose was in vain. It being a yellow sweater, left some workers at McDonalds to mistake Baby M for a girl today. Baseball patches and all.

Thursday

Nephew K performed some songs, with his grade, at an assembly at his school. I missed the performance thanks to work. But I enjoyed seeing him all dressed up in his Christmas attire.



Friday

Big H has grown rather fond of Christmas lights. And, of course, Little H has too. They now fight over the lights they see.

"It's my lights!"

"No it's my lights!"

"You can both look at the lights!"

Not too far from our house are The Riverwoods Shops. Apparently they do a splendid lighting sometime after Thanksgiving. We really enjoy driving past, and decided we had better take a walk around. That night we had brought Nephew M home to play with us, so he got to come along too.

What do you think people thought when they saw us with 4 kids, all 9 months apart?

We had a fun night, and the boys really enjoyed spending time with their cousin.






We even stopped in to visit The Provo Beach Resort. It was a fun little place, and warmed us up rather well.



Saturday

The next day found us at The Guthrie Family Christmas Party, hosted by my Aunt Candice and Uncle Don. It was the first Christmas Party without Grandpa Guthrie, which made me kind of sad. I'm glad this family has so many fun traditions. I think it really helps keep us together, and strong.





We enjoyed a cute little Nativity with all the great grand kids. I was glad that we sang because, I am told, Grandpa Guthrie liked to hear the family sing together.




My angel, shepherd and wise man.




And, of course, there were presents. So much fun!




I decided to make a wreath for one of my cousins. I had to put a picture in somewhere :)



My Aunt and Uncle live up in Daybreak, which gave us the opportunity to see the new Oquirrh Mountain temple. It is strikingly beautiful, sitting atop that hill. I had to drive by to get a closer look. It really took my breath away!




We were sad that we couldn't be down South, to help Craig's cousin celebrate is wedding, on this Saturday. Unfortunately stressful schedules and lack of funds kept us from doing so. We hope he had a wonderful day!

Sunday

On Sunday we woke to a frosted wonderland. It was so gorgeous!





We also awoke to new callings. We will now be helpers in Senior nursery. This means we'll be in nursery with the twins, but poor Baby M will go to Junior nursery all by himself.

We took time on Sunday to go visit Great Grandpa Darrington. We had a very fun visit.

Monday

Monday was filled with shopping. Darn that Christmas! Sneaking up on us so fast. I've scarcely had time to enjoy you.

Grandpa and Grandma Stratton were up last weekend, and they took us to Olive Garden for dinner-- Thank you, by the way. In the foyer was a giving tree. The boys kind of took an interest, so I let them pick an ornament, and we bought a gift for one of the families. We delivered it on Monday. I was going to have the boys help me take it in, but I didn't want to undo car seat harnesses. They were a little disappointed to give away the toy. Even though it was for a 3 month old, and it was for a girl.




When I said, "You're helping another kid to have a Merry Christmas!"

They said, "No!"

Still I think it was a good experience. We have been given so much, by so many, that we like to take any opportunity we can to help others in need.

Well, that about catches you up. Now I just need to get the Christmas letter posted.