New Year's Eve, New Year's, and Preschool Projects

 New Year's Eve was different this year, but still a lot of fun! We went over to the Draeger's house with the Peterson's and Workman's. We all brought food to share and had a good time chatting and just having adult conversation (I guess I never thought I would be old enough to say and appreciate the phrase 'adult conversation', but I get it now). We played a little mad gab and then the girls (and the guys joined in eventually) partied the night dancing with Xbox Kinect. It was so much fun! I love dancing and the Kinect is pretty awesome!! I may just have to invite myself over one of these days and play with Deanne. :)

We all went home pretty early because of our kids. Plus, I was speaking the next morning at church which changed to starting at 8:30 am! The kids went to bed and Tyson and I played some games (Pandemic, of course!) and waited for midnight to come. We went to bed at about 12:15 am because really, there was no reason to stay up and getting up early was haunting both of us. But, it was a good night. Happy 2012 - it came so quickly!

Grandma Walker also sent a New Year's package to us to help us remember the Walker New Year's fun :)
Thanks, Grandma Walker!

Fireworks

2012 burning - every year since 2000 Tyson's dad has burned  the year on the road with gasoline. Here is our 2012!

These are the prizes for the games. The clown is for the loser, the chicken (I believe) is for the winner, and the moose is for second place?. I don't quite remember.

 New Year's was good. My talk went well and church was done so early! 8:30 am really is so much earlier than 9 am, but our ward is big, so we need the extra space. We got to spend a lot of time playing with each other and just having a great day!

Reed's preschool has been so much fun this year. The kids are really growing and learning and curious! Here are two lessons that I just thought were so cute and Reed talked about for a long time afterwards.

Along with making a lion, they also went on a lion hunt! Reed LOVED it!

They talked about their family tree. On the apples are pictures of Reed, Eve, Aria, Me, and Tyson. So cute!

Delaware and such

The end of December yielded more time to play together and one more exciting trip for our family. We went to Delaware! I have a goal to visit all 50 states (certain stipulations apply as to what it means to have the state checked off my list). Well, I have visited 36 now and am on my way! On December 29th, we drove to Wilmington, Delaware and took a tour of Winterthur - the 175-room DuPont family estate. No, we did not get to see all 175 rooms (that would have taken forever!), but we got a glimpse at what Christmas was like during different time periods. We also got to play at a kids garden on the family estate. Too bad it was freezing outside, or we could have stayed all day! But, it was a good time - despite the traffic we had to endure on our way home. I am so thankful that my husband wants to help me do the things I want to do - even if we spend more time getting there and back than actually visiting the place. :) You're the best, Tys!

No, not in Delaware, but Aria is just so cute! December 27th

She finally looks like she is gaining a little weight!

Her looks keep changing on me, but I still think she looks like Reed. 

The kids listening to Grandma read "The Night Before Christmas" on a recorded book!

They listen daily - multiple times :) December 27th

Wilmington, Delaware!

On our way to the garden area

Aria was so happy to be there :)

Eve, of course, had to touch everything (which is good because it was meant to be touched)

Reed went to touch the frog as well

Inside a giant nest!

They even had kid-sized chairs

A hollowed out tree! We called it the witches' house

Inside the mansion

This tree is entirely out of dried flowers - it was stunning!

Other fun things we did at the end of  December:

Coloring on the new easel - December 30th 

Aria showing off in her Christmas hat from Grandma Rowberry

I love this video of Aria talking and just being cute! December 27th 

At Winterthur in the children's garden - so awesome! 

2-year Appointment

December 28th was Eve's 2-year doctor's appointment. It was actually just her and me because Tyson was home with the other 2. It is nice to be one-on-one with her. Eve doesn't get very much of that at all. It's amazing to see her little personality when she is by herself - she's such a sweet and happy girl. Well, here are her stats:

Weight: 25 lbs., 8 oz. - 40%
Height: 34.5 in. - 55%
Head Circumference: 19 in. - 50%

She is just about the middle of the road in everything. She did a great job being brave during her shot. She only had one and flinched when she got poked and whimpered a little. She is seriously a tough little girl! Physical pain doesn't seem to phase her as much as other little kids. Yeah for Eve - this is definitely a good thing :)

Christmas Night

Christmas night we went to see the National Christmas tree (another tradition that I will miss when we don't live here). We met up with some friends and braved the mass of people looking at all the trees, trains, giant menorah, fire pit, and Santa's workshop. Our pictures are a bit fuzzy, but it was still a good - albeit cold - time!

Eve really wanted to stay in her dress after church, so she is the only one dressed up.

You can't tell, but this is the Nevada tree

The Nevada tree again - not good pictures this year

We thought this view was cool because you could see the Washington monument, the tree, the giant Menorah, and the train sets they had going around the bottom of the tree.

Our crazy and fun family!

No one wanted to leave - mostly because the trains and little model towns they had set up were awesome! But, eventually we did leave. When we were getting everyone in the car to go home (after convincing them again and again that we needed to go because it was cold) Eve refused to get the in the car. She just kept screaming and saying she didn't want to get in. She is a pretty stubborn little miss (I know that's from me) and wants to do things when she wants to do them. So, we let her be and got everyone else in the car. She was having a grand time trying to jump on the sidewalk. Then, we tried again to get her in the car and she refused. So, we asked her, "Eve do you want to stay here? We will go home. You will be by yourself" She said she did want to stay by herself and even started a little chant of "by myself" and was just so happy that we were going to leave her (potentially)! Then, Reed, in his most concerned and worried voice said, "You can't leave Eve! She's my best friend! She's my best friend! Don't leave her!" It was just the sweetest thing to hear him say that so earnestly. He was so serious and really thought we were going to drive home without her. Well, of course, we did not go home without Eve, but she did scream when we put her in the car. I think she probably would have been fine for a while had we left without her! Crazy girl. Anyways, it was a great Christmas! More quiet than usual, which was definitely needed (for me) this year.

Christmas Morning!!!

Christmas morning is always so much fun! The kids really did not know what to expect, but were excited anyways. They were excited to see what Santa had brought them, and just to see everything all decorated. For me there is always something magical about Christmas morning and seeing the tree lit up with lights and see presents under the tree. I also love seeing my stocking. I sometimes feel like a little girl again, even though I am the one stuffing the stockings and such. Here are some pictures of our fun morning!

Stockings

The tree and presents.....

More presents....

More presents!

Eve looks at all the presents

Reed finding the presents

The Walker family! 

Presents are so much fun to open!

An eraser for the chalk board

Aria got some clothes!

A Thomas coloring book and stickers!

An ABCs puzzle!

Rattle and chew toy :)

Gordon!! Reed was so excited that Santa brought him a Gordon.

Maisy - some of Eve's favorite books

Looking through her pile of Maisy books

Santa also brought Reed some swords

Aria got a new play gym that doesn't fall down almost every second!

Eve got a play house from Grandma Walker

Aria rolled over for the first time!

Aria chose Christmas morning to roll over for the first time! She actually rolled over 4 different times before we got ready for church! She has been almost rolling over for a while, but finally moved her arm and rolled onto her stomach. She also rolled from her stomach to her back! Uh oh - she already like to move! It was so cute :) 

After presents and playing for a little bit we got ready for church. We had a sacrament service and I accompanied a Sally DeFord version of "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear." It was nice to be able to get the focus of Christmas back to Christ. Even after all the fun presents which are definitely great, the reason for the season is our Savior. So, having church on Christmas Day was just perfect! 

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve was an interesting day. Our sink has started to clog on the 23rd, which is never any fun. We had called maintenance that day, but no one came. It got even worse on Christmas Eve. I called again saying our kitchen sink was clogged (we couldn't do any dishes). Well, they didn't end up coming until after Christmas when our sink started overflowing! We actually brought dishes to our friend's house on Christmas Eve so we could wash them! That was the non-fun part of Christmas Eve. But, there was plenty of fun stuff as well!

We opened our last for the 12 days of Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Walker. It was pajamas for the kids and they loved them! Of course, they wore them to bed that night!

We spent the morning and afternoon just playing at home and making rolls for our dinner. We also made some bread and cookies to give away to home and visiting teachees and other friends. Or course, there was lots of Christmas carols singing going on all day long! They love Christmas carols (as do I). As we were heading to the Peterson's house for dinner, we dropped those things off.

Dinner was fun. We had three families - Peterson's, Workman's, and us - with all of our kiddos - a total of 8 kids. We all brought stuff to the meal and talked about traditions and fun memories of Christmas Eve. We had the kids act out the nativity and it sort of worked. Here are the kids ages: 6, 3, 3, 2 (Eve of just 1 day), 1, 1, 4 months. So, Reed did a great job helping Taryn (who played Mary) to her spot. Aria was the baby Jesus and Eve was a sheep/shepherd/wise person. It was still cute, but I got no photos! Ah well - it was nice to here the nativity read again. That's one of my favorite Christmas traditions. We even talked about what it all mean afterwards and Reed got it! Yeah :)

We headed home and got ready for bed. The kids each got open one gift and decided to open the presents from Grandma and Grandpa Rowberry. They were presents from Turkey (the country) from where Grandma and Grandpa had recently returned. Reed got a vest and Eve got a scarf and coin purse. They were so excited!

Then, they were off to bed so that Santa could come to our house, not forgetting to put on their new pjs before retiring to bed.

Opening presents while brushing teeth

It's serious work

Trying to get a good photo of Reed

It just didn't quite end up working out

Well, that's probably the best one :)

I think Eve looks beautiful in this one!