Christmas

We had a great Christmas. ....Tim was home from work, that was my favorite part.

Carter was really excited for Santa Clause to come this year. In the morning we discovered that santa left his footprints on our door matt ;)

Carter got some Transformers and a couple of robots that he wanted.

Haven got a Carebear and a cool toy, but of course loved the wrapping paper most ofall!

Tim spoiled me with some very thoughtful gifts . like a cookbook and oven mit because I ALWAYS burn my hands when cooking. ( freaky actually, it never fails )
I have packed all my Christmas stuff away actually. WE dont have alot of decorations so it wasnt too big of task. But Haven is sure going to miss her snowmen. whenever she would catch those in her eyes from across the room she would get sooo excited, it was sooo funny. I never have seen her get so excited about something. Then if you actually let her touch them she just looked like she was sooo privilaged. It was pretty cute.

Dinosaurs

Carter has really taken an interest in Dinosaurs lately.

so we research them on the net and have seen that there are a few theories on how they died. one of which was a volcanic eruptions. Carter took the most interest in this idea. so we looked up how to make a simple volcano, and made him one.

it was fun to develop his interests like this.

we just made a double batch of salt play dough (btw I found this website that has every type of playdough you can imagine)

and formed it around a water bottle, took the bottle out and baked it for about an hour in the oven on about 250.

Then mixed dish soap, baking soda ,red food coloring and poured in vinegar and watched it bubble out.

of course CArter had to put one of the Dinosaurs there to die from the volcano.

Traditions

As in many families, growing up it was tradition to go thanksgiving day and cut down our Christmas tree. I am excited that we started this tradition up in our own family this year. This is our first year cutting down our own Christmas tree. It was soo much fun. WE went up to a place called Hyalite lake, it wasnt that far of a drive actually just 20 minutes outside of Bozeman.

we drove up the road the whole way up to the lake, scoping out the places we might stop on our way back down for the tree. First we stopped on a hill to sled, and then again at the top by the lake.

It was such a pretty winter landscape!

Carter loved sledding! he gives it a thumbs up! I did a little crazy stunt myself, however I have no pic of it , cuz I had Tim filming it, and I would hate to show you my bad WRECK! It was fun though, and it gave us all a good laugh when we got home to watch it over and over again. LOL

(Carter and I had to make a snow angel too )

So we then headed back down the road and we stopped to go get a tree, Haven wanted to come too so we zipped her up in Tim's coat.

but as we soon figured out, the trees from the road are deceivingly pretty. When you get up to them you realize they are lop sided or they are actually two trees growing together. two trees make for a really nice looking tree :)

Finally after getting Haven out 2 times we just decided to sit in the car as Tim went off the road to find one.

no actually two, we not only had to try to find one perfect tree, we had to get one for his brother too! Tim did a great job and found the two best trees in the forest! :)

Here is the beautiful sunset on the way heading home!!!

Here is the finished product. I say "real" christmas trees have Character, this one really does!

So back to the title of Traditions, I would like to know what some of your Christmas traditions were growing up, or that you do now that are your favorite!

spouse survey Tag

Ok so I have been tagged by Heidi and Esther, I admit I hesitated to do this cuz I dont like forwards or talking about myself, but I will be a good sport and join in. :)How long have you been together? Known eachother 7 1/2 years
how long did you date? we dated for almost 1 year exactly
How old is he? 29 5 years older than I
Who eats more? Tim, although one time I had the same amount of pizza as him, I am embarrased to admit that.
Who said I love you first? Tim did one night talking on the phone.
who is taller? Tim is 11 inches taller than me. he is the tallest in my entire family.
Who sings better? LOL ..... It used to be me but I found through him that singing off is more fun when we are together.
Who is smarter? I was a better student in high school, but i tim just hits me with big words sometimes that just blow me away. He seems to know a little about everything.
Who does the laundry? me because I am pretty particular but Tim will help all I have to do is ask.
Who does the dishes? Mostly me, which is easy now that we have a dishwasher again after 2 years of not having one!!
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? which way is right? when we are in bed I am on the right.
Who pays the bills? Tim provides the bacon and I package and ship it. :)
Who mows the lawn? we no longer have to take care of a lawn but I love mowing the lawn I always have. I think I like to see the way it looks afterward, like a nice haircut.
Who cooks dinner? I do, but Tim can make great spicy chicken alfredo!!
Who drives when you are together? Me! I get super duper car sick otherwise. If it is bad weather I let Tim do it cuz I get nervous.
Who is more stubborn? we both arent very stubborn but we are equally a little bit stubborn.
Who kissed who first? Tim did walking around temple square on our first date.
Who asked who out? I dont know. we were emailing about me coming up to salt lake for a doctor appointment and going and hanging out. boy if he would have know before hand how much drivng he would do over the next year. coming every other weekend from salt lake to southern utah, he migh not have dated me :)
Who proposed? ?????of course Tim did , very awesome story.. one of my fondest memories.
Who is more sensitive? depends on in what reguards. I am grateful for Tim's amount of sensitivity towards me and our family and others. But I am sensitive in the sense that I take alot of things personal that people say to me.
Who has more friends? probably me we mostly just are eachother's friend though.
Who has more siblings? very freaky we are both the youngest of 6. both having 4 boys and 2 girls.
Who wears the pants in the family? I dont know what that means anymore nowadays but I guess Tim does if it means he provides for us.

TAg you're it MELLISA and BECKY and MEGAN .