Holidays= Family, Family and more Family!

We had our Wells Family Christmas Party the day after Christmas at my sister Kambria's house.  It was complete chaos as it always is with all of us together, but we loved every minute of it.  We played Christmas Carol pictionary.

Girls against guys... the girls of coarse won!

We played ping pong, ate lots of food, held new babies, watched football, ate some more food and opened presents.  It was a great night. 

Tanner has my sister Kambria wrapped around his little finger.  He can seriously get anything he wants from her if he just hugs her and asks.  Tanner found this Garbage Truck at Kohls back in October and has never forgotten it.  I actually went back to get it for him when Christmas got closer, but they were gone so we found him other things.  A few days before Christmas we were doing some last minute shopping and Kohls and they had this Garbage Truck.  Tanner was SO excited.  The problem was I was DONE shopping for him.  I couldn't get him another toy without having to get Ashlyn something else too.  So I told him we were going to have to leave it at the store.  He was so sad and I could see his little brain working.  The cousins on my side of the family all draw names for Christmas gifts and one of Kambria's kids had Tanner's name so she had mentioned if we found something he wanted to let her know.  So he says to me in the store, "I call Kambria."  So he sat down on the floor at Kohls and called Kambria and said, "Kambria will you buy me this garbage truck, I just love it."  It was pretty dang cute, and she says, "Of coarse buddy, I would probably buy you anything when you ask so cute." 

So here he is opening the garbage truck and he still LOVES it.  He was so excited- and Kambria got plenty of hugs and kissed from him!

Ashlyn was MIA all night- I think I might have seen her long enough to make sure she ate something healthy for dinner.  There are so many cousins her age and older that she is just busy playing non-stop!  Her favorite thing lately is taking pictures with my camera so she was SO excited to get her own digital camera from her cousin Sam.

One of the funnest surprises of the night was giving my parents their present.  All of the kids pitched in and got them....

What could cause a reaction like that?

A new Big Screen TV!!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning the kids actually slept until 7:30- pretty amazing seeing as how Ashlyn usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00 on normal days.  We didn't complain!  Ashlyn was sure she heard Santa in the night, and dad even found a few bits of carrots on the front porch from the reindeer. 

The stockings were stuffed with slinky toys, play dough and bubble gum- all a huge hit!

Ashlyn couldn't stick with one thing more than 30 seconds she wanted to be on to the next.  Tanner on the otherhand wanted to just play with whatever he opened.

Ashlyn got her much anticipated Leapster!

And it didn't take her long to figure out how to play it!

Ashlyn loves shopping for Brad and I.  She thinks through things and tries to pick out just the right gift.  She even earns her own money to go shopping with.  She picked out purple fuzzy slipper socks for me with a sparkley heart on them!  And a pair of leather slippers for Brad that he can wear outside.

When Tanner opened his trains he picked them right up and took them to his room.  He was so funny, he wasn't going to let anyone else claim those- they were HIS!

We finally convinced him to bring them out of his room so we could help him set them up to play with. He was a riot watching drive that train.

Tanner picked out a gift for dad too- a tin of nuts (cashews).  He recogized them at the store and knew his dad loved them!

We stayed at home and played all morning with their new toys and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa Gunnell's for Christmas lunch.  Christmas was different this year at the Gunnells because Grandpa was in the hospital and couldn't be with us.  He has always had problems with his heart, but the last 6 months they have gotten worse.  He went to get a second opinion from a new Cardiologist on the 22nd, and the doctor admitted him to the hospital right away for additional testing.  The test results weren't good, he had major blockage in a main artery to his heart and several more smaller ones.  So they kept him in the hospital fearing he would have a heart attack if he left.  He then had Tripple Bypass Surgery a few days after Christmas. It was hard to not have him around for Christmas, but this surgery will keep him around longer. The kids hated not being able to see him, they didn't allow kids in the hospital so they would call him and sing Christmas songs to him.  Grandma Gunnell was a trooper and still hosted Christmas lunch and handed out all the presents to everyone.   

Ashlyn's cousins Spencer and Kelsey were intrigued with her new Leapster, and Ashlyn was all about showing them how SHE could play it.

Lucky for us our parents live so close to each other so it is easy to always visit both families.

Tanner got his own light sword and was immediately fighting his cousins and wacking people with it!

Ashlyn sporting her new ear warmers wearing her cousin Sam's roller skates.

It was a great Christmas and we are SO blessed.  I enjoyed more than ever sitting back and watching the complete JOY on my kids faces.  They loved getting presents, but they also found so much joy in giving them too.

Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...

So much to do to get ready for Santa!  The cookies were made special by my two little elves!  They hand decorated each one with plenty of M&M's for Santa.

Tanner didn't really understand the whole concept of making cookies for Santa, but he wasn't going to complain that we were making cookies.  After the cookies were out of the oven I had put them on the cooling rack and was downstairs on the computer.  Tanner came down to me with a chocolate face and a smile and said, "I ate 3 Santa cookies!" 

Ashlyn on the other hand fully understood the concept of Santa cookies.  She was hesitant to eat any herself because she didn't know how many Santa would need.  I assured her there was plenty and then she helped herself to plenty of cookies.  Before going to bed that night she made sure to set out the cookies and milk for Santa and then set out some carrots for the reindeer.  She left a note saying, "The cookies are for you Santa, and the carrots are for your reindeer.  Make sure the other reindeer share with Rudolph!"  She was so concerned that they would leave Rudolph out! 

Before we went to dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Wells they opened up their Christmas PJ's.  Tanner didn't want to wear his Buzz Light Year jammies right away but brought them in a bag to Grandma's.

Ashlyn had her Princess jammies and slippers on before Tanner had even finished unwrapping his!  She was all about wearing PJ's to dinner!

My mom made a fabulous dinner.  Way more festive then my family would have gotten at our house.  The week before Christmas Brad and both kids came down with strep throat.  I was lucky enough to not get it then so I could take care of them all, but then it hit me like a truck a few days after just in time fore the holiday.  On top of the strep throat and being pregnant, I got the stomach flu.  Needless to say I was EXTREMELY grateful to my parents for providing us with something to do on Christmas Eve! 
The red jello in individual cups was a big hit for Tanner!

Ashlyn didn't like the jello, but devoured the ham!

Sitting back getting ready to do the nativity with the kids. 

Ashlyn and Tanner with their cousin Sierra put all the characters in place as they learned about Jesus' birth.

Tanner wasn't about to let his puppy miss out on the Christmas fun!

Tanner sang Jingle Bells at the top of his lungs while running around in circles dancing.  It was so funny!  He entertained us all.  When we got home he didn't care about putting out the Santa cookies or anything he just wanted to go to bed.  He kept saying, "I'm too tired from singing all those Jingle Bells!"  So we didn't have to fight him at all, he went right to sleep!

Gingerbread House

What is Christmas without a Gingerbread House? This has become a Christmas "must" with our kids. They love decorating the house and they love the yucky candy that comes on the house. Ashlyn even likes the store made gingerbread! Crazy Kids!


This is a picture Ashlyn took of her Christmas decorations. She loves making things and hanging them up on our back door. This year snow flakes have been her favorite thing to make. My kitchen floor has looked like it has snowed inside with white paper since she learned how to make these lovely snowflakes. It drives me crazy!

Dear Santa

For our Ward Christmas Party this year we were so lucky to have Santa come visit. There were so many kids waiting to see him that by the time it was Tanner's turn he was half asleep! But he has stuck to his Christmas wish 100% and has never changed his mind about what he is asking Santa for, and that is Train Tracks! He diligently and half asleep climbed up on Santa's lap to tell him he would like train tracks please!Ashlyn and her friend Afton on the other hand didn't mind waiting at all for their chance to sit on Santa's lap. They were gitty and giggly the whole time! Ashlyn asked Santa for a Leapster.


And they insisted on sitting on his lap together!

I love this time of year for so many reasons, but one of the best is the effect the naughty and nice list has on little kids. Any time they are disobeying or fighting you just have to remind them that Santa is watching and they immediately stop! It is GREAT!

It's a....

BOY

Lucky for me we have an O.B. in the family so we got to find out the gender of our baby at 15 weeks! My brother-in-law Nathan was so nice to let the whole crew come see the little guy for the first time.

Tanner wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing. He backed up into the corner and watched as Nathan did the ultra sound.



Ashlyn was so sure it was going to be a girl, and to be honest I thought it was a girl too. It only took her a second to be okay with the fact that she was going to have another brother though. She thought about it for a minute and then said, "Well, if he is as cute as Sam's new brother I guess it's okay that it's a boy!" In one of the ultra sound pictures the baby has his arm up and Nathan told Ashlyn he was waving at her. She thought that was the coolest thing ever!

There is NO DOUBT he is a BOY!!! Brad couldn't be more proud (you could hear his sigh of relief when he saw it was a boy) and I am thrilled too!

Now I just have to get through the pregnancy, but I can't wait to meet the little guy!

Handyman Tanner

Brad has been working on finishing the bathroom downstairs and he has a little sidekick that comes running to help whenever he hears any tools going! Tanner is actually pretty handy. Brad will go to find a tool or a screw or something and chances are Tanner has taken over using it!

Tanner has his own set of tools too and is always ready and willing to help out! This is going to be the best built bathroom ever!

Just don't let him get a hold of any styrofoam- not a fun mess to clean up!