Christmas

Merry Christmas 

We spent Christmas at Island Park at the cabin this year, a perfect ambiance for the holiday! Unfortunately there was not the usual snow accumulation at this point in the year, but we still had a nice time snow mobiling a bit, relaxing, and being with family.

We rode the snow mobiles to Mesa Falls one day. It was a longer ride, but well worth it as I have never seen them before. It was beautiful! Truly amazing!
Peyton and I decorated a Gingerbread house as another festive activity while we were at the cabin. She wanted to do the frosting independently and loved putting candy on while eating a few for herself.

Since we were at the cabin the week pre-Christmas and I knew the kids would have plenty to open Christmas day, we let them have Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Hockenjos a few days early. Peyton has definitely caught on to the delight of present receiving. She went from one present to the next happy as could be. Her set of princesses, princess hair styling set, Cinderella dress up dress, and all her presents were such a hit and right up her alley right now. Grant enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper of course, but received a few cute toys and his first tie. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.

The Pretty Pretty Princess Game has been played every night pretty much since she received it. She is truly our little princess!

Standing on the window sill banging on the window kept Grant quite entertained! He has a special bond with his Aunt Annie, that's for sure. He gets so excited every time he sees her.

Peyton's rosy cheeks and bright blue eyes stand out in the snow. She is a cutie!
 

Since Grant looks so much like his Daddy we are trying to have him walk in the footsteps of him too, starting him young on a snow mobile!

Grant on his own discovered that eating snow was fun! Peyton wanted to try too of course. She enjoyed the large icicles we found too! 

Peyton was a bit unsure of the noise of the snow mobiles, but by the end of our trip she warmed up to them a bit and even asked for more. Taylor took her on a few nice rides. It was so sweet to watch.

I enjoyed many moments with my sweet kids. I love being a mom and watching them experience life and all the new, exciting things that continue to come their way. 

 

We didn't have a Christmas tree at the cabin which to me was a bit sad so we became creative and made our very own "Charlie Brown tree." Megan and Annie strung popcorn while Peyton and I tied bows. Peyton collected pine cones and made tinfoil balls for the tree too. It was a fun activity and added to our Christmas spirit. Peyton, before we left for the cabin loved putting presents under our Christmas tree, so she thoroughly enjoyed doing this at the cabin too. 

Our little tree and presents ready for Christmas morning!

anta found us at the cabin! Peyton is quite fearful of actually seeing Santa but the idea of him and him bringing her presents became better and better the whole season long. She left him cookies and the reindeer carrots outside since we assured her Santa doesn't come inside (as that is scary to her) since he is so busy delivering presents. As long as he left the presents outside, Santa was great in her mind and she was happy and worry free! 

Grant's first Christmas. He is a great gift to our family himself. We love him so much. He enjoyed the wrapping paper and loved his train especially. Peyton is a delight to be around and made Christmas so much more magical this year. She got a grocery cart, baby crib, and a v-tech reader among other things. She also got an Arial vanity that Santa brought to our home, which she loves. They both got great toys and had a fantastic Christmas. Thanks Nana and Papa (and Santa) for helping make it such a special Christmas!