It was a Very Merry Christmas!!

We were so pleased to have my mom visit us from Oregon this Christmas! It was our first time hosting family for the holidays since we got married 13 years ago! It was so nice to share with her the traditions I've started with my own family and see the joy on her face when she was with the children! The boys slept in until 7:00 and we rushed to open stockings and presents. We all must have been VERY good this year! ;) Afterwards we had Weston's brother's family over for brunch. I made homemade cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, peppered bacon, fresh fruit, juice and hot chocolate. We stayed in our jammies and relaxed all afternoon. Later that night we had a delicious Honey Baked Ham with garlic mashed potatoes, creamed corn, cinammon apples, and homemade rolls! Needless to say I was pooped by the end of the day! I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas as well!



All 3 boys with their cousin Ethan.


Building a gingerbread train with Grammy.


Logan was the 1st to find the pickle ornament hidden in the tree so he gets to open the 1st present on Christmas Eve!


Milk and cookies for Santa and we couldn't forget the reindeer!


Santa brought Grammy a stocking!


Modeling her new headband and scarf!















Santa brought the Big boys Nintendo DS's this year.




I LOVE my new boots Weston got me! Is he trying to tell me he's into biker chicks? ;)


In addition to a beautiful necklace...my mom surprised me with my great grandmother's gorgeous ring! It is so elegant and timeless and I'm so proud to wear this family heirloom...maybe I'll have a daughter to pass it on to someday! ;)


Finishing off our brunch with some yummy hot chocolate.

We took a ride on the Polar Express...all the way to the Grand Canyon!

Well not really...the Polar Express goes to the North Pole of course! :) We had to rely on our own car to drive us the additional 60 minutes to get to the Grand Canyon. What a wonderful adventure and priceless memories we made on this trip! We've decided that we are going to make this an annual tradition...it was THAT fun! The boys' favorite part was the train ride and waking up to tons of SNOW!! My favorite part was eating dinner by a roaring fire in a huge banquet room filled with children and adults all in their jammies! Why can't we do that more often? ;)



The lobby of our hotel was so beautifully decorated! It really made it feel like Christmas!


Logan and Carson with Grammy. (my mom)


We LOVED the fire in the lobby of our hotel! We spent a lot of time there!


Pretty cute boys if I do say so myself!


It was pouring rain so we were a bit soaked by the time we boarded the train!


We're ready to GO! (Next year Weston is sooo wearing his P.J.'s) ;)




Our singing waiters served us delicious chocolate chip cookies!


We finished those off with yummy HOT,HOT,HOT...HOT CHOCOLATE!


Reading along with the story...we're getting close!


We've arrived! Santa is waving to us from his sleigh!





Santa came aboard the train and gave all of the children a bell!






Checking their bells to see if they can hear them ring...yup they believe!


London was really excited to ring his bell...and Weston almost got wacked in the head!



On the ride home the entire train sang Christmas carols!


After dinner we took some pictures with Santa! By this point London was exhaused and wouldn't get near Santa with a 10 ft. pole!


Mrs. Claus was lovely of course!


The boys were entranced by this beautiful Christmas village.


On our short walk back to our room we paused to enjoy the Christmas lights and the rain turned to snow! I don't think the boys have ever been quite so excited! It really made the night feel magical!



This is what we awoke to the next morning...just beautiful!









So thankful for that warm fire so we could dry off!



Later that day our adventure continued at the Grand Canyon. This was my mom's, myself, and the 3 boys' 1st visit there! These pictures speak for themselves...breathtaking!