Christmas Day 2012

The kids were so excited for Christmas morning, as were Chris and I. It's so much fun to relive through our kids the magic that Christmas brings. It's sure a whole lot of work but so worth every ounce of effort!

Here is what the kids woke up to:


Emmie got her requested Baby Alive doll and high chair, Lexi a Minnie Mouse ride on/walker that lights up, sings, and spins, and Parker his much anticipated "SURPRISE" was an Imaginext castle, that interacts with a big dragon, ogre and cannon ball thrower. It's a pretty awesome toy, I have to say!
They were all happy with Santa's delivery!

Emmie also loved her Cinderella carriage, Lexi her mini go-go puppy, and Parker was so happy with his new BYU hat found in his stocking that he slept in it every night for the following week. In all honesty, it makes me cringe a little, but whatever makes him happy. Sorry BYU. :) And did I mention he also got the new Wii U game system? That was his very last "hidden" present and he was literally bouncing off the couch in excitement. Totally spoiled, I know, but I'm not so sure if that present was more for him or for the purchaser... which wasn't me...;) Needless to say, we had some happy boys in our house that morning!

Our next stop was Mimi's house at 1:00, just like it is every year. Mimi fell and broke her ankle in early December, so this year the gathering was upstairs in her Living Room, rather than her spacious downstairs family room. Between she and my Dad, it's always Christmas Present Wonderland, so it was a little crowded with everyone's gifts, but we made it work. Mimi is a gifted party thrower & gatherings from food to gifts to decorations are always perfection. Even hosting from a wheelchair this year, everything was so nice, and the gifts from all were so generous.

Steven and Kylie & Baby Jack were moving to San Diego 2 days later, so I couldn't hold back the tears when it was time to say goodbye, knowing we wouldn't see them again for a long time. I was so sad to have them leave but so glad for them and their new ventures in San Diego as Steven pursues his MBA at SDSU. I loved living out of state and know they will too. I think it's a great experience for every young married couple.

Next and last stop, was the Hansens.

Ends up, the only pics I had taken were these... of our own little fam! I guess I was tired of playing photographer, and mostly I was irritated at my camera that has been taking lots of blurry pics since being dropped a few months back...:)

{Lex was asleep in her carseat for this pic}

There we had a delicious dinner and more gift opening.
It was a very busy, but wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2012

CHRISTMAS EVE

COUSINS
Isaac is just 8 months older than Lexi.

Love this cute face!


We spent the evening with Hansens.
I thought I was going to have a panic attack leading up to our ride over there as it had been snowing quite a bit all day and driving in the snow (especially at night) gives me extreme anxiety. BIG TIME! I am such a homebody anyways, and when it's snowing, there are few things that make me put my kids in what I feel to be harms way by driving in bad weather conditions.
 Low and behold, we went anyways, and thankfully made it there and back safely.
Sometimes I think I need to get my hands on some Xanax...

In all honesty, the mood at the Hansens was a somber one this year.
 We were missing these two important family members...



Grandpa and Atticus, Christmas Eve 2011.


{Parker, Atticus and Emmie (& Uncle Z) December 2011}

It's so crazy to look at these pictures from Christmas 2011, just one year ago and think of how oblivious we were to the doom we were all about to be hit with with Atti's diagnosis just weeks later.
My kids loved their first little cousin so much and had such a fun time laughing, chasing and playing with him for days over the Christmas break. It really hurts to not have him here with us. Parker and Emmie pray for Atticus every night. And Cindy and Eric. We hate watching them suffer through the loss of their sweet little boy. It just doesn't seem fair. We're SO grateful for the knowledge of eternal families. But it still stinks.  A LOT!

Grandma H read this cute story about a Christmas train by Thomas S. Monson, and gave that book as a gift to all the family's with kids (the Loncyna extended family side were there also).

We left a little early skipping the candy bar game, so that we could brave the snowy conditions and get our kiddos home and in bed and ready for Santa's visit. 

 

Christmas buildup

Holiday Festivities...

The Festival of Trees... I was so glad we could make it there this year since we missed it in 2011. It was a quick excursion because we had to get back for afternoon kindergarten and preschool, but as always, I was glad that we went!
 I love the Christmas spirit that this festival represents. I love seeing all the beautiful, creative trees that have lovingly & thoughtfully been crafted in honor of lost loved ones & that they stand as a tribute to an amazing person or child.  I love that the proceeds for the auctioned off trees go to Primary Childrens Hospital. 
What's not to love about this awesome Festival?

Visit with Old St. Nick....

None of our kids have ever cried visiting Santa.

Ever!

And we've been to visit every single year of their lives.

 Pretty impressive, ay? Okay maybe not so impressive that they willingly sit on some stranger's lap... Lexi was CLOSE to breaking down but she recovered quickly, keeping up our no-cry record.

Not sure it gets any more corny than this....

They charged us a whopping $30 to get our pics taken with Santa at the Mall.

I know I'm kind of a frugal girl, but THiRTY BUCKS!?

 That was the minimum package, and they won't let you take one with your own camera, so basically you're conned into paying up, if you want any recollection of this moment someday. So of course I had to milk it for all it was worth, and had them take a family pic, in addtion to the kiddo one. Somehow it made me feel a little better for our thirty dollar minute-and-a-half visit with Kris Kringle!

Oh well, sometimes it's just worth sucking it up and paying. :)

 Emmie asked for a Baby Alive Doll, and Parker asked for another "Surprise" this year.

I love that kid.

 

 

 The kids were pretty excited to make gingerbread houses this year!
So maybe they're not the prettiest houses in Gingerbread Land, but we ran out of candy fast, and they were pretty proud of their creations, so we called it a success.

The most important holiday festivity of all to me was getting to Temple Square to see the lights. Chris has Mondays off, so the first Monday that we were healthy in December, we jumped at the chance of going. It was a really, really fun night!
And we lucked out, because it was pretty "warm" too!

 

 I just love the special feeling there is at Temple Square.


Combine that with the Christmas season, the amazing Christmas lights, the nativity, and the statue of the Savior in the Visitors Center, and it makes for a pretty incredible evening.



And to top it off, we walked over to City Creek to find a huge crowd surrounding the fountains that were done by my uncle there, cheering and applauding to the dancing water choreographed to beautiful Christmas music, like is done at the Bellagio. I had not yet seen these fountains at night, and I have to say, they were pretty spectacular! I wished my Grandma were there to see the crowds (or my Uncle - who lives in LA) cheering for her son's amazing water show. SO fun to see that! Even if my uncle weren't the creator, the show was undeniably awesome - confirmed by the applause of the crowd! I loved it!

O Christmas Tree...



It's tradition that every vacation we go on, we try to buy a Christmas ornament for our tree. We started this on our honeymoon in San Diego, where we got a Santa starfish. This year we bought a little sparkly cupcake representing the celebration of Lexi's first birthday in San Francisco, and we also bought a trolley car ornament, hanging there between the girls. We've collected lots of Disney ornaments over the years. Maybe someday we can visit somewhere other than Cali (not that I mind visiting Cali - love it there!) and add a palm tree (from the Caribbean preferably), the White House, Kensington Palace, and a Statue of Liberty...Just a few stops on my bucket list.
Someday, right?!;)

We basically let the kids decorate both trees this year. In the past I would have "fixed" it or tried to perfect them a bit, but I just didn't care this year. It's funny how much more relaxed I am than when we had just one or even two kids. Or maybe it's just that I'm too tired. Either way, some things just don't matter- a lesson I'm always learning. I think they did a pretty good job though! (and not to say Chris and I didn't help at all...)

Having kids just puts a whole new spin on Christmas and we had a great holiday season! We mostly stayed healthy, a small miracle in itself since November and January and so far February were super sickly months for us!
Very grateful to be healthy for the holidays and very grateful for these cute little faces to share them with!

Sibling dynamics

This little munchkin...


She kind of rules the roost around here.
She might be itty, (insinuating innocence) but don't be fooled...

Need I say more.
You can just hear her adorable, cackly little squeal by looking at this picture.
She has us wrapped around her little finger.
And she knows it.

She loves her goofy big brother and sister.

This photo op back in November was irresistible with these two giggling in delight of each other, teasing and taunting.
 Fresh out of their baths.
 Lexi loves her "Darder" (her attempt (beginning Jan '13) at saying "Parker"), and Parker loves his "Lex Lex".


He had her back as she climbed up the stairs for the first time back in December,
& I have a feeling this doting big bro always will!
He thinks she's pretty awesome.
And hysterical.
Lexi loves that he finds her funny.

She can con all sorts of things out of her big brother, like pretty awesome rides...slicked back hair after baths makes them extra authentic.

And when no one else can get Lexi to eat, no worries, big sis to the rescue! While she's at it, Emmie will even provide some happy hour entertainment.
I love it when my kids make each other laugh.

As much as she loves them, and loves their attention, Lexi also values  her space. High-pitched,  Pterodactyl-like shrieks often rattle our house, and despite her calls of warning to back off, her sibs don't always heed. As a result, one of the many shouted repeated phrases in our home, justified by the rescue of our littlest is, " LEAVE. LEXI. ALONE!". While Parker loves to help and play with his sis, he's also not above harassing her and poor Lex is just not always up to it.  In this last few weeks (late January), Lexi's new thing is to aggressively call out,
 "EH EHHHHH!" to anyone who might be approaching when she's not ready to interact. Mostly she gives this call out to P and E who like to tote her around without her permission, but she also uses it on Mom and Dad when she doesn't want to be removed from whatever naughty activity she's gotten into.
  Our sweet little Lex is turning into quite the sassy lately!

But all in all she's so sweet and fun and definitely does not lack in preferences, opinions and personality! She adds so much to our family and we love her so much!
She is definitely the 3rd child and holds her own against her big brother and sister!

 

It's crazy to me that this awesome little package of three kiddos all happened in  just 5 years.
 It's gone by in a flash.
They have brought us more delight, more messes, more patience-testing, more smiles, more psychotic episodes (by both adult and child), more value, more sleep deprivation, more adventure, more challenges, more satisfaction, more testing of limits, more fulfillment, more sheer exhaustion, more fun, more stress, more meaning, more cleaning, and more JOY to our lives than we ever knew possible.
We think they're pretty awesome and feel blessed to call them ours.