Christmas at Mom and Dad Vicks

 CHRISTMAS EVE

Santa visited on Christmas Eve and all the kids were thrilled!  Jake hung on every word he said, he gave him his full attention and just soaked it all in.  It was too cute.

 Cooper sat on Santa's lap without even crying.  He even responded to questions that Santa asked.  Granted, most of his time with Santa was just staring but I was happy he didn't cry!

  Even the adults got turns sitting on Santa's lap

 Santa brought presents for the kids, pajamas.  They were such cute jammies. 

 After the kids went to bed the adults gathered together for a pajama contest and white elephant gift exchange.  It was a lot of fun.  I dressed up in nana's (my mom's mom) mumu and pretended I was her. 

 And then we all went to bed and Santa came

CHRISTMAS DAY

 The kid's table

 And to work off some of the food we ate, Felecia went out with some of the girls to do some exercise.  She was copying this routine.  So so funny!

 OTHER THINGS WE DID
We took walks on really pretty days

 Took naps

 Had fun sitting in the dark when the power went out.  It was a lot of fun and reminded us of when we lived in Massachusetts and the power would go out.  Ahh, the memories!

 Cute faces, trips in the car - we went to watch a movie at Jeremy's, about a mile away.  Our car wouldn't start (we got it fixed, it was the starter) so we let Cooper hang in the back of my parent's car with Alex.  I can't tell you how excited he was to ride with a seat belt. 
We watched movies at JEremy's, Shad's, had an adult date night, got babysitters and went to dinner.  We made cute purses and watched The Other Sister, an all time favorite of mine and my sisters.  We played games and lots of charades, and many variations of charades.  It was one of the best trips I've ever had.  It was so nice to have all the kids there at my parent's house, we had a blast! 

 

UTAH - PART I - EDWARDS

 We drove to Utah and spent 10 days there this Christmas.  We split the time between both families and came home with a few days left to relax.  

THE RIDE - My son and his mad photography skills

 We gave each boy a dvd player to watch movies.  Cooper chose a Little People Discovering Animals movie and continuously watched it our whole drive.  This Cooper, the one that doesn't last but 5 minutes watching tv.  I couldn't believe how much he liked this movie.  It made for a very pleasant trip.  Jake was easy, of course.  He's finally reached that easy age, sigh, it's nice. 

 We spent the first part of the trip with Wesley's family.  We went to Christmas Village in Ogden which is always fun.

 We thought it would be fun for the boys to take the train to downtown Salt Lake.  We thought while we were there we would go to the Planetarium, and that was a lot of fun.  The boys loved the train too.  Wesley's sister Sherri and her kids came too.  Jake just adores them and they are such good sports and play so well with him. 

 

 Wesley got the flu or something one day so we went down with the kids to Sherri's house to play.  The kids had a blast playing there.  Cooper couldn't get enough of their cat, either. 

 Cooper with Aunt Lisa

Jimmy Johns - we like!  I'm not kidding, the fastest delivery service ever.  We've gotten our order in as little as 8 minutes.  Their french bread is delish.  We went for lunch one day with Wesley's parents and his sister Lisa.  Then it was off to do some wedding planning.  It was fun to spend time with Marilee and Lisa.  

Here's Dallas and jake together, so cute. And then Wesley, Marilee, Lisa and of course, Cooper

Getting ready for our prime rib dinner.  It was amazing.  Jake lives to help.  He set up the glasses just so.  Then he hung out with the guys in the comfy chairs. 

Pre-Christmas Stuff

 Wesley's mom flew in to watch the boys for us so we could have our anniversary trip in Vail.  She also brought some Christmas presents for the boys.  The books they good are so much fun.  Furious George and Pout Pout Fish.  So cute. 

 Jake's preschool had their Christmas program at a nearby school but since there wasn't enough room for all the parents in the classroom, they did the program for us again.  It was so cute to watch these 3 and 4 year olds!

 Daddy's little helpers.  Always wanting to help out. 

 One of Jake and Cooper's babysitters, Bailey had asked if she could take Jake on a "date" to the movies to see Tangled.  I can't tell you how excited he was to have a day with just he and Bailey.  She came and picked him up, she bought him popcorn and lemonade, watched the movie and came home a very happy boy!  It was such a sweet idea and we love her so!  The girls that babysit for us are just all so amazing!  They are the most mature and well behaved teenagers, they seem so grounded and confident, traits that I don't think I had at that age.  They amaze me. 

ANNIVERSARY

ANNIVERSARY 

Wesley and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this last December.  I sure love this guy!  Wesley had moved to California for work and I had just returned from my mission 6 months prior to our meeting.  A friend introduced us, we dated for a year and were married in the Oakland Temple.  We go on dates nearly every week, I love date night!  He's so fun to be around, he's my rock, my sanity, the best father, he keeps me grounded, gives great advice and helps me see the bigger picture.   He's just so nice to be around.  I'm so glad he chose me and I count myself blessed every single day.  

So for our anniversary this year, we decided to go to Vail, have a relaxed weekend and go skiing.  It was a great weekend!  

Friday we explored the area, enjoyed walking around and seeing the cute town.  We made sure to relax and not have much of a schedule.  That night we ate at Sweet Basil where we had one amazing meal.  I had the roasted duck breast and Wesley the short rib.  I hadn't ever really had duck before and it was one of the best meals I've ever had.  YUM!  

Saturday we went skiing.  I'm not a great skier like Wes but I like to go every now and then.  I like to stick to the green runs.  Vail's greens seemed very difficult for me.  They seemed harder than some blues I've been on before.  So as not to bore Wes all day, after lunch, I hung out in the lodge and he took off to do some more challenging runs.  We were both happy.  

When we returned to the hotel we got massages.  It was the best massage I've ever had.  We took advantage of the hot tub too.  We went out to dinner again and went to a cute gelato dessert place.  We found out they had a branch we could go to church at the nearby town so on Sunday we went to sacrament.  It was a really nice meeting and I was able to hear all of the talks, how different things are when your children aren't around.  

Our trip to Vail was wonderful and our weekend was great!

 

 I love when they give you robes and slippers to wear.  

 Cute town

NOVEMBER

 MOM AND DAD VICK VISIT
My parents were able to come for a visit in November.  It was so much fun having them here.  As soon as we got to the airport, we had a sign welcoming them and the boys were so excited to see them!  Cooper even got a ride on grandaddy's suitcase.

We went to Mt. Fuji for dinner, a Japanese Hibachi restaurant which is always fun to watch them cook in front of us.  We were even treated with a magician at the end.  Very random and a bit weird.

My dad took the boys on walks nearly everyday and they'd go to the park across the street.  The boys loved it.  We went to the park one night and took the boys on the bikes.

At the park

With my gorgeous mama

 My parents - funny faces

Jake on the swing with grandaddy

 I can't tell you how many times Cooper made my mom play this with him

 Before I knew my parents were coming, we'd already bought tickets with Clint and Kara to see Idina Menzel with the Colorado Symphony.  They said they'd watch the kids while we went on our date.  It was A.MAZ.ING!.  Best show ever, Wes and I had great seats, 5 rows back in the front center.  She was so laid back and has an amazing voice and the symphony was wonderful as well.  I love anything involving music!  For those who don't know, Idina Menzel was Elphaba in the musical Wicked on Broadway.  I had actually gotten to see her in it when I was in New York a few years ago.  So it was a treat to see her again, I loved her!

Because I couldn't use my flash, it was hard to get a good picture of her but we had great seats and could see her so well!  She was fun and hilarious!

 NOVEMBER STUFF
Jake is part of a play group where we drop off our 3 year olds to one person's house and they watch the kids and we all take turns hosting.  The week it was at my house was right after the first snow fall so we were inside the whole time.  Here's a few of the kids dancing to Little People Dance Music. 

 The first snowfall

 My Cooper watching a movie in the play room

 Does anyone else have a child that is deathly afraid of soap getting in their eyes in the bathtub?  That's our Jacob for sure.  I've never gotten soap in his eyes yet he is still so afraid, and we have had many battles in the tub trying to convince him it's okay.  I even bought that special cup thing that molds around their forehead and water just goes down the side of his face.  Nothing has worked.  Even him lying down in the tub scares him...BUT we've found a solution, see below!  We are happy now! 

 

My sweet boys, watching the garbage truck pass by, Jake feeding his brother, costumes and cuteness

 Date night again.  We got tickets to see the Denver Pro Soccer Team play in the Championships.  We were in the front row behind the goalie.  It was super cold.  I had on 4 pairs of socks, thermals, sweater, 2 jackets, a beanie and hood and my down jacket as well as a blanket for my legs.  I was almost completely warm but I still got chilly... I know, I'm pretty pathetic that way.  I don't like it too hot or too cold (no wonder the bay area weather suited me so well).  I think my body prefers it 72 degrees year round.  Anything hotter or colder and I get cranky...  Anyway, it was a fun night and our team won!

 Family pictures

 Fall centerpiece

 

THANKSGIVING VISITORS - VICK FAMILY

 We were so excited when my brother, Shad told us they would be coming for Thanksgiving.  We had a blast with them here!  Jake loved having his cousins here to play and sleep over.  Here's Gabriella, Jake and Bethany with their sleepovers.  The 3 of them played so well together all week.  Cooper jumped in with them here and there.  

 THANKSGIVING DAY
This was the first time we have hosted Thanksgiving and we were so excited for it!  
 It started out with football.  Shad and Wesley went across the street to play football with some other guys at church.  We went over towards the end to watch and play at the park.  
For dinner, many cooking shows were watched beforehand so I could find good tips and ideas.  Wes was in charge of turkey.  It was amazing!  It tasted so moist and yummy!  He brined it the night before and that made all the difference.  We didn't have to add any seasoning to the gravy.  My sister-in-law Jen and I did most of everything else.  Side note:  I tried the green bean casserole recipe of Paula Dean and it was so good!  We'll try it again sometime.  My sister Lea gave me the idea to use just brown paper so the kids could color on.  That was a great idea!  I used brown wrapping paper and put crayons on the table.  She also gave me the idea to put questions into the bread rolls and then when you bit into your roll, you'd pull out the paper with the question and answer it.  Questions about being thankful.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  
The Table

 

 The gang

 We went to the Nature and Science Museum one of the days.  It is such a fun place!  I hadn't ever been to the top of the building, but it has a gorgeous view so we had to take a picture!

 Exhibits

 Gabriella and Jake are just 6 months apart and are so cute together!  They were quite the pair all week.  So cute!

 Here's Dallen holding Lucas, Malia on our ball, and Bethany doing some Sudoku!  I, for some reason, didn't get a solo picture of Spencer, the oldest but he is in the group pictures. 

 Lucas, tell me he doesn't have the sweetest smile!  
Chilling in their strollers (Cooper and Lucas)