One More Thing On My Wish List...

I saw this at the park the other day. Great idea - I want one! (The snack tray. In black. For some reason I can't link straight to it.) Or something similar. I wish they had these with steering wheels - Gavin would love that. Anyone seen anything else like this?

Christmas Fun!

Like everyone else on the planet, I looooooove Christmas! This year is especially fun because Gavin is old enough to get into it, too. We've been trying to do something fun and Christmas-y every day. Unfortunately, our camera is broken. Boo-hoo! So I haven't taken pictures of most of it. But here are a few highlights from earlier in the month:

Picking out a Christmas tree:

Gavin was REALLY excited about this. Then he saw the guy take a chainsaw to the tree bottom and stuff the tree in a mesh bag and he almost lost it. He started turning red and shaking in fury, and we only just barely avoided a serious Gavin tantrum by cheering loudly and saying, "Yeah! He helped us with our tree! Thank you, thank you! Hooray!" Gavin finally got the idea and clapped along a little half-heartedly. When we got home he said, "Yeah! A Christmas tree! Santa come!" So we had to explain that even though we put up a tree so Santa will come, it's still "not yet".

The Live Nativity Scene:

A local LDS church puts this on one weekend a year. I know they do this in Utah, but I think our weather is a little more conducive! We went with some friends from the ward, and it really was neat. Gavin loved seeing the live animals, though he was very concerned when I said that Baby Jesus' Mommy was sad because they didn't have anywhere to sleep and had to sleep with the animals. He's been talking about it ever since, and asking, "Baby Jesus happy now?"

Check out those choirs of angels - on top of the church!

We've also been baking (and painting) cookies, making ornaments, visiting Santa, driving around to see the lights, listening to Christmas music, and watching Rudolph, which is REALLY SCARY! Oh, and we've done LOTS of shopping. Merry Christmas! We hope you're having as much fun as we are!

24 Days Of Christmas Tag

Merry Christmas Meme! Courtesy of Purling Sprite.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. Coordinated, if I can manage it.
2. Real or fake tree? Real, but I might have to convert to fake. Real trees just don't last here!
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving, though I'd love to do it sooner!
4. When do you take the tree down? When it dies. Mid-January if you live in Utah. Before going home for Christmas if you live in Las Vegas.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes! With Sprite. Gavin loves it, too. Dave thinks we are nasty.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? One year I asked for a book shelf! I guess I've always been a nerd. There was also a very memorable kitchen set...
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - two from Peru. One is a real Chulucano set. I'd take a picture, but *sniff* my camera is broken!
8. Hardest person to buy for? Dave. No, my mom. No, my dad. No, my brother-in-law. No, Dave.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Gavin.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever got? I've had a few memorable sweaters...
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, if I get around to it. But without the brag letter. I don't really send cards to people who I haven't kept up with over the year anyway.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Muppet Family Christmas!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Mid-November. And finish, oh, Christmas Eve.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, but I'm guilty of wedding and baby present recycling.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Pumpkin Rolls!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear
17. Favorite Christmas song? Gavin would vote for "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". He knows every verse!
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel to Idaho, but one of these years I'm going to campaign for a Christmas in Cancun.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Of course!
20. Angel or a star on the tree top? Star from Peru.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Homemade gifts and PJs on Christmas Eve, the rest Christmas morning. Dave is looking forward to his debut as Santa Claus this year. I bought him a suit and everything!
22. Where are your favorite places to shop? Barnes and Noble! OK, mostly for myself.
23. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowds!
24. What I love most about Christmas? Traditions. My family does an old-fashioned candlelight Christmas Eve. We eat beef stew (when we were kids we had to "hunt" for the meat ourselves!) and take turns lighting a candle and telling what we are grateful for in the year past and what we hope for in the year to come. We open homemade gifts and read the Christmas story from the Bible and "Twas the Night Before Christmas". I love the whole evening! Dave's family gets "Grocery Store Christmas" in addition to their regular Christmas presents. His mom goes to the store and buys us each a huge bag of anything that looks tasty or fun. It's so funny to see what she comes up with!

Now TAG - you're it! Leave a comment if you do it so I can be sure and check out your answers!

Making Friends

Gavin's been having loads of fun with friends lately. With so many pregnant girls and new moms in the ward we do a lot of kid swapping for doctors visits, which Gavin loves because he's realized that kids are a lot more fun than Mom. Of course they don't actually play together, they just each grab an armload of toys and walk around with them for an hour or so, eyeballing the other kid as if just daring them to try and take their toys. This is great for me because packing toys around makes no messes and leaves me with plenty of time for exciting things like dishes and laundry! Gavin's had such a good time playing that now he starts every day by asking if a friend is coming over. Here he is on an especially good day, when both Brady and Sawyer came to play/hoard toys:

We've also had a lot of fun with friends and family that we don't get to see very often. I'm still waiting to get pics back from some of these people, but here's a great shot of Gavin being indoctrinated in Jedi fighting skills by Uncle Rich:
Rich joined us for Thanksgiving, along with Dave's dad and younger brother Mike. Gavin loves it when Grandpa comes down and the Lee boys get together because they are just as fun as any bunch of two-year-old boys. Rich has been a bachelor for years and seems to really enjoying being able to buy things like $200 light sabers without having to answer to anyone. Of course, all this playing with friends can be exhausting. Gavin's always been pretty good about going to sleep when he's tired. I guess he's decided he can handle reading himself a bedtime story, too. Here's how we found him after one exciting day:

Help!

OK, I'm just doing some online shopping and realizing that I've got a problem. For Christmas this year Dave and I are leaving Gavin with the grandparents for a couple of days and going somewhere to sleep in, eat breakfast in bed, read books and watch movies all day. We also might do some swimming, or at least some hot tub sitting. (For fifteen minutes or less in a hot tub less than 102 degrees, of course!) But I have no swimsuit! And for some reason they don't seem to be in season at the mall right now. Anybody know any stores or websites where I can pick up something cute? Or at least something that will cover? I really don't think I can or should try to pull this look off:

Pregnant Bikini Goddess, huh? Not me! Any other ideas?

Las Vegas' Best Kept Secret

We recently visited one of Las Vegas' best kept secrets with our friends the Gublers. This cute little ranch is located just five minutes from our house! For just a few bucks each we got a buggy ride, popcorn and lemonade, a bucket of carrots to feed the animals, and a pumpkin! There are horses, goats and donkeys to feed, a super cute little play yard, and a place for pony rides. They also do birthday parties with games and prizes and food and everything. And Cowboy Max told us that we could stop by any time to feed the horses for free. Of course our camera was almost dead so we didn't get many pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.

Gavin, Annie and Trent check out a tiny little horse -

barely taller than Gavin!

Yeehaw!

Just a little nibble...

Despite the unnecessary use of quotation marks, I love this picture!

Gavin had sooooo much fun! But, of course, with all those live animals and rides and things, his favorite was the little wooden horse. Figures! Anyway, thanks again to the Gublers for introducing us to this great little place!