THANKSGIVING:
- The usual - eating too much! But the food is oh, so good!
- Mom made her Snickers Pudding - Ayden and Dad licked the spatulas clean! (Recipe: Make chocolate pudding with a little less milk than called for and let it set up. Mix in cool whip, marshmallows, and snickers cut into pieces.)
- James' Aunt brought the fixings for Gingerbread (graham cracker) houses. James worked hard on his cabin, Mandy was happy to have her walls stay upright and Ayden covered mom's house in candy! A fun family activity - maybe a tradition in the makings??
PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS:
- Mom and Ayden pulled out all the decorations.
- Ayden found some of last year's treasures including a car and map with hidden messages - A gift from his birth family last year.
- Ayden made some Christmas cards for the special people in his life.
- Ayden was able to meet his Uncle Kurt who had been serving a mission in Chile. He was tired and uncertain at the airport about Kurt. But, with a little rough housing, Ayden was won over! He loves all of his uncles!!
- Ayden had his last day of pre-school for the semester. He will start again in a few weeks with new student-teachers to torment.
THE VISIT TO SANTA (still chuckling about how this one went down...):
- Last year, Ayden was able to see reindeer and Santa at the same time. When Mandy heard about the same opportunity this year, she decided to take Ayden again. However, the line was 1000's of people long. So she decided to take him to the mall Santa instead. Ayden was excited to see Santa and since the line was only 8 families long at the mall, Mom told him "let's get in line so you can go talk with him." Ayden replied, "No Mom, that's not the right Santa!" After trying to explain that it was the same Santa as last time - he just moved to a new location - Ayden started shouting and "freaked out" a little about it. Note: Ayden was going on a long day with no nap... He was arguing and insisting that we had found the wrong Santa. As the others in the line looked at them with dismay (cue other children's faces looking at them with horror - how dare he say it wasn't the right Santa) Mandy agreed to go look for the "right Santa."
- After an hour and a half of waiting in line, Ayden was able to see two reindeer and finally, Santa.
- The whole time in line, Mom had prepped him about how he must sit on Santa's lap for Mom to take a nice picture, and he smiled like a champ!
- After the picture Santa helped Ayden down off his lap and Ayden started to walk away. After two steps Ayden spun around in a panic. "Wait! Santa, I want a skateboard!!" Santa said, "well, alright." And we moved on out.
- Then, the melt down came. Ayden cried for several minutes not understanding why he didn't get to take his skateboard from Santa right then and there. Mom consoled him and explained that if he was good, Santa would bring it to our house on Christmas. After a block or two of driving away, Ayden was sound asleep.
12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS:
- Grandma Susie has continued her mom's tradition of giving her grandkids a gift a day to open leading up to Christmas. Ayden LOVED that!
CHRISTMAS TREE:
- Usually, we find a tree in the mountains to bring home. This year, Dad worked out of town on weekdays and our weekends seemed booked with other activities. So, Dad brought a tree home a few days before Christmas before he headed out of town again. Ayden and Mom decorated it with Dad through FaceTime - yay for modern technology!
- Ayden placed two ornaments (snowman and elf) that were gifts from his birth family together near candy canes in the shape of a heart. It was a heartwarming reminder of others who love him too!
- We had some pictures taken with James' family. It snowed during the pictures - which was an awesome added effect.
- Ayden did a lot of FaceTiming with Dad - including Ayden putting on a dance show to "Ice, Ice Baby." Mom laughed 'til she cried as she tried to figure out where he got his sweet dance moves.
- Mandy chopped of her long locks of hair and donated it. Yikes!!
- We did a couple more Christmas crafts. Family reindeer feet & personalized dinner plates.
- We tried to play in the snow and sled - but subzero temperatures didn't allow much fun... We will try again soon!! As said on Facebook meme: "The air hurts my face; why do I live where the air hurts my face?" We also practiced catching snowflakes on our tongues.
GOODBYE TO A LONG-TIME MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY:
- On Christmas Eve, our dog Diesel died. He was almost 11 years old and was suffering from cancer it seems. We were broken hearted to say the least. It was a rough day for all of us. He was THE BEST DOG EVER!!
CHRISTMAS MORNING:
- Ayden awakened and scared Mom and Dad to death screaming "Santa came!! He ate my cookies!!" A few minutes later, looking at the loot, he said "Where is my skateboard?!"
- Dad had been plowing snow ALL NIGHT, so Ayden waited patiently for him to sleep a little more before opening presents.
- Ayden got the new Ninja Turtle movie and watched it twice on Christmas and 15-20 more times in the next two weeks.
- Once presents were opened, Ayden multi-tasked playing with his new things and combined hunting with skateboarding.
- Some of Ayden's bounties included: a Ninja Turtle skateboard with helmet and pads, a car/road playmat, a rifle, Buzz Lightyear, walkie talkies, books, movies, a Ninja Turtle lawn chair, a 49ers helmet and jersey, a firefighter Dusty and Blade sleeping bag, new PJs, a bow and arrow, etc. SPOILED!!
NEW YEAR's:
- Mom and Ayden watched Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl while Dad worked plowing and hauling snow. We got two storms in a week - each with 8-12 inches, so Dad has been working like crazy to keep up.
- Later that night we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for fun and games.
- At midnight, Uncle Ben lit off fireworks in -18 degree weather. Brrrrrr!!!!
GIFTS FROM BIRTH FAMILY:
- Just after New Years, Ayden received a package from his birth family! More presents! He was in heaven opening them. THANK YOU!!
WE HOPE ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY HAD A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON AND WISH YOU THE BEST THAT 2015 HAS TO OFFER!!
Love,
James, Mandy, and Ayden
No comments:
Post a Comment