December 2012

December was busy and so fun!!  We had a lot of activities that kept us very busy. I wanted to get some pictures of us by our Christmas tree.  I love taking pictures, but of course I chose the moment that the kids didn't want to cooperate.  Luckily I still got some amazing pictures out of it.  Love these kiddos.

Next we went to Salt Lake City to go see the lights.  We met up with some of my family and we had a great time.  By the end it started snowing like crazy and Reagan got so cold.  That happens to you when you don't want to keep your gloves on your tiny little hands.  But the lights were pretty and we were glad we went.

We then had several parties.  We had our ward Christmas breakfast.  Where the kids got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  We then had a Pranger Christmas family dinner/party.  My mom put together a whole bunch of minute to win it games.  It was quite the fun time.  We all want to do this again!

 Next we got together for a Thanksgiving point trolley ride.  My parents rent out a trolley for all of us to ride on.  The kids love going on this special ride and look forward to it every year.

 

That same weekend we went to Steve's sisters house for a  Baker Christmas Party.  It was fun to see his parents come down to Utah this year for the party.  We also got to skype with our best friends that weekend as well.  We always exchange Christmas presents over skype.  We were very excited to get Nerf guns.  We have wanted to get more for a while.  The kids started shooting at us while we were still talking on the computer.  Thanks Merrill and Shannon!

I love how they gave Steve a mini gun and I got the big bertha gun!!

Of course we always have to make cookies for Santa.  The kids love helping out.  We had all been getting sick with the flu over the holiday break and the kids were definitely going stir crazy.  So we put our new nerf guns to great use.  We have had some regular nerf gun wars but we also have had some pretty crazy balloon nerf gun wars.  It has provided some great cabin fever relief.

Well Christmas eve was very unusual for us this year.  This was the first time since being married that we didn't know if Steve would get off early from work.  Since being with a new company all we knew is that they had to work until there was no more work to be done.  Nice thing is that he got off way early!!  But sadly enough we weren't able to party the way we wanted to.  Reagan woke up that morning to spill her guts out.  So we had to change plans. Instead of going down to my parents we stayed home.  My parents came and brought us food and presents for a game.  So we got on the computer and did all our festivities over the computer.  It was definitely crazy and different.  But the kids still loved it. Here are some of our highlights from Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Got Minnie Mouse Boutique from Grandma and Grandpa.

Now we can go to Disneyland whenever we want.  But man is it a good workout!

Reagan's favorite toy her tent

Phoenix begged for wall tracks and he was so stinking excited to get it.  He literally sat there for five minutes mouth wide open.  He couldn't believe it.

Erector set from Grandma and Grandpa.  He builds a new one every day.

After the holidays the kids were still going stir crazy from being cooped us so much.  Its hard to understand that you need to get 100% better before you can play so you don't relapse.  But once we were all better I took them out to Discovery Gateway.  Its a children's museum with so much to do.  Hence the reason we were there for 5 1/2 hours.  I think that they just had a little bit of fun.  It was nice to just let them run and play.  They sure did sleep good that night!!

Steve- He is doing very good.  He is loving his work and his work is loving him.  They asked him to MC the company Christmas party this year.  He was excited and nervous to do so.  But he did wonderfully.  He has also enjoyed going to some BYU basketball game with my dad.  It is always fun to go out and enjoy a sporting event.
Whitney- I have spent most of the month either doing activities with the kiddos or comforting the kiddos when sick.  So between the two it has kept me pretty busy.  I have also mastered how to use our snow blower.  We have gotten a ton of snow which has meant plenty of snow days and plenty of snow blowing.
Phoenix- He had a huge accomplishment this month.  They do testing once a month at his school.  He has always been in the bottom bracket and we (his teacher and I) were concerned he may not pass the requirements for kindergarten.  He is one of the youngest in his class and boys develop so much slower.  But thanks to  A LOT of work he is now passing for his grade level and exceeding expectations.  It is nice to see all the hard work pay off.
Reagan- She is loving all her new Christmas presents.  Her favorites are her tent and her Minnie boutique.  I often find her just sitting in her tent dressing Minnie Mouse up.  It is fun to hear her developing such an imagination.  You can just sit and have her tell you story after story.  It is fun.  She is also developing such a princess attitude.  Which is not so fun.  Good thing the cute things far outweigh the princess attitude.