Merry Christmas!

We had such a fun Christmas this year. It is always such a busy day for our family, but it's all worth it! Here is how our Christmas timeline goes:

6:30 am
Wake up the boys! Open stockings & presents at our house. The boys get to enjoy their toys for a little bit before we throw on our slippers, jackets & head out the door.






8:00 am
Open stockings & presents at Bergstrom's. My parents love to go CRAZY and spoil the boys rotten. They always over do it! I was soo excited about some of the presents my parents gave us. We all got 72 hour emergency kits!! I've had that on my "to do" list for so long. Also, I got Photoshop Elements, which I've been wanting for awhile. I tried to edit a few photos here, but I really need some more practice. It's going to take me awhile before I'm doing fancy things like Dani & Lindsey!!






9:30 am
Open presents @ Grandpa & Grandma Chesnut's. We have always gone to my grandparents house first thing Christmas morning because Santa always came to their house, too. My brother, sisters & I are the only grandkids so my Grandma always liked to spoil us. The best part about Grandma's is the traditional breakfast. She makes biscuits & gravy, bacon, sausage, eggs, french toast, basically any breakfast food you can think of. It's delicious!




11:00 am
Open presents at Jones's. Luckily, Tim's family is much more easy going than my family and they love to sleep in. So we get to their house at just the right time for them. Usually, we are completely exhausted by the time we get there and they all look wonderful & rested. We exchanged gifts and ate some more breakfast. We all got a "family" gift, Xbox 360 along with "Rock Band." So we hung out for a little bit and tried out the new game on the new TV that Tim's parents just bought. Tim's parents had to head up to Logan to visit Tim's Grandparents so we left and headed home for a couple hours.






2:30 pm
Arrive back home. Unload our bags & bags & bags of newly acquired presents. Drop them on the floor. Take a nap!! This year I took a nap because I was so exhausted. Tim helped Payton with all his new Transformers. The boys played with their toys and watched one of their new movies, "Shrek the Third." After a quick nap and time to play with toys, we all FINALLY showered and got ready for the day so that we can head back over to my grandparent's house.

5:00 pm
Dinner at Chesnut's. The whole family gathers at my grandparent's house...again (3rd time in less than 24 hours) for a delicious Christmas feast. My Grandma makes ham, turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, corn, fruit, etc., etc. Anything you would expect at a feast. She also makes her traditional coconut cake, which is delicious. The boys have fun playing with their new toys and hanging out with family.

8:30 pm
Stop by Tim's parents house to pick up the 20 things that we left at their house. We were so tired we didn't know what we were doing.

9:00 pm
Arrive home!! Parker fell asleep in the car and Payton forced himself to stay awake so that he could play with his toys. Luckily, I had a nap and had just enough energy to begin cleaning up our HUGE mess. I can't believe what a disaster our house was. I got everything organized and mostly put away. Aaaah!!



11:30 pm
Pure exhaustion! We finally crash into bed for the night. What a day...Merry Christmas!

An Unexpected Christmas Gift...

I'm glad that I got all my wrapping and shopping done early this year or else it could have been a very stressful Christmas. Instead, it was calm & peaceful in spite of a few unplanned challenges. This past week I have been having a lot of contractions, which is fairly normal for my pregnancies. At first they were just happening in the evenings, but by the end of the week they had progressed and were happening all day and night long. I have been through this before with my 2 other pregnancies and usually if I'm not doing activity they will subside. However, these contractions were not subsiding and were becoming more lengthy and bothersome. After ALMOST going to the hospital a few times, I finally called the on-call doctor and he decide to start me on an antibiotic in case it was just a bladder infection, which could be the cause of contractions. After taking it fairly easy all weekend and taking the antibiotic for over 48 hours I was still not feeling any better. My contractions were still about the same. On Monday (Christmas Eve), I called my doctor's office and the nurse told me that I needed to go into the hospital to be monitored and make sure everything was okay. Again, this was not too scary since I have done the same thing with my 2 other pregnancies.

So, on Christmas Eve I got to spend a couple hours in the hospital being monitored. At first, I was frustrated and bummed that this is how I had to spend my Christmas Eve, but I quickly realized how much symbolism my trip to the hospital had. I got to ponder a lot about the Savior's birth. As I was hooked up to all sorts of monitors and being waited on by nurses in a nice big hospital room I thought about Mary in a stable laying on hay, surrounded by animals, no machines, no epidurals, not even any doctors. I soon realized how blessed I was for our many modern conveniences. I'm also grateful that I got to spend a couple of hours in peace truly reflecting on the birth of our Savior. I'm not sure that I would have had a chance to do that had I not been tied down with monitors to a hospital bed. In the end, my trip to the hospital turned out to be as good as I could have hoped for. The doctor informed me that I am having pre-term labor (which I knew was inevitable). However, I was worried that they were going to put me on bed rest. Instead, I am just on "increased" rest. I can't pick up Parker, vacuum or do too much physical activity. Also, I need to be lying down and resting as much as possible. They told me to cut out anything unnecessary in order to DELAY being put on bed rest. I'm really happy with the outcome and I'm very grateful for my Christmas Eve trip to the hospital!

Yummy!

I have a new favorite meal. I ate it for dinner last night, for lunch today and I would gladly eat it again for dinner tonight! I'm not sure why I love this so much, but it's been a long time since something that I made actually tasted this good! I thought that I would share this meal idea with you all since I'm always looking for new recipe ideas.

I just got a chicken breast and drizzled a little bit of olive oil on both sides. Then I combined a little Thyme, Pepper, Garlic Salt & a pinch of Cayenne and sprinkled it over both sides. You could let this marinate, but I didn't. Then, I pulled out my handy "George Foreman Grill" and grilled the chicken. While the chicken was grilling (it only takes about 9 minutes), I steamed some asparagus. I also made a glaze to go on the chicken. I combined some apricot preserves, honey & mustard. I warmed it in the microwave for about 20 seconds or until it was warm. I got the chicken off the grill and spooned some of the Apricot Honey Mustard over top. I paired the chicken with some asparagus, which I sprayed some "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" on and then threw on some salt & pepper. It is so yummy...and it's healthy!!

My Goof Balls

This is a TYPICAL picture of what my boys look like...goof balls! Tim is the biggest goof ball and the boys love it so they usually have to join in. Tim is most notably known for lifting up his shirt and showing off his hairy chest. I need Clint to send me the picture of Tim doing that during our family Christmas photo shoot. Last night, we were watching the Utes Bowl Game and Tim got excited about one of the plays so he ripped his shirt off and started running around the family room. Of course, Payton followed his lead and then Parker wanted help getting his shirt off. (I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was lying on the couch trying not to go into labor.) The 3 goof balls ran around the house for 30 minutes with their shirts off, beating their chests and acting like maniacs. Oh Boys!! The funniest part is that Parker was scared of Tim's hairy chest. He got mad when Tim made him touch it. I think he probably thought that it was an animal waiting to attack!! I'm just glad that Tim has fun entertaining the boys and that they can all be goofy together!!

Jones Family Christmas Party

We had our annual Jones Family Christmas Party at Kenny & Janice's new home in Avon, Utah. It's just outside of Logan. They live on the side of a mountain all by themselves (and the coyotes). Their home is gorgeous! The party was an all day event. The kids went sledding down the mountain just outside their front door. A few of the daredevils climbed the huge mountain on the side of their house and sledded down. Luckily, there were no injuries. The weather was perfect that day and it was a beautiful place for a Christmas party. After we snacked, sledded and socialized it was time for more food! They had caterers come and serve us all an amazing Prime Rib/Chicken dinner. It was delicious! After dinner, Santa came. The kids were so excited and a little nervous. He handed out presents to all of the kids and then he rode off down the hill in his minivan (only the big kids seemed to notice that Rudolph was out of commission.) After Santa, we exchanged our "Make & Takes." I got to come home with 10 darling presents from the other ladies who participated. We played some Bingo and then finally said our goodbyes. It was a long & fun day!

Christmas Fun with Friends

I'm so lucky to have some amazing friends that have been my friends for over 10 years now...that's crazy!! Anyway, we got together to celebrate the Christmas holiday. It was AMAZING that we were actually all there (with the exception of our friends that live out of state.) We try to get together about once a month and it always works out that someone is not able to attend, but this month we were all (barely) able to make it. We went to dinner at "Epic," which was delicious. We also did a "favorite things" gift exchange. It's always fun to get together with girlfriends and talk about nothing and everything! I'm grateful for my wonderful friends and for their friendship. My cute friend, Dani, put the cutest compliments on her blog about each one of us and I just want to say "ditto" about each of her comments. Also, I could say ALL of those same things about you Dani!! You are amazing!! I feel so blessed to have such great friends!

It's definitely a BOY!!!

We had our "official" ultrasound and found out that we are definitely having a boy. It was no surprise to us! We are excited for another boy to enter our household. I hope that this one will be just as sweet as my other 2 boys. I truly do love having boys. I know that Heavenly Father knows what he is doing when he sends these children to us. Plus, I know that if I had a girl it would be payback time for me. I was pretty high maintenance as a child and even worse as a teenager. Luckily, I've grown out of that and now I am an angel...right?!? I'm lucky that my boys have a wonderful Dad to look up to. Plus, he was a good child & teenager so I hope that they take after him. Most of all, we are just grateful for the opportunity that we have to be parents. We realize that we are truly blessed!

Here is our little guy...


This picture is X rated and I probably should not post this, but this picture leaves no question as to what this child's gender is!

Bunk Beds

This past weekend, Christmas came early at our house. We bought the boys bunk beds (in anticipation of our new baby) and we were going to surprise them and set them up for Christmas, but we picked them up and just couldn't wait. We were still able to surprise the boys. They went to a birthday party and we set them up while they were gone. They were both sooo excited!! I was also very excited. I thought that we were going to have to redo the red bead board & shelf on the wall, but I think it worked out and looks okay (what do you think?) Also, I was able to find some bedding that I think matches pretty well. As is typical with me, I was so worried about how it would "look" that I never even thought about the logistics of my children actually sleeping in the bed. I haven't slept for the past 2 nights because I was so worried that the top bunk would fall down and crush Parker. Seriously?! Who's idea were bunk beds anyway? Let's suspend 100 pounds in the air above a 2-year-olds fragile little body. It's crazy?! I'm not worried about the top bunk because Payton is the most cautious 5-year-old I know. He'll be fine! Anyway, the adjustment has been fun and crazy. I'm sad that my little Parker has moved into a big bed and out of his crib forever, but I know that it's time. Also, it's starting to hit me that we really are going to have another baby. That's crazy! Payton has done great in the new bed. He loves it! Parker is still getting used to sleeping in a regular bed with a pillow, a sheet, and a comforter, but he has done so well.

The bunk beds!!


I went to check on Parker last night after we put him down and this is what I found. He's not quite sure what he should be doing!

This is what I found when I checked on Parker at 2:30 am

Snow Fun

My boys have had so much fun the past two weekends playing in the snow. Luckily (for me), Tim loves the snow as much as the little boys so he has a good time playing outside with them. Tim also loves shoveling the snow. He gets mad when our neighbors are so generous to clear our sidewalks or driveway with their snow blowers because he wants to do it himself. Our neighbor even offered him his snow blower this past weekend and he turned it down. Crazy!?!

Candy Making

One of my favorite Christmas memories is my Grandma's homemade candy. Every year my Grandma starts early in December making Christmas candy. She loves it and is so talented! A few years ago, my sisters, Mom & I decided that we wanted to make candy with my Grandma. We wanted to learn her candy making secrets. This year, because our schedules are so crazy we didn't do it all together, but I took the boys over to my grandparent's house and spent the afternoon making candy with my Grandma. I am so grateful for this Christmas tradition that we have started...it is delicious!!

Payton laid on the couch and watched cartoons

My Grandpa took a nap in the chair

Parker played with all of my Grandma's Christmas trinkets

My Grandma & I made the magic happen...peanut brittle!!

Parker & Kitty

Erika & Brian recently lost their cat. She ran out the front door and hasn't come home yet. They've been going to shelters looking for her and this past week they picked up a new little kitty. She is soooo cute! (Yet, another confirmation that I really do like animals). We hung out at my parent's house while Tim & my Mom went to the CHS Basketball game. It's that time of year again. Basketball stats, woohoo!?! Anyway, we got to play with the new kitty while they were at the game. Parker loved holding her and carrying her around. It was so cute!

Festival of Trees

My sweet friend that I visiting teach, Beverly, gave me tickets to go and see the Festival of Trees. She and her family did a tree this year. She is so thoughtful. We didn't have anything going on yesterday afternoon so we decided to go. My friend Susie & I took our kids. It was a lot of fun! Susie and I have been friends since elementary school. We talk to each other ALL the time. We live two streets away from each other, but we never seem to be able to get together that often. It was such a fun treat to do something with her and the kids. We spent the whole time looking for the "Darth Vader" tree and once we found it the kids were done. We got some yummy scones, popcorn and drinks for the kids. We ate our food and watched some of the little performers. It was a really fun afternoon!