Homeade Gifts

I know I know.... We have all moved on from Christmas but I still have a lot to talk about so please bear with me. The Chapman family did our usual stressful, dreaded, fun, hilarious, awesome tradition - homemade gift exchange. And as always it didn't disappoint!

I made Andrea "Happy Birthday" decor to hang and use in her house.

Greg put together a nice little homemade date for Tyson to take someone on.

Tyson gave my mom some personal computer lessons.

Rachael and Frank gave my Dad and Greg some homemade stationary

My Dad gave Ty my Dad's old bbq new and improved!

Andrea painted Brecken a collage about her life for her room

Ty made Rachael an online scrapbook of 2010 (blog)

My mom made Kate and I matching aprons!

But what is so fun about the Homemade Gift Exchange is it is one of the few times all of us are together without our kids! What a good time we have!

Sister Hanni

If you have ever talked to Kate she has probably told you about Sister Hanni. She is Kate's amazing nursery leader. When Kate turned 18 months I was so nervous to take her to nursery since she was SO attached to her parents. I knew it was going to be a disaster. But Sister Hanni just took her from me kicking and screaming and said "I will come and get you if I need you." Sure enough after 2 wks of Sister Hanni's amazing activities and charm Kate was skipping into nursery. When we pick her up she always comes with a bag of goodies (coloring book, bag of gummie bears, bubbles, books, etc.) which actually end up saving us during Sacrament meeting. About a week before Christmas Sister Hanni stopped by with Kate's Christmas present. She brought a princess nightgown, slippers, bubble bath and chapstick. Needless to say Kate was ecstatic!

Christmas Activities

Since the zoo was our favorite past time during the summer we couldn't let the opportunity pass us by to go see the Zoo lights. We decided to hook up with the Summerhays and for FHE we braved the cold! Kate loved all the lights shaped like different animals.

If Ty looks cold in this picture.... he is. He met us there from work and his "responsible" wife was supposed to bring his coat. I offered him mine but he wouldn't take it! :)

One of the monkeys was only three days old. It was really cute. Of course Ty pointed out that the dad was passed out in the corner while the mom was taking care of the baby.... typical. :) Kate kept waving to the baby. She loves monkeys!

The Summerhays clan....it's still kinda weird for me to see them with four kids! Such a cute family!

The next wk for FHE Mimi planned for us all to go up to This is the Place Park. This was the first time I had been there at Christmas time. They had so much fun stuff going on from carolers, Father Christmas, and the nativity to crafts in each house for the kids to participate in.

Seriously the happiest, most content baby I have ever met. Get me one of these next!

Kate and Ty writing their christmas list for Santa. Kate: Kangaroo? Ty: I pad? yeah we'll have to see.....

Kate was in heaven. Not only did she think her new coat was the coolest thing ever (straight from the tupperware in the basement), but she was also with all of her cousins! I am pretty sure she told every person there that she was a marshmallow!

E-L-M-O!!!!!!

Kate's favorite person- her Grandma- who she asks for every single day bought us tickets to see Elmo's Green Thumb at the E center. It was so fun for all of us to see Kate's reaction. At times I thought she might hyperventilate!

We couldn't get Kate to stop hugging Elmo to turn around for the picture. This was the display right inside the doors and Kate thought this was it. Little did she know what she had ahead of her!

Our seats were on the sixth row right on the floor. I have the funniest videos of her dancing and freaking out. One of these days I will get one of them on here....

Then of course after her Grandma spoils her with an Elmo stuffed animal that is almost the same size as her!

What a good day this was!

Mimi's pajama party

This year my mom decided to have a brunch pajama party for the little kids and their moms since they aren't quite old enough to sleepover with the bigger grandkids. The kids had a blast playing in Mimi's playroom while their mom's visited, a fun little craft and opening jammies! Kate is so lucky to have these two friends in her life! She loves them so much!

Bonneville Stake Live Nativity

There is nothing better to help remind us of the true meaning of Christmas than the live nativity our stake puts on each year. Our ward decided to have our christmas party the same night and then walk up to the Stake center together. We had such a great time. We love our ward and all the great people we get to spend so much time with!

This is the nativity our ward set up on our ward's beautiful grounds. It is so pretty to look across the pond at the little nativity and Kate loved looking at it every wk when we would go to church!

Walking up to the Stake Center

The nativity is so authentic and well done. If you don't live this way it is totally worth the drive!

There are people selling food and live chickens as you enter the city...

real animals including chicken, geese, sheep, camel, and a donkey

they even have a real newborn baby.....

Ty just had to snap a picture with his friend Marty Patch who was the guard as you enter the city

I am so grateful for my Savior especially at this time of year. It is so fun to teach Kate all about that special night a long time ago!

Christmas Recital

Well it's that time of year to break out the Christmas music! However all my student's have been working on their Christmas songs since October so they would be ready for the recital! They all did a fabulous job and it was a great way to start off the season!

Here are a few of my cute students. I always forget to take a picture but I grabbed a few just before they left. Aren't they so cute? I am so lucky to have such great students!Kate even got to come this year!
Then directly after the recital we decided to stop at the tree lot to pick up the perfect tree. It was SO cold and we were all in dress clothes so I am pretty sure we made record time.. maybe five minutes to pick it out, strap it to the car, and be on our way!


Kate was extremely helpful this year balancing the tree!

It is so fun to have a toddler this time of year with all their excitement. Last wk she came home from church and was skipping down the hall saying "HO HO HO Happy Halloween!" Maybe she gets all the holidays a little mixed up but she sure nevers lacks enthusiasm!

Thankful

We have so much to be thankful for this year. When I really start to think about it I am overwhelmed with the blessings we've recieved. I remember at the beginning of 2010 thinking this needs to be a good year cause the last two have been REALLY hard in so many ways. Looking back over the past 12 months I really can't think of anything I would have changed. It has a been a wonderful year! In fact I sometimes let fear get the best of me and worry that this is just the calm before another storm but I am just living day to day and enjoying every minute of it! My life is so full of love because of these two people.... I am thankful everyday they are mine!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving up at Poppy's cabin in Midway. Andrea made an amazing turkey (best I have ever had) and we ate ourselves sick! The sun came out for a few minutes and Kate, Ty and Max decided to go sledding. I broke my back sledding so I am not a big fan so I just watched from inside by the fire! :)

Then the day after Thanksgiving we decided to get out of the cold and head to the new Chapman/Ivory home in Paradise Valley. We had such a great time. We got to see alot of Ty's family and hang out with the Ivory's!

I did a terrible job taking pictures on this trip so here the few I took:

Kate was concerned about the sun shining in her eyes and I didn't want to ask the lady next to the window to close her blinds so I pulled out Kate's handy glasses and she wore them the entire time!

We did alot of shopping and here Kate and Mark are picking out their dessert at the Nordstrom Cafe.

Out at the pool.... It was still a little chilly!

All in all it was a great trip and when I go back in February (counting the days) I will do much better with pictures!
Now bring on Christmas!