Holly Jolly Christmas

On Christmas Eve Maryjane was sent a personal message straight from Santa himself. She loved it and got all excited.

He knew exactly where she lived.

She was on the nice list (barely). He knew that she'd been working on listening to her parents and that she had been doing a good job with that (well sort of).

And that she wanted a digital camera.

She believed every second. A perfect surprise for Cmas eve to keep her good for one more day.


We made sugar cookies for Santa and for us to eat also of course. Yum!

Had our annual candle light dinner and let's just say I messed up things I've never messed up before. So frustrating, but still edible thankfully.

Then they got their pajamas to wear to bed.

And in the morning they had a blast opening all their presents.

MJ got her digital camera that she wanted.

George got the Vulcan Nerf gun and even said that this was the best Christmas ever.

Mason didn't know what he wanted this year, but he got his favorites. Legos and DS games.

I love Christmas, but sometimes it's a little stressful too, so I'm glad it's over and that the kids were happy. Every year I always tell myself that next year I will plan better. I did at least get everything wrapped earlier than cmas eve, which was very helpful and meant more sleep.

Later that afternoon we went and the boys saw Avatar and the girls saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. Both very good movies btw. So now MJ is obsessed with the song Single Ladies and the girl chipmunks. She wants the stuffed animals really bad. And since she can't have them right now she settled on making her own version (yesterday when I fell asleep), which she took a bears red sweatshirt from her toys and took some yellow nail polish and painted an A on the front. Oh my... what to do.

We had a great Christmas for our first one in the great Northwest. It's a little weird not having snow, but nice too I must admit. It hasn't even been that wet or cold. (I probably just jinxed it) Definitely more of a green cmas than a white cmas.

Oh ya, I wanted to share one of our cmas presents was selling our house in Utah, FINALLY. We signed the papers a couple weeks ago, but the best part is that both mortgages were settled. We don't owe anything. We are free and clear of any obligations we had. What a blessing! It came down to the wire, but our realtor fought for us (with our 2nd mortgage). They wanted us to pay them right up until the last minute and almost didn't approve the settlement. Stressful!! But it all worked out. I'm so happy for the family that bought the house too, they sure hung in there, thankfully.

Our love to you all, we sure miss our family and friends that aren't close by, especially when holidays and birthdays come around, but one thing we learned this year is that we can be happy in any situation as long as we have eachother.

Happy New Years! We're about to go outside and celebrate with a few fireworks and counting down to 2010.

More baptism photos

These pictures are from Kailey's camera. I'm so glad she was there and brought her camera along to capture a very special day for Mason and our family.

Poppa gave the Baptism talk.

Family and friends. Thank you all for being there.

Family pictures:

Thank you Kailey! I love them.

Pictures continued from baptism day....

These pictures are from G'pa York's camera.....

(Seattle Temple way out in the distance)

beautiful sunset..

swimming in the hotel pool, having a blast.

Mason's 8th B-day and Baptism

8th Birthday -

My dear Mason, I can't believe you turned 8 already. You might be ready, but I'm sure not. This is a big step for my baby boy. You're still my cuddler and little softy, but it's time for me to let go and let you grow up (a little).

*You still love playing with legos and putting things together, and are very good at it. You have more patience than the rest of us.

*You are very smart and love school and learning. Your teacher told me she wishes all the students were just like you. You're such a good example, and hard worker.

*You love to read and want to be reading what George is reading. Right now your favorite is Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

*You are so excited to start scouts.

*You have the best sense of humor. Always making us laugh, making up jokes, dancing around with some impressive moves I might add.

*You are such a softy. If your sad or mad all you really need is a hug to know that you're loved.

*You have the longest eyelashes ever. Every girl envies them. But they're perfect on your perfect little face.

*You love animals. You want to work at a zoo when you grow up, or maybe be a veterinarian.

These are just a few things that you're into right now at the ripe old age of 8.

We went to eat at IHOP for his b-day dinner. He normally gets the smiley face pancake, but he chose the french toast this time. Yum.

With his birthday money he bought these 2 aquatic frogs...

And a Flip video player. He wants to make funnies movies and post them on you tube. So we'll see about that one.

He started Scouts and gets to go every Wed. with George now. He earned his Bobcat in 2 days. Now it's on to earning his Wolf.

Here's George in his Weblos outfit with Mason. Pretty handsome in uniform.

Baptism-

Mason was baptized on Dec. 12th. It was a very special day. Jeremy's family flew in from Utah to be with us and my parents were here along with some special friends.

Baptized by his dad...

Look at this smile. He was a little excited I think and happy.

Pictures with grandparents:

MJ sat with Annie and played with her phone the whole time. There were 2 other girls baptized along with Mason, so the room was full of families.

My camera battery died right after this picture, but my very good friend Kailey was there taking pictures for me. So as soon as I get those from her I'll post them. She took groups shots and family pictures. I can't wait to see them.

So after the baptism we headed to Seattle to show the Fitzgerald's some sights. And our first stop was The Crab Pot for lunch.

Our Feast:

We all ate the seafood except for MJ and Annie. notice her cheeseburger.


Right next to the Crab Pot is an arcade. A money trap in my opinion. I hate ticket games. Getting my kids to hurry and pick what they want from all the tickets is a nightmare. Anyway, they had fun playing a few a games.

Then after lunch and arcade we went to the Space Needle.

MJ's attached to Anne's hip the whole time they're together.

George was a little scared. He didn't go up the last we went, but we kind of made him this time. We knew once he was up there he would be ok. He was most nervous about the elevator ride and being afraid the space needle would fall over while we were up there. Poor kid. The funny thing is he wants to be a pilot.

We made it safe and sound to the top and after about 5 min. of walking around in the inside he was ok going outside. He ended up loving it.

We even spotted the Seattle temple, which I never knew you could see from up there. It was pretty cool.

We stayed until after the sunset. So beautiful.

There was even a space santa up there sitting in a space ship.

One of the elves all decked out.

Back on land.

A shot of the cmas tree on top.

We had such a great day with the baptism and spending time with family. We are so grateful to all our family and all their support. And we love our Mason so much. It turned out to be a very special day.

I'll add more pictures when I get them from Kailey and g'pa York.