Happy 60th Paul!

Spencer's dad turned the big 6-0 on December 26th, and Jane threw him a big 60's themed surprise party.  It was at a hotel downtown, and it was a ton of fun.  There were tons of friends and family that came, the food was spectacular, we played games, kareoked, had a raffle with cool prizes, and enjoyed a comedy show from Quick Wits that was so funny!  I swear Abi and I laughed more than anyone there!  Note to self:  Don't try kareoking to an upbeat song seconds after dancing to Love Shack while pregnant.  I was seriously huffing and puffing the whole time!

Here is everyone getting ready to surprise him! 

Paul was absolutely shocked!

Abi and Ammon dancing the night away!

Spence and I getting groovy!

The spread!

Dave and Mary looking good as always!

Happy Birthday Paul! I hope the 60's are the best yet! We love you!

The end of the baby bed!

Since Tallie has been a huge climber since she was born, I couldn't believe that she hadn't figured out how to climb out of her crib!  Well, alas the day happened on December 26.  She was freaking out during her nap, and we went into her room and saw her stuck on top! 

How sad does she look?  She does not like naps at all!  So we thought heck let's transform the crib into a big girls bed and see how she does! 

Is that face any indication?  She is OBSESSED with her big bed!  She seriously is so happy and tells everyone about it! 

Is that a look of contentment or what! 

She has done so great.  She has taken a couple naps in it and slept in it for about 5 days.  The only problem is that it takes her quite a while to fall asleep, but she hasn't gotten out of her bed once I've put her down for the night.... we'll see how long that lasts! 

My little sleeping beauty!  

My mom has two twin beds I can trade her for Lance's queen bed, so Lance and Tallie can share a room when the baby comes.  I was going to do that this week, but then I decided if I can still give them their own room for another 3-6 months, I would rather do that!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 

We had a lovely day!  Tallie started off the day with a Diet Coke!  I seriously don't feed my kids Diet Coke, but they always seem to find it at my parents house!

Lance was so excited about his presents this year, it was so fun! 

Yes Tallie got coal... ok, it's chocolate, Santa wasn't that mean!

Tallie is obsessed with her "pee-bear" and now loves Pooh's buddy Piglet too!

Best part of my day:  Lance opened up this gun, which literally cost me $2.50 and started jumping up and down and said "YES, I got what I wanted!!!!!!" 

I gave Spence the August Rush DVD which I found at Walmart for $2.  When we lived in Arizona, one weekend my parents came to visit and we rented this movie.  Spencer and my dad literally watched it and then restarted it and watched it again.  I was so annoyed cause they probably watched it 3x in 24 hours!  I thought he would get a laugh out of it, and he did! 

All Tallie wanted from Santa was her "Punzel" doll.  The look on her face when she opened it was priceless.  She was so happy, and she absolutely loves it! 

JT & Kelli

Family Pic! 

I loved having Christmas on Sunday.  It was so nice to go to church and really focus on the Savior and the true meaning of Christmas.  I wish we could go to church every Christmas.  It was awesome, I loved it! 

After church, we headed to my grandma's for a fun afternoon! 

Some of the cousins. 

My grandma made the little grand kids the coolest gift.  This little church bag that fits a coloring book and then the crayons fit in little pockets on the front, so great.  Tallie loved it! 

Tallie and Ruby are a couple months apart, I wish we lived closer to them, so they could play!  They did a pretty good job sharing the job of helping grandma open the present! 

My grandma with her grandkids that live in Utah.  We missed Ashley and Amber and their kiddos! 

Family pic with my grandma who I just love and adore so much!  And who - by the way - makes the most delicious cherry pie in the entire world! 

I am so grateful for my family and for the wonderful Christmas we had.  And most importantly for our Savior Jesus Christ, and that we could celebrate his birth, life, and sacrifice for us. 

Christmas Eve

We decided to act out the nativity Christmas eve morning!  Tallie was supposed to be the Angel, hence dressed in white, but when she saw the ski pole, she wanted to be a Shepherd with Lance!  So, here are my two Shepherds! 

Quick costume change, and here are the three wiseman! 

Delivering the gifts to Mary and Baby Jesus! 

It was cute, Tallie kept wanting cake on Jesus's Birthday, lol!

Christmas Eve afternoon Spencer's parents came over to give Lance and Tallie a present!  

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents.  And we even decided to sleep over since we stay up late playing Bingo and watching movies.  It was a really fun night!  Lance totally made Christmas this year, he was so much fun and so excited about everything! 

Here is my mom's beautiful table!

I think Lance ate like two bites of his roll, then went and sat on the couch because he was "waiting for Bingo to start!"  He was so excited to play, he couldn't even eat! 

My mom is such a great cook and always prepares the best meals!

My mom also does a nut in the pudding (creme brulet) and this year Lance got it.  It is worth $35.  Well, considering Lance gets a dollar for every 50 jobs he does, this kid was going nuts.  He had never seen this much money.  He was throwing it in the air, and dancing with it, it was the cutest thing ever! 

A family Christmas picture.  Yes, that's my big big belly at only 6 months pregnant.  And no I am not fishing for compliments, so please don't leave a comment on how great I look, cause let's be honest, I'm huge, and I recognize that! 

I look over and see Lance chugging two Diet Coke's.  When I ask him what he's doing he's like "no one said I couldn't have them!"

Chilling out watching a movie.  I love how Tallie just cuddles up! 

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa! 

And finally Lance's favorite part of the night - BINGO!  He was so cute and had so much fun and won a bunch of prizes.  For days after, he kept saying "mom, remember Bingo!"  I seriously love that kid! 

It seriously was such a magical Christmas Eve!  Kids make it so much fun.  I am grateful for my two little kiddos and can't believe next Christmas we'll have one more! 

Market Street with the girls!

I was able to go out to dinner on December 22 with all of my High School girlfriends.  Since some of them live out of state, it has been a LONG time since we have gotten everyone together.  Maybe the last time was Erica's wedding?  Anyway, it was so fun to be with everyone!  I love these girls and are grateful for all of our fun memories! 

Temple Lights

We have a tradition with Spencer's family that we go eat at Chuck-a-rama every year and then go and see the Temple lights.  Although, judging from the gag gift in the last post, I am not a huge Chuck-a-rama fan, it is a great place for kids.  We can be loud, and messy, and you can get anything you want to eat.  So, once a year, I am a big fan. 

Here were are waiting for a table. 

Here are the kids seeing who can do the best splits... yes, on the floor of Chuck-a-rama! 

Ah, the joy of Chuck-a-rama - you can have pizza a roll and a slurpee for dinner! 

Spencer's dad is such a good sport, the last two years he has dressed up as Santa and brought the kids a piece of a nativity.  It is so cute.  They have no idea it is Papa, and are so excited to see Santa! 

Then we ride on Trax down to the Temple.

I thought this was a great picture of the Brown Fam, it's hard to get all of them to look at the camera, so pretty impressive! 

The kids loved the lights!

Lance still loves to balance on anything he can!

Tallie loved looking in the reflection pond. 

And then heading home on the Trax! 

It was a great night.  Thanks Taggart's for a fun tradition!