Christmas via my Dad's house

Here's my Dad's version of what our Christmas break was like. There was a lot of hot tubing, walking on the frozen lake, watching Finding Nemo in the "fish tank", building fires, fireworks, and playing with our new toys. I love my Dad's house.

 This was probably one of the coolest storms I've ever witnessed. It literally rolled in SO fast, felt like a scene from Independence Day.

Some Xmas Highlights

So since we were sick for most of our trip, I sadly did not take any pictures using my camera. I have to rely on my mom's photos. Here are some shots from our holiday in Boise.

 We went to a choir concert... Ethan would have none of it. But Corryn was fine, as long as Grandpa held her and fed her M&Ms.

 Don't you know that this is the best way to eat an ice cream cone, Mom?

 Ethan LOVED helping with the laundry, he was fascinated by the washer and dryer... one day we'll have our own... and he'll be on laundry duty for life.

 Ethan's really good at telling me when he's done something bad, especially made messes. I said "show me" and he took me here, where he had found the skittles, opened the bag and dumped it in a nice pile on my mom's bed. :)

 I painted this mural in my dad's house. His Christmas present to the kids was this room he built which is over his staircase. He had the idea of making it Finding Nemo themed. The little room the from the aquarium part of the movie and the outer wall is from the ocean scenes of the movie. I think it turned out AWESOME! Ethan LOVED it. He has watched Finding Nemo daily, no joke, since coming home.

 I LOVE all the crazy faces in this photo.

 For the most part it was dry and cold in Boise, but one morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow.

Best Friend Eliza

Ethan and Corryn's best friend happens to live right across the street from us (which means we see her almost every day) and also happens to be in between Ethan and Corryn age-wise. We love Eliza!

Also, I made these pots filled with plush blankets and socks made into roses for Jon's coworker's baby shower. Nifty, eh?

Photos stolen from google

K, so none of the photos in this post are my own. Sorry. But there have been three cool events in the Evans family as of late. First we took a Family Home Evening stroll down candy cane lane in our town of Torrance. It's famous for being one of the biggest Christmas lights display in LA, and it's so close it's in our ward boundaries too!

Second of all, we went to Journey to Bethlehem in Manhattan Beach. It's an outdoor town with people dressed like and acting like people from Bethlehem. You can pet a camel and goats and sheep and do some of the activities that were down back in the day of Christ's birth like make bricks, eat pita, dip candles, and make yarn. There are also Roman guards, tax collectors and King Herod policing the town. Everyone is very in character and you're even given shekels to spend. It was fun... the line to get in was SO LONG, by the time we got in, the kids were just about done. Lesson learned for next year.

The last crazy adventure was our flight to Boise today. The kids and I flew out of Burbank, switched planes in Vegas and finally landed in Boise. We're going to be here until January 3rd, Jon is joining us here on Christmas Eve. The coolest part of our day was meeting this guy.

Yup, I saw him walk past us in the Burbank airport, recognized him but kept about my business. Moments later I noticed that he was about 10 people ahead of me to go through security. Just to give you a visual, he had a full beard and wore a flannel shirt, work pants and work boots, and sunglasses like these but cooler.

When it was my turn to show my ID and stuff to the security guy he then told me to go through a different metal detector line, one that had less traffic and would be easier considering I had two babies to hold as well as a million bags, a bunch of liquids, and a huge stroller to handle. And low and behold, I was now right behind Jake. So after walking through the detector the kids and I sat on a bench, next to you know who, to put our shoes on and wait for all our stuff to get scanned and tested. Both kids were really antsy at this point and starting to cry and I had one in each arm. Jake made eye contact with me and smiled a "I feel for ya, sista" smile. I smiled back and muster out two words, "Merry Christmas", said in a "it's that crazy time of year" tone. He then laughed. He laughed at my joke! I'm awesome! Well, no, I'm not. I mean, it was a super lame joke but at least he humored me. So that was my experience with a movie star in LA, I knew it would happen some day, I just didn't picture my kids screaming and pulling my arms out of their sockets while it happened. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The storm before the storm

 I've completed my first painting since having children. I can't believe it's been 2 years since I've painted, oh how I've missed it. It's still a struggle to feel comfortable enough to create, it takes up my kitchen and makes my house smell of turpentine for weeks. Oh, to have a studio... one day.

Tis the season of yummy food. I made Jon's mum's butternut squash soup for a party. Speaking of parties, I've attend them seems like every other day this week. The kids and I are leaving for Boise on Wednesday, there's so much to do in preparation.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great. I think it was first time we celebrated a major holiday without some other family with us. We ate our thanksgiving feast with out dear friends the Klemetson's. They have one sweet little girl, Eliza, who is right between Ethan and Corryn age-wise which means she's their best friend. They've also got another little girl on the way. :) Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of all of us together with our feast, which I am now regretting.

I made half our feast including the turkey breast, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and Jon's mum's waldorf salad. It was my first time cooking turkey and I decided to brine it. Such a good choice. I also whipped up two pumpkin pies from scratch for Jon, it's his favorite.

Thanksgiving morning we packed the kids up, still in their pj's, and went to our ward's Turkey Bowl. It's tradition for the young men to play the "old" men. Old meaning 25 or over. The young men always win, always, and this year was no exception. Our side of the team included a former BYU football player and BYU track star... but we still lost. It was super fun to watch though. Have to say, my husband looked pretty hot catching the football in that jersey and cleats.

The day after thanksgiving we started a new Evans family tradition, Movie Night! We rented Shrek, pulled all the pillows and blankets into the living room, made popcorn, and ate licorice. The kids had a BLAST! Ethan sat through almost the whole movie, I was so impressed. Soon I'll have to take him to the movie theatre for a mommy-son date.

While I'm not looking...

Ethan has gotten into some trouble lately. Some cute trouble... and not so cute trouble.

 CUTE

not so cute... he's picked out all the sprouts in my small garden multiple times

 not so cute... while I was in the shower he got into my flour and sugar canisters

SUPER CUTE... while on a trip to the grocery store with mom he snuck away and I found him here, sitting in the doorway of a karate class, watching the kids practice. It was so cute, he sat there for a good 15 minutes.

Flashback- Nov 14th

This day in history:

2006- Jon and I celebrating our one year dating anniversary at Temple Square.

2007- This picture was taken while we were out on a date. This is what my face looked like before babies... I miss this face.

2008- The day I found out I was pregnant with Ethan! I feel like I've been a mom for forever... what? I lived a life without babies?

2009- Can you believe this is what Ethan looked like?

Crazy Crazy Crazy Kids

 I think this is my favorite picture of Corryn to date.

 Helping mom do dishes.

 I think this is my favorite picture of Ethan to date.

 Ever wonder what lunch is like with 2 toddlers?

 It's raining mom!

 One of those odd wonders of nature, a sunset during a rain storm.

 The product of Ethan's haircut.

Corryn's first haircut!! :)