Tuesday, December 30, 2014

New Years Ashland Trip

For New Years, we decided to drive down to Ashland to see my parents.  Jake and Stacey and their family also drove out from Utah, and it was fun to be reunited again after our crazy summer living together.  When we first got there, my mom and dad had us open our Christmas gifts from them. 

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Asher got this little elf with his book from Grandma.  He immediately took it and put him in the tree.

The kids were quite entertained just playing with each other most of the time, but we did get out and find a few fun things to do too.  We took them all to Scienceworks two different times, and they had fun each time doing all the fun activities there.

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We also spent one afternoon at the church, playing dodge ball and soccer.  The kids wanted to play all different teams of dodgeball – Malans vs. Morrises, kids only, grown-ups only, and kids vs. grown-ups. 

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Maggie and Asher had fun playing together while the bigger kids played soccer.

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They also had fun just hanging out around the house, making cookies, reading books, jumping on the trampoline, and more.

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Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas Day 2014

We had a great Christmas day this year, filled with some fun present opening, delicious food, and great company.  We hung a sheet up to cover the view of the living room from the boys upstairs, where our stairwell is so open.  The boys all lined up youngest to oldest on the stairs, and came in when they heard the Jim Reeves Christmas music playing. 

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The boys were especially excited to see Santa brought them a trampoline this year!  They also got a Creationary Lego game, a Perplexus Warp, Super Mario 3D world Wii game, and Despicable Me DVD.  One of their favorite stocking stuffers were the hex bugs with legs on the top and bottom so they can walk in a circle.

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We took a break after looking at what Santa had brought us to eat our traditional Christmas breakfast – croissants and hot chocolate.  We also talked about the true gifts of Christmas, reading about each one as we ate our breakfast. 

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After breakfast, the boys had fun opening their gifts from us and from Grandma and Grandpa Malan and Kelly.  Some favorites included their BYU hats, Landon’s new “gear” bike and basketball clothes, Davis’s laser tag guns, James’s Lego superheroes, and Asher’s monster truck and trike.

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Davis got some new boots for Christmas, and Asher wanted to wear those around most of the morning, as well as the new BYU hat.  Guess we should’ve got him one too!  He even wanted to leave the boots on while trying out his new trike.  His new trike was his definite favorite, and we couldn’t get him off it once we brought it in, even opening the rest of his gifts while sitting on it.  He loved the bell on it too.

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Kelly always gives the boys such fun gifts.  This year, he got them some straw glasses and a Spirograph set.  He found a ball and a fun stuffed dog for Asher.

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Grandma and Grandpa Malan gave the boys some minion pillows – Asher thought it was so fun to lie on!  The boys have slept on them every night since.  They also gave them a nice over-the-door basketball hoop (which I somehow don’t have a picture of).  It has already seen a lot of use at our house.  They gave Asher a fun quiet book too.  They made a neat frame for us with pictures of them at their engagement, fifteen years later, and now. 

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We had fun watching them open their gifts from us too.  They especially liked the book Shane made for them of our trip to Yellowstone this summer.

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The boys made each other a Lego guy a the Lego store, and they had fun giving each other their gifts.

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After lunch (and some fun with the straw glasses), the boys headed outside to try out their bikes and trikes.  Davis was excited because now he gets Landon’s old bike.  James really wanted to ride Davis’s old one, but his legs just aren’t quite long enough yet. 

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That afternoon, the trampoline assembly began.  We were lucky to have Kelly and Kent around to help make the work go quicker.  The boys could hardly wait to get on, and were on it until well after dark once we finished assembling it.  Asher already has another new word – trampoline. 

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Here they are with their gifts they next day:

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Merry Christmas!