Christmas. Better late than never, right?

Christmas Break and New Year's were one of those weeks that you never wanted to end. We slept in everyday, had a home-cooked meal for every meal and had so much fun with all of our family! I love the Christmas season and was so sad to have it pass but at the same time am so grateful for all of the wonderful memories that were created.  

It has become a little Christmas Eve tradition at my parent's house to have Santa stop by after we have eaten Christmas Eve Dinner. The kids love it! And even the big kids do too....we haven't grown up yet I guess. :)

Grandpa John sitting on Santa's lap! I seriously have the cutest Grandpa! I just love him. 

Madeline, Corgan & London sitting on Santa's lap. Corgan was a little unsure of what to think of Santa but the girls loved it! 

Little Miss Claire's first time seeing Santa! Look at how happy she is! She wasn't afraid of him at all! 

Emily is always the main reason we have Santa come to visit. I just love her. She is the one that truly keeps the Spirit alive at our house. 

All four of the Grandkids! Maddy loves her little brother, can't you tell! 

Another Christmas Eve tradition of my family's is that every year my Mom buys everyone matching PJ's and we open them up on Christmas Eve. It is always a race to see who can change into them the fastest. All the boys, with the exception of Corgan, didn't want to participate with us. Hence the reason we have a family photo without any of them in their cute matching PJ's! Silly boys. 

I am from the most absolute beautiful place in the world. Moab has the most incredible sunsets!

The view right out my Mom & Dad's front door. AMAZING.

I love this boy oh so much! 

P.S. Doesn't he look so cute in his new fleece with the popped collar?? hehe

A couple of days after Christmas, some of my Dad's siblings came into town and we had another Christmas Dinner with them and did a gift exchange. I love it! I am so blessed to be so close with all of my extended family members. Here is my Uncle Dan reading to Miss Mads. She could read all day, every day if we let her! 

He finally got used to me being around! He is such a cute little guy! 

Crazy Emily. I just love her. 

My cute Grandmother and cousin Ally! Ally just got back from a study abroad in Spain. I am still so jealous of her.

London hanging out with the big girls as usual: Maggie & Kelley. I honestly have the cutest cousins ever. 

The room exploded during the gift exchange! SO FUN! 

Cute Maddy with her new backpack! 

A couple of days while we were there, I got to babysit Claire while Linz had some appointments. I was in heaven! She is like a little doll. I just love her to death! And check out her outfit-leggings and a mini skirt! SO CUTE! Linz always decks her out in the cutest things! 

Little Miss Cliare! I love her so much! 

Okay, so if you refer to the pictures of the sunsets above and then look at this picture, you would never believe that they were taken within days of each other. When we first got to Moab it looked like it was still fall and then one morning we woke up to this!!!! I LOVED IT! I think I am the only person that woke up with a smile on her face because of all the snow! Perfect for a little smooch! 

Probably the most awkward picture to try and take when you have snow blowing in your eyes. That husband of mine still looks pretty sassy though! 

Since we were limited on what we could do with all of the snow outside, we decided to go bowling! We went with Preston's mom and his siblings. It was a blast. Preston had some awesome form as you can see. he he 

Moab's transformation into a Winter Wonderland! 

Here's my cute momma in the sassy apron I gave her! I think she spent most of her time in the kitchen while we were there making us the most tasty food ever! I love my mom!

Preston whipped us up some tasty salsa! I love how domestic he is. 

Me and Emmy Loo! 

Emily and I's contribution to the New Year's Feast: Pigs in a Blanket! I love those things. 

Here is the quilt I made for Corgan for Christmas. It wasn't totally finished for Christmas, I will admit. But I did get it finished like a week later! What do you think??

For New Years Day we had plans of going to Durango for the day but the roads were too bad so we went to Grand Junction instead. We did a little shopping, ate at Famous Daves (pretty tasty), and then went to see Harry Potter. Even though it was Preston & I's second time seeing it, it was still good! 

Preston just chowin down on some ribs. 

We told Emily to stick her head in this and when she did she stood up and walked with it on. She is such a goof!

We had such an amazing time for our break! Even if it was -14 on our way home from Grand Junction. We cherish every moment we get to spend with those that we love and we can't wait to share many more Christmas' together! 

Everybody Needs an Apron.

I think everyone deserves to look pretty when they are cooking, don't you? (say yes!) 

Well, if you become a follower of my blog before the end of January and leave a comment on this post, you will be put into a drawing for your very own, one-of-a-kind, Apron! Hurry!!! Do it now before it's too late!!! And if you could specify your size, that would be great too (Small, Medium or Large). If you don't feel comfortable posting your size on a blog, still leave a comment and then shoot me an email to syd_squid@hotmail.com. I have an apron in every size so everybody is eligible to win! 

Adult Apron made for Adele Schopf. 

Adult Apron made for Olivia Sorrel

Adult Apron made for Molly Lorenzo

Child size Apron made for Joslyn Sanders. Even little girls need an apron! 

Adult Apron made for My Mommy! 

And the crazy Apron maker. I was cooped up for a week making all of these babies. Luckily I was somewhat snowed in so it made it twice as fun. Notice our lovely Christmas Tree in the background. It's got character. :)

The massive snowstorm! I loved having this much snow outside and having the excuse not to go anywhere and just stay inside and SEW! I LOVE THE SNOW! 

Our very own Winter Wonderland! 

Visits to Temple Square

It seems like every time we turned around during Christmas time we had another invitation from someone to go up to Temple Square. We are just that popular. NOT. I'm totally kidding.

The first visit was obviously from my most recent post when we went there with my sister and her family. The second visit was all thanks to John & Christine (preston's brother and his wife) having tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert featuring.....DAVID ARCHULETTA! I tried not to be more excited to see him than I was to see Motab but I couldn't help it! John & Christine had two extra tickets and were nice enough to invite us along and let us use them. It was WONDERFUL! Not only was Motab amazing but David just killed it. He has one truly amazing voice. It was such a fun experience and got me even more into the Christmas Spirit....if that is even possible. I began listening to Christmas music so early this year that my Pandora account ran out and wouldn't let me listen anymore. If I wanted to they said that I needed to pay. YEAH RIGHT! I thought it was a free station! Anyways, back to the concert. We loved it! 

(they say not to take pictures in there...oops! Everyone else was doing it so I thought I should to! Classic response huh? My mom always said, "If everyone else jumped off a cliff would you do that too??" My response: Maybe! :D )

I couldn't help but take a picture of that amazing stage. I couldn't believe how they transformed the Conference Center into such a Christmasy Wintery Wonderland! 

I love to see the Temple! :D This is one of my all-time favorite buildings. I can't wait to do a session there someday. 

Posing! 

John & Christine!

The whole group! Thanks, John & Christine, for giving us the opportunity to experience such a wonderful show! And for introducing us to "The Pie" in SLC. It is the coolest little pizza joint! There Root beer and their cheese bread were phenomenal! I'm goin' back!

And then we returned for yet another trip to Temple Square with Preston's cousin, Ryan and his wife Skyann. This time we actually got to walk around and enjoy all of the lights and stop and listen to the Nativity Story. It was such a fun night! Even if we did get rained on! We are blessed with so many wonderful people in our lives. Thanks guys for a fun evening! (And for those delicious Enchiladas, Sky!)

Bad Blogger.....

Okay guys, its obviously no secret but I am THE WORST blogger there has ever been. I mean, seriously? The last time I posted was in NOVEMBER! That is a bit ridiculous. I swore when I made this blog I wouldn't be one of those bloggers. You know, the ones that only update like once every couple of months. And now look at me! I have absolutely no room to talk! 

Anywho.....I have some catching up to do! 

K so about a month ago or so (yeah, I said a month. pathetic, i know), my oldest sister, Amber, and her husband Mat came with their three cute kids to stay with us! Like I've said before, I LOVE when family comes to visit! It is THE BEST! 

(left to right: London, Madeline & Corgan)

While their Dad and Uncle Preston were busy being nerds and playing XBOX, all 3 kids snuggled up on the recliner to watch The Grinch on that little screen. I couldn't get them to pull their eyes away for even just one picture! Well, I guess I got Corgan to. But he refuses to smile at me. He can never decide if he likes me or not. One day he'll come to his senses and realize I really am the coolest Aunt of them all!! :D hehe

And by the way, don't be too offended by the hideous wallpaper in the background. One of these days it will come down and I will beautify those walls! (I don't think that day is any time soon unfortunately.) And not to mention that lovely paneling! YUCK! I profess to be going to school for Interior Design and look at my house! It is need of a serious upgrade! 

Miss London looking just as sassy as can be as we make some yummy popcorn! She is seriously such a funny little girl. She is OBSESSED with fashion! It is the funniest thing. She loves this blog. Probably one of the youngest followers of the blog, I am sure. I just love her! 

Just hangin with Aunt Syd! 

 He's totally thinking, "Maybe if I don't look at her, she'll go away"! He is just the cutest thing! It usually takes him up until the point that I tell him goodbye for him to like me. I can't help but bug him though! Not when he is that cute!

Two of the biggest nerds there are. I'm sure of it. Preston loves having boys over because it gives him an excuse to whip out the XBOX. Let's face it, I'm not gonna be very outgoing when it comes to Halo. However, if we get a Wii and buy Mario Cart, then I'm totally game. But until then, no siree! 

Clean baby! Would you just look at those eyes!??!! SOOO CUTE!

So while Amber & London went to Ballet West to watch the Nutcracker, the rest of us (Mat, myself, Madeline & Corgan) went to Chuckie Cheeses. I had Maddy convinced that that was way cooler than seeing the Nutcracker any day. And the best part is, she is still naive enough to believe me! I love it. But in all honesty, it was a lot of fun. Especially when Corgan messed his pants right after Amber left and when we got to Chuckie Cheeses and got him out of his carseat, he had poop all over him. And I mean ALL OVER HIM. Like from his shoulders to his toes. I don't know how he did it but he did. Anyways, your probably all like "Syd, TMI! TMI!". Let's just say I was glad Mat was there to take care of it! :D 

He eventually started looking more happy when he looked at me. Either that or he really likes those keys. 

After they finished up with the Nutcracker, we all met up and went to eat dinner at the Lion House. Can I just say that their food is AMAZING?!? I was in heaven. Those rolls are to die for and they have the most delicious chocolate cake. I have to go back just for that. After dinner, we looked at the lights at Temple Square and then headed up to check out the Zoo Lights. We had such a good time hanging out with them and can't wait for them to come visit us again soon! 

(Mathew, Corgan, Amber, Madeline & London Niesen)

No more middle part for me. The hubby wasn't so fond of it. And lets face it, neither was I. I'll leave that hairdo for those blessed girls that don't have the most annoying all cowlicks (is that spelled right?) to deal with. Merry LATE Christmas everybody!

And friends and family, come visit us soon! We love the company! :D