Christmas!

*Note* I started this post daaaayyysss ago. I really need to figure out a schedule to keep on track...

This Christmas was really wonderful. It was the first Christmas morning that Bryant, the kids and I have had just as our own little family. The first 3 years, Bryant and I were living in my parents basement apartment, so we would just go upstairs to open presents with my family. Then last year we were in Mt. Shasta for Christmas with Bryant's family. This year, it was just us at our house. I think this year Savannah really "got it". She understood who Santa Claus was, and knew that he was going to come to our house to leave presents. All day long on Christmas Eve, she kept telling me that we needed to go to bed so Santa could sneak into our house.

 Christmas Jammies!

 Santa came through our neighborhood on a firetruck. Savy asked if he was going to save kids.

When bedtime came, and both kids were nestled all snug in their beds, I had everything wrapped and ready to go, so Bryant and I were in bed at a decent hour. 

The next morning, I had to actually wake up everyone. My mom called and asked if she could come borrow something, so she came over before Bryant and the kids were even up. By 9:00, I figured I had better get Christmas going since we were supposed to be at my parents house by 10 for breakfast. 

When Bryant and I went to wake Savannah up, we said "Savannah! Guess who came last night!" And she sleepily asked "Sagey Pagey?" (My sister Sage). When we reminded her is was Christmas, she bolted out of bed and ran into the living room. The first thing she saw was the train that Santa had set up on the coffee table. She was so excited, she just stood there with her hands over her mouth silently while she watched it go around in circles. Then she saw all the other presents and started giggling and asked if she could open them.

Deagan mostly hid under the coffee table, and he'd come out to munch on wrapping paper, then crawl back under. I can't tell you how many times
I fished paper out of that kids mouth!

This year, we went easy on the gifts. Savannah got a train set, a tin tea set, a princess dress, and a doctor kit from Bryant and I, and Deagan got some clothes and a teething toy. I gave Bryant an audio book (which we returned because he had already read it. Oops) some slippers, and a star wars lego kit (which we also returned because I got the wrong one. Oops again!) and my dad, brother and I went in together to by him a gun!

Bryant's gift to me was a double stroller (Hallelujah!) and a date night out! Which we had a few nights later. Dinner, a movie, and shopping for some clothes for me. Perfect!

I felt a little bad not getting more gifts for the kids, but between both sets of grandparents, and aunts and uncles, they both made out like bandits!

After we opened gifts, we went to my parent's house where my brothers, sister and sister-in-law, and my grandparents were all there to exchange gifts and eat our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of biscuits and gravy.

 Bryant got another little lego thing from my parents, which he instantly took into a quiet corner and promptly put together. He's like a 10 year old boy sometimes.

That afternoon, we all went to my grandparents house for dinner. After dinner, we did a "mug exchange" where everyone brought a mug and we had a game and passed them around. However, as all holidays in the Peacock clan need a little drama, my grandma broke her shoulder. I had brought DJ's car seat in and as it got more crowded, my cousin asked me if she could move it into my grandparents room to keep it out of the way. As we were exchanging mugs, my grandma had gone in and tripped over the car seat and broke her shoulder and arm. She came in with a make-shift sling and said she wasn't going to the hospital until everyone was done opening gifts, and asked for a coke. We quickly finished opening gifts, and then Bryant and I lent them my van to take to the hospital because it's easier to get in and out of. She's a really tough cookie! She ended up needing 12 pins in her shoulder! Ouch! So if you're reading this, just think of a nice little thought for my grandma please.

 I'm almost 100% sure my aunts husband was doing the old "pretending to scratch my nose to flip off the camera" thing while I was taking this picture to photobomb it. Stay classy.

 Bryant reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" Also, my cousins wife also did the "scratching my nose but really I'm flipping everyone off" thing too when Bryant read the part that says "and the jolly old elf with a finger to the side of his nose" or something like that. So I did not post that photo. Guys, really...

That night, we headed home, and put our exhausted but very happy kids to bed, and Bryant and I curled up on the couch and watched a Christmas movie under the glow of the Christmas tree.

It was a great Christmas, and I'm glad Savannah is finally at that stage where she believes in Santa Clause. It makes being his helper really fun! Savannah told me yesterday that she wanted to go to the north pole and go fishing with Santa. I told her it was too cold, but she told me it was fine because she had a jacket. Well, I can't argue with that logic...

I hope everyone had a really wonderful Christmas, surrounded by friends and family!

Hopefully I'll get around to writing about New Years before Valentines Day, no promises though.

A California Christmas

We just got back the other night from 9 days in California! I'm a little tired, and I've been slowly unpacking everything from our trip (I did all our laundry the night before we left. It's so nice to just be able to hang it all up without trying to wash everything here first!)

But I figured I could take a break and do an update!

 (I LOVED cuddling up to the fire!)

This was my very first Christmas ever away from my family. I was a little sad, but I was also really excited to see Bryant's family, and spend some time at one of my favorite places, Mt. Shasta! The town, the trees, the mountain, everything is so beautiful! If you like the outdoors, small towns and friendly people, this is the place to go!

 (The Mountain)

(The cutest little bookstore!)

The first few days we were there, it snowed like crazy! There was probably close to 4ft by the time it stopped snowing. I woke up one morning, and looked out the window, only to realize that the snow was up to the window, and the window was at my chest! Bryant, his brother Tyler, his mom Robyn and dad Ed had to snow blow and shovel the driveway several times a day. (I just cozied up to the fire with Savannah. What a load of help I am!) Ed and Robyn both work at schools and their schools were canceled last Friday, and church was canceled on Sunday due to snow!

 (I took this after the first night it snowed. The poor guy was completely covered by that night!)

(The view from the back porch, also taken the first day it snowed.)

(This was taken on Christmas Eve, after all the snow had been plowed off the streets. This is in front of a supermarket. To give you a sense of scale, I'm standing right next to this, and had to angle my camera up... It was probably 10 feet high!)

I had to chuckle when I checked my facebook, and all my friends here in Utah were talking about all the snow they got here and how crazy it was, and then I would see the pictures with 6 inches, then look out the window in California and see 4 feet! I've never had a winter like that, so it was actually kind of fun to be snowed in!

Over the weekend, we drove down with everyone to Sacramento for the night, to visit Bryan't Brother Jacob, his wife Sally, and their 2 kids. I was really happy to see them, because they are my only niece and nephew, and Savannah's only cousins at the moment. I hadn't even met their 2nd child yet and he's almost a year old! They all had fun playing together, (except Savannah really needs to learn how to share!) and it was also my first time in Sacramento, so that's one last place to check off my list!

 (Cousins!)

(All ready for bed!)

 (I was sitting on the air mattress reading the news on my phone, waiting for the shower to be available, and my niece and nephew both walked in a sat on my lap. It was nice to get to spend a few moments with just me and them! I miss them already!)

(Sorry this photo is blurry, but I thought it was so sweet that they gave each other hugs goodbye!)

The drive down was really crazy. It had been snowing, and even through the roads weren't too bad, it was slow-going. People were only going about 25-30 mph, and we were stopped to make sure that we either had chains or 4-wheel drive. The road going back towards Mt. Shasta ended up being closed completely, until they could get in and clear the roads. We were worried we would have to spend an extra couple of days in Sacramento (I had packed extra clothes for all of us, just in case...) but by the next afternoon, we got word that the roads were completely clear, so we were able to make it back!

Christmas Eve, Bryant took me out to the main street and we did a bit of shopping and walking around while Ed and Robyn babysat for us. We then grabbed some lunch, then headed home to pick Savannah up, and then we went out to go visit some people from the ward. I'm not exaggerating when I say the people in Mt. Shasta are the nicest people ever! It was really fun getting to visit with everyone! 

That night, we had ribs and pasta for dinner, then played a few games. Afterwords, we went down the street to where one of their neighbors had put up a ton of lights, and several wood cut-outs of different people, like Disney characters, a nativity, Santa, etc. I was impressed that they had taken the time to go out and dig all of them out! It must have taken them hours! Afterwords, we came home and watched "It's a Wonderful Life", and of course, I was crying by the end of the movie!

 (Mr.  and Mrs. Clause were still up to their waists in snow!)

Christmas morning was so much fun! We actually had to wake Savannah up, because everyone else was up and ready to go! When we woke her up, we said "Savannah, Santa came to visit!" and she bolted straight up yelling "Yay! Yay! Santa! Yay!" and she ran straight into the living room!

 (This rocking horse is the first thing she saw. She loved petting and kissing him, but was terrified to ride him! I'm happy to report, that now she requests several times a day to ride!)

(As soon as Robyn set this princess tent up, Savannah ran into our room and brought a pillow to put in there. She spent most of the rest of the trip in there!)

(I HAD to get her legos, because they are her favorite toy in nursery!)

She was pretty excited to open her presents, but after opening a few, she just wanted to stop and play with all of them. I had to open her last 3 for her, because she was done. Christmas is so much fun when you have your own kids! I can't wait until next Christmas when she will be almost 3, and this next baby will be 6 months old! 

We had breakfast casserole for Breakfast after we opened presents, and then Ed and Robyn babysat again while Bryant, Tyler and I went to go see Les Miserables. Which of course, I cried about 5 times during it.

 (Baking cookies with grandma! With her cheesy grin she gets from her daddy!)

Afterwords, we came home, played some more games, and decided to just do leftovers instead of making another big dinner.

Our drive back didn't go quite as smoothly as the drive out there. Even though we didn't hit any bad weather, Savannah was not happy to be back in the car and was pretty mad for most of the trip. We had to make A LOT of extra stops to keep her happy. But we made it safe and sound, and that's all that matters!

We had so much fun in Mt. Shasta. It was exactly what I needed after a crazy last couple of weeks at school. I got to just sit and relax, and Savannah got to spend a lot of time with her Grandparents and Uncle, and got to see her cousins!

We really missed Chantel, who is in Florida, and I hope that someday, we will get to spend a Christmas with all the Stokes, and all the grandkids!

I hope everyone had a Christmas as amazing as we did! 

Twas the night before Christmas...

Well, the chocolate chip cookie pie is in the oven, the presents are all wrapped, the kitchen is cleaned (can't say the same for the craft room) and I've got a few minutes to spare before I have to head off to work (ugh, yes, work on Christmas eve, closing, for the THIRD year in a row...)

So I thought I share a post on what I did on my day off on Wednesday.

First, Bryant's Brother Jacob, his wife Sally, and their adorable baby Jayden were in town for her brother's wedding. We headed up to Murray to spend a quick visit with them before they headed back to California.
Bryant and Jayden enjoying a Strawberry Shortcake movie on his phone. I can't wait to see him with our daughter!

She was a lot more warmed up to her uncle than the last time we saw them, where she cried every time he picked her up.My sister-in-law Sally enjoying some quiet time while Jayden took a brief nap.

After our visit, Bryant and I headed home and picked up my little sister, who helped us finish up some Christmas shopping at the mall and at my work, where we also grabbed some Cider and hot chocolate. Yum!

Afterwords, my Mom called and asked if we would like to go to the Carl Bloch altarpiece exhibit that was at BYU. So we met her, my dad and my Brother Sawyer there a couple hours later and had a ton of fun at the exhibit.

This was my favorite, and what a great way to remember what the Savior did for us during this Christmas season!

My sister and I rented Ipads, where they had an audio tour, plus commentary for each of the paintings, along with a virtual tour of all the churches and cathedrals where they pieces were originally.

After the exhibit, we went to a burger place called Stans.
This is making me hungry just thinking about it!
If any of you live in the Provo area, head to 9th east and try it out! Soooo good!
(nothing says "i'm a teenager!" quite like an open mouth with food in it. After about 8 photos, and that mouth staying open in every single one, I finally decided that, tough luck Sawyer, you get to have this on the internet now!)
And I just can't seem to get rid of these bags under my eyes! Thanks a lot holiday shoppers for making me stay late at work... And thanks to baby for kicking me ALL night long (but I don't mind that so much )

After dinner, we headed over to Spanish Fork to see the lights! One of my favorite holiday traditions!
Bryant enjoyed it so much, that he drove us through twice!

Well, that was what I did on my day off! I just pray that work goes smoothly tonight and I don't get any ridiculous customers tonight (like the lady who said she didn't want a cookbook, but wanted a book with recipes in it... whaaa?)

I'm also hoping we get out at a decent hour so I can spend some time with Bryant's aunts and uncles who are in town before they have to leave.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone!!!