Friday, January 28, 2011

Christmas... Finally

I know, I know... It's over a month past Christmas and I'm just now posting pictures. Sorry, things got a little busy. But better late than never, right? So we followed through with some family traditions that we have started. We went caroling to some elderly people in my parent's ward and passed out treats. The kids really enjoyed doing that this year, I hope they continue to enjoy that. It means so much to those people to have the whole Blackburn family stop by. Maybe not sing, but at least the company and goodies are nice! After that everyone else headed over to the house in N. Las Vegas... Chris and I headed out to the car dealership to purchase our new minivan, but we sent the camera with my parents and got some good photos. All of the Blackburn Grandchildren! It's so crazy to see these four kids and think how much our little family of 5 has grown!
Aunt Anna rode with the kids on the train! They all had a blast!

Then came Christmas Eve. We always have the nativity acted out by the kids and then Santa comes by and then we eat sandwiches and goodies. The kids did such a good job on the nativity, they participated and even stood in their spots for quite a while!


Here is Katelee the Camel! She didn't really like her costume until she saw Maddy dressed as a donkey then it magically became ok!
And Ethan was a Shepard. He was so cute!!!
And Emily was a little Angel, of course!

Here is the whole group! It was a good Nativity!

















Ethan looks so grown up sitting on Santa's lap. He of course was not scared at all this year, and told Santa exactly what he wanted!










Miss Katlee was a little afraid but she really wanted a new Baby Doll so she went up there and was brave! All for the sake of a new doll.... Such a girl!


Before the program we went over to my parent's house and we were able to open our PJs from Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn. After the program we then went to Nelson's house and we were able to open our PJs from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. When we got home the kids went to bed and the parents were not far behind! (wink wink! We wish!)




This was our tree with all the gifts! They were all packed in there nice and tight!
And this is what our living room looked like AFTER Santa came!
Looks like fun to me!

Those are the kids' piles of presents.

I came downstairs and let our parent's, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Brian in and then Chris let the kids come downstairs. On Christmas morning I heard the kids talking and got up to get them. They were both sitting in the den just talking. When I asked them if they wanted to see if Santa came they both smiled, as if to say, "duh!" It was the cutest thing, you could see the excitement in their eyes! I love that look!
Katelee was a little hesitant to come downstairs, I think she was just a little intimidated by all the noise and people down there at such an early hour. (6:30-7:00) Ethan on the other hand was all for the presents and fun!
This was our house AFTER the opening of gifts was completed! WOW, is all I could say!
After getting dressed in some new clothes we went over to Maddy's house to see what all they got and then headed over to my parent's house to see what they got. After that we then went to the 7-11 by my work and saw the lady that works there. We did this last year as well and she really enjoyed it so I thought, "hey lets do it again, make her Christmas a little more special!" Plus the kids get a Slurpee, so you know they aren't passing that opportunity up!
After that we went to Nelson's to see Uncle Brent and then headed over to the Howard's for Christmas lunch. That was a fun time and then later we headed back over to Nelson's to have dinner and spend time with the family! Then it was off to our house and time for bed, finally!
I love Christmas, I love the reason for the season and I love spending so much time with our families! It is always a little bit of a relief to have it over, as sad as that sounds. It gets so busy going from one place to the other, but since it's only 1 day a year it's all worth it! Merry Christmas to EVERYONE! We hope your Christmas was as much fun and full of love as ours was!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

What's Been Going On....

I haven't been blogging lately and it's not because our life is so boring there is nothing to talk about, it's as simple as being WAY TOO crazy busy!!! So here are some bullet points of what we have been doing....


  • Trying to Potty Train Katelee... Not going well at all. The poor girl is too much like me. "What a joy" you might be saying, however if you know the real me you know it means she is STUBBORN!!! At times she refuses to even mention the toilet and other times she will sit there and read books but that is all! I thought they always said "Girls are easier to potty train!" Well I will have to say that is false in our case!



  • We had a great Christmas. The kids had a lot of fun! Katelee got some Baby Dolls and a Baby Doll bunk bed from Santa. Ethan got a big truck with trailer that is also remote control. Hopefully I will get some pictures of Christmas up and even a post...



  • We had a very nice New Year's Eve. We Celebrated by going over to my sister's house. It was just Anna, Enrique, Emily, My parents and our family. We had our good food, played games and celebrated with New York. We had my parents dropped off and we were home before 10:30pm. Since I became a mother I really feel that staying up till Midnight is very overrated! Plus the kids were up BRIGHT and EARLY the next day!



  • We purchased a new Vehicle.... It's a brand new Dodge Caravan. Only a year ago I would have laughed at the thought of us owning a minivan... However, an SUV big enough to hold 3 kids, one in a booster and two in car seats are WAY out of our budget and they don't come with the storage room we need when we travel! I like to think of us owning a minivan as a very good sign that I am able to humble myself, somewhat! I love the van, the kids love the van and Chris really enjoys driving it. It was a stressful week or two trying to make sure we didn't get ripped too bad. We really did a good job... We got the price we wanted and 0% financing on top of that! There is so much room and we got the entertainment package... Amazing is all I can say. The kids sit on different rows and there is no more hitting, biting and arguing! Hopefully I will get a picture of the new Van on here soon.



  • Next month we are having baby number 3... Yes NEXT MONTH!!!! I think you all might be ok with that, but YIKES is all I can say!!! The babies room is still a mess, however the crib has been set up for a while now, so the baby will at least have somewhere to sleep... The pregnancy is going great. My Dr. thinks I'm perfect, I would love to believe him, however I am paying him quite a bit of money, so I think his opinion might be a bit self serving!



  • Chris has class Monday through Thursday 8am-5pm this semester. Friday is designated as a "reading day" and it really is a day that has to be used as a study day. Every night he studies after Katelee goes down for bed. This gives me and Ethan some good bonding time, but being confined to upstairs really limits what we can do. This schedule is really taking a toll on Chris, but we just keep reminding each other we only have another year and a half left! (Funny side story about this. The other night Ethan asked Chris was he was going to do that night. Chris said, "I have to read." Ethan looked at his dad and said, "But Dad, that is going to make you tired!" Then while Ethan and I were upstairs Ethan looked at me and said, "Should I go wake Daddy up?" I laughed and told him I'm sure Daddy isn't sleeping. But it was so funny!)



  • My Bank has been officially moved to Flamingo and Durango. Joy! This has really put a wrinkle in days. Both Chris and I now leave the house by 7am. Chris drops the kids off in the morning and I head to work. I will be getting off work hopefully around 4pm to pick the kids up. Of course with this being our first week at the new location I haven't held my end of the bargain and my poor mother has had the kids for 10 hours a few days. I feel horrible about that and know it has to change. I am so tired now when I get home because we are getting up at 5:45am and I'm not getting to bed any earlier. There are still things that have to be done when we get home.... But we will get into a routine and get use to it in no time, I'm sure! (At least I keep telling myself that!)


  • We signed Ethan up for T-Ball on Saturday. I looked into little league a while ago and saw that the kids had to be 5 to play, so I figured we would have to wait until next year. Then Saturday comes along and my brother calls and tells me to get Ethan down to the Wendy's and sign him up for T-Ball. After confirming the age with the guys in charge we headed down to Wendy's. I think Chris and I were more excited than Ethan, but he is the silent excited type. Later that day he told Grandma Alberta he was afraid he wasn't going to be any good... I am pretty sure he will do great, it's kinda in his blood! Having a son about to play T-ball kinda makes me feel old... But I'm so excited!


So when I get some more time I will update the blog with some cute pictures!