More Christmas Family Fun

Uncle Rick, Aunt Jo, Chris, Chelsea and Russell stopped at Great Grandpa & GiGi's for dinner on their way home from Tahoe, so we were able to spend some time with them, which is always such a treat for us!


Chris turned 18 on New Year's Eve, so we celebrated a couple days early. Lexie always manages to get into the arms of the person blowing out the candles! JT loves spending time with Russell and this time was no exception - if only we lived closer to each other!


Uncle Rick helped Ridge stand up as Chelsea watched. Chris read to the boys from Russell's new series, Captain Underpants.

Nana stopped by on New Year's Eve to drop off yet more gifts for the kids!


Nana brought them a really close tent and tunnel set, which they really like! Even Ridge climbed all the way through the tunnels! JT and Lexie are showing off their new slippers. Thank you for all the great gifts, Nana & Papa!

Christmas Day

This year we were able to let the kids get up, open their gifts, play with their new toys, eat breakfast, and play some more before heading up to Grandpa & GrammaNeani's. We then spent some time with GiGi, Great Grandpa, Great Grandma Barbara, Uncle Yimmy & Jessie, and Uncle Osh & Ashley.

The kids were super blessed and both Jared and I felt like it was a "transition year" - we were both so excited about what the kids were receiving and experiencing that we really didn't care what we would get, or if we would get anything at all. It's fun growing up:)


JT is such a big boy hanging out with his uncles - and just being a goofball!


Lexie loves all of the instruments! She plays the piano very gracefully and then has fun banging the drums!

Ridge gets a piano lesson from Grandpa and some special time with his Grandma!

The kids love opening presents and they were super blessed by everything they received!

Uncle Yimmy really liked his Christmas gift! Daddy and JT pose for a great picture.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with most of our Ivey immediate family. Mandi hosted the evening at her house and did a great job - it was very comfortable and super fun! The kids played well together and the adults played CatchPhrase - we had a blast! I am so grateful for our family and I love that my kids have such great cousins to grow up with.


Matt & Mandi's extra bedroom was turned into a playroom for the kids




They had a lot of fun!


I thought this was so cute. By the end of the night, Alyssa was pretty much sleeping with her eyes open!

Bounce U

Some of the families from JT's preschool met at Bounce U for some playtime during their winter break. It is a super fun place. Next time I will be sure to have another adult with me so I can play too!

JT had such a great time. He is such a big boy now!

Lexie was not interested in any of the bounce houses or slides. She mostly wanted to sit down and eat Ridge's snack.


Ridge would have followed JT everywhere if he could have. He had to settle for watching this time, though.

Folsom Zoo

We went to the zoo for our friend Jacob's birthday party. The kids had a great time (and so did the parents!)
It actually wasn't as freezing as we had anticipated, which was nice. Lexie did step in pigeon poop on the way out, though - that was a bummer!


They had these super cute spots to take pictures. JT is having fun, then Lexie and Christian pose together.



That is Jake, the birthday boy. That is a huge bunny rabbit that JT was able to pet!

JT's Preschool Christmas Program

JT's school had a great Christmas program before their winter break. The boys were shepherds and the girls were angels and they all did a wonderful job! They followed up with a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party with a big birthday cake!

We are so thankful to our awesome family. Grammaween, Grandpa Calmes, GrammaNeani, Great Grandma Barbara, Uncle Osh, GiGi, Great Grandpa and Nana were all able to come and watch JT perform!

We got better video than still photos. My camera took very dark pictures (I did get a new camera for Christmas though - thank you Hubby!)

After the performance, each student presented their parents with a gift they had made.

Christmas Lights

It has been a long time since I have posted pictures and updates - what a busy holiday season! It was great, though. We are extremely blessed and we are looking forward to this new year!

We went to see the Christmas lights in Rocklin three times this year. The first year that we were married, we lived in an apartment on the same court as the lights, so we walked it almost every night that season! I would still probably go every night, but it is not that practical, I know....

The kids really enjoyed them and the third time we went this year was the Saturday night before Christmas. Tons of people were out on their driveways with their fire pits, some kids sold hot chocolate, some families gave out candy canes - it was very fun! Uncle Patrick, Aunt Kendel, Emma, Aunt Nanana and Matt also joined us, which we enjoyed!

Daddy with the kids all bundled up our first time out

Emma and Lexie snuggled and ready to go!

JT standing in front of my favorite house with a beautiful life-sized nativity set, which you can see behind him