New Cast!

Before
After

Gavin got his new cast on today. Blue of course. It's a longer one, above the elbow. If it's bugging him they can switch it for a shorter one (below the elbow) in 2 weeks. He'll have some sort of cast for at least 4 more weeks though. He's doing OK with it and figuring out how to do everything with one hand. It's kind of heavy for him though.

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas. I feel bad that I have no photos from the time we spent with Jim's family. The first gathering ended quickly with our exit to the ER. Then on Christmas Eve, Gavin decided to throw a fit over singing. Plus, I just got side tracked with him and didn't get to my camera. We had a great time with them though.

Opening the first gift on Christmas Eve. Liam is old enough to realize it's always going to be pajamas. I think he wishes he could pick something else, but what about WEARING them on Christmas Eve??
Look at the surprised faces! Gavin's pjs even glow in the dark!

Looking good. I really am glad the sleeve fits over Gavin's arm. I keep thinking about all the long sleeved shirts going to waste right now because of that cast.....

Liam with our awesome tree of the year. Ya, it's fake and the same one from last year. Oh and yes, the lights near the bottom are out. Classy.

After we opened Santa gifts and got ready for the day we headed to my sister Melissa's house for their excellent breakfast!

Melissa helping Trey with his gift.

Dad opening gifts.

Sue and her new snugly blanket. Stephen trying not to shoot himself in the face with his new nerf gun.

Matt looking for his nerf gun bullet. Ryan hanging with Trey.

Stephen, Jackie, Sue lounging.

Trevan and Asher helping Gavin open his present - Handy Manny Construction set! He loves it.

This will be a Christmas to remember. Poor kid couldn't open gifts or even really play with them.

Andrea and Trey

The family on Christmas day.

OK, Gavin got a ladybug Pillow Pet and he loves it. It came with a baby ladybug that he also loves. He likes to bring all his animals to show Grandma Prestwich.

Please, please, please ignore the condition of the table. I swear we are going to re-stain it once Gavin stops destroying it. Anyway, Gavin is doing a great job painting his car bank with his LEFT hand. Maybe he'll be ambidextrous at the end of all this.

Another Broken Arm! What is going on this year??

This has been quite a year. Between the 2 boys we've had three trips to the ER and two broken arms.

Tonight while gathered for dinner and gingerbread houses, Gavin decided to jump down a few stairs (at least that's what we were told). All the adults were upstairs and I hear a lot of crying and screaming. I just assume it's the usual child is hurt thing. But, he cried longer and harder than usual. He looked pale and he felt cold. I finally dared to lift his long sleeve. We all saw it at once and headed right for the door!

Luckily the wait at the ER wasn't too long. Poor little guy trying to hold it still.

One bone is broken all the way through and the other has a "buckle" fracture. It was really bent out of place so they had to put him out and set it. What did they do in the old days when they didn't put them out? Poor people. I'm SO thankful for modern medicine!!!

At least he got a new dog to go with the baby horse he got during his last ER visit.

All done and just waiting to wake up enough to go home. I feel so sorry for my little buddy. Just in time for Christmas and everything.

I wonder if he'll stop jumping off everything now.

White Christmas??

Well, the snow I wanted for Christmas is here! It just doesn't feel right if there is no snow. I hope it doesn't warm up and melt before the big day.

Good thing Liam loves to shovel. I avoided the shovel because I'm an old lady with back problems. My back is finally feeling better and I wasn't going to take a chance. Although, Jim's is also hurting now after shoveling the snow. Liam may be on his own for the rest of the season.
Gavin had a good time. Maybe next year he'll be old enough for a shovel....

Time to nail some kids with snowballs!

Christmas Train

My dad knows a man that runs a little train around his neighborhood. We did this a year or 2 ago as well so this post might look familiar. But, the kids are older so we needed more pictures.

Gavin was my lap rider this year. Actually he stood the whole time and we tried to keep our balance in the tiny seat. Gavin really liked it this year!

The first half of the trip is "The Polar Express". His yard is decorated with things from the movie and you listen to the music from the movie. Then you get off at the North Pole.

Inside the North Pole you get to visit with Santa. Too bad it's blurry because it's very hard to get Liam to visit with Santa anymore. I got him to go up with Trevan.

Santa's workshop is so cute and has a little train.

Gavin wants NOTHING to do with Santa. This is the closest we could get him to the big guy. He's barely touching the candy cane with the tips of his fingers.

Does Liam kind of look like a burglar?

Then we sent back outside to catch the train back.

On the way back they play Christmas music and have beautiful pictures of Christ's life.

Once you are back at the station there are cards to sign for missionaries and donation boxes for a local charity. This family runs this for free every year. It's very hard to get a spot because they fill up quickly. What a great time and a wonderful family for working so hard to make it fun for others.

Just some shots of the family hanging out after the train.

Liam seriously hates getting his picture taken. And I seriously hate how he won't smile for a picture!

The Polar Express half of the ride.

The Life of Christ half of the ride.

What do you get when you give a BYU student a free ticket to see David Archuleta?

Answer:

A big plate of cinnamon rolls on a cute plate with a card telling how thankful they were delivered to your house at 10:20 at night. How nice was that?!?! They are good too - no raisins! (so we may have eaten half of them before this picture was taken)

Festival of Trees

This year I went with my sister Andrea to the Festival of Trees. I'm not sure if I've ever been there before. Maybe when I was little. It was so much fun. Maybe this needs to be a new tradition. The problem....crowds! Oh and I seriously have issues with lines and people that follow the natural flow of things. Hmmm. Next year I think I'll go on a weekday during the day and hope for a better view of the trees and gingerbread houses.

My awkward crouch blocking out Bella and taking my rightful place. Yes, I'm embarrassing. Gavin's a little too interested in his pretzel and won't look at the camera.

Too bad it isn't a DIET Coke tree.

Soooo many cute trees. But so many sad stories behind the trees. We made the mistake of reading one story. We were both about to literally start crying so we stopped reading them.

Christmas Concert at Temple Square

I love going to the Christmas Concert at Temple Square. Lately it's been hard to get tickets. This year was especially difficult because the guest singer was "DAVID ARCHULETA"!! No one in my family was able to get tickets and we were pretty sad. However, I have a friend (former teaching buddy) that came through. He and his wife are missionaries at the Conference Center and were able to pull some stings and get me some tickets.

The show was absolutely wonderful!! I loved it. I think it was my favorite Christmas concert so far.
David Archuleta really did a wonderful job. Even better than I expected.

We had great seats on the middle balcony. Front row! Although we did get in trouble for "leaning against the railing" OOPS!

Andrea, Grandma Sue, and Grandpa Rick got to come with Liam and me.

Oh look, it's little David Archuleta in a tux.

We were standing at the finale so I quietly got out my camera and took a quick video. Don't tell anyone.

Liam's a Star!

Liam is a Star! He earned his Star in Boy Scouts in November. He actually has only 2 more merit badges before he gets his Life badge - well, he needs his service hours and time to pass of course. But, he's really doing well and motivated to get it done. He has already signed up for his next scout pow wow in March so he'll be ready to move right along.

He really cleaned up with the merit badges this time. At the Court of Honor in November he got basketry, archery, rifle shooting, weather, swimming, family life, citizenship in the world, and electricity merit badges in addition to earning his Star.

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Lets give him a hand!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, visiting with family and eating of course.

It's been a rough year in our home, but this is a good time of year to remember all the things we do have to be thankful for. It's so easy to dwell on all the things that go wrong and all the things you don't have. But, all of the things that are really important we do have.

This year I'm thankful for:

1. Healthy & happy boys in my home!
2. A wonderful husband that is very good to me!
3. A very supportive and loving extended family!
4. The knowledge we have of the true gospel that keeps my focus on what is truly important in this life!

So, as we enter the Christmas season I am going to try very hard to be happy and enjoy this time of year. I'm going to try not to focus on what is missing, but what we have. Christmas isn't about what presents you can give or what presents you get. It's about celebrating the birth of Christ. Maybe this year it might be even easier to keep the focus in the right place.