Temple Square

We usually go to Temple Square before Christmas but this year Dev had been working long hours and it was FREEZING so it kept getting put off. I really wanted to take the kiddos and go see the lights though so we did it after Christmas. Mathias is getting to the age where he is asking more questions about the temple and understands that this is where Dev and I got married.

The Temple is of course absolutely breath taking year round but even more so being surrounded by all the Christmas lights . Mathias kept asking why they didn't put any Christmas lights ON the temple. Kinda funny. It still amazes me that they built such a beautiful building with so many details so long ago.

A quick pic of our little family in front of a nativity scene and the temple.

Dev and the kiddos.

Another quick pic. It was freezing so we really hurried through all of the light and things. The one nice thing about going after Christmas was that it was not really crowded.

Me and the kiddos.

Mathias had fun checking out the fountains, lantern things and the nativity scenes.

Lastly here are a few nativity scenes from around the world. I always think those are pretty cool. I love going to Temple Square with family. It is such an amazing experience and fun tradition.

new toy fun

The rest of our Christmas weekend was pretty low key. We mostly just lounged around and played with the kids and their new toys.

Mathias braving the cold for a few minutes to try out his new razor he got from Mema.

Azlyn checking out her book from her Uncle Rick, Aunt Melissa and Cousin Audrey. She loves it.

We have spent a lot of time playing with the criss cross crash track. Definitely entertaining for everyone.

Azlyn checking out everything on her crawl around ball. She loved the lights, music and tags.

Mathias figured out how to make awesome tracks.

Mathias helping out Azlyn figure out all the little toys on her little stroller. They are just so cute and it is fun to watch them play together!

Christmas

We had a really good Christmas. This Christmas was pretty laid back. We had our own little family Christmas and after we got it all cleaned up, all of the Brower family came over for the traditional breakfast of omelets. The siblings do a gift exchange and then Grandma and Grandpa give all the grandkids a present. And all of the families give Grandma and Grandpa a present. My mom went out to Virginia to visit my brother Dustin for Christmas. We sure missed her!
It was all about the kids this year again. Because things are kinda tight this year, Dev and I didn't do anything for each other and just got the kids some things. I loved watching their faces.
Mathias slept in till about 8. I am so mean and actually locked him in his room because I wanted to see the look on his face when he walked out into the living room and didn't want him to go in there without us. He was so excited when he saw the train set.

Poor Azlyn didn't feel good and just really wanted to snuggle for a while. So we let Mathias start with his stocking. He got some candy, an orange, some cars, a motorcycle, a tie, a leap frog math movie, and Toy Story 3 movie. We then let Azlyn have her stocking and she just kinda stared at it. I took the Raggedy Ann doll out and she kind of just looked at her. She also got an orange, a pair of tights and the movie Princess and the Frog.

This is what Mema (my mom) got Mathias for Christmas. He was so excited! He has wanted one of these for a while now and always plays with his cousin's. He is so happy to have his own. Now all we need is the weather to get warmer so he can actually enjoy it.

This is what Mema got Azlyn for Christmas. Her very first doll. A Disney Princess doll at that. It is a baby Ariel doll. We picked her out because she has red hair like Azlyn! Azlyn loves her. She kept trying to grab her crown and holding her hand. It was so cute.

Here are a couple of pictures of Mathias opening a few of his gifts. He kept saying this is exactly what he wanted. He loved everything he got.

Mathias was so excited that he got the criss cross crash track that he asked Santa for. The train track was also from Santa. Azlyn got her little stroller from Santa.

Azlyn is obviously too young to know what all this craziness was all about, plus she was tired and sick. She didn't really do to much with the tissue paper or wrapping paper which is what I thought she would love the most. I would open all of her toys and then place them in front of her and she would just kinda stare at them and then slowly start touching them and checking them out.

The kids with all of their loot. It took a few tries to get Azlyn to look up for a picture but I finally got one. I also love the ones where she was checking out her first princess movie and holding the dolls hand. Mathias has mastered the art of the super cheesy smile. Gotta love it!

This is what Grandma and Grandpa Brower got Azlyn. She loves it. She keeps opening and closing the top.

Grandma and Grandpa Brower got Mathias this cool semi truck that carries a ton of cars on both sides. He absolutely loves it!
We got Grandma and Grandpa a new waffle maker. The last one only made one waffle at a time and it took forever to make them for everyone. This one makes four at a time .

Dev's brother Rick and his family had us for Christmas this year. They got Mathias some duplo legos. At first Mathias was kinda bummed because he already has some but we later found out that this set was a little different than the one he already had. It has some extra things like a window and some flowers. They got Azlyn a cute summer outfit and a fun opposite/texture book. They got us a Blockbuster movie basket with some drinks, candy, popcorn and a gift-card to do the blockbuster by mail.
We had Scott and Mel and family and we got them a game, movie and each person their favorite candy.
Dev's parents got each kid a magic bullet. I am excited to use it!

Every year Great Aunt Lani brings a book of $1's and gives each of the grandkids their age in money. Mathias loved this! It is so nice of Lani to do that and we really appreciate it!

We tried to get a picture of all the grand kids like we have done the last couple of years. Azlyn was so done by this time. She was so tired, hot and sickie. She just wanted to get out of her jammies and go to bed. These were the best I could get.
After everyone left Azlyn took a nap and we put together some of Mathias' toys and played with them. It was a pretty relaxing Christmas spent hanging out with Family and just being lazy. Just the way it should be!

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve we went over to Melanie and Scott's house for some fondue and games. All of the Brower siblings as well as their families were there, in addition to Melanie's side of the family. It was so much fun to get together and hang out. This was mine and Devin's first time trying fondue. I think it was a cheese type. Unfortunately neither of us were really a fan of how the cheese stuff tasted. The chocolate fountain, on the other hand, was super yummy. After we pigged out, some of them played games and some watched a movie. We didn't stay very long because we still had to make cookies for Santa and open the one present, jammies, tonight.

By the time we got home Azlyn was asleep in her car seat so we just left her in there while Mathias and I made cookies. It is a fun little tradition for us to leave out some cookies for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. We used a fun little mix that our home teachers gave us. For some reason Devin and I can not make decent cookies. As is typical, they didn't turn out. They were for some reason hard as a rock. Oh well, they worked for their intended purpose.

While the cookies were baking the kids opened up their one present for the night. Azlyn had woken up by this point but was not very happy about it. She was so ready for bed. Poor girl.

Mathias' jammies were pretty big but I could not resist getting them since they had a jeep on the shirt. Pretty much anytime I find something with a jeep on it I just have to get it. It is a pretty big thing for my guys.

It took me forever to find some Christmasy jammies for Azlyn. Every time I would look for some they never had her size . Theses aren't really what I was looking for but these snowman ones were the best I could find. They are super soft.

Here are the kiddos showing off their jammies together. Azlyn was way done by this point hence not many smiles. I love the last picture in the right bottom corner. The look on Mathias' face says it all and Azlyn only puts her thumb in her mouth when she is tired and ready for bed.

We finally got both kiddos down for the night. Dev went to bed as well, he had been getting up super-early for work for the past week and a half straight and was really tired. I went down stairs to watch TV for a bit to make sure Mathias was asleep so Santa could come. Not long after I put Azlyn down she started crying. Bed time lately has become kinda frustrating as Azlyn has become quite the night owl with me. So I brought her down stairs with me. When I was heading downstairs I noticed something really stunk. I smelled Azlyn's bum but couldn't smell anything. I sat her down to play with her toys and after a few minutes she got fussy again. So I went up stairs to check her bum before putting her back to bed. I laid her on the couch, undid her jammies, and started to lift them up when I got poop on my fingers. I picked her up and the poor thing had poop almost up to her neck! I went to get Dev so he could help me strip her down and give her her first quick sink bath. Go figure she had to have her second ever blow out in her nice new jammies! While in the sink she kept trying to grab the stream of water. It was so funny to watch. She would try over and over again and then look up at us and smile. It definitely made the night a little more entertaining and memorable.

white elephant birthday party

We had so much fun tonight at our friend Dallas' birthday/white elephant party. We got to see some friends that we haven't seen in a really long time and just hang out with everyone. The kids had a blast playing as well. I only got pictures of our kids so I stole the above ones from Dallas' blog. (hope you guys don't mind)

This is what we brought for a white elephant present. It is a decal you stick on your car. We thought it was pretty funny, very fitting for our friend Dallas. During the game, we got a case of iCarly chap-stick and a Thanksgiving pie pan.
This was the first time Azlyn had played with a balloon (it was Dallas and Candice's little girl, Kenzly's birthday earlier in the week) and I just thought it was cute. I also just had to get a picture of Mathias eating his cupcake. I swear he wore more of the frosting than he actually ate. Anyways we had a blast guys, thanks for the invite!

Sunday Christmas outfits

Here are a few pic of the kids in their Christmas Sunday clothes. I took them when we got home from church and Mathias was starving and not really in the mood for pictures hence not too many of him. I wanted to take them though before he changed out of them to eat lunch.

I think this is going to be a new tradition. I haven't really done it with Mathias in the past but now with a little girl, the clothes shopping becomes a little more fun and now I can coordinate them as well.

They are just so dang cute!

They are both getting too big way too quickly! Love them so much!

Getting a good picture of the both of them together is near impossible but I will continue to try.

Sorry for the overload of pictures of Azlyn, I was trying to get a decent picture of Azlyn to show all the fun details of her outfit. The ruffles on top, the tulle layer on the bottom, the fun black lace leggings, her cute flower and bracelet that match so perfectly. So much fun to dress a little girl!

Build A Bear

Today we went up to Salt Lake to meet up with my mom for dinner and to see the temple lights. We ate at Appleby's at the Gateway where we also ran into Dylan and Emily so we all ate dinner together. It was so nice to see them since we don't see them all that often. After dinner we were going to see the lights on Temple Square but it was FREEZING! We were trying to think of something we could do indoors and I suggested Build A Bear. Mathias has never been before so I thought it would be fun.

He took forever deciding on which animal to get. He first decided on Clarice but quickly changed his mind. He finally settled on a gray kitty.

We then went to get her stuffed .The girl that did it was so cute. She told him to make a wish on the heart, kiss it, rub it on his muscles for strength and then to rub it on my forehead for beauty. I think there was more but I can't remember what. She then put the heart in, as well as a voice box thing that meowed, then sewed her up.

Mathias then went to "wash" his kitty.

After her bath she got brushed.

Then it was over to the dressing room. Mathias picked out this lovely pink dress that came with a matching necklace and some pink glittery heels. Yeah, we were laughing pretty hard at his choice. He is so funny. Ever since finding out he was going to have a little sister he has embraced his feminine side a little more. Not really sure why he did it but it is kinda funny.

After getting her dressed he named her "Ally" as in ally cat and we went and got her birth certificate.

We got the birth certificate printed and paid for her where she received a few bows and got her little house box. This ended up being a Christmas present for Mathias from Mema.

It was a little more expensive than I thought it would be once you add the clothes, shoes and voice box thing but it sure was a fun experience.

Santa

Mathias was so terrified of Santa this year for some reason. Last year he was shy with him but this year he was so scared. While we waited in line he kept freaking out saying, " I just can't do it, lets go" over and over again. We kept telling him that it was ok and Santa is super nice, who else gives all the good kids toys? I was determined to get a picture so we ended up with a family pic. It is a tradition that I did growing up and wanted to continue with my family. Also this was the first year for Azlyn and I wanted to see how she would react. She just stared at him, but then again I was still holding her so we didn't see how she would have reacted if it was just her. It is not the best pic. I am beet red from dealing with Mathias and holding Azlyn, I also had a major headache. Azlyn has her hand in her mouth, leg up and isn't looking at the camera but at least Mathias was smiling. Mathias admitted after we were done that Santa wasn't that bad and kept asking dad if he told Santa what he wanted for Christmas for him. Mathias wanted a criss cross crash race track from Santa.

Christmas ornaments

Ever year we have a tradition of getting a new Christmas tree ornament. We usually all get one but with them being so expensive we just got the kids ones this year.

Mathias picked out another motorcycle one this year, in fact it was the last one they had and they let us have the display. This year it was a trike motorcycle.

Here is Azlyn's first year Christmas ornament. So cute!

Decorating the tree

We obviously didn't get to decorating the tree as soon as we would have liked, much to Mathias' dismay. But we finally did it. Mathias was so excited to decorate it and put all the ornaments on himself, however we have each person put on their own ornaments. Mathias was so funny. Like last year he kept putting all of his ornaments on the same branches. He loved having them clustered together no matter what I told him. I went back and fixed it after he went to bed though because it was just driving me crazy.

I attempted to get a few pictures of the kids by the tree but neither one of them wanted to look at me so this was the best we got.

In the middle of decorating the tree my mother-in-law looked down at Azlyn and noticed that it looked like she was clapping. We all looked at her and sure enough she was. We had never tried to get her to clap before, she just randomly started doing it on her own. After she saw how excited we were she got this huge grin on her face, hammed it up and kept doing it. It was just so darn cute!