2010 Christmas

The pict's are here...a lot of them. Its amazing how much more it seems like when you are photographing 5 kids at Christmas. I tried to narrow it down to the really exciting ones. (: Everything turned out great! Hope yours did too!

And for the list of goods: (in case you cant tell from the pictures!)

Madison: monkey pillow pet, boombox, Video MP3, Harry Potter DS game, a watch (from Katelin), and stocking stuffers.
Katelin: PINK DS w/case, Sims pets DS game, sleeping bag, I Carly game, scarf (from Alissa), and stocking stuffers.

Alissa: Panda pillow pet, tent, American girl baby, mermaid barbie, Zhu Zhu (from Brylee), and stocking stuffers.


Zack: Dog pillow pet, remote control tractor, race track, books, From Phineas & Ferb- Dr. Doofensmirtz talking doll (from Madi, not shown here), and stocking stuffers.

Brylee: penguin pillow pet, magna doodle, puzzle, pull string dog-not shown here, lots of books (from us and Madi), and stocking stuffers.


Mom, Dad/ Family gifts: Fire pit, Basketball hoop, laptop, car DVD player, pots and pans.
Board game, Pres. Monson book, movies, gift cards/money from Utah family-Thanks!
Ryan: lunchbox (from Madi and Mom).
Heather: sweater, scarf made by Madi.

Christmas Eve

Every once in a while we get ambitious and do something fun, like make a gingerbread house. We dont do it every year, so when the kids saw me pull this one out, of course they were ecstatic! Everyone picked a side and went to work. Naturally, Zack got assigned to do the back of the house and Brylee was able to pour the sprinkles on as a finishing touch. This particular kit (yes I buy the kit...Im not that ambitious!), came with some fondant to mold and sculpt to your creative desires, so that left me doing most of the busy work. Here are the kids trying to take turns and be patient. Almost done...

Brylee is always our taste tester. Cant make a work of art that isnt tasty right?

Christmas Eve arrived and it was time for more decorating. I try to encourage the kids to make cookies containing chocolate for Santa-they must be his favorite...but they insisted on decorating sugar cookies this year.

Zack trimming a tree...

Brylee getting ready to fulfill her job as the taste tester again.

Ryan's finished "Mario" cookie.

If there has to be a picture of me...well here it is.

The finished works of edible art. Next on the list of Taylor Family fun...the Christmas Eve play. This is something we do every year. We thought it would be cute if Brylee and Zack played Mary and Joseph this year. Brylee wasnt thrilled however, with the idea of wearing the cloth on her head. Here she is eating a piece of candy we bribed her with to keep it on. It worked...until the candy was gone, then it came off again. You will have to use your imagination for the part of Mary this year.

We did manage to snap a quick picture of the pair before she ripped it off her head. See...cute right? Ryan assumes the roll of the donkey every year. (;

Angel:Madi

Shepherds:Alissa & Katelin

Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus

The Angel appearing to the shepherds.

Doubling as the wise men.

And for your viewing pleasure...a surprise video that Madi was secretly capturing. I wouldnt have acted this way on camera if I had known. Good thing, because we all get a good laugh out of it. Here I am as King Herod talking to the wise men.

(Be sure to pause the music at the bottom of the blog so you can hear it.)

After the play comes the traditional opening of the Christmas Eve Pajamas. Apparently Brylee was still upset about us making her be Mary, so she refused to smile the rest of the night. She really did like her PJ's, even though she refused to show it. Stubborn girl.

Zack was the only one who actually got to pick out his fabric. Of course it has trains on it. I bought the Thomas shirt for cheap to work as a PJ top.

Alissa got frogs on hers.

Madi got her favorite-monkeys.

And Katelin got a mix of both frogs and monkeys!

I was pretty happy with the way they turned out this year. I think this pattern was much easier than the one I used last year.

I bought my pants, but I think next year I will make those too. Maybe matching???

Ryan prefers wearing his basketball shorts to bed, so I surprised him and Zack with matching BYU shirts. He was okay with that...just a little.

Heres the whole gang in our Christmas PJ's, all ready for Santa to come. A pretty good pic. minus the grumpy Mary.

Good night and Merry Christmas Eve!

Alissa's 1st lost tooth

On the eve of Christmas Eve Eve, Alissa discovered a very loose tooth during her evening teeth brushing. Is that enough eves for you? We tried to get her to wait until Christmas Eve to pull it out...wouldnt it be awesome if the tooth fairy AND Santa came in the same night!? We thought so, but she was afraid the tooth would fall out during her sleep and she would swallow it! (: After so much anticipation, and a long patient wait, Alissa decided having a loose tooth ready to come out, wasnt all she hoped it would be. Nervousness took over and her emotions got the best of her as the waterworks started.

Trying to be brave... It took little effort with a little tug and the tooth came right out. That wasnt so bad, right? There it is! Alissa wasnt ready to look in the mirror yet, but she tried to muster up a smile. It only took a minute or two until she was all smiles.

Proud of her tooth.

It shouldnt be long until the one next to it is ready to come out as well. Today she actually looked in the mirror and said, "I think I look cute!" Im glad that ended well. With Alissa, you never know!

Guess who's 2!

Well, even if Brylee cant quite figure out how to show it, she is in fact the lucky 2 year old. The tricky fingering will come later. This time around we decided to lay back, relax, and let the kids do all the planning. Why didnt we think of that sooner?

Alissa lending a hand in the decorating efforts. The cat really enjoyed the hanging pieces of crepe paper throughout the house. (:

Sometimes you need a little boost from your big sister! Interesting places for crepe paper, but hey...it is a 2 year old party.

Madi's idea.

On a side note: I didnt realize just how dusty the tops of the fan blades could get. I will be cleaning those more often...as dust particles dont act as good confetti.

Taking in all the planning. "For me!? You shouldnt have." Let the celebration start!

Brylee LOVES to color. The problem is, she doesnt limit it to just paper. The couch, walls, books, counter, table, and other completed works of art, have all had the signature of the great sprouting artist stamped on them. Solution: Color Wonder. One of the greatest inventions for children ever made! Now if we can just keep the caps on the markers, they might last long enough to get some good use out of them.

Princess Piggy bank. Yes, that means you have to start saving your money, and STOP eating it!

And what could this be??? Another one of her favorite things...

A book! "Oh, Im going to read it all right now! And then I'll read it again...and again...and again...and then Ill ask you to read it. And then again...and again..." It goes on. You get the idea. She LOVES books. This one in particular is about a duck that says "Tagwack" (Or quack in Brylee language.)

She also got a dress, but I wont show her lack of amusement about it.

Cake Time! It was all smiles until the candle got lit. Then she couldnt get far enough away from the flaming cake of death. Zack ended up blowing it out for her, which he was totally fine with. So nice of him.

Now that its all safe, she will return to partake in the deliciousness.

The party activities continue with some ball pit fun, singing, dancing, and of course...

jumping on the couch. Just look at that smile. Would you stop her?

A perfect ending before getting ready for bed. A good old 4 or 5 readings of Little Tagwack.

Happy Birthday our little Joy.