Round 1 !

The Callahan Christmas party was this past Sunday. Let me tell ya it's a rough and tumble, rowdy time when all 8 of these crazy cousins get together (and that is without counting the adults). We had a very nice prime rib dinner as is the tradition. Then all the grandkids and even Grandma and Grandpa got to open their presents.

Embrie and her rocking horse and new baby.
She's been rocking ever since.

Garrett with Iron Man, (believe it or not we've never had a superhero toy before) he loves it.

And a basketball hoop! yes he's playing with it in the house right now, cross your fingers.

And an easel from the cousins! they were a little disappointed that it didn't fit in the car with everything else, we had to leave it behind for now, but many years of enjoyment to come.

Now you've seen the Neilsen family Christmas party . . . this is a whole other story!

Uncle Cory the beautician, who knew right?

lookin' good

even the boys were signing up

however, I did run into one unhappy customer ... perhaps stick with your day job Cory.

and some time with Grandpa! yay!

What a fun time, thanks Grandma and Grandpa for everything! The kids are loving it!
Maybe Santa should cancel!

A little creeped out. . .

Does this little guy look creepy to you?
Hmmm not to me.
And if you ask Garrett he'd say 'no' too, yet . . . he still won't play with it or even hold it.
This is because he is afraid of monkeys. Not real ones that he sees at the zoo, (although I think if he were given the chance to hold a real one he would pass). But stuffed monkeys of any different shape and size. He is not a fan.


I thought I had better blog about this funny 'fear of monkeys' before I forget all about it.

First of all my mom bought this set of stuffed orangutans at a yard sale. They are battery powered and they sing the song "Daylight come and they wan go home" (which granted is a creepy song). They wiggle their heads a little when they sing. She thought it was cute for the grandkids to play with. Well Garrett HATES this thing. He won't go near it and leaves the room if it is playing and if it is sitting on the floor in his path he isn't able to go past it until you move it out of the way.

Second she bought him a screaming monkey (that is the first picture) just to play with. It is small and soft and if you throw it in the air it makes a little scream. Ya, he is not as afraid of that one but he doesn't like it.

Third we were recently at a birthday party at Classic Fun Center. There is a Jungle gym area there. All of Garrett's friends went into that area except for him. He came back and went on the bouncy slides until they all joined him. I didn't think anything of it. While we were eating Garrett said that he wanted to go on the Jungle bridge. I told him to go with his friend who had already been in there. So they took off, but shortly after the two of them were found playing somewhere else. Later I asked him why he didn't go into the "jungle" and he confessed that he couldn't go in there because of the gorilla. So I went over with him and had to explain the the stuffed gorilla that was netted off near the play area was not real, it couldn't move and you couldn't even touch it because it was blocked off as decoration. Finally he went in and had a blast. He was not afraid of the stuffed Alligator on the other side. Ha ha! I had to be at the entrance when he went in and came out just to confirm that nothing would happen to him as he passed the gorilla. (To Garrett's credit Embrie was also scared of the gorilla)

Now although I think this is pretty funny as I was looking for pictures to add to this post I am beginning to see why he might think these things are a little creepy. What do you think?

A Neilsen Family Christmas

Tradition has it that every year we have a splendid Christmas party with my grandmother's side of the family. These are the people I grew up with! It's always fun and each year thanks to the musical talents of my uncle Von, who sings and plays guitar, we are able sing Christmas carols together.

It is tradition that the kids each have a part in the 12 Days of Christmas. I remember when it used to be us, but now it is my little ones.

My grandma had cleaned out her cook books and brought them so that anyone who wanted to look through them and take them could. This was particularly entertaining for Embrie and Jerzee. You might have looked over and thought they were looking at childrens books. Embrie would pick one up and declare "Muffins!!!" and Jerzee would turn a page and exclaim "cookies!" They would point out the bread, etc. It was pretty cute.

Embrie even got to open her first Christmas gift from her cousin Colton (who drew her name) and he adores her for some reason and he is so good with the littler kids. She loves this 'Kiss Me Elmo' that she got from him! Thanks Colton!

And thanks to everyone who puts together the Chrismas party. It's great to see the loved ones that we miss through out the year.

(also on a side note I tried to get video of all the men singing the not-so-traditional carol 'Ghost Riders in the Sky" but so far have been unsuccessful in uploading it, if I can I will)

Temple Square

Salt Lake Temple
Temple Square Lights

The weather was actually warm (for December), it did rain on us a little but that wasn't too bad. We went early enough that we didn't have trouble parking and the square was not too crowded.

I am able to say that for the first time since having my children, we all were able to stop and watch the presentation of the birth of Christ in it's entirety. That was nice.

From there however . . . . and I hate to say this about a tradition that I love, but man it was rough! We should've brought the stroller. I don't know what I was thinking. Usually Embrie likes to walk around and does fairly well staying by us, but not this night. She wanted to go whichever way she wanted and this was a problem because Garrett didn't want to walk as slowly as she does and therefore was already ahead of all of us choosing a path of his own. We truly struggled with these two all night. After a few temper-tantrums (I mean laying on the wet ground rolling around and crying) and rain coming down harder. We gave up before we saw everything and just headed home. Ha Ha! Oh well right? I am NOT giving up though! we've had a good time every other year and I won't let this taint my idea of Temple Square Lights!!!

After we got home and in our pj' s we had some hot chocolate and marshmallows and that helped us all get into a better mood.

a little Christmas and a little crafty

Bring out the glitter and the glue!

I wanted to do a Christmas craft with the kids, something they would enjoy but also something useful. So for FHE we made gift tags. I think they were fun, messy and cute.




Some other things I've been up to . . .


And since the beginning of last year I've been trying to update my home little by little starting with the living room. I've added some decor here and there.

I actually MADE my own curtains, which I am please with and surprised by. They aren't anything spectacular actually, but I couldn't find any to buy that I actually liked so I decided to pick a fabric I like (since there are so many more choices in that area) and do it myself. I'm thinking about making a sash for them but for now they are what they are.

And I covered some pillows. Ha ha now I have to give credit to the 15 min. of the Nate Berkus show that I get to watch before Garrett comes out of quiet time, they've reminded me and taught me about cheap ways to do things. I didn't want to buy new pillows because they are expensive, but I needed them to be a different color. (I didn't cover the orange just the gray.)

Festival of Trees

Our first time at the Festival of Trees!

I went with a group of friends. This turned out to be a very fun and also meaningful event.

I was so impressed with all of the different kinds of trees there were and how beautifully they were decorated. This 50's malt shop version.

And an ocean wave. Pretty creative!

They also had every kind of gingerbread house imaginable.

Here is Noah's Arch. There was also a whole carnival but I didn't get a picture of it.
Besides the trees and gingerbread they had lovely quilts and wreaths, and all of it for sale, proceeds going to Primary Children's Hospital. In fact EVERYTHING from food down to homemade gifts in the gift shop was fully donated. Now this may be old news to the rest of you but remember I was a first timer here!

At the 'kids corner' we had all kinds of fun.
Christmas face painting ....

Candy cane crafts. ...
(and yes Embrie actually was able to do this with very little help I was impressed!)

fishing ...

elf wands with which to work you magic ...

and one of the favorites, of course, being inside a giant bubble!

this picture was taken mid-pop Embrie just wanted to reach out and touch it

if you blow while inside the bubble you can make little bubbles come out
(yes it was our first time doing this too)

he thought this was amazing!

HOWEVER, HOLD ON TO YOUR BRITCHES !

Garrett's very favorite thing, mine too ... (Embrie will get back to us on this)

Seeing the man in red himself

*SANTA CLAUS*

Garrett was so excited the moment we told him he would get to see Santa. For this is the first time, within his memory, that he has seen Santa! You should've seen the excitement on his face. He could hardly hold still! And although he is a little shy meeting strangers, he knew he would have to be very brave and talk to Santa. He did great! He asked for a train set. (In fact he was so excited he forgot what he was going to ask for and looked to me for help remembering.) It was absolutely adorable! Thanks Santa for taking time out of your busy schedule!


Embrie was a bit hesitant, but she did well. We let her wit with brother for a little comfort.

So to sum it up I would say it was pretty fun!

Deck the Halls

trimming the tree

each person with their very own ornaments

dreaming of a white Christmas

getting one so far

We love Christmas time!