Christmas 2010

The Anticipation
Every Christmas we would wake up early and run to mom and dad's room and we would have to wait.  Daddy said the same thing every year, "wait here and let me see if Santa came."   He would go and check things out and then he would call for us to come.  It was a mad dash to the tree.  I wonder if my children will have these same memories when they look back.  Seth always goes in and turns on the lights and puts on Christmas music and gets the video camera ready to capture their first expressions.  And they are in the hallway saying, "can we come in now?" 

The Note From Santa
Laurel, Savannah, and Landon came running into the living room and were so excited to find exactly what they had asked for under the tree.  Then....


Laurel found a note from santa by the fireplace.  This was my favorite part of Christmas morning. 
Aww... the magic of Christmas!
The looks on her and Savannah's face was priceless.
The note said to find and follow the lights to find a surprise.
They were confused at first.  We told them to look around and find the lights.....

They found the lights and dropped to their knees and started crawling.  It's always interesting to see how children respond to excitement.  I thought Santa had a brilliant idea with the strand of lights.  (He might have had a little help from a certain Lexus commercial! :)







Surprise!  Santa brought a trampoline!  They had no idea and were so excited. 
And then this magic happened....

It started snowing!!  On Christmas Day, we had the most beautiful snow falling in Alabama.  The view was so pretty.  It wasn't cold enough to stick to the ground, but it sure was beautiful to watch. 

This little guy just pointed and jabbered all day.  He loved his firetruck and loved the siren even more!



Seth's mom came up.  We had Christmas lunch with her.
This has been the best Christmas!
I love seeing and hearing the innocence of my children.
Laurel asked me the other day if she was alive when Santa was a baby?  I told her that Santa has been alive for a really long time.  She said, "wow, I bet he is really old!"  "When will he die?"
I said, "It's magic Laurel.  It's all magic."



Merry Christmas

The imagination of a child and Surprise gifts from Laurel and Savannah

A few days before Christmas, I walked into the laundry room and found these two making the biggest mess.  I have realized that they have the best imagination and a mess can be cleaned.  So, I asked them what they were doing and they said that they were making Christmas dresses for their dolls.  Aw... these are two girls after my own heart.  They were making dresses out of my scrapbook paper.

 

This morning they came out with presents for Seth and I and for each other.  They had wrapped them with Scrapbook paper.  



They made me a necklace!

Of course, Daddy got Chocolate!

Laurel made Savannah a peppermint heart!

Savannah made Laurel a singing card, which they must have discussed, because Laurel immediately started singing when she opened the card!

I loved that they came up with this idea! 

Christmas Eve at Granny and Papa's

We always have so much fun at Granny and Papa's house on christmas Eve.  My children love seeing their Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and of course Granny and Papa.  Who needs presents when you have a cool train running around your tree!

When we got home, Laurel pulled out this letter she had written to Santa Claus. She wanted to make sure he took it with him.  I Love this stage.  Could it just stay like this forever?!?

Twins, but really Triplets!

HA!  I bet that got your attention....no, I'm not expecting!  Just doing a little babysitting for a friend this week.  She has twin girls who are 1 month younger than Landon, who makes up the triplet part:)

So, I have discovered some things this week: 
First, my hat is off to you with twins, triplets, quads.....and your probably just crazy if you get past this number!
Second, I do think if I had one more week with them, I could lose another 5 pounds.  I'm so busy I don't have time to eat, which is probably not a bad thing just coming off Thanksgiving!
Third, babies will love whoever is loving on them.  They have been the sweetest and most loving little babies.
And, lastly, I don't think Landon is ready to give up his mommy to anyone else!

Savannah has been my little assistant.  She has saved me many times when my arms were outnumbered.  We put all three of them down for a nap and I said, "Whew!" and Savannah said, "Whew!"  Then she said, "I don't know what to do now that those babies are asleep."  I said, "Let's paint." 

Then I realized that she draws people like this now.

Instead of the "alien" like people she use to draw.  When did this happen? 



Then, we discovered Landon's masterpiece!  Thank goodness for magic eraser!

And thank you for some warmer weather today!

Sunshine=happy children!

Thanksgiving



                                     GIVING THANKS WITH FAMILY!



We had Thanksgiving dinner with Seth's family.  I was looking at this picture and can't believe how much the family has grown since I married Seth.  And this isn't even all of them.  We were missing his brother Karsten and his sister Lorria, and her family.

Kimball and Jamie
They are expecting their first baby in February.  We are so excited that Landon will have another boy cousin close to his age.

Roger, Jordan, Galen, Jennifer and Spencer
We were so excited that Galen could visit from California!

I'm so grateful for this sweet family!

Cousins
I love how Laurel and Savannah wanted to wear their Indian t-shirts that they made at school.

We celebrated Savannah's 5th birthday with the family!

We had a great time.  We stayed at Granny and Papa's Thursday and Friday.  We had so much fun watching the Auburn vs. Alabama game with everyone.  I'm so mad I forgot to take a picture of Granny and Papa.  They came out with Auburn hats on.  They were wearing Alabama T-shirts.  They had their jeans rolled up and were wearing one of each team's socks.  So cute!!  They were trying to stay neutral.    But, let me just tell you, it was obvious who Granny was pulling for!  And her team did not pull out the win!  
WAR EAGLE!!

They always do such a great job of hosting everyone!   Thanks for some great food and a great time! 

November 17, 2005









Five years ago, We welcomed our sweet Savannah.  She has been such a joy to our family.  I found out I was pregnant with Savannah right before we moved to Utah.  It was the best pregnancy, no Alabama humidity!  We were so excited that Laurel was going to have a little sister.   I had Savannah about two weeks before the ground was covered with a blanket of white snow.  We were home bound for most of the winter months and I loved every minute of it.  There was no schedule.  My schedule was loving and snuggling this new baby and making sure Laurel still felt loved.

Laurel adored her little sister then and she loves her even more now.  They have such a sweet bond. 

I can't believe she is five.  She has this new, sassy attitude.  I wish I could carry a recorder around and record the things she says.  She will tell you that she loves you multiple times a day and my favorite is when she says, "I could just gobble you up, mommy!"
Well, I could just gobble you up too, Savannah!
Happy Birthday!





The Difference Between a Man and a Woman

Our Little Landon is like a tornado going through the house.  I clean up and he is right behind me messing up.  It is a vicious cycle.  It usually ends with Landon and I playing on the floor.  But, this results in piled up laundry and messy rooms, which makes me a crazy mom. 


On this day, when things got quiet, I knew we were in trouble.  I found this messy activity  going on in the bathroom.  He was so content and was having so much fun just shredding the toilet paper into tiny pieces.  I decided that was one mess I could clean up later and said, "carry on son!"  This occupied him for at least 20 minutes.  I was able to get three loads of laundry folded and put away.

When Seth got home, I showed him the pictures on the camera.  He looked at them with a grin on his face and then said, "that wasn't a brand new roll of toilet paper, was it!"
Now, that is the differnce between a man and a woman!



One of my favorite gifts

A handmade anniversary card by Laurel and Savannah

Ten Years Ago

Ten Years Ago I was smooching this handsome man as the new Mrs. Seth Clayton.  Seth asked me out on our first date on April 12, 2000.  He asked me to marry him on September 9, 2000.  We were married in the Birmingham Temple on November 11, 2000.  I give this time line because, Whew... that was quick and we really didn't know, for 100% guarantee, that we weren't marrying a crazy person! 

  I like to call it the interview process.  As we started our dating process, Seth offered to help me with a budget.  Managing money was not my strong point at the time.  So, Seth knew all about my finances before he asked me to marry him.  Sneaky little guy, huh!  Then he asked me to come over one Saturday and help him work in the yard.  He later told me he wanted to see if I was a hard worker.  Well, I did a lot of work in the yard growing up, so I nailed that test!  He asked me every question you could imagine about life, children, career...  It was very important to him that I stay home with our children.  We have had to be very thrifty at times, but he has made that possible.  And through this "interviewing" process, I learned so much about the kind of man he was. 

As I was dating Seth, I just remember thinking this is the easiest, most comfortable relationship I have ever had.  
Here we are ten years later!


I love his patience.
I love his kindness and gentleness.
I love the kind of father he is to our children.
I love his work ethic.
I love how safe he makes me feel.
I love his commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I love that he is a spiritual leader to our family.
I love how he says, "settle down little lady," when I get flusttered.
I love when I answer the phone and he says, "hello wonderful."
I love how he respects me.
I love how he likes to go fast on a dirtbike!
I love how protective he is of us.
I love how he tries to make each day a good day.
I love his positive attitude.
I love how he kisses me hello and goodbye.
I love how he tells the children, "the first kiss goes to Mom."
I love how he still holds my hand.
I love how he is not a critical person.
I love how he brings me my favorite cookies at the end of a bad day.
I love how he lets me sleep in on Saturdays.
I love this Man.

Happy Anniversary!

A day with Savannah/Old Baker's Farm

Savannah is having so much fun at pre-school.  These are three of her best friends.  I have to document a story about these girls.  They got in trouble one day because they all went into the same bathroom stall.  They had been warned by their teacher that they would have to pull their green popsicle stick if she caught them doing this again.  Well, she caught them!  I was told they walked back to class with their heads hung low.  Savannah went to pull her stick and discovered she did not have a green stick.  The teacher and her assistant had to hide their faces because they were laughing so hard.  When they set up the room, they ran out of green sticks and decided not to put one in Savannah's envelope because they did not think that sweet, quiet girl would EVER pull a stick!

Picking cotton

It was such a treat to get to spend the day with Savannah.  She is such a sweet girl.  
And yes, we did have a lesson on being a Leader not a Follower! 

Halloween

Every Halloween Laurel says, "We don't live in a community!"  So everyone Halloween we get to borrow our friend's neighbors for some trick-or-treat fun.  This year we went to our good friends, Dan and Debbie Bethers.  It was so much fun to trick-or-treat with her and her sisters and their children.

Landon fell asleep before the fun began.  So Seth and Dan stayed home with Landon and Lizzie.  They watched football and handed out candy! 
(War Eagle!)
Thank you Dan and Debbie for a great time!

A Day With Laurel

Field Trip to Hargis and Fall Party




Laurel found a just right pumpkin, after putting many back on the ground!

 



Laurel with her class.  Can you find her teacher?  Yes, that is her with the sunglasses on.  Funny story:  When I found out that Laurel had Miss Roy for her 1st grade teacher, I asked several people if they knew anything about her and everyone said, " I know she is really pretty!"  Finally, I said, "well, can she teach?"  Turns out, she is pretty, but, she can also teach!



Laurel with two of her good friends on the hayride



Laurel and mommy at her fall party!  It is so rare to get one on one time with Laurel anymore.  This was such a great day with just the two of us.  She has the funniest personality and I love having conversations with her.  She keeps me laughing~



See what I mean?  I pulled into the grocery store and looked in the rearview mirror and this is what I saw! 
I love this GIRL!!



Spook-tacular Events!

Trunk-or-Treat

We had so much fun at our church's trunk-or-treat!  Laurel was a ballerina and Savannah was a poodle.  They had so much fun playing games with their friends and getting candy!  We had to go to Plan B with Landon's costume.  Who knew that it would be 80 degrees on Halloween!  He wore a short set with a dirtbike on his shirt.  We should have gotten Seth to put on his dirtbike gear! 

  



 I love this time of year.  There is just one magical event after another!  I loved watching Landon run all over the place experiencing candy and strange costumes for the first time.  I loved how he would check in with me every once in a while.  He would run up and tap me on the behind and then he was right back in his daddy's arms.