Oh boy, oh boy!

Photos: 2013. Week 52. December 22-31

Dec 22

On the road to Utah.

Mmm...  Perkins...  Good road trip food, a little messy though.  (Blueberry, lemon poppy seed, chocolate chip)

 

Wow!  The top photo was taken in Colorado on HWY 287 and the bottom photo was taken only 10 minutes later after having crossed the Wyoming border...  Mother Nature is aware of state borderlines too.

On the drive we got the news that Brad and Amber had their baby!  Welcome Evelyn Mae!

 

Dec 23

Cousins!  Jonas was excited to be reunited with his brother, but extatic to be reunited with his cousin Lincoln!

 

Christmas Eve Eve.  Beautiful sunset in the snowy Utah mountains.

 

Welp...  Let the packing and moving begin.  Two years in a row my parents moved at Christmas time.  Hopefully they'll stay in this new house and long, long time ;)

 

A little packing tape for too much whining.  It worked!

 

Dec 24

The beautiful new babe and her proud daddy.

 

My dad and I tried to take the boys to the Midway Ice Castles, but sadly when we arrived the sign said they didn't open til the 27th.  Boo!

 

My family has always had a big get together on Christmas Eve.  It was fun to spend the evening with the whole family!

Lots of presents!

 

Me and my favorite boys!

 

The usual Christmas Eve feast!  Deli sandwiches, fruit, holiday punch (7-up and cranberry juice)

and most important, Chick-fil-a nuggets!  Unfortunately, because of the current move in progress we didn't make chocolate mousse. 

 

Diggin in!  Yes, our family polished off a 200 nugget tray like it was nothing!

 

All the Simons cousins!

Stella, Elliott, Jonas Presley, Evelyn, Bodie, Lincoln, Ender, Truman

We are super excited for a new boy cousin coming soon too!  (Keep up the good work, Camille!).

 

Presents!  This year each of the cousins drew names and bought a present for one cousin.  Christmas is so much fun with little people!

 

Grandma finally got her own blow-up tree, we didn't have to bring ours :)  These boys were so excited for Santa this year.  Love it!

 

Dec 25

All is calm.

 

Christmas morning excitement!  These boys couldn't wait to see what Santa brought them.

 

The Christmas loot.

 

Dig in!

 

Gigi & Papa gave the boys Strider bikes!  The boys were giddy as daddy put them together.

 

Test drive.

 

They also completely fell in love with the Hot Wheels wall tracks they got from their cousins.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Woohoo!  I was feeling the gift love too!  Can't wait to go shopping!

 

Immediately after the gift opening was over, the box moving began!  The plan was to move all the boxes and "stuff" to Mom & Dad's new house Christmas day and the movers would move the furniture the 26th & 27th (they were to be out midnight on the 27th).

 

Pot roast for Christmas dinner.

 

Dec 26

BIG moving day!  We're thankful Kim took the boys so Matt and I could help more fully.

 

I mostly helped at the new house helping Mom get organized.  This is her new pantry...

 

After picking up the boys from Kim's we grabbed dinner at In'n'Out.  Yum!

 

Dec 27

After the big furniture move we got kicked out and went to stay at Gregg & Camille's house.  Their new house is amazing and absolutely perfect for little boys!  Gregg got the flooring done and basketball hoop up in their sports court for Christmas.  Seriously SO awesome!!!

 

Bath time in Aunt Millie's huge tub!  (Truman, preferred a shower...).

 

Later, I got to photograph my amazingly beautiful new niece!  She was SO good and totally flawless!

 

Elliott zonked out in the love sac after a huge day of fun with Truman & Bodie!

 

Dec 28

More time helping Mom clean and get organized in the new house.

 

I put together her new dining room chandelier.  So pretty!

 

More time snuggling this pretty little thing.

 

Jonas holding Evelyn for the first time.  He was so good and soft with her.  Too cute!

 

Evening view from the new house.

 

Jonas & I crashed out on the couch.  Moving and holidays are exhausting...

 

Dec 29

Time to say good-bye.  Jonas, Presley, Elliott, Stella.

 

One quick shot of Mom & Dad's living room to show friends.  It totally looks just right for them, huh?  (Yes, it's the same fireplace as their old Midway house...).

 

The drive home was less yucky than the drive to Utah, so that was nice.

 

Dec 30

Not too late for a Christmas Tree shoot with the boys???  With all the goings on before Christmas, we just didn't get it in.  But, better late than never, right?  I LOVED the bowties!

 

Dec 31

Split pea soup and home-made sour dough bread is our little New Year's Eve tradition.  Yum.

 

Waiting for the new year to come.  Just kidding...  they went to bed on time (ish...).  Matt and I did stay up til midnight though, kinda weird for us. 

Bye-bye 2013!

 

Hello 2014!  (please be kind...)

 

O Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas!!!

 

Merry Christmas!

Four years old.

I can't believe my babies are 4 today!

As I tucked them in bed last night and reminded them of their birthday, they both expressed their desire for balloons!  I was happy to oblige!  No parties or frills this year, not even home-made cupcakes...  The past few months have been rough, so I let myself off the hook a bit.  It was easy and I enjoyed my day with my two favorite 4-year-olds.

 

Decorations provided by King Soopers and Aunt Millie.  Cupcakes provided by King Soopers.  Presents provided by our wonderful friends and family!

 

 

(Jonas' atempt at holding up four fingers...)

 

Good job Elliott!

 

I think I only re-lit the candles 5 or 6 times this year.

 

These cupcakes were yummy!  Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream and vanilla cream filling.

 

The boys got these birthday crowns at preschool and they wore the ALL DAY LONG!  It was kinda funny because Elliott had a hard time saying "crown" and he kept calling it his birthday corn. 

I love these boys SO much!  I can't imagine my life without them.

Halloween 2013

Ahoy there Mateys!

Happy Halloween from these candy-craving 'lil scallywags!

 

 

Christmas 2010 and other fun adventures

All of us North Carolinians made it out to snowy, cold Utah this year for Christmas.  This included me, Matt, Jonas, Elliott, Tom and Sylvia!  Tom and Sylvia made the trek because Kristin, Patrick and their gang all recently moved back to the land of snow and cold.  Sylvia and I arranged the flights, and I must say it was nice having four adults to our two crazies :)  The trip there went ok...  Jonas did poop out of both his and Elliott's 'back-up' outfits for the trip.  His stomach also had an aversion to our lunch choice (T.G.I. Friday's at DFW during our 3 hour layover).  He at least waited til we were all done eating to toss his cookies.  Then, after making it to SLC Elliott thought he should join in the barfing game and lost the contents of his stomach all over Kim's car and carseat.  It was rough, but we made it...

These photos were taken during the first 5 minutes of our journey, before any of the fun ensued...

On Christmas Eve, Eve we joined my parents and my brother Brad and his wife Amber downtown Salt Lake City to Walk around Temple Square and enjoy the lights.  It was SO cold and SO crowded!  We didn't last very long.  We snapped a few pics and admired the lights for a few minutes while nearly getting trampled by the mass of people.  Then we decided to pack up and head home.

See...  We were totally there...  :)

We did lots of lounging around and hanging out with the family.  I'm sad that we live so far away fromt he rest of the family.  My parents and older brother and older sister and their families all live within walking distance of each other.  My little brother and his wife live in SLC, just an hour away, and my little sister and her family live in St. Georgeabout 4.5 hours away (still close enough for frequet visits).  I love living in NC, but I miss my family tons!!

Chillaxin' and my mom's house.

In my family Christmas Eve has always been a big deal.  This year every one was present to feast on a smorgasbord of Chick-fil-A nuggets, shrimp, mini sandwiches, grapes (a Simons family fav) and most importantly chocolate mousse.  We enjoyed each others company and loved watching all the kiddos (6 grandkids for my parents now.  one more baking in the oven (Gregg & Camille's #2).).

All the craziness!  I think my favorite pic is the one of my mom singing :)

Grandma has a special request of a photo of all the grandkids in their special Christmas jammies.

Thanks to Camille singing 'Once there was a Snowman' in the background we got a great photo!

Camille also had a special photo request.  She wanted a photo of my parents and their five kids.  I think she sang the Snowman song for us too...  I'm glad we did this photo, I really like it :)

Bob, Lynn, Tara, Becka, Krista, Gregg, Brad

All the 'out-of-towners' (us, Brad & Amber and Becka, Eric & Lincoln) stayed at my mom's house Christmas Eve, so we all opened presents together Christmas morning.  We ate breakfast casserole and orange rolls (which Lincoln calls 'donuts').

Fun, fun!

Christmas afternoon and evening were spent with Matt's parents at Kristin & Patrick's house.  They currently live in the Day Break neighborhood near the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  Sylvia did her best to act surprised when she opened her new Cricut Expression and we a soup extravaganza for dinner.  Baked Potato Soup, Pumpkin Bisque and buttery toasted bread, yum!

Kristin got a new SLR camera from Santa, so I spent some time helping her get to know her new friend.

The days after Christmas were spent hanging out with family and friends and trying to stay safe on the icy, snowy roads.  Matt and Tom had to go home the Monday after Christmas to get back to work and other obligations.  I think it snowed at least 6 feet during our visit!  The boys loved looking out the window athe the winter wonderland outside.  Amber was very kind and came over to Kristin's house to give me and Sylvia a Cricut 101 class.  She's an awesome teach and we both learned tons!  Afterward we ate a yummy lunch at Kneaders.

Check out all that snow!!

Tara and I spend some time shopping and getting some great after-Christmas deals at the outlets in Park City.  We also squeezed in a photo shoot with her girls.  They did great even though it was only 12 degrees outside.  After the shoot we warmed up at the Fresh Bakery with sandwiches and cookies.

I love these girls :)

This year was the first year (that I can remember...) that I didn't stay up til midnight on New Year's Eve.  THe boys went to bed at their usual 7 pm, then me, mom and dad watched a movie.  It got over about 10 pm and Matt called to wish me Happy New Year (he was back on Eastern time).  The me and dad poped open the sparkling white grape juice, had a glass and went to bed.  The new year came just the same as it always did even without me waiting up for it :)

 New Year's morning we all got together again (minus Matt and Becka, Eric & Lincoln) to have our famous Simons family 'New Year's Breakfast'.  SO yummy!  I wish we had this dish more that once a year.

Happy New Year!

Before we headed home I wanted to have one last photo shoot with my boys and ALL THAT SNOW!  The boys LOVED the snow!  Well, I think all kids love the snow, so that's not a big shocker...  Their daddy does not like the snow at all!  Tara let us borrow her red sled and Kim and my mom danced around and made funny noises to entertain the boys while I snapped away.  Thanks for you help ladies :)  The photos turned out great!!

Check out all that adorable cuteness!!!

We were so sad to leave everybody.  We had a great time in UT.  Thanks to everyone for your hospitality and love!  We miss you tons everyday!