Valentine's

The month of Love

We celebrated Valentine's day with Flowers, a chocolate fish that says, "You're a great Catch" and the most romantic movie ever made. Ryker and Violet made Valentine's for all of their friends, and Violet had a class party that I got to help with. We gave the kids boxes of chocolates which they devoured. Ryker had a talk with Naylia (pictured below) about who he was going to marry when he grew up. They were looking through their Valentines at the kitchen table, when Naylia admitted to having a crush on Ryker! Young love, so cute. My little stud muffin.

The best day at the zoo

We went to the zoo during the hibernation months. While everyone else was at home trying to get out of the freezing cold, we decided to bundle up and head over to look at the animals. We brought Auntie Sum Bum and cousin Kalli. It was cold, but amazing because we mostly had the whole zoo to ourselves and surprisingly, the animals were active! Afterwards we went home and had an amazing afternoon nap

Jonah and Violet with the Seals. 

 The Giraffes were so close! The man who takes care of the Giraffes and the Elephants told us a little bit about his job. He said he started out with the reptiles. Ryker and Violet both left there with new ambitions to become zookeepers when they grow up!

 You wouldn't believe it, the tiger was in the water on that frezzing cold day. He was staring right at the kids, almost like he was glad to see someone coming to see him.

It'll be our little secret, the best time of year to go to the zoo.

Trying to play catch up!

Gary's 30th Birthday

 We celebrated by going to the Blue Lemon at City Creek, and then we stayed at the Hilton Hotel for swimming, lounging, and room service. It was a great get away for our whole family. I made a white cake with pistachio filling for the birthday boy that was delish!

We love ya Gary, even if you are turning into an old man!

Happy Birthday my dear!

Happy New Year!

2013

Take a look at this hot guy that just happened to be my new years kiss. I am one lucky gal!

To ring in the new year we had Grandma Jen, Papa Shane, Aunt Sara, and Auntie Sum bum over. We ate Chinese food, made fondue, and watched the ball drop. There were even some board games going on. We all made it to midnight before we crashed, but not before the delirium hit (notice Gary's face)

We made some new goals for this year and stuffed them in our "Abadian time capsule", which we can't open until next year.

Happy, Happy New Year!!!

Jonahs Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Jonah

Our sweet, mischief maker turned 2!

To celebrate, we went sledding with family on a warm sunny day.

We had pizza, capri suns, and a cake made by Grandma Andi.

It was a gorgeous day and Jonah loved going down the hill!

Here are some pictures I captured of his day.

 Violet with cousin Estella.

 These brothers are adorable.

 Dad and Jonah.

 Ryker with cousins Ava and Van.

For Jonah: We love you so much buddy. You bring a lot of fun into our family. You are our teddy bear. Happy 2 years my sweet, strong, special little boy!

Christmas Day and Christmas Morning!

When I look back on this Christmas, years from now, I hope I will remember my sweet children's squeals of delight and smiling faces. I want to remember sitting down with family and sweet packages of  thoughtful gifts. Every year I am always amazed at the generosity of people. It's the great thing about Christmas, it gives you that chance to think of others.

Christmas day with our family was a busy day full of seeing loved ones and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

We are very fortunate to live so close to be able to see 4 grandpas and 3 Grandmas all in one day!

How thankful we are for them and the sweet  memories they make with us.

Visiting with Papa Todd, Papa Rey, and Grandma Fran 

 Poppa Bill and Grandma Andi's house, we love their new dog Maggie!

 Poppa Bill in his Chair and Violet with her new present, a new Ariel dress up.

 Ryker and his new green batman.

 Gary got the coolest red onesie from his Mom

Grandma Jenny's house,

Jonah and his new wooden train set.

Ryker got a cool new zombie hoodie and his favorite: a real bow and arrow!

Jonah got this awesome firetruck that makes sounds and flashes lights!!

Violet got a Brave doll and a gorgeous new dress.

Christmas Morning

It was the early hours of the morning when we woke up to our children's voices in their rooms.

They waited very patiently until we were ready to recieve them into our transformed living room. Wrapping was torn, presents were admired, and we had a very merry Christmas morning complete with French toast,  bacon, and orange juice...yum!

 My sweet littles.

Ryker's favorite: A shiny new pocket knife

Violet's favorite: New animal toys

Jonah's favorite: His bike or "cycle" as he called it

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

We started out with a candlelit dinner. Gary's Mom and Dad sent us this lovely centerpiece made from real flowers. We had a special made pasta dish, rolls, and salad it was so good!

Papa Rey joined us for Christmas this year, it was nice because we never have spent a Christmas with him before.

We had our traditional Jammie opening,

and a Jammie fashion show!

Jonah had snowboard monkeys,

Violet looked lovely in her cupcake jams,

and Ryker looked so handsome in his penguin, snowman, and polar bears

Gary wowed us with his flannels....

Papa Rey offered to take some family photos of us. Just overlook Violet's vacant stare and Jonah's sideways glance. Pictures with toddlers are the best! I know one day this photo might come in handy for a good chuckle. Gosh I love their rosy cheeked jammie combination though!

We grabbed some candy canes for dessert and made the trip over to Layton parks lights, fun as always!

Lastly, we made up our santa plate, an orange, reindeer food, and a sugar cookie!

We read a story about Jesus birth and The Night Before Christmas. I love how excited my kids get, it was so easy to put them to bed. They wanted to go to sleep right away so they could see what Santa had brought in the morning!

Gingerbread House Making & A New Tradition

It has become an Abadian tradition to put together a gingerbread house around Christmastime. The kids get so excited to decorate their home with goodies, treats, and frosting. I actually really love this activity also. Our Ginger men got eaten within the first week and bits and pieces of the house keep magically disappearing as the days go by. It's a delicious way to have fun and be creative!

Aren't these cousins  Ava and Ryker adorable? I especially love Ryker's crossed eyes. They had so much fun dressing up as Santa at Grandma Andi's house. 

We started another new tradition this year with our cousins on Gary's side of the family, where we have the kids act out the nativity. I wish I would have gotten pictures but I  was helping the kids. They all did so amazing and it really brought in the true spirit of Christmas into our hearts and minds, plus the kids loved acting it out. Ryker was a shepherd, Violet was a wise man, and Jonah was our run away shepherd. I am looking forward to this new tradition for Christmases to come!

Recitals and Class Parties

This year it was so fun to see my kids performing in their recitals!

Ryker has just started piano, he is learning a lot of new songs. For his Christmas recital he chose to learn rudolph the red nosed reindeer. He practiced so hard and I was so proud of him for getting up in front of all of those people to play his songs. Great first recital Rykes!

 My little pianist.

 Violet has been dancing since the beginning of the school year. They danced to the jingle bell rock and they all looked so adorable, such a sweet group of girls. Violet loved her jingle bell skirt.

 All of the dancers!

 Vi and her besties Claire and Hannah.

 Christmas Class Parties

Violet's class party included making a hat, treat, and ornament. There were also games and storytelling. These cute kids had a great time!

I also got to go to Ryker's class party this year. It was my birthday so all of his class sang happy birthday to me, it was so sweet! I was the storyteller, we read the shoemaker and the elves, and the twelve days of christmas, it was so much fun!