Lil' Dean Fam

Christmas was a lot of fun this year; probably my best ever. Ryan knew that Santa was coming, or at least he could tell you that he was. But, I don’t think he realized that meant he was going to have presents on Christmas morning. He woke up as usual and came into our room to watch Clifford. He had just recently learned how to climb out of the crib, so Santa’s gift could not have been better timing. Ryan got a new Disney Cars toddler bed from Santa. His stocking had a Thomas the Train in it and he was thrilled. He got a lot of cars this year from everyone. He also got a track to drive his little cars on that was from the movie Cars as well. It is shaped like the big rig named Mac and now he asks to “play Mac”. He is really in heaven with all of the fun gifts he got this year. He tried not to get too overwhelmed but Colin and I ended up opening some of his gifts for him because he just wanted to play with the toys that were open. He got a lot of clothes as well this year, which is good ...

Stuart stayed the night with us so we had some more time together today. I made chocolate chip pancakes and we hung out this morning before 1:00 church (which I hate). We're switching to 9:00 next year! It will be tough to get a family of four ready for church at that time but it beats 1:00 any day. Stuart helps Ryan call Nana & Grandpa Bruce Colin & Stuart Colin & Ryan the three boys Mommy & Ryan

They got us a gift for the new baby, that we decided to let Ryan try on. It was too small, of course. But it was fun to have him try it on anyway... I think. He wasn't that into holding still for a picture with it on, but we had a good laugh. This is as close as we got to getting a picture of him in the whole outfit once we got it on him. Brooke saw this Mickey shirt in Vietnam and had to have it. Ryan liked wearing it to bed that night. Brooke & Stuart opening their gifts from us. We got Brooke a gift card to Pier 1 Imports so she can add to her Christmas decoration collection. We got Stuart and outfit from Old Navy and an X Box camera so we can see Uncle Stuart on TV! Ryan opening his gift from Stuart & Brooke. They got him one of those fun stuffed animal backpacks. This is a character from Ice Age. They also got him the Mickey Shirt (shown above) a shirt from Vietnam, and a pack of matchbox cars. He was very excited. I got a Vietnamese skirt and pin cushion (very coo...

Did I mention that the Santa he saw was at the Harley dealership? My dad bought a bike there this year and they've sent him all sorts of stuff in the mail. One thing was an invitation to come see santa.

Ryan went to see Santa at the Harley Davidson store with Grandma and Grandpa this morning. He had been looking forward to meetinig Santa and I think the experience really met up with his expectations. So will it be next year that he cries, or is he going to skip this phase? I sure hope so, it's fun to see him excited about Santa. He has learned that baby Jesus was born on Christmas day. He loves to look at all of our Nativity scenes and pick up the baby Jesus.

It's been so cold and snowy lately that we decided to give the Thanksgiving Point Drive-Through Light Display a try instead of freezing our buns off at Temple Square. The wait to get it in was a little long, but Ryan really enjoyed looking at all of the light displays.

Here are my answers, post them on your site if you have nothing else to do this holiday season. 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer to wrap gifts, but the bags are fun and pretty too. 2. Real tree or artificial? I think the artificial is a lot more convenient , I remember one year our real tree fell down and broke about half of our ornaments- just a pain! 3. When do you put up the tree? day after Thanksgiving or at least by the 1st week in December 4. When do you take the tree down? sometime after New Year's 5. Do you like eggnog? can't stand it, but Colin loves it 6. Favorite gift received as a child? a white popple (anyone remember those?) . The same day I dropped it in the mud and my mom washed it in the machine and the fur was forever ruined, I didn't get to enjoy it very much but I was sure excited about it. 7. Do you have a nativity scene? several. Ryan is learning that baby Jesus was born on Christmas day because of them, what a beautiful teaching tool. 8. Hard...

"His Obsession " Colin has had an obsession with Nike Air Force One's since his friend Peter had them in Baltimore. There, we bought a matching pair. He just purchased his second pair off of eBay for a real steal. Only thing is, now he just wants more. Guess there are plenty of worse things he could be into, but it's not a cheap hobby.