Monday, December 29, 2008

MY AMAZING, WONDERFUL, FAVORITE CHRISTMAS PRESENT!! -made by my Caseo

Casey for weeks has been telling me that I will love my present, that he made it, and that I didn't ask for it. All these things combined made me a little nervous, but still very excited! I was going through all kinds of different possibilities in my head of what it could be. I was guessing he was making nightstands because I've been wanting matching ones for a long time.

Well, I never would have guessed this!!



I honestly had no idea that he could make a bed set! He once explained to me that he could and how he would go about doing it, but I still didn't believe him. The only thing I'd seen him make was my shelf so this completely amazed me. He is so talented!! I love it!!!

And I need to apologize to him for getting annoyed with him "working" so much. He was actually making my present! I felt horrible when I realized this. So the next time he tells me he's got to work more I'm going to be expecting something. :-)

Christmas Eve

My family has a couple Christmas Eve traditions that we never miss. One is reading the nativity story before bed. I love reading of our Savior's birth. He is what Christmas is really about.
The other tradition is this:

Here we are eating at none other than chuck-a-rama. We like to prove that it's not just for old people.


We made a short visit to the Egbert side on Christmas Eve and this is what happened:

Ryan, Dad E., and Casey all wrestling. This was funny because for a little while the boys were actually beating Dad E! Only for a little bit though, he ended up pinning them both.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

9 Months!

She's growing up! Yesterday Jocey turned 9 months old. She is constantly learning new things and figuring out how to get her way by throwing little tantrums that are still pretty cute.

She now drinks out of a cup all by herself.


She loves to play with the soccer ball.

She loves the Christmas tree! She talks to it all the time. It's so cute!


This is the new face she makes when we are feeding her. She scrunches up her nose and squints her eyes, then sniffs in and out. We think it's pretty funny. We laugh hard.
It may look like we are the worst parents by letting her drink out of a glass cup, play with plugged in Christmas lights, and play with glass ornaments, but don't worry. No accidents... yet

Gingerbread Houses

Last week we made gingerbread houses with Casey's family. I love this tradition and look forward to it every year. Casey really wanted to do his own this year, so I did mine with my sister, Mariah. Casey says I'm too slow at deciding what to do. He is right. In fact, Mariah and I never completely finished ours because we were taking so long. But we did do some cute things like a chimney, a wreath, steps up to the door, and pots of flowers beside the door.

The beginning. You need to make sure your foundation is sturdy using lots of frosting. You don't want the roof to cave in.

Sam and Jess (Casey younger siblings) in the process of decorating. They are seriously some of the funnest people I know! Love them!

So, Ryan (Casey's younger brother) doesn't know how to make a normal gingerbread house. Only Mexican gingerbread houses, or a redneck gingerbread trailer last year. I guess I'll give him credit for being creative. Besides this might be his last year without a girl (friend, fiance, or wife??). Kyle, the oldest brother, figured it out for the rest that it doesn't work to try out anything other than a cute gingerbread house when you are working on it with your wife. His Jamaican jail was anything but cute. But this year, Erica was Ryan's partner and she was a good sport. :-)

Casey with his completed house! I love it! I'm kinda jealous that I can't say I helped on this one because it is possibly my favorite so far. He was brilliant and used wheat thins to make the shingles on the roof. (You can see mine and Mariah's house in the background, not even close to looking done but I think we stopped there.)

We now have a guest room

Jocelyn is moved into our room and we've made her room into a "guest" room for my sister who has been staying with us for the past couple weeks. She'll only be here until January, but we all have been loving it! Jocelyn gets so excited when Mariah gets home from work. Casey has been Mariah's personal comedian/tease. Mariah and I have been coming up with fun dinner ideas, making Christmas presents, and staying up late talking. We absolutely love having her here!

Jocelyn loves her Auntie M