Christmas Celebration!

Christmas is so fun and magical. Justin and I were talking and we feel so grateful to be in the company of family and friends, talking and laughing, with a roof over our heads, occasionally hearing the heater kick on and off, eating goodies from the neighbors, feeling the warmth of our cozy pajamas, watching our kids engulf themselves in the Christmas spirit, making lots of wonderful memories .

Knight in Shinning Armor!

Mom's little ham hawk!

I'd have to say that one of our biggest highlights of Christmas day, was the arrival of Mr. Michael John! What a perfect gift!

Christmas Eve Happenings!

We were able to have Justin's brother and his cute family come and stay with us for Christmas! The boys were filled with excitement as they anticipated Christmas morning.

We opened their Christmas Eve packages, put on their new jammies, sang songs, ate treats, sprinkled magic reindeer food on the lawn, and did this all in hopes that they would be exhausted and go right to dreaming about sugarplums. It worked!One of the many faces of Cole! He is such a character! The boys really enjoy having him around. They ran around playing and laughing.

One of Cole's many talents is telling you all about The Wonder Pets! He is very into teamwork!

Sprinkling the Magic Reindeer Food!

A Favorite Pastime!

The boys love, love, love when Mammy tells them stories. The favorite at the moment is, Teeny Tiny pictured here.

The Innkeeper

A very exciting mile stone occurred as we watched Nathan preform in his first ever Christmas program. He got to be the Innkeeper. Let me tell you. It was not easy to talk him into wearing his costume until he finally decided all by himself, "Okay, I will wear the Innkeeper sweater." Two minutes before going onstage. Whew!



The big line: "Sorry there is no room for you. You'll have to go to the stable." Which surprisingly he said.

They all sang a mean rendition of Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, recited a few poems, had a very exciting visit from Sana Clause, and had punch and cookies.

Some of Nathans biggest fans.

Christmas Tree Adventure!

Meet Goliath. He is the newest member of our family, currently living in our living room. This is the first time we have ever ventured into the forest to cut a live tree. Luckily, we had a secret weapon... Cody. She supplied the tarp, ropes, cutting device, and hot cider. I know, we just might keep her.

Hunting for "the tree".

Yup. Justin found the tallest ponderosa that would clear our 14 ft ceilings. Okay, so it's not your average looking Christmas tree and I was a little leary but when he hoisted that thing up and anchored it down with a wire, I don't think we have ever laughed that hard!
And now, it just might be a new Hillan family tradition. We love the scraggly, yummy pine smelling, dripping sap all over the carpet, ginormous, Christmas tree.

106.6

I wish I could say I was talking about a radio station but this number is actually the temperature of Nathans fever last night! Scary! We got his fever down with a bath, Motrin, and a blessing. The doctor said his throat is riddled with open sores and it's a virus that will need to run its course. Please hurry! This is not fun!

10 Year Temple Aniversary!

Ten Years ago to the day, the Cardon family was sealed in the Denver temple for time and all eternity. This picture is not the Denver temple, however we received a tender mercy and experienced it at the Mesa temple. Our entire family was able to be together and celebrate. We went to the lighting ceremony by accident and found ourselves in the midst of magical lights, music from angles, and the spirit that is emmulated on the temple grounds. Not to mention Brook White did the honors and flipped the switch. We watched Luke 2, the Nativity story, at the visitors center and wish we could start the Christmas season off like this every year!

The entire Cardon clan complete with our little nephew due in days!



Doug, Sara, and the boys at the temple. When the lights flipped on all the boys gasped! We were in the very middle and didn't even know it.

Park, Park, We Want the Dog Park!

Seriously, we will take any park we can get our hands on but the Dog Park was awesome! They have a huge man made lake just for the dogs to fetch their balls and toys out of- complete with a pier they can fly off. There is also a huge area with equipment just for the dogs to run around in. It was crazy to watch tons of all different kinds of dogs "play".

I learned that Kendall LOVES dogs! He loved watching them swim!


Uncle Todd AKA: Bodyguard- made sure the tots didn't fall into the water.

Mesmerized

Some Dang Cute Rugrats Rompin Around!

We could not get enough of all the great parks in AZ. Soaking up sunshine was at the top of our list! We met up with the Christensen family and got to see my Aunt Irene who is 91! She looked so cute in her bright blue outfit adorned with all her turquoise jewelry! The boys played so hard that they were dripping with sweat. Doug and Nathan mainly.:)

Teamwork!



Tanner, you were just what the doctor ordered. Pure JOY!!!

Ringing the equipment was a favorite game among the older guys. In fact it got quite competitive and produced a great workout!

Thanksgiving in the Tropics!

Well maybe not the tropics, but it was warm and there were palm trees! Good enough! We got to join in on Uncle Doug and Uncle Kyle's tradition and make some yummy homemade rootbeer. Five gallons of it! And if I might add, it goes great with turkey! The boys had fun right in the big middle of all the preparations and worked up a pretty mean appetite. It was all very good but can I just say I'm still craving Melissa's Sweet Potatoes! Yum!


Mashed potatoes made with love!

Debut!

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WARNING: This is almost 3 minutes, so unless you're a grandma please feel free to stop the video at any moment in time.