Lincoln Christmas

After we got all our Santa gifts we packed up and headed to the airport to jet off to Lincoln. We actually had an uneventful trip there besides a non-napping cranky Miles.

On Monday we woke up and had our Martin Family Christmas. Here are the kiddos (cousins Bekah and Max) excited to do their stockings. We got lots of fun goodies from everyone - thanks!

Miles and Bekah became fast buds since Miller and Max were never apart.

All bundled up and ready for a walk to the park. We actually had nice weather and no snow while we were there.

Cousins in their new matching pj's.

Max and Mary had a Rowoldt Christmas get together for those in town. It was so nice to see everyone.

The Martin clan.

The big kids went to a science museum one day and had so much fun.

Bekah and Miller checking out the dinosaurs.

Miller acting like he's being eaten by a tiger.

Miller and Max "digging for dinosaur bones".

We had so much fun in Lincoln. Thanks for everything Max and Mary!

Santa!

Miller and Miles were on the "Nice" list this year as Santa came to our house. Jud took this picture of the loot before the boys woke up.

Here they are coming around the corner. Miles had no clue what was going on and really just wanted me to hold him.

Santa brought Miller just what he asked for ... a new big bike, a light saber and a dagger/small sword like Peter Pan's.

Miller on his new bike with his little duck measuring tape. He loves to measure things.

Miles wasn't quite old enough to "get it" this year, but he sure does like his new car spinning race track. Miller likes it too.

Thanks for all the goodies Santa!

Christmas Eve

We decided to go to the Children's service on Christmas Eve this year. I had heard great things. We had planned to take Miles to the nursery, but it wasn't open when we got there. It might have been a Children's service, but taking a busy 17 month old to hour long church is not fun. I really didn't get to worship and celebrate Jesus' birth. I'm glad we tried it, but next year I think we will stick to the traditional service and make sure the nursery is open for Miles.

Here are the boys all dressed up in their Christmas duds.

This picture make me want to cry because Miller is so big.

Sweet Miles.

Argue Family Christmas

Well, I'm just now getting around to updating the blog. We had a great Christmas here and then we went to Nebraska and Kansas City and had a great time there as well. We just got back on January 3. I'm going to separate all our Christmas celebrations out, basically to make it easier for me. So, just bear with me.

Since it was the Martin Christmas year, we celebrated early on the 22nd with the Argue clan. We had a great Christmas dinner on Wednesday and we all spent the night at my parents that night so we could have "Christmas morning" there. If you remember, last year we had matching footie pj's, entered a contest and won (see last years blog post here). We won $1000 worth of pj's so of course we got matching ones for this year. LOVE IT!!!

Miles and JoJo ready for stockings.

The "kids" with our full stockings from Noni and JoJo.

Sister love. I think we have this same picture ever since Evan was born. I should go back and find them all.

I just love my three boys!!!

After stockings we had a big yummy breakfast to get some energy for present opening. One of Miller's favorite gifts was his marshmallow shooter from Evan and Blake. I'm not too thrilled about it.

After opening presents, the boys love to play in the bows. Miles thought it was so funny to put one on his head. There was glitter everywhere.

Thanks to Noni, JoJo, Evan and Blake for all our fun gifts. We all got some great stuff and had so much fun.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Martins.

I do have to say...I have three good looking boys in my life!

Sparkle

Sparkle, our elf, arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we have had so much fun finding him each morning. If you don't know about Elf On The Shelf, I'll give you a short explanation. There is a book that explains it all as well.

When your elf first arrives you give him a name (This is Sparkle's third Christmas season with us). He is one of Santa's helpers and every night he travels back to the North Pole to give Santa a report. Then he shows up the next morning in a different place. You may talk to Sparkle as much as you want and he can give messages to Santa, but he doesn't talk back. You can NOT touch Sparkle or he will lose his magic powers. We have not had to deal with this at our house, but some friends of ours touched their elf and he didn't show up the next day.

This year, Sparkle has been really creative as to where he is in the morning. He seems to be having a lot of fun while we are sleeping.

Top of the tree.

Hanging upside down on the attic string.

Taking a bath in the boys bathroom sink.

Riding a moose.

Worshiping the baby Jesus with the wise men.

Peeking out of Miller's stocking.

Miles is even into it. He can say his name and loves to look for him. We love Sparkle and will miss him when he goes back to the North Pole with Santa.

Christmas Time

We've had lots of fun Christmas activities going on around here...

TIS THE SEASON

The boys school has a Tis the Season event right before Thanksgiving. The teachers all do crafts and games with the kids, there are lots of treats and Santa is there. Poor Miles, is not a fan of the big guy.

But, he does like mini donkeys. He calls them heehawheehaw's.

SHARING SHOE BOXES

We went shopping and filled two shoe boxes with all sorts of goodies for a four year-old and one year-old boy. Then they brought their boxes to Friday chapel at school.

The kiddos at Chapel. Do you see Miller in the middle looking at the camera?

The kids give their boxes to the baby Jesus.

Miles just sits in the buggy and takes it all in.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

The church has breakfast with Santa every year. After breakfast they have crafts, games and a bounce house while you wait for your turn with Santa. Rudolph and Frosty are also there. Miles seemed to like Frosty.

Still not so sure about Santa.

Miller has asked for a new bike, small sword like Peter Pan, microphone and Cars 2 movie.

Surprise 35th Birthday Trip!

A week ago Saturday, Jud surprised me and told me we were going skiing for my 35th birthday. He had even asked my parents to watch the boys and double checked my schedule to make sure I wouldn't be missing anything important. My birthday was Friday, Dec. 2 and we left on Wednesday. We grabbed a bite to eat at the airport and while we were eating, some of our best friends (Jon & Carly Lee) walked in. Yep, another surprise. About five years ago (pre-kids) we went on a ski trip with them and had so much fun. This time was a little different since we were getting a break from the kiddos (they have 2 boys also). We went to Keystone and stayed at Jud's aunt and uncle's cabin.

This was what we saw as we were driving out of Denver and heading to the mountains. Amazing!

We stopped in Idaho Spring on the way to Keystone and had pizza at Beau Jo's. They have this amazing thick crust, kind of like a bread stick.

We decided we were just going to ski two out of the three days we were there. The weatherman said it was going to really snow on Thursday so we decided to sit that day out and wait for the snow. Of course the weatherman was wrong, but we had a great day anyway.

We did a little outlet shopping and went to the highly recommended Arapaho Cafe in Dillon. Wow, the tomato asiago soup is amazing. Actually everything was amazing there. We even went back on Saturday night for dinner and ate in the basement pub.

After lunch, we drove to Breckenridge. We shopped Main Street for a while and went to Hearthstone Restaurant for happy hour and to warm up. It's this quaint 100-year old Victorian house and we got the best table in the house.

Jud and Jon enjoyed a martini.

What a view!

We walked around and shopped some more until we couldn't take the cold any longer. Downstairs at Eric's is our favorite place for pizza. We got the Gigantor so we could have leftover pizza for lunch on the mountain the next day. SO GOOD!

Ready for our first run on my birthday!

The Dudes!

After skiing the first day, Jon put an impressive wine, cheese and salami spread together for us to enjoy before we went to dinner. Turley Zin...yes, please!

We then took two gondolas up to the top of the back mountain to go to Alpenglow Stube (11,444 ft.) for dinner. What a fun experience! I just love this picture of me and Jud on the gondola. It was super cold. I asked for two blankets and the guy passing out the blankets said, "sure, but it's not even a cold night". I quickly explained we were from Texas.

We had a personalized menu.

Dinner was fabulous. We all tasted each others and agreed that Carly's short ribs were the best. The dessert coffee presentation was also impressive (served with white and dark chocolate shavings, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, ground cinnamon, etc.)

What an amazing surprise trip with great friends! How can we make it happen every year?

Thanks honey! You are the best...I LOVE YOU!

GraMary & Grandpa Visit

Jud's parents came to visit a few weeks and we had a great weekend with them. They were able to see Miller's last soccer game and even go to Jud's cousin's baby shower with us. We didn't take many pictures, but here are two great ones we took before church.

We are looking forward to spending almost a week in Nebraska for Christmas.