Christmas in AZ
This was our first Christmas in our own home. Matt and I purposefully planned to stay home this year and be together as a family. It was AMAZING! For the last 8 years we've traveled to be with family on Christmas, but this year (with Derek being 18 months) we wanted to be in our own home. It was so fun to go to a friends house for dinner on Christmas Eve and to our own church for Christmas Eve service and then wake up in our own house on Christmas morning. We did not leave the house for 2 straight days!! We are very blessed and thankful for the birth of Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Merry Christmas!

Opening Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve!

 Testing out his new vacuum on Christmas morning.

 Playing with his new kitchen!

Opening presents in his stocking (Curious George and Thomas the Train books!!)

 So excited to get Thomas the Train!

After opening these presents we had to practically beg Derek to sit down and open the rest of his gifts. I actually opened several for him since he was much more interested in playing! :) Ha, the busy life of a toddler!!

Christmas in Salt Lake City
This year we spent the week before Christmas with Matt's family in Salt Lake City. Matt has 4 brothers and sisters so the extended family is very large and Derek has lots of older cousins. Derek had a blast playing with and watching his cousins, picking up some good and not so good habits along the way. This week was full of eating lots of food, laughing, watching movies and just hanging out. We are so blessed to have great family.
While the older cousins and Matt went skiing (2 days), Derek and I went with the younger cousins to the Zoo and the Children's Museum. It was really fun to explore a new zoo and museum. The Discovery Gateway Children's Museum had a really neat imagination area with a construction site, farm, water area, fire truck, post office, house and grocery store. Derek LOVED the construction site (with digger and crane) and driving and fueling the fire truck the best!

  

Derek and his younger cousins

Derek sitting in his first helicopter. At first he was super excited, but when we actually sat inside it was super loud and he wasn't so happy.

Here are a few pictures from the Zoo. It was really chilly at the Zoo, but the kids still had fun.

Hanging out and playing some foosball

We celebrated Christmas one evening and it was so fun to watch Derek open presents. 

Here is Derek with most of his cousins (missing 2).

 

Reading some new books with Grandma and Grandpa

Derek's cousins had a Thomas train table with EVERY possible engine and piece. Derek LOVED playing at the train table.

 Chair rides and playing football with cousin Christian

 

Legos with cousin Ian

Jumping on the trampoline!

Getting a ride on Great Grandma D's walker!

Merry Christmas!
Here is our Christmas card (front and back) for 2011. We hope that everyone has a blessed Christmas and New Year! Thanks to my talented friend, Janet, for designing our card. (Four Harp Designs). We love getting our cards from her!!

Gingerbread Houses
One Christmas tradition that I want to continue with my family is decorating a gingerbread house. My grandmother used to spend days baking and building, from scratch, gingerbread houses for my brother and cousins to decorate. I remember how much thought and time she would put picking out just the right candy for the roofs, the snow, the yard etc. She would make the windows of the house stained glass from crushed up pieces of Life Savers candy. And she made gingerbread men as well. One Saturday before Christmas my cousins and I would gather together at her house for an all day decorating party. It was so much fun and I have such great memories. So, I want to continue the tradition with our family. This year I bought a pre-made and pre-built gingerbread house for Derek to decorate. Maybe next year I will attempt to make it from scratch, we'll see. Derek had a blast putting the candy on and of course tasting the frosting and candy.

December visit from Grammy and Pops
This year Matt, Derek, and I will spend Christmas in our own home with our own family of 3! Grammy and Pops decided to come visit us one last time before we become a family of 4 and Baby Girl Buman is born (in March).

Derek loves his Grandparents

Building block towers with Pops

Decorating our first family gingerbread house

Excitement after tasting the frosting

 Putting coins in his bank

 Hugs from Grammy

Opening a few presents

Hiking Dreamy Draw

Pretending to be an airplane on our hike

 Finding some cool rocks along the way

 Reading Polar Express

Horsing around with Daddy

 

Giving the sign for "more" (wanting Daddy to push him again)

Grammy and Pops gave us a family membership to the Phoenix Zoo for Christmas this year. It was voted one of the top 5 zoos for kids in the country and we were excited to check it out. We went with Grammy and Pops for the first time and can't wait to go back. Derek loved the zoo and is learning lots of animal names and noise.

Checking out the giraffes and ostrich

 Walking to see the monkeys

 Watching the orangutans play was so much fun

 

Watching a turtle

Driving the tractor at the petting zoo