Our Merry Christmas!!

We had a white Christmas in Show Low this year & it was SO much fun! On Christmas eve day we went tubing up at old Sunrise- it was FREEZING cold & I think Roman thought he was going to die! Poor baby has never experienced cold like that before, even though he was layered to high heaven! We still had a good time :)

Christmas eve night was spent the traditional way with dinner & a visit from Santa (AKA Uncle Cecil)! Here are all the grandkids that aren't terrified of Mr. Clause.

He gave all the kids an orange, & Roman was more than happy to take part in that activity (as long as Dad held him)

After dinner, we opened up our PJ's & got ready for bed.

Christmas morning came at a decent hour, surprisingly enough (I think we got up around 9AM). Roman was most excited about the Gerber Graduate snacks in his stocking... Go figure.

This is me realizing Anthon got me UGG boots!

This is me realizing they are 4 sizes too small :( ... The bitter disappointment of having to wait to wear them was almost unbearable!

Anthon & his Wii games (He got "Need For Speed: Nitro" also). I was excited to get them, but now I've realized how BAD I am at Mario Cart & I'm not that excited anymore! Anthon enjoys them & that's what really matters I guess :)

It's my tradition to give new church ties for Christmas, so here we are sporting our Christmas attire (even though it was the Sunday after Christmas). I LOVE Roman in his suit, Don't you? I was amazed it still fit- the last time he wore it was for Father's Day.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, enjoyed the time spent with your family, & remembered to reflect on the birth of our Savior!

Baby Steps

This was the 2nd time he stepped on his own- the 1st time he took 3 steps. This is just a tiny step but we are still proud :)!

A couple random things we've been up to...

Temple lights- twice in 1 week. Roman slept pretty much the whole time.

I spent a day doing nothing but sewing- I perfected 8 princess dresses for a dress up box I'm giving to Sydney for Christmas & made these cute stockings for us. I still need to add our names, but I'm very pleased with how they turned out!

Roman has found his groove- He dances all the time now & to ANY music that is on! Here's a little clip of him & his awesome moves :)

That's pretty much what we've been up to. We have both of our family Christmas parties this afternoon, so we're looking forward to those & we'll be heading up to Show Low on Wednesday for Christmas! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy this time with your families & remember all we have to be grateful for!!

1st Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

We had such a good time at our Ugly Sweater Christmas party- I'm wanting to make it an annual tradition (hence, the title)! Anthon was a great sport in working the hideous Santa head sweat suit for all to enjoy (even though the pants were a size or 2 too small)!! I thought my sweater was hideous til Anthon's came along & put mine to shame! Roman looked like an elf in the gay jumpsuit I found for him... Oh, what my boys go through to make me happy! Thanks to everyone who came & made the night so fun ! We had yummy snacks, a fun white elephant gift exchange, & lots of ugly sweaters to feast our eyes upon! Scroll down to see tons of pictures of all the festivities & ulginess!!

White Elephant Gifts:
I stole these so Anthon could keep them... He loved the little tools!

Sherry got bingo!

Michele got moldy, 1/2 eaten bread & homemade jam!

Corinne got expired Zrii!

Justin got fuzzy handcuffs & love dice... Corinne doesn't look too sure about this!

WINNERS:
Ugliest Men's Sweater winner!

Ugliest Women's sweater winner!

Ugliest Animal Sweater Winner!

Ugliest Santa Sweater Winner!

All around UGLIEST sweater winner!

1 month shy of a year!

Our baby is growing up ever so quickly... I can't believe he's almost a year! Every mother says it goes by way too fast, but I didn't realize just how fast it goes. Roman is a delight! He jabbers all the time (& still has that raspy "smokers" voice we love)! He says "Dada, Dad" almost constantly & "Momma" when he's sad or tired. He has added some new words like "Baba", "Dog", "Jesus", "Yeah", & "Car", but it's predominately babbling different forms of the word "Daddy" (He LOVES Anthon). I've started to notice all the nicknames we call him- Just to name a few: Romey, Rome, Romester, Buddy, Brother, Bro-man, Sucker, & Skinny. He is a busy boy these days- not walking independently yet, but cruises along with assistance from the furniture/cupboards, his walker or bike, & our hands. He's learned to take the lids off of almost every container he's NOT suppose to get into & still finds joy in all aspects of the bathroom! In spite of all the mischief, he is the soft spot on our hearts, the greatest joy in our life, & the thing we are MOST grateful for!
Oh, & he's not a fan of Santa. When we were in TX we took all the kids to the mall to get pictures on Santa's lap- screamed bloody murder the entire time! This picture is from our ward Christmas party. As you can see, he's still leery of the man in the big red suit!

Picture overload of Turkey, TX, & Trees

For Thanksgiving we went to Texas to visit my sister & her family. It was a REALLY fun trip- lots of good food, shopping, playing, talking, & watching movies. I posted a TON of pictures of our trip, so enjoy :) -Gwen, I didn't get a picture of us together, AGAIN :(

TURKEY DAY
Sydney making a turkey (a Gills family tradition)

Me & Roman making noodles (a Perkins family tradition)

The guys waiting for dinner to be ready

TX FUN
Baths:

Gwen got some WAY cute pictures of the 3 of them in the tub, but this is the best I got

I love the "fresh & clean" baby pictures

Wrestling:
Play time with Drew & Sydney quickly turned into a wrestling match

He loves to torture children :)
Teaching Sydney a choke hold

She caught on quick... Anthon may have met his match :)

LOVE this girl!


Science Center:
We had a lot of fun with the bubbles... then my camera died, so that's all we have pictures of

TREES

We stopped in Show Low for a day on our way home & Anthon went with his dad & brother to cut down some dead trees for fire wood. I took advantage of the photo op.

excuse my lack of makeup

Going for a ride on the Kubota with Grandpa

I'm sorry but, my husband is buff! Check out those biceps ;)

The product of all their hard work- a dump truck full of fire wood

Got me thinking...

Anthon took me to see New Moon again on Saturday night & it got me thinking. Yes, Jacob's body was admirable and Edward was... Edward, but I couldn't help but think about how happy I am with MY guy! There was a preview before the movie that had a quote I can't get out of my head- "The greatest love story ever told, is your own"- SO TRUE! I love our story & our life together! So, today (tomorrow & forever) I'm thankful for Anthon! He brings joy to my life that no one else can & I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world!