Santa Came!

Yesssss!!!!!

That's what came out of my daughters mouth when she saw what Santa brought her. She's never said that before. It was awesome. Though all she truly cared about was the Hello Kitty bandaids and the chapstick. Sigh.

Landon was thrilled to see that Santa had deemed him "nice" after he saw a Wii sitting next to the TV. It did have a large sign on it though that said it was for the Burnham FAMILY. I don't think he paid much attention to it. :0)

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Ours was great as we were able to spend the time with both of our families. It was great to have all of my siblings here, the cousins had such a great time playing together. And little Breanna Burnham is now 12! Holy cow! She was totally decked out in make up last night and everything. She's still the same Breanna though. :0)

Merry Christmas!

Santa Cookies

Santa let Landon know that he was expecting some cookies when he came to deliver presents on Christmas Eve, so last night we hurried to make some for him. We were able to make these at my mom's house with the Callens, which made it even more fun! My sister, Crystal, and her family came on Saturday for the holiday and so we went out last night to visit and make the special cookies.

I cheat on Santa cookies and just use the holiday cake mix for them. The recipe is on the side of the cake mix box for those of you that haven't tried making these yummy cookies yet. It only makes a couple dozen cookies, which is great, and the kids only care about frosting them anyway...so it gets my part out of the way quick! ;0)

It was hilarious to watch Riley and Mackenzee attempt to frost the cookies. Riley piled his frosting high, while Mackenzee was more concerned with just piling on the sprinkles. Genea had to make hers just perfect, and Landon just wanted to eat his. ;0) Santa is definitely going to be on a sugar high tonight!

It's finally here!

Today is the day! The ACTUAL day that Landon was born eight years ago. He is now officially 8! Sniff sniff. One year older and WISER too....Happy Birthday....to you!

Early Christmas

We alternate years on which family Jaysen and I spend Christmas with, and this year is with my family. So, Jaysen's parents came over this morning with their presents for the kids. They always give jammies to the kids, which I love! Kenzee got a cute pair of pink jammies, and Landon got blue. They also brought over poppers for all of us, which is a tradition for them for Christmas Eve. They buy these LARGE poppers that have small toys/trinkets in them. So, the kids got to pop theirs (though Kenzee just tore hers apart).

And then there is always the "Mr. Right and Mrs. Right" game where you pass things to the right and left and then whatever you end up with at the end is what you get to open. Jaysen's parents put cash in envelopes and there are a couple of envelopes that have more than the others, so everyone hopes they get those. ;0) So, they brought over envelopes for us as well. No big winners here. ;0) But the kids were thrilled to find $10 in their envelopes.

So, thank you so much Perry and Rita! The kids love their jammies and Landon has already been trying to decide what he's going to do with his cash. It's nonstop presents around here!

Christmas Recital

Tonight was Landon's Christmas Piano Recital. He got to play Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for his solo piece and then two ensemble pieces as well. Before my mom had to cut back a bit a few years ago, she had oodles of students who took group lessons. Meaning, she had four full sized keyboards hooked up and each student used their own keyboard and they all played together. So good for kids who need help with timing and counting (which is most of them!) Anyway...she got out three of her keyboards and had the kids play a few songs as ensembles. Each child playing a different part (harmonies and what not). It makes it so much fun for the kids. Landon was really having a hard time with one of the songs, and so in order to coax him into playing I told him that I would play the treble clef during the recital and all he had to play was the bass clef notes. He did awesome. And it's always fun to play a "duet" with him. He even got to play the final song, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, with a couple other students while we all sang along. He was so proud of himself and he had so much fun with it. I think all of the kids did. No memorizing pieces, just playing fun Christmas tunes with their friends.

Good job Landon! You did great!

Something to think about.....

Ok...so I'm going to get a little deep here.
Landon had his interview with the bishop tonight for his baptism. The bishop gave him homework and told him to go home and read with us D&C 20:77,79 and then to talk about it.

77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

We hear these scriptures on a weekly basis. Half the time I don't even get to listen due to my wonderful 2 year old. But, having to fully explain the meaning of these verses and how they pertain to Landon getting baptized really made me think about it. When we get baptized we promise to take on the name of Jesus Christ....to keep His commandments, and to remember him. Of course, we get plenty in return, but what I had to explain to Landon was that we don't just promise to do all of this on our baptism day. We have to do it EVERY day. And by taking the sacrament on Sunday it helps us to remember those promises we made when we were baptized. That was 20 years ago for me.
I know....I'm getting kind of deep. It's been so interesting as Landon gets older the kinds of questions he asks and the innocent faith he shares with me. And after reading these verses with him tonight it makes me want to pay attention just a little bit more.
So, thanks Landon.

Fierce!

My kids crack me up! It's close to bedtime, and they're all ready to go with just a few minutes left...so I tell them to go play in Landon's room until it's time for prayers. Moments later Kenzee comes out wearing these crazy glasses and vest and holding a Nerf gun. The vest is HUGE on her hanging down past her knees. And right behind her comes Landon....glasses, vest and gun in hand.


Looks like he decided to break out his new Nerf War game. Kind of like Laser Tag only with Nerf guns. They looked hilarious. I couldn't help but snap a pic of Landon looking so "fierce" and Kenzee trying to be cool like her brother. Goofy kids!