Santa's a little scary sometimes

Well, both Max and Ava have been super excited to see Santa since Thanksgiving . I have endured thousands of Santa questions in the past 3 weeks and if you have ever had a 4 year old you know what I am talking about. Example: Mom why doesn't Santa shave? Mom why does Santa sometimes wear gloves? Mom where was Santa born? Who are Santa's parents? etc..... Our ward Christmas party was last night and I have been telling Max and Ava all week about it and that Santa would be dropping by to say hello. Oh Man, have they been eager to see him. So we were pretty surprised (the pictures explain it all) at the kids' reactions to dear old Santa.

Watch the change of expression when Santa pulls out the candy.... ( she sure perked right up :)

Poor Max, my biggest Santa fan, wouldn't even budge from the line. Here I am trying to help him get the courage to sit on Santa's lap. He wasn't about to move.

I guess Santa can be scary sometimes

Sunday brownies

I know, I know..... it's been a LONG time since I have written a new post. I have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks and hopefully I can make up for it by posting a bunch of pictures.


No Sunday would be complete if Matt didn't make Brownies after Sunday naps. Max and Ava , of course, love to help him because they are guaranteed some CHoCoLate :)

Ava is good to share her beater with Daddy

Max got "dibs" on the bowl

This is the face of pure JOY

I took some pictures of the kids before church today and I had to laugh at Max when he insisted on wearing a scarf to church. Max was also very excited for church because Matt gave him his old scripture case and Max was glad to be "twinners" with Mom and Dad, who both have scripture cases.

Ava looked so cute in this dress and she loves to twirl in it. She kept showing everyone at church her pretty dress and would turn around in a circle so they could fully appreciate her appearance. What a funny little lady:)

some pictures

So instead of procrastinating this year, I decided to get some Christmas pictures done of Max and Ava in November instead of December. They turned out cute. I have a bunch more, but here are a few of my favorites. Poor Ava was not happy during this portrait shoot. She really wanted to play with the animals and toys they have set up for making the kids laugh. It was actually pretty funny because Ava is normally so happy and smiley and then we go to get pictures done and she cried. Max on the other hand is normally super shy and won't smile at strangers and then he was all smiles for the photographer. Ha ha , I guess that is life.

I will attempt to send out Christmas cards this year too. I am not sure why I haven't done it before. I guess I just get caught up in the season and don't take the time to do the whole Christmas card thing. But this year I am getting started early so hopefully I will get it done.

I also wanted to mention a huge thanks to Grandma and Grandpa B for watching Max and Ava for the weekend so Matt and I could have a much needed couple of days to have a mini-vacation. We were able to go: to the Movies ( I heart James Bond) , to the temple, mountain biking, and Christmas shopping. Mountain Biking was sooooooo much fun! We went on this really cool trail that was CRAZY and we both only fell once each. I luckily landed in a bush and it saved me from any damage. Poor Matt went over his handlebars on a steep incline and he his arm got all scraped up. But he being as tough as he is, never complained once about it. It was such a great weekend. So THANK YOU to the most wonderful in-laws in the world. I really love spending time with my one and only and it was heavenly.

Trick or treat

Halloween was great and Max and Ava had so much fun Trick or Treating. Ava had a death grip on her candy sack and even though it was getting heavy she refused to let one of us carry it. They both ended up with a lot of candy. Max hid his "treasure" under his bed so no one would ever be able to find it. Ava probably had more candy on Halloween then she has had her whole life. We were laughing so hard as we watch her running around the house with an obvious "Sugar High". Grandma and Grandpa Bassett were super sneaky and suprised the kids by showing up at the trunk or treat. Max and Ava were so excited to see them. What a great Halloween, I can't believe it's already over.