Christmas Has Come...and Gone!

Well, I've finally gotten back onto blog...it's been more than a month. Boy, how time flies. Since the last time I blogged, we got the house ready for Christmas, went to two Christmas parties, Ray traveled to L.A. for work, I traveled to Chicago and San Jose for work, and we celebrated our 7th anniversary! Not to mention finding time to buys gifts, make goodies for neighbors and co-workers, and spend time with our boys and try to help Kaden understand the "true" meaning of Christmas. Now you all know why you didn't receive any Christmas cards this year. I'll do better next year, I promise!

Anyway, Christmas has come and gone and I wanted to post some pictures of our Christmas. We stayed at home this year for Christmas (which was WONDERFUL!) and talked my mom and dad into coming down. Kaden was so excited for "Grandma and Grandpa from Wyoming" to come, he could hardly wait for them to get here. When they finally arrived after driving through a huge snow storm, we had a big Christmas Eve dinner with my mom's famous jumbo breaded shrimp and warm apple pie and pumpkin pie. It was a great dinner. We finally got Kaden to bed and Santa came and we had our Christmas around 8:00 the next morning. I had to help Kaden open his last few presents because he was on present overload. I think he had a great Christmas, we all did. We are very blessed.

The holidays have been great for us, we have gotten to spend a lot of time together as a family and over the past couple of months, I have realized how truly blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband that loves and supports me as a wife and mother and two beautiful, smart, and healthy boys that love me despite my daily imperfections. We have a beautiful home that keeps us warm (which is crucial since it is FREEZING right now). We have great friends and family that love and support our family.

Ray's dad's cousin was killed in an avalanche on Christmas Day and left behind a wife, kids, and grandkids. It really made me think of how grateful I am to have my family with me and how quickly that can change. I pray that the Lord will keep my family healthy and safe but even more, I pray that if he can't, that I am prepared for whatever he has in store. I hope that as the new year approaches, I can be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend and that my family will stay safe, happy, and healthy. I wish the same for all of you, our friends and family! Happy Holidays. We love you all!

This is our house all decorated for Christmas. We had to do a better job than usual since we were staying home for Christmas this year and Santa had to be able to find us!

The Balls Family Christmas Tree 2007 - I finally let Ray talk me into a fake one and boy, was it nice to not have to water it and it always looked great. But, I did miss the real pine smell.

Jackson on Christmas morning. As all toddlers, he was very excited about the paper and boxes, not what was in them!

Kaden with his gun that Grandma and Grandpa got him. He can shoot at some toy bottles on a log and somehow, when he hits the red dot, they jump off the log. He LOVES IT!

Jackson with his Christmas toys...seems that he is pretty happy with his Christmas.

Kaden with his Lego train set that works by remote control. It took mom and dad quite a while to put the train cars together. Santa should have assembled it the night before!

Kaden and Jackson in their monster truck PJs from Grandma and Grandpa Balls. Kaden also got tickets to the Monster Jam show at Energy Solutions Arena in February...he can't wait to go again this year!