THE BEST OF THE REST

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Before Christmas I spend the bulk of my time finishing my Christmas gift projects and since then I have enjoyed my time with Hiram.

The Saturday before Christmas we hosted my nephews for the night. My sister and brother in law were sick but their kids weren't. She had one more final and he had a ton of things to do at church the next day so we had the boys over to give their mom and dad a break. I knew James would enjoy it but I didn't realize how much he ADORES his cousins. They are 1 and 4 years older than him. When we lyed the boys down for the night on the living room floor I looked at James and explained that he could sleep out there as long as he stayed in his sleeping bag. He was so excited to be sleeping next to the boys and his face was surely showing it. It was almost better than Christmas! He almost made it though the night out there but eventually he went back to his bed.

After church the next day we came home and watched a few movies. Finally Joey went down for a nap and Austin (just one year older than James) crashed on the couch. That left James and Tyler awake and looking for something fun to keep them out of trouble. Once Hiram woke from his nap we made a gingerbread house from a kit I bought a couple weeks before. We had a grand time putting it together. As we put the candy and icing on, James felt comfortable enough to help himself to whatever his heart desired. This included a huge bite out of the roof before it was put on and about half the candy he was given to help decorate. We let him eat it all since it is every child's dream to eat a house made of treats. Infact, a couple minutes after we finished making it we all had a taste. Whats the use of a house made of candy if all you do is look at it. I am glad we decided to eat it right away. It was more fun and tasty that way.

Joey is looking more and more handsome everyday. I just love how he looks in his church clothes. I am excited for his 1st birthday on the 15th. He is such a dear boy!

On the Wednesday before Christmas we went to the Zoo with my brother, his wife and their kids. It was a lot of fun. They had lights everywhere. Hiram and I decided that even though they had more trees with lights Temple Square has more lights total. The grounds even had animal outlines in lights. James was pretty good at telling us what animals he saw. The highlight as always for the boys was the indoor dolphin show but we loved seeing all the arctic animals. The penguins, sea lions, polar bears, brown bears, and walrus were all more active than I have even seen them before since I have only even been to the zoo in the hot summer months. To cap off the evening we went inside the butterfly house where Santa was housing a couple of his reindeer for use later that week.

We were very cautious to put up our Christmas tree this year. If we put it on the floor Joey would have his way with it. If we put it in the bay window James would have his way with it. So we put it up a few days before Christmas because I refused to defend it anymore than a couple days. Infact the first morning after we had it up I walked into the room to see the tree horizontal and James frantically trying to put the star back on the top branch. He knew he was surely caught! Just before we opened our jammies on Christmas eve we put the tree on the floor in the corner and put the presents beneath it. James was a good boy and didn't try to open his gifts. He just sat there and enjoyed the pretty tree and lights with his blanket. After he went to sleep Santa did his magic and filled his stocking and left some gifts to unwrap.

James enjoyed opening his presents this year and was even nice enough to help Joey unwrap a few. It is sweet to see how kind and gentle James is with his little brother. I think I will enjoy it while it last!