Christmas was an amazing day this year! The boys both said that it was the "Best Christmas Ever! . . .so far." I think it is only because they were thoroughly spoiled rotten this year. I know that it's hard to tell in the picture, but if you can see the amount of presents that were under the tree. . . I'm not sure I could get anything else under there if I tried! Anyway, this was what the living room looked like on Christmas morning--we won't let the boys down the stairs until we go down and light everything up. Santa even remembered Cooper!
Nathan was (if you can't tell by the dropped jaw) absolutely impressed by what Santa brought him--it's a Vbot (there's a video on amazon.com that shows what this little guy does). Unfortunately, the picture that actually shows what it looks like got lost when I was trying to rotate it this morning (sniff, sniff. . .I am still trying to get over that one). It is a r/c car that transforms into a dancing robot! Kind of cool, and lots of fun! It can hook up to an mp3 player and acts as a speaker. Anyway--Nate had a great time playing with that one!
Jacob, after years of waiting, finally got his electric guitar! Santa decided that he deserved it this year (I'm not sure that he's ready for it, but it seems to be motivating him to practice a bit more!). He has had a lot of fun exploring what it can do! He went back to lessons on Wednesday, and has actually tuned on his own without being pestered! His goal is to be able to play Greenday and Metallica (we'll see on that one).
Anyway, the next few pictures show just how spoiled these two actually are (as if the first two didn't illustrate that enough!). Nate finally got his stereo system. This one will hook up to his mp3 as well, so he can listen to a cd or his mp3. Santa brought him a
Naked Brother's Band cd that he's wanted for a while (sounds weird, but it's a show on Nickelodeon that he really likes) that has taken up permanent residence in his stereo.
Jacob also got a r/c toy--this one is a beast! It is a called Tri-Clops. It spins around on three legs and shoots round disks everywhere. Jake has had a lot of fun with it, but it makes me nervous!
Robert got a heavy bag and the stuff for boxing in the basement--you should have seen Jacob and me trying to get a 100lb heavy bag from the car and up into his closet to hide for Christmas! It was a challenge, but you know me! We used a two wheeled hand cart to get it up the stairs--me pulling and Jake pushing. We even enlisted Nate's help on the top stair! It was worth the reaction on Christmas morning, however. He was able to use his Christmas money to get a bag stand so he could get it all set up in the basement.
As for me, of course there are no pictures of me (which I will probably get reprimanded for) because I was behind the camera all morning! But, I got some great things--the boys, with the help of Grandpa Lister, got me the most amazing blanket! It is the warmest, coziest thing I have ever had, and it has gotten the most use since Christmas (as I am a cold blooded creature that can never seem to get warm). I have give strict instructions that everyone has to share--except me! That is MY blanket, and nobody else gets to touch it! Robert and Santa got me a bunch of
Aveda product so I can pamper myself, and some sheet music for the piano. The boys got me a bunch of stuff to make my own jewelry! My friend, Jenna, used to be my connection but, sadly, she moved to LA (it's been great for her, but I miss her a ton!) and I have decided to use her as my example and try it out for myself. The picture is my first attempt at making anything, and I am pretty proud of myself! Thanks, Jenna, for being my inspiration!
The boys both got robes from Grandma Lister that they wore for most of the morning! They really enjoyed those!
They also got nerf guns from Grandma and Grandpa Orr--which I think was on of the great hits of the day--Robert got involved and we had nerf wars that afternoon (which ended up being the inspiration for Nate's birthday party--update coming!) unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the war--I was keeping my cover so I didn't get hit! Ultimately, however, the biggest hit ended up being the Wii. It was totally and completely unexpected--and a last minute addition to the Christmas gifts (we had a friend come up find one and gave us first option--Thanks Jeremiah!). The boys were so surprised--check out Nathan's face in the picture! They even got me playing before the day was over and I was surprised to find out how fun it is--it helps that I win at bowling almost every time ;-) Anyway, it actually gets up up off of your hind end and forces you to be active while playing! It puts us all on the same level--no body is really better than anyone else--Nate's beaten me at tennis almost every time!
They did say that they were surprised that they didn't get clothes other than PJs and robes--they always get clothes at Christmas--we didn't think they'd notice! Anyway, it was a great day--we got to take naps (well, Robert and I did, the boys were too busy playing!) We had the traditional Christmas breakfast of waffles and ice cream, but added some eggs and bacon as well--but, sorry Listers, I have corrupted the idea of strawberries--they all went for the maple syrup (which was a new recipe to us courtesy of Grandma Lister's recipe collection--it has become our favorite syrup)!
Another tradition of ours (thanks to my mom) is to see a movie on Christmas. We went to see The Water Horse, which was absolutely fantastic--I recommend it to all. Jacob made fun of me because I was getting nervous and reacting to certain parts of the movie--it's his new favorite past time--make fun of Mom at the movies!!
Anyway, it was a great day and, while we missed being around the rest of the family for the holiday, we loved having a relaxing Christmas day!
Jacob has turned eleven! I can hardly believe it. It's taken a while to get this one up, but I'm doing better than I was before! If only I had an extra hour or two in the day. Anyway, Jacob invited some friends over and, after opening some presents and having some cake, we took them all to a Utah Flash game (Utah's new D-League team).
He had eleven kids, including Jacob, his cousin Jax, and Nathan--I'm amazed we were able to get them all in the house!
We had about a half an hour to open presents and eat cake, and then it was off to the game! I've never seen kids eat quite so fast!! Even for boys!
We had to take two cars to the game. We borrowed Tammy's Durango, and piled everyone between the truck and the durango. I'm so glad I only have the two boys! Anyway, We got to the game and ended up with seats right behind the basket. It was pretty cool (especially as they had been on Bajio's 2 for 1 special!). 
We took up a good part of two rows, and I got to sit behind a bunch of boys so I could bonk them on the head when necessary! I probably considered it more necessary than I should have, but it was way too much fun! The Flash's mascot, Flash Fox, came by and paused in front of us, I happened to catch his eye, point at Jake, and tell him it was his birthday. The fox did a double take, made sure which one I was talking about, then thought for a minute and shrugged his shoulders and walked away. About twenty minutes later he came back with 2 cans of silly string and covered Jacob!! It was about the greatest thing ever!! We tried to take pictures with Robert's phone, but it didn't work very well. I have never seen a person so covered in silly string before! It looked like he was a bug wrapped up by a spider!! Every once in awhile, the fox would come by and torment Jake and then walk away. Toward the end of the game, he came out and gave Jacob a cupcake for his birthday. How cool is that?!? They didn't have to do anything at all for him, but they made it quite a special birthday! It was a great time!
There are all sorts of rooms--conference rooms, billiard rooms, theater rooms, even an ice skating rink! So I stopped by on my way home and found the perfect thing--a racquetball court! We rented it out for 15 bucks a session (it ended up being 2 1/2 hours!) We found some inexpensive Nerf guns, and had a ball! 
Some of the kids said that it was the best birthday party they'd ever been to, even if I forgot to bring some matches to light the candles on the cake!! Nate wasn't too happy about it, and he wouldn't pretend to blow them out for posterity, but who can blame him!
Anyway, we had a lot of fun and now my little guy gets to be baptized--man, I'm getting old!
Robert made it down safely several times! I, however, only made it down the mountain once without falling off of my sled! I guess it makes a difference if you've been sledding somewhere in the last, oh I don't know, twenty-five years!!! This one is a picture of one of Robert's perfect runs.
