More Christmas Celebrating!

We Celbrated Christmas with Kathy on Christmas evening, then with John and Debbie the day after Christmas.

We love each member of our family and feel so lucky to be so close to them!

Kathy made a wonderful Christmas dinner for us and then we opened presents. She got Afton Twin Baby Dolls and Lance GI Joe figurines with helicopters and trucks! She got Michael and I a wonderful book and is always so generous. Thanks Grandma!









John and Debbie reserved 2 tennis courts at Liberty Park, where John teaches, and we all played tennis together! I even got a mini private lesson from John and learned a lot about the basics of tennis! We then went to their home in Salt Lake and opened lots of nice clothes and books that they got for us! While we were there Afton showed off her new "walking skills" and took a lot of steps all by herself!











Thank you to everyone for your generousity and love towards Michael and I and our children. We feel so spoiled and love you so much!

Christmas!

Tradition at the Covey home is to line up from youngest to oldest on the stairs Christmas morning before anyone gets to go see if Santa came!













This year was so fun because Lance knew all about Santa and couldn't wait to see what he brought him! When we were at our home in Pleasant Grove Lance opened up the Fire Burning Stove and said, "Don't worry Mommy, I opened the fireplace so Santa can get in." Whenever we would talk about the logistics of how Santa would get into houses he was always a little perplexed, but didn't ask too many questions.

This year Santa brought Lance and Afton BIKES! Lance got a Spider-man bike and Afton got a tiny Radio Flyer! I know Afton won't be able to ride hers for a little while, but it is just so cute and little!


Lance LOVED his Spider-man bike!


Lance and Johnny-boy both tried out Afton's little bike to make sure it was functioning properly. =)


Our big boy riding around all by himself in Nana and Papa's kitchen!

We all got lots of fun gifts and enjoyed spending the morning opening gifts one at a time. Katie drew my name for the sibling gift and I felt SO FORTUNATE to have her give to me! She got me so many fun surprises, and I love them all! I am now going to be one Fashionable Mama!

Michael got me a Cricut (thank you Christine for picking it up for us at 5am on Black Friday!) and I can't wait to try it out! I got Michael the Flight of the Concords - Season 1 - DVDs. Christmas is always such a fun time to be thoughtful of others and search for the perfect gift.



This year I got a WONDERFUL surprise from Michael! He told me a month or two ago that he had a surprise for me and said, "and it wasn't cheap either" and "you will never guess what it is."

Hummm... I LOVE surprises because they are always thoughtful, and couldn't wait until Christmas! A few weeks before Christmas there was a knock at the door. Michael answered it, said thank you to the person at the door, and came into the kitchen smiling and said, "Merry Christmas Camille!" as he handed me a little bag of Lehi Mills Corn Bread Mix.

I didn't know what to think. Was this my big surprise? I know that Lehi Mills is a nice and expensive brand of food, but was this really it, or was he kidding? I really couldn't tell.

My heart sank a little and I planned on that little bag of Corn Bread Mix being my surprise from Michael and tried not to think much more of it.



Christmas morning came and after the last gift was opened Michael announced that there was one more gift left under the tree. It was a very small black box with a red ribbon tied around it. It had my name on it, and I knew it was the REAL surprise.

My heart started beating fast and I held back the tears. I hadn't even opened the box yet, and I was already about to cry! I was just so happy to know that my husband took the time to think of me and get me a surprise.

I successfully held back the tears (an uncommon feat) and opened my gift. It was 2 tickets to STOMP!!! I was SO excited! It was the perfect gift. A night out with my wonderful husband, to a performance that I have wanted to see for years, and it was a surprise! PERFECT! Thank you, thank you, thank you Michael!!! I love you so much and can't wait for our date night!

Chrsitmas Eve!

We LOVE Christmas!



We started officially celebrating on Christmas Eve and the Nana and Papa's house! We had TONS of fun!

We started by eating an amazing dinner...


then dressed up in coustume for the production of the Nativity,

then.... Santa Came!!! He gave out gifts to all the grandchildren, and they LOVED them!


(Lance was SO excited to see Santa and gave him a hug right away!)


(Santa talked to the boys saying, "Have you been a good boy this year?")


(Lance told Santa he had been a good boy, so Santa told him of the present he had in his bag for him! Horray!)


(Before Lance could open his present Santa talked to him about being a "good boy" and "always listening to his Mommy"... Lance listened intently)


(Afton got to sit on Santa's lap too... got got her first baby doll!)


(Poor thing was so tired even before dinner started!)

Santa even customized sweaters for the adults!



After Santa left we played our traditional BINGO with prizes (DVD's and Restaurant or Wal-Mart Gift Cards) and everyone took home lots of movies and giftcards (good thing Michael is on my team because I only got BINGO once... Jacob and I aren't the best BINGO players apparently...




My parents are truly amazing and are so good at planning fun activities to get the family together to build our relationships. We always have so many fun memories to look back on, and certainly have some fun thing to remember abou this year! Thank you Dad and Mom for your generousity... you do so much for us.





So, last year I did not get a single BINGO, but was "gifted" a prize because everyone felt bad for me... This year I won once (an improvement) but still everyone wanted me to win one more DVD. There was one movie left at the end of the game, and Katie and I decided to arm wrestle for it. =)

So, we both got down on the carpet with Dad and Michael officiating and makeing sure our hands were just right. Then the count-down 5-4-3-2-1-GO!



Katie and I were laughing so hard and were at a stand still! We didn't seem to be going anywhere and everyone was laughing and cheering. Finally I muscled her down and WON!





I just love Katie and she and I have been best friends for ever (even when we would fight over Barbie's and have fingernail scars to prove it) and I can't imagine my life without her! Thanks for being such a fun sister, Katie!

Kyle and Collette were in Georgia with the Johnston's and we definitely missed them! As our family grows we have to learn to share... so it's a good thing we get to spend time together on a regular basis!

Funny Kids

Every time my kids do something funny I always think to myself, "Where is the video camera when we need it!" or "I can't forget to write this down!"

So, because I am not good at keeping my video camera on my to capture all of the funny moments, I am going to try to record some of the recent funny events.

AFTON - 11 months



- Sticks her toungue out a lot! She has a longer tongue than me, and MUCH longer than Lance (his can't even get outside of his mouth), and while in Elders Quorum with Daddy every Sunday she has learned to stick it out and get a lot of smiles and attention from the men sitting behind her and Daddy! =) It's funny because she doesn't stick it out much when I am at home with her during the day, but when Daddy gets home at night she will stick her tongue out at him to make him smile and laugh!

- I have been working on teaching Afton some sign language. She seemed to catch on for a bit, but then stopped being consistent. I have been trying to only focus on 2 signs (to not be too overwhelming). Food and milk. Now, the funny thing about her not learning these signs is that I thought maybe she just wasn't as good at learning visual signs as Lance was, but really I think that she just doesn't prefer to do the signs that I want her to! She actually does know a few "signs".



Here they are:

She shakes her little pointer finger to mimik me when I say, "No, no, no!"

Will give "high-fives" whenever requested.

She claps when Daddy, Mommy, or Lance says, "Yeaaaah Afton!"



- Afton has a little gap between her two front teeth... which makes Mommy a little nervous! Every mother thinks that her children are just the cuttest things ever, but I have really been crossing my fingers that she won't keep that gap for long! My fears were resolved when at the doctor's office her Pediatrition told me that it was actually a good sign because children that have gaps in their baby teeth often times have straighter teeth when their permiment teeth grow in! Hooray! Maybe she'll be lucky like her Daddy and never have to have braces!

LANCE - 3 years


(He was SO excited when it finally snowed! He got on his boots, coat and gloves and ran outside before I even realized where he was!)

- I can't believe that he is going to be in primary! I am the Primary Chorester for both Junior and Senior Primary and really love my calling. It will be fun to have Lance in there with me sitting on the front row! I am a little worried about him being able to sit in his little chair and not jump up in the front to stand by me. He LOVES being the center of attention and "feeds off the crowd"!


(Happy birthday Nana! You still look much too young to be a gradmother of 4!)



- Michael's youngest sister Angie got married last weekend and at their reception they had lots of fun music and dancing. Lance was the star of the show! All the adults and friends of the bride and groom made a circle around Lance while he brake danced, did sommersaults, and partner danced with his best friend, and little 4 year old cousin, Ali. They were the cuttest things ever! They held tight onto each others little hands and danced for a long time. Lance even would spin under their arms and acted like he knew just what he was doing (which I never taught him... he is seriously a NATURAL!). After dancing with Ali a while Lance even offered to dance with his 6 year old second cousin Margo (Chistopher and Hailey's daughter), but she was a little shy and didn't want to.


(We love being so close and celebrating birthdays with the family!)

- Lance is a great big brother. He really loves Afton and takes good care of her. He actually gets very defensive if he feels that others are not treating her well. A few weeks ago a little boy hit Afton over the head with a toy. Lance starting yelling at the boy, "You do NOT hit my sister!" "She is my sister!" He got really emotional and started to cry and was quite angry when he ran to me to tell me what happened. I actually thought it was a great sign of him being protective of her and hope that he always looks out for her.

I FEEL SO BLESSED



I feel so lucky, fortunate, blessed, spoiled... to be the mother of my two beautiful children. I truly can not imagine my life without them. I am so lucky to be able to spend my days with them and have them be my "side-kicks" everywhere I go. I have definitely been through the high's and low's emotionally of a "stay home mom" but I would never trade the time I have been able to spend with my children for anything.

Every morning when I see them it's like God is blessing me to see them through fresh eyes. It is as if I have been away from them for DAYS and I am so excited to see their cute faces! I know it's only ever about 7-8 hours that I don't see them while we sleep, but I really always look forward to seeing their innocent, bright faces and my morning hugs and kisses. =)

So Brave

At the Doctors Office:



Mommy - "Now Lance it's time to be a big boy, the nurse is going to come back in and give you and Afton a shot."

Lance - "I'll be SO brave Mommy. I won't even cry."

Mommy - "It's okay if you cry Lance, just try to be brave and hold still, okay?"

Lance - "I won't even cry Mommy, I won't even cry."

The nurse comes back in the room.

Nurse - "Alright, who should go first?"

Lance - (Bravly) "I will."



Mommy - (Worried and impressed) "Okay Lance..."

Lance let me sit him up on the table, and let the nurse get his little leg ready for the poke. He sat very still and quietly waited.

Mommy - "Just look at Mommy and hold my hands. You're so tough. You're such a big boy Lance."

The nurse gave him the shot and... no crying, no whining, not even a peep! Wow! Lance's little eyes just started tearing-up, but he didn't even cry. He made a "I'm in pain" face (which he later showed Daddy... very funny after-the-fact)but was so BRAVE! I really couldn't believe it! My little 3 year old was such a brave little man!

Lance - (Smiling and choking back the tears) "I did it Mommy! I didn't even cry!"

He was so proud of himself for doing what he said he would do. I was so impressed with his courage and gave lots of hugs and kisses to my big boy.

I know it seems silly, but when the nurse asked who would go through the pain first and Lance bravely said, "I will.", it reminded me of our Savior and how he stepped forward for all of us. He courageously agreed to take on all of our sins so that we wouldn't have to suffer eternally for our own sins.



I think that children are so much more like the Savior than we realize sometimes. Their unconditional love, innocence, ability to forgive. The light that shines through their eyes, and their pure intentions. All these are atributes of Christ which we all born with.



One of my (many) goals as a mother is to help my children retain these wonderful characteristics. It won't be easy, but I'm going to try my best.