Porter and Waylen

A few weeks ago, I started watching Waylen for a friend.  What a cutie!  I was a little worried about how Porter would react to having a baby around but it didn't take long for him to get quite attached to the little guy.  In fact, he just started saying his name two days ago.  Before that he called him "little brother". 

It's very sweet to see Porter fall right into the big brother mode!

He loves getting his picture taken.  In fact, he's always asking me to get the camera and

"take my picture", "take our picture".

 

Last week he leaned in and smelled Waylen's head.  He pulled away and "mmmmm... he smells good."  I asked him what he smelled like and his reply was, "mmmmm... he smells good like potatos!"  I'm not quite sure if I should tell Lindsey or not yet.  But Larry and I got a good laugh out of it! 

Then Tuesday of this week, Porter did the same thing.  Only this time after taking a good long whiff of Waylen's little head, he said, "mmmmm... smells good.  Smells like corn."  So maybe Johnson & Johnson has some new scents I haven't tried out.  Or maybe Porter really loves potatos and corn.  Either way, we are liking having a "baby brother" around!

Christmas Morning!

It's always so exciting to wake up Christmas morning to find out what Santa brought.  Everyone files into our bedroom so we can all head down the stairs together (after brushing teeth, of course).  This year was certainly not a disappointment.  Stockings were chalk full and the gifts were piled under the tree.  Grandma and Grandpa always make the rounds with their own sleigh packed to the brim.  Our house is first on the route and they arrived promptly by 6am.  The bounty was aplenty!  The kids got more than they ever expected and so did we.  This year, each child had gifts for each other and for us.  They had to put in a lot of time and thought to come up with fun ideas - and everyone was surprised.

Santa left a letter this year.  He wrote to tell us about his gift to the family- an overnight stay in Leavenworth that Friday night!  It was a perfect gift after a crazy month!

Once all the dust cleared and everyone had opened their toys, clothes, nail polish, gift cards, jewelry and more, we got to sit back and enjoy our Christmas morning relaxing with our spoils.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Payton, Riley, Sydney, Maisyn, Porter, and Larry for sharing the Christmas spirit! 

Merry Christmas!

Porter's new ride.

 

Merry Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa! 

Christmas Eve

Christmas is our favorite time of the year.  It might have been grey, cloudy, cold and wet outside, but we always enjoy the extra family time we share inside.  On Christmas Eve we enjoyed reading the Christmas story in the scriptures, singing hymns from our family book and, of course, opening up one gift each.

The kids were pretty excited (almost as much as we were!) to be opening a gift before Christmas morning. 

It didn't take them long either!  So once the entire family was clad in our new jammies, we had to gather in front of the Christmas tree and take some pictures.  I love to see my children smile!  You can almost feel the anticipation and glee for Christmas on their faces!

The most special part was being able to snuggle up together - all 5 of them! - and watch a movie before heading to sleep.  Porter was especially thrilled to climb in with the "his girls".  They didn't even make it through the whole show, knowing that Santa wouldn't come when even one person was still awake. 

Christmas Cookies

What do you give your kids' teachers each year for Christmas?  I usually have a plan, at least.  This year was an exception.  With Larry and all of his health issues, the holidays were rushing in with no gift ideas in sight, no time to shop for said gifts and only one day left before Christmas break.  So Porter and I took it upon ourselves to make some Christmas cookies. 

All of you who know us, know that I don't do the baking.  Larry makes the cookies at our house.  Unfortunately the drug-induced coma he seemed to be in most days prevented that from happening.

I think Porter and I did a pretty good job.  Peanut butter M&M cookies are some of my very favorites.  I like to use the Holiday colored candy.  And, yes, I make sure that I have even numbers of each color on every pan.  Porter was a great help and loved wearing his apron like Mommy. 

So we made it through another Christmas gift-giving season. 

 Luckily Larry is all better now that Easter is just around the corner!

Grandkids Christmas Party

ReNae said, "I don't know why I haven't been doing this all along."  And now we know.  Was it an opportunity to share in the Christmas spirit with all the cousins gathered in?  Or was it the new locations for the WWE?  Well, Porter did learn a few moves under the tutelage of his big boy cousins.  But only AFTER dinner was eaten and the gingerbread houses were complete.  So thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for opening their home and sharing an evening with all the grandkids.  I, for one, hope that is becomes a Jensen family tradition!

Our little weatherman...

Riley: "Hurry, come and look outside!  It's totally foggy."
Porter: "What?"
Payton:  "Check it out!"
Porter:  "What?"
Maisyn:  "Come on!  Let's go see the fog."
Porter:  "The frog?"
Maisyn:  "The fog."
Porter (looking out the open door):  "Huh?  Where's the froggy?"
Maisyn:  "Not froggy.  FOGGY."
Porter:  "Froggy?"
Door shut.

Oma's Early Christmas

Oma came to visit in early December.  We couldn't get her here for the actual day but she was able to see several choir concerts, a Christmas play, a volleyball game and a handful of basketball games.  So the trade off was worth it.  She was also here to help out when Larry ended up in the emergency room on her 4th day here.  Not quite what we had planned but it was good that Payton had her help at home.  Larry was laid up that week for the most part and we just relaxed and enjoyed a quiet week.  Her last night in town was a Monday.  So we had our Christmas Family Home Evening and then the kids and Oma got to open presents early.  They all enjoyed that!

She had a red-eye flight and so we said our goodbyes before the kids went to sleep. 

Merry Christmas, Oma!