Merry Christmas Cont...

For Christmas Eve we always get new PJs.

The rule in the Martin home is that no one can wake Mom & Dad up until 6:00 a.m. Christmas morning came and in came Judi at 4:45 a.m. Micah asked Judi what she was doing waking up so early? She said that her clock showed 5:45 a.m. We had forgotten to change her clock after day light savings time. So, he sent her back to bed. She came in again around 5:45 a.m. This time we went ahead and got up. We went downstairs to see all the presents from each other and Santa. We took turns and opened each present. We are so blessed. Thank you Lord.

And here's a picture of the aftermath of our present opening....
Later that morning we went over to Micah's families house and opened presents with them.

Then that evening we went over to my familys house and opened presents with them.

It was so nice to be able to see our families. We really had the best Christmas ever!

It Was A Merry Christmas!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated this. Christmas time is my favorite holiday of the year! This year was especially more special because it was Tabitha's first Christmas and our families first Christmas in our new home!!! Some of the "Martin Family Traditions include: going to see the Christmas lights in Alta Loma, picking out our Christmas Tree, decorating it, decorated our home (in & out), shopping, pictures with Santa, lettes to Santa, and celebrating each and every moment. So, below is a little more detail on everything we did.

First we went to the Bass Pro Shop and the girls (Judi & Tabitha) got their pictures taken with Santa. Oma & Pap joined us. While we were in line, Mrs. Clause came around to visit us.

After "Pictures with Santa" we went and had lunch in the restaurant then went to the shooting range inside Bass Pro Shop. All of us took turns.

Then Judi climbed the rock wall. She made it all the way to the top!

After that we went to JCPenney where Judi dropped off her letter to Santa in his special mailbox. For every letter sent, they are supposed to donate $1 to charity, up to $1 million.

Once the letter was mailed we headed off to pick out our Christmas Tree. We never have a hard time agreeing on which tree to pick, so this process is usually very easy. Tabitha enjoyed looking at the trees.

Our next order of business was to decorate the tree. Everyone helped, even Tabitha. She layed on the floor and told us where to put the ornaments. Here is a picture of The Martin Family in front of our Christmas Tree. The girls were wearing their matching Christmas dresses.

I had so much fun decorating my house this year for Christmas. Micah worked with his friend Felix and Papa to get all the lights up outside. We loved having Christmas in our new home!!!
For our Family Home Evening one night we decided to decorate a Gingerbread House. Then about a week after Christmas, we ate it! We also had the opportunity to bake cookies and make fudge.

The Rialto 1st Ward Activities Committe asked if me and my family would put on the Nativity Scene for our Ward Christmas Party. We told a story and invited the children from the audience to come and participate. It was nice to be able to do something that reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas.

This year we had Christmas Eve dinner at our home! Because Grandma broke her hip last month, we first went and brought her dinner and visited for awhile. After that we went back to our home and had dinner and opened some presents. Then we hung out and played pool and just spent time together with my family.

Happy Halloween!

We had a fabulous Halloween this year. It's our very first Halloween in our new home! All the family from the Bourland side came over.

Tara made yummy Halloween food. From eyeball deviled eggs to a chocolate cemetary cake, it all tasted delicious. I decided to make chocolate cake because my Grandpa's birthday was on Halloween, and all growing up we always had chocolate cake on Halloween to celebrate his birthday. It never feels quite like Halloween without our chocolate cake. So the chocolate cake was in memory of my Grandpa.

Judi dressed up as a pretty witch and Tabitha was a cute lady bug. Conner dressed up as an Army Man (he said he was Uncle Robby) and Robbin was a beautiful princess. We put "Yes on Prop 8" stickers on all our candy we handed out. But, only about 20 kids came :( We love having our family come over and celebrate the holidays with us.

Micah and Judi decorated our front yard. They did such a good job. It looked GREAT!

Then on Saturday we went to our ward Trunk or Treat.
We had SO much candy left over from Halloween we talked my parents into setting up their trunk and passing it out for us. Oma brought her blow up Haunted House and we put it between both our cars. This way the kids could walk through the Haunted House when going in between our cars. All the kids LOVED it! Overall, I'd say our first Halloween in our new area went pretty well :)