Logandale and fair trip!!

Love this little family of mine

 

I was looking forward to my 4 day trip to my hometown for weeks. Keegan, Rome and I drove to logandale Thursday afternoon and spent most of the day at the fair with my sister, cousin Jandro and our friends the Reese's.. When we first got there we decided to do all the indoor stuff cuz man oh man it was hot.  First thing we did was go see the animals and Rome loved it. I think the pigs were his favorite because we had to stand and look at them the longest. Anyone else who goes to the fair feel bad for the mama pig!?!? I swear every time I go all those little piglets are just going to town nursing away lol. I don't think I have ever been and not seen them nursing and she's just laying there all miserable like haha. Poor mama just needs a break. 

 

After the animals we went and rode the horses and Rome was in heaven. He could have rode that horse all day and I could have watched him all day, he looked so darn cute. Once it had cooled down a bit we decided to take the kids to the carnival to ride some rides. Poor Jandro was still not tall enough this year to ride any of the rides so my sister decided to take him home for a nap and so she could nurse baby Jacob more comfortably and meet up with us later. Rome and his friend Jackson had fun on the rides and they were so cute to watch. When we were done we met back up with my sis, spent way to much time in the hunting tent, walked around and ate way to much fair food. That night Keegan went back to Vegas cuz he had to work and Rome and I stayed with my sis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday I got up and went for a run to my highschool and back. It was dang hot and I got a lot of strange looks by people driving by like, "why are you running in this heat". Some of us love to run and love the heat ;) We went to the fair for a few hours but I just really wasn't that into it. One day of the fair is more than enough for me. Later that night we left the kids with Javi's (my sister's hubby) mom and went to the Lonestar concert at the fair. I love Lonestar and grew up listening to them so I was super excited to go. It was a great concert except the music was so loud it was hard to hear them sing. Other than that we all enjoyed it.

Saturday is a crazy busy miserable day at the fair so we decided to stay home.  We all slept in even the kids, which was glorious. Around 11 Rome was still sleeping so I decided to go on another run. This time I ran to my old highschool and around it then back.  It was scorching HOT, and like the day before, I got a lot of looks haha. One of the fair workers that was directing traffic told me I was crazy and he had no idea why anybody would want to run in this heat. On the way back I had someone ask if I wanted a ride and when I told him I was running for exercise he looked at me like I had lost my mind. Hey, I grew up running in this heat. When I got home I finally ate breakfast and we let the boys watch cartoons for a bit. Then we went in the backyard and let the kids play. It's so fun to watch the our kids grow up together. I loved watching them play and laugh like brothers and then fight like brothers.  That night we went to our towns one and only grocery store and bought food for the luncheon my sis was having before Jacob's blessing. We prepared lots of food and like we usually do when we get together, stayed up wayyy to late. Love me some sister time.

 

Sunday, Keegan and the rest of our family came into town for Jacob's blessing. It was so nice to see my sister Jessica and her family. I'd been missing them terribly. I hate that we don't all live closer. 1 or 2 hours is to far for me. I seriously could live right next door to both my sister's and be one happy girl. Don't know how people live super far from there siblings and only see them once a year. I go a few months without seeing them and miss them like crazy.   

 

Loved seeing the 3 amigos reunited

 

Spent Sunday afternoon at the fair with all the cousins before heading back to Vegas!

  

   

Rome moments 2yrs old

There are so many things I wished I had written down about Rome! I thought I would start trying to be better about writing down cute, funny things Rome does and says for now on.

Oh and don't mind the spelling and grammar errors I just typed this up real fast

 

Here are a few things about sweet Rome

 

Of course he loves his mama! I love when he says I hold you mommy. I love how affectionate and cuddly Rome is. Every day he will just come up to me and hug me and say I love you mommy. One of our things just between us is we give each other butterfly kisses(blinking our eyelashes together) and eskimo kisses(rubbing noses together). I love the bond we share and never want it to change

 

 Adores and looks up to daddy! Daddy is definitly the fun one and I love to watch these two play together. He loves to go on truck rides with daddy, play super heros, and wrestle. Rome always says how he misses daddy while he's at work and we have to call him and talk to him for a bit. He always talks about daddy and his cop car and how it goes whoo whoo!

 

 

Rome's best friends are Camden Gullickson and Jackson Reese

 

Whenever we want Rome to smile for a picture we would say Rome show us your happy face and he would till his head like this and smile. Melts my heart !!

Stories

All better mama                            
Was having a sad day and finally broke into tears. My sweet Rome looked at me and said oh no mama sick!?!? He runs out of the room and comes back with a tissue and hands it to me. As I'm wiping my tears he says all better mama. Let him stay up a bit later tonight just so we could snuggle, laugh and play longer hehe. What a handsome and tender hearted boy I have! So grateful to be his mama, what a special gift it is!

I'll use my super powers
Rome and mommy were downstairs playing with his wood train set he got from grandma one day and the train wasnt connecting together right.
Rome: I need more tracks, where's more tracks mommy
Mommy: That's all we have honey
Rome: I got an idea! I'll use my super powers. He spins around in a circle and says doo doo doo doo! When he's done spinning he stops and says, oh no, it didn't work, no more tracks.

Car bucket
Rome: Where's my car bucket
Mommy: I don't know loves
Rome" I know I'll call for it ooo ooo oo (in a high pitched voice)

Flushed to my boat
Mommy: you went poo
Rome: Ya I did it! (Points in the toilet after its flushed) It went down drain to that big water, to the water to my boat!

Snake Poo                        
I sit Rome on the potty and leave to give him privacy when he needs to go potty. When he is done going poo he tells me he is all done so I can help wipe. One day he tells me, "all done mama" so I go to grab toilet paper from my bathroom (I don't leave any in his because he fill the tiolet up and I have to scoop it out, yuck) and when I'm on my way back I hear him yelling, what you doing snake, no snake! When I open his bathroom door I find him standing by the toilet pointing in at his poo bahahaha I started laughing so hard. I asked him, is there snake poo in there, he says, ya! When I flushed he says, bye bye snakes.

Im just a lil boy
I (mommy) was swimming with Rome and we were sitting on the steps just as you get in one day and were playing. Rome grabed my legs and says Im gonna get your leg mommy. So, I started to tickle his tummy with my toes saying, Im gonna get you Romeo. He goes, no mommy dont get my Im just a kid haha. It was the funniest thing. So later on he started to try to wrestle me and I say to him, no rome don't get me Im just a kid. He says, no mommy your not a kid your a mommy.

Obsessed with four wheelers

 

He loves babies and is totally sweet with them. He always tries to tickle there bellies and tells them there cute hehe 

 

Loves to play in the rain! 

 

Some more fun facts

 

Loves to dance and has since he could walk. We have so many videos of him dancing!

 

Favorite shows right now are caillou and magic school bus

 

Loves super heros and pretending to be one

 

Loves his fruits and veggies

 

Can sing the alphabet song and knows most of his letters and there sounds

 

Can count to 10 by himself

 

Loves to be outside

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth story!!!

May Friday the 13th 2011

 

 6:30 am I wake up to the sound of my alarm telling me it's time to wake up for work. As I roll over to turn it off I feel like this popping and then I'm drenched. Oh my gosh, I quickly jumped out of bed. I stand there a minute trying to figure out if that was my water breaking (I had no idea what this felt like, this was my first time haha). I started shacking the bed to wake up Keegan who is fast asleep. It takes me a few minutes to wake him up, he was out from getting home work only a few hours earlier. Finally, I am able to wake him. I tell him ummm, I think my water just broke. What, are you sure?? I'm pretty sure, I say! Maybe you just peed the bed, he said lol. No, Keegan I'm pretty positive that was my water breaking, get up we need to go to the hospital. While we were getting ready to go he kept asking me if I was sure and if I was even feeling contractions(What was weird was at that point I wasn't feeling any and I thought I would be by now).

It probably took us an hour to leave the house. We took our time because I was feeling so good and was second guessing whether or not my water really broke. We decided it was better to be safe and go to the hospital. On the way there I finally started to feel really light contractions, which made me excited, Keegan not so much! I could tell that he was really starting to get nervous, he kept asking if I was sure over and over again. When we got to the hospital they confirmed that my water did indead break and I was 4 centimeters dialated and 100 percent efaced (which I had been for 2 weeks). After lots and lots of questions I was ready for my epideral. Keegan was so stinkin nervous the whole time, he was pacing and asking me and the nurse so many questions and talking like crazy. I could tell the nurse was starting to get a little irratated with him haha! It took them a while to have a room open for me so I had been in this back room for a bit. Once they got us into our room Keegan went and got something to eat while I played on my phone while I waited for our little man to arrive. I was feeling pretty darn good at this point, only a little bit of pressure! The nurse eventually started me on petossin because my contractions weren't consistant or something like that lol. Once Keegan got back from eating the pressure started to get worse and I was 7 centimeters dialated by then. The nurse told me to sit tight because usually the first time labor goes really slow so it would be a while. After like 30 or 40 min the pressure would come and go and I kept telling Keegan that it felt like Rome was ready to come out. I didn't want to bother the nurse but Keegan insisted it was better to have her check to much than wait to long. We buzzed the nurse and told her we felt like it was time. She said she didn't think so but she would check. Oh my goodness, she says, your right. You are at a 10, this baby is ready to come!! She had me do one test push and as I started to push, she said oh oh ok don't push haha let me call the Dr.

When the dr. got there they prepped and got me in position to push. The dr. and nurses were surprised at how well I could move my legs by myself ( usually with an epidural women are so numb they cant lift there legs by themselves I guess). Keegan was so nervous the whole time I was pushing. He literally had is face in the corner and was glancing over his shoulder saying, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, good job Aubrey. We were all laughing at him the whole time. To see this big bad Police officer that works in the guetto of las vegas dealing with rapists and murderers all day in the corner freaking out while I'm doing all the work was pretty hilarious. I pushed 3 times and "pop" out he came.  The EASIEST labor ever, I am one lucky girl!! It was kinda of funny, before giving Rome to me the Dr asked if I wanted to cut the ambilical cord haha I was in a hurry to hold him so I said she could just do it.  As the nurse handed him to me she said now mama don't be alarmed he just has a little facial bruising, poor lil man!! He was still beautiful and absolutely perfect. I think every mother would agree that there is no better moment then when they lay that little angel on your chest and you meet for the first time.

 When the nurse was cleaning off Rome she asked Keegan to come over and look at him.  Do you believe in love at first site?? I do, because I saw it happen. As soon as Keegan saw Rome his whole face changed!! He started laughing and letting Rome suck on his finger. He kept saying, Aubrey you have to see him, look what he's doing, look at him, he's so tiny. I was so jealous, I'm laying over here getting stiched up ( I tore bla he came so fast) and he's over there loving on our baby. I wanted to love on that little man!! As soon as he was all weighed and cleaned up I got him back and got to try to nurse him. He was such a champ and latched right on. I have never loved someone that much in my life. He was perfect and most importantly healthy. I was so happy to finally meet him and have him in my arms. There is nothing more precious than holding a newborn baby in your arms, especially when it's your own. This was by far, one of the best moments of my life. My greatest blessing and a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life. I love you Rome Keegan Doty!!

Rome Keegan Doty

Born May, Friday the 13th 2011

at 4:23 pm

Weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and 19 inches long

 

 

 

I love you for forever

I like you for always

As long as I'm living

My baby you'll be

Not pregnant and the kindness of strangers

For the past year Keegan and I have been trying to concieve baby #2. It has, by far, been the hardest trial of my life. After my miscarraige last year, I had a few really sad months that I really struggled. Now days I'm a lot more positive and have learned how to handle all the emotions and negative thoughts a lot better than I did in the past. Every now and then I still have one of those rough days, and yesterday was one of those days. I've learned that it helps to talk about it and get it out rather than keep it all bottled up inside until I explode. I also have found that sometimes when opening up to people I find myself feeling even more frustrated and misunderstood by there responses. Trust me, I get that most of them are trying to comfort me but the things they say just don't. I felt like writing it here would be the best way to get it all out and maybe I can help someone who's going through the same thing. 

For the past week I've been super emotional, bloated, and my boobs have been hurting. I know some women have these symptoms when they are about to start there period, but I never have in the past. The only time my boobs have been sensitive was when I was pregnant. By the end of the week I started to get my hopes up that I was finally pregnant, and I let myself get excited at the thought of finally being pregnant again.  Also, at the beginning of the week I spotted for about 2 hours, which I did shortly before finding out I was pregnant with Rome and with the baby I miscarried. I wake up Saturday morning to find good ole Mother Nature has made her monthly visit, sigh!! I was crushed and so angry with myself for letting me get my hopes up. Then comes those old negative and angry thoughts I let consume my mind a few months back. I decided now would be a good time to go on a run and get out all the frustration I was feeling. 

The start of my run was rough. I had to work through all those crappy thoughts like, why, why is this happening? Why am I not able to get pregnant when some women get pregnant so easily?  Faces go through my mind of mothers who must be better and more loved and more trusted than me, right, because they have 5 kids in 5 years, and they seam to have it all together and be so patient and loving? Does God not trust me? Am I not a good mother?  Am I not a good person? Am I not as lovable? The feeling of loneliness, like I have to go through this alone and  there's no words that can fix this.  Im learning to tell the bully(satan) in my head to shut up and replace these negative thoughts with positive ones.  I try to go through the list of all the blessings, which when I think about goes on and on and on. There is so much to be greatful for when you learn to not dwell on the one or two things that you feel are going wrong. 

By the end of my run I was feeling a bit better. I always get a dang good run in when I'm working through ish. Whenever I would plan to take a pregnancy test I would make sure to take it right before a workout, that way when it said negative I could take all my anger and frustration out on my workout. Thee one and only good thing about seeing that stupid negative sign. Anyways, after I got home from my run and showered I was relaxing for a few on my couch and out of boredom decided to check darn Facebook. I should know better than to check Facebook on days like these, it usually makes it worse.  Post after post of baby news, cute belly pics, complaints about pregnancy etc. I have nothing against any of these women or there posts. There's nothing wrong with posting about your excitement and plans for yours babies. If I were in there shoes, I would be posting the same stuff I'm sure. It's hard for me to explain. I'm happy for them and sad and jealous all at the same time. I wish I were going through the awful nausea and the discomfort of pregnancy. I wished I could feel the excitement and anticipation of finding out what the sex will be or hearing that beautiful, strong heartbeat, or feeling those kicks and punches in my tummy.  The good and bad, I want to experience it all again so bad. 

I couldn't take sitting around all day throwing myself a pity party.Rome was down for a nap and keegan just left for work so I tried to shut it all out of my mind and finish getting ready for the day. As I'm blow drying my hair I just feel so tired of fighting jealousy, sadness and trying to be patient. I've learned that on days like this when I feel overwhelmed with all these feelings the best thing to do is to get down on my knees and pray. I put my blow dryer down and got down on my knees and began to pray and immediately started sobbing. In the past I would always pray for Heavenly Father to bless us with another child when the time was right. Well, obviously it is not the right time because it hasn't happened yet. I've had to learn to have more trust in my Heavenly Father and his plan for me. I know that he knows what's right for me even more than I do. I know that He knows what I want and I have faith that it will happen if and when the time is right. This time I didn't pray for a child, but for comfort and strength to help me through this. I asked to have good thoughts and to not be consumed with jealousy and anger. I needed to know that I was loved, I needed to feel loved. I didn't say much other than that, I mostly just had myself I good cry. It felt good to get it out and I felt like ok I can make it through the day. 

After I was done getting ready I got Rome up from his nap we ate lunch and played superhero lol. My mom called and said she and her husband were in town and came over to visit for a bit. It was nice to visit and Rome was loving all the attention he was getting. Once they left I decided I didn't feel like sitting at home so I called Keegan at work and asked him if we could come meet him for dinner. It was so good to visit with him and Rome was loving his cool cop gear and sitting in his cop car. I loved sitting across the table from them and watching them interact, there relationship is the cutest. When we were done eating the waitress told us that somebody had paid for our meal. It was such a nice surprise and reminded me that there are good people out there. Whoever that kind stranger was had no idea what I was struggling with that day and how much their kindness meant to me. I wished I could tell them thank you and how appreciative I was for there kindness. As we walked out to our car  I couldn't help but think about the kind act that was just shown to us and that it was an answer to my prayer earlier and it was gods way of telling me through a stranger that he loved me and was mindful of me. 

After we said goodbye to daddy, Rome was so upset so I decided to stop by the store on the way home and grab a little treat. On our way out we passed those machines with bouncy balls and candy and like he always does, Rome asks to have something from them and like I always do I told him no and that we already got a treat. I'm about to reach my car when behind me I hear a women's voice saying, excuse me miss. I turn around to see a lady we saw standing by the candy machines in the store running towards me. I thought I must have dropped something. I didn't drop anything, in her hand was a bouncy ball from one of the machines. She holds it out to me and says I hope you don't mind I bought this for your son I saw he wanted something. I let Rome grab it and told her thank you and that was very kind of her to do for him. She looks at me and says, god bless you I hope you have a goodnight. What a nice thing for her to do. I have never gone out of my way to do something like that for a complete stranger.  

It turned out to be a really good day. I learned that there are some really good people out there who reach out and serve others not for praise or recognition or for something in return but because they are just kind hearted people. I decided that night that I wanted to strive to be one of those people. To speak kinder, give more compliments and to serve and show kindness to others more often. You never know what battle someone is facing or what they are going through. They may have a smile on there face but that doesn't mean there heart isn't breaking. Maybe your act of kindness could really turn there bad day around. The 40 dollar meal or the 50 cent bouncy ball may of not fixed my infertility but it sure helped me feel loved and reminded me that our Heavenly Father is mindful of us and cares about us and our happiness. 

Miscarriage is hard nomatter how far along you are......

My husband and I had been trying to concieve baby number 2 for a few months when in april of 2013 we were so excited to find out that we were pregnant. I couldn't help but feel like something might be wrong from the moment we saw that positive sign on the prego test. I scheduled my first appointment with my Dr and had an ultrasound done. We couldn't hear a heartbeat but could see that there was indead a baby growing, and I was only measuring around 4 weeks so the doc told me not to be concerned, it was to early to hear a heartbeat. I still couldn't shake that feeling like something was wrong but tried to tell myself I was just being paranoid.  I went in 2 weeks later for another ultra sound. I was only measuring at 5 1/2 weeks, still to early to hear a heartbeat. The doc told me not to get to concerned yet, since I wasn't positive on when my last period was we could have calculated how far along I was wrong.

My next appt. was 1 week later, and I made Keegan go with me just in case my feelings were correct and something was wrong.  I didn't want to be there alone especially with Rome since we couldn't get a babysitter. We get there and the ultrasonic tech gets everything set and all I hear is, Silence!!!! Still no heartbeat. I was still only measuring at 5 1/2 weeks. My heart sank. I knew, the baby was gone. She started to ask me if I had been cramping or bleeding, which I hadn't. She said she needed to show  it to the dr and see what she wanted to do next and left the room. Then Keegan had to leave to go to work because he was already running behind. Of course, as soon as he left Rome starts freaking out cuz he wants to leave with daddy. There I am trying to calm down Rome while trying not to break down and cry myself. After a few minutes the nurse took me in another room to talk with my dr. She confirmed that the baby did stop growing at 5 1/2 weeks and began discussing options on whether I wanted to do a D and C or see if my body would pass it on its own. I quickly decided I wanted to wait and let my body do it on its own.  She then started to explain what a miscarriage would be like, what I'd see and feel. After about 10 min of her talking I couldn't hold it in anymore, I broke down in tears. After we were done I gathered myself long enough to get some blood work done and walk to my car, then I lost it again. Thank goodness Rome fell asleep within minutes and stayed asleep when I brought him in and laid him down. I layed on the couch for the next hour and cried till my head was pounding and there were no tears left.

The worst part about it was walking around for weeks waiting for my body to do what it needed to do to pass the baby. Everyday I would wake up wondering if today was the day. I found myself in limbo just waiting for it to happen. I was afraid to go anywhere in fear that it would happen while I was out. There were days were I felt tortured, I needed it to be over with so I could have closure and
move on. Finally after 3 weeks my doctor gave me a pill to help me pass the baby. Of course before taking it I asked to have one more ultrasound just to make sure. It showed that the sac had already started to break down. When I went to pick up my prescription from the pharmacy, the pharmacist asked, so are you taking this to terminate a pregnancy. It was so painful to hear that question. I said no, I already lost the baby and this is to help my body pass it. I think she could tell that I was hurt by this question. She said Oh I'm sorry I just wanted to make sure because some people take this to pass kidney stones and I wanted to make sure in case you were pregnant.  Had myself a good cry when I got back in my car.

 5 weeks later and still no miscarriage, I decided I couldn't sit around anymore waiting for it to happen. I decided to go on a cabin trip to beaver ut with my family and when I got back I would tell my Dr. that I couldn't take it anymore and that I wanted to get a D and C. On the ride up there my mom called a little concerned and said to be careful because the elevation might cause me to miscarry. Sure enough, right after we passed the cedar exit I begin to have horrible cramps and I could feel that I was bleeding. I turned to me sister who was in the passanger seat and said, I think I'm having a miscarriage. I glanced down to realize I was bleeding everywhere. My sister grabbed a towel to put under me. When she went to put the towel under me she said, oh my gosh Aubrey, I'm not trying to scare you, but there's a lot of blood, are you sure your not feeling light headed or anything? Besides the horrible cramping I felt ok. Plus, there wasn't much we could do right then, we were in the middle of nowhere.

Finally we reached Beaver and decided the best place to stop would be a park so I could use the bathroom and make sure the bleeding subsided and to make sure I didn't need to go to the hospital (My Dr. said I didn't need to go to the hospital unless I started hemorghing). I sat in the dirty public restroom on the toilet for around an hour on the phone with my mom waiting for the bleeding to slow down a bit so I could drive the rest of the way up the mountain to the cabin. It was awful!! I definitely should have listened to my dr when she told me it was best to stay close to home. When I felt like the bleeding had subsided enough I cleaned up the best I could with baby wipes and decided I felt ok with still heading up the mountain to the cabin.

I coudn't wait to get to the cabin and rest. I was tired, achy, emotional and done driving around. That entire night I was cramping so bad, it was the worst night of my life.  I wished I was at home where I could be more comfortable and rest and sleep in my own bed. I wished I could be alone so that I could cry and just let it all out and not feel like I had to put on a happy face. I think I only got 3 or 4 hours of sleep that night. I kept pacing back and forth in the kitchen, praying that it could all be over and I could get some sleep.  Finally the next morning I passed a golf ball size clump of tissue and blood (tmi sorry). I felt a rush of panic, like what is this. Then I felt relief and a feeling like it was finally over. After that I didn't have any more cramps, just light bleeding for a month or so. I was so relieved that it was finally over and I could find closure and move on with my life. The rest of the trip was ok, I just felt tired and achy. All the kids had a blast.

As soon as I got home from the cabin I went to work and kept busy planning Rome's 2nd birthday, which really helped me not focus on the miscarriage and being sad. I had people say to me that they were surprised how well I was handling it. I was surprised to at how good I felt emotionally. My body felt achy and not quite the same for months but I felt hopefull that I would get pregnant again soon. I had heard from my Dr. and a few friends that women sometimes get pregnant quickly after miscarraiges or after a D and C. Through this entire ordeal, although I felt sad about losing the baby, I also felt moments of peace and comfort, and that everything was gonna be ok once the miscarriage was over and I could move on . That hope and peace soon dwindled as month after month passed and my period came time and time again, the more time that past the more upset and frustrated I got. After a few months I found myself feeling so down and depressed. I never knew how bad losing a baby, followed by infertility would affect me. I found myself being drug down by negative thoughts. It brought on a lot of insecurities and questions.

Christmas day is finally here!

Christmas morning came way to early for us this year, haha Rome woke up at 5:30 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. He never gets up that early, he usually sleeps till at least 8. I'm thinking he could feel the magic of Christmas morning or maybe he heard Mr. Santa clause drop off gifts to our house ;) I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty excited myself and probably wouldn't of been able to go back to sleep even if he did. I loved watching him open all his gift. Honestly, I don't care about getting gifts for myself anymore. I feel like once you have kids all that really matters on Christmas morning is seeing the excitement on there face as they open there gifts. As expected the four wheeler was a big hit. He absolutely loves it, yay!!! And of course one of the toys we got the best reaction out of and he plays with the most is the little Einstein rocket toy we got from a yard sale lol. 

 

 

 

Polar Express Christmas!

 

This year my mom started a new tradition of having all us kids from both our side and her hubbies side get together for an early Christmas the Friday and Saturday before Christmas. Keegan and I drove up friday afternoon and arrived in st george at my mom's around 5 pm, just a little before dinner. While we waited for dinner we rode the train that they made for the kids. Of course Rome was in heaven because he has been obsessed with trains ever since he saw Grandpa Stratton's train in his tree last year.

After playing on the train it was time for dinner which was one of my childhood favorites, senora chicken and it was delicious as always. After dinner the kids played a bit then all the kids opened up there christmas pj's from grams and gramps then we listened to one of my all time favorite books I grew up listening to every year, the polar express! The kids all sat and listened pretty well I was impressed. After that we drank hot chocolate and watched the polor express movie then went to bed.

Watching polar express

 

Saturday morning we all got up, ate breakfast then sat in a circle to get ready to start opening presents. Before we opened presents my mom got out the nativity puppets from when we were kids and let the kiddos help tell the story about the birth of Jesus Christ!

Helping tell the Nativity story with puppets

Rome got to be Joseph

My handsome man all ready to see Frozen

 

After the movie (which was so adorable by the way) we went back to my mom's and ate pizza then packed up and headed back home to vegas. Keegan and I both enjoyed this get together so much. It was so fun for me to see Rome enjoying some of the things I grew up doing during Christmas. Keegan had never done anything like that for Christmas before so he really enjoyed it too. Thanks mom and Jan for organizing all of that, we really enjoyed it. You guys did a great job!