Denver Zoo Lights-12/22/10

Hayden and Me (riding the train)

Emerson and his buddy Daniel

Our family (Hayden-7, Emerson-6)

Every year we have made it a tradition to go to Zoo Lights. It is impossible to get photos of the experience so I don't even try. My good friend Crystal took these pics of us. This year was great because we had our friends go but it was insanely crowded when we went. Never again will we go during the week of Christmas. There was way too many people packed into that place.

3rd Annual Logan Family Christmas Dinner-12/18/10

Every year, we get together with Clayton's Dad's family to enjoy dinner. It's a very nice treat that they give to us. This year they took us to The Albany in Cheyenne, WY. Seated from left, going clockwise, are: Steve, Virgie, me, Clayton, Stephanie, Hayden, Sandy and Emerson. The only one missing is Tom. He volunteered to be camera man just so he wouldn't have to be in the pic, lol.

4 Generations of Logans

Clayton, Steve (his Dad) and Steph (his sister)

If it tastes like chicken, eat chicken!!-12/18/10

Ok, so this is a completely disgusting post and I had no part in it whatsoever. Grandma Sandy was the perpetrator in this event. She had ordered a delicacy that we call Rocky Mountain Oysters in these parts. The menu was a bit crude with their title for them as they simply referred to them as "Bull Nuts". Ugh. How nasty! Anyway, the boys insisted on having some since they looked like fried chicken. I tried to tell them that they were eating the boy parts of a cow but they wouldn't listen. They just didn't understand. They both insisted that they were chicken. Um no, no they weren't. I took pictures to show them later when they finally understand what the heck they were eating so that they can't deny it, lol.

The Albany-Cheyenne, WY

What, this isn't chicken?!

On Our Way to Aunt Steph's-12/18/10

Emerson looked a bit strange wearing an eye shield from the eye doctor with his glasses on top but his right eye wouldn't fix itself. He had his eyes dilated the day before. The sun was especially bright so he wore his goofy glasses on the trip to Cheyenne, WY.

Hayden has perfected this gruesome look for his gal pal Jasmine (she can make some funny expressions). He can't wait to show her on on our cruise next month.

Our 11th Anniversary-12/15/10

Clayton and I have now officially been together for 11 years. Wow, where did the time go? I love him more now than ever!

I surprised hubby with a homemade cookie bouquet. He is a huge fan of sugar cookies so this gift was right up his alley. It took me forever to get them decorated (I also did a bunch of smaller hearts without sticks) but it was totally worth it.

We didn't make plans that evening so we ended up going to our usual restaurant, Bonefish Grille. It was Bang Bang Wednesday so that made it an even sweeter deal to go there (the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer was only $5). Seriously, if you have never tried them, you are missing out! Everyone we know raves about them and our kids even love them.

***Please excuse the weird lighting on the red cookie.  My flash reflected too much.***

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Love, the Logan Family :)

A Visit With Santa at Denver Zoo Lights-12/22/10

My boys both got nervous meeting Santa this year. I had to chuckle when Emerson told him that he wanted "roller" blades when he meant to say "Bey" blades. I can't remember what Hayden said but he got incredibly shy (which isn't the norm for this kid). I love the fact that they still want to see him every year.

Best Cookies EVER!

I have already made this recipe 3 times and I plan to make it 3 more times this week. Seriously, these cookies rock. The cookie has a wonderful texture and the flavor is ridiculously good. This recipe received rave reviews at my cookie exchange party. I made them without the glaze for Hayden's class party (so that they could decorate them with frosting) and several kids praised me. Try them, you won't regret it!

Link: Almond Poppy Tea Cookies

Ornaments from the Elves-12.1.10

Every year, the elves drop by our house to leave us all our yearly Hallmark ornaments. They ring the door bell and then disappear before we can answer the door. On our doorstep, we find a package containing our little gifts. It's always fun to see what we get. We have had this tradition since Hayden was born and it will help them grow a nice collection of ornaments by the time that they move out and get their own trees. Clayton and I started out with nothing to put on our first tree so we don't want the boys to start from scratch.

Clayton got the Griswold house. It lights up and plays "Hallelujah", lol. I got a cute cupcake with a poinsettia on top.

Both boys got Minions from Despicable Me this year. They have never gotten duplicate ornaments but this year was an exception.

Emerson's School Program-12/1/10

Emerson had to get all dressed up for his school program at school. I was so proud of this little guy because he doesn't like to sing AT ALL but he did fabulously!

Thanksgiving-11/25/10

Thanksgiving was absolutely fabulous this year! Besides burning the top of my sweet potato brulee (twice!), the food was delicious. A family in our neighborhood (the Catlins) joined us as well as my SIL Steph and her man Tom. The Catlins have 4 wonderful kids and our kids loved having them over. I set up our kitchen table in the main entryway so that they could sit close to the adults in the formal dining room.

A special thanks goes out to Holly and Ted for joining us on turkey day. We thoroughly enjoyed having you guys and your kiddos with us!

Emerson's 6th Birthday Party-11.7.2010

I know I am seriously behind on updating my blog but the past couple of months have been a whirlwind. I just haven't been able to keep up. Better late than never, huh?

Emerson's birthday was on 11/8 and it landed on a Monday this year so we celebrated the day before. He chose to have his party at Jumpin' and to have a Spongebob theme. His party was very low key with about 10 kids. I didn't do much for it since I knew that they would want to jump almost the entire party time. I was also still on pain meds from my surgery so I was a little spacey. It just made things easier on me to go easy on the party since I didn't need to stress. In hindsight, I wish we would have done something much bigger for him but there's always next year, right? All in all, Emerson had a blast and that is what really matters.

Daniel, Emerson and Elijah

This is a bad picture since E's eyes are closed but I just had to post it. He was super thrilled to get this present from Grandpa and Grandma Logan. I wish I could have caught his expression better because he was ridiculously excited about this gift.

Finn and Hayden

Spongebob Cake for Emerson's Birthday

This isn't the best photo that I could have taken but oh well. I spent way too long making it for E's birthday. Using the star tip that much will kill your hands. I really wanted to make him a cool 2-tier fondant cake like the Star Wars one that I made recently but he wanted this instead. Ugh. I will never buy another character shaped pan again. It would have been much easier to have transferred an image of Spongebob onto a sheet cake. Lesson learned, lol.

Halloween 2010

Emerson

Cupcakes

Me (please excuse the drugged up expression, lol)

Halloween night is one of our favorite holidays. I decided to host a large party before the kiddos went trick-or-treating but it didn't go as smoothly as I anticipated. I had no idea when I set the party in stone that I would be having surgery just 2 days before. When I found out my surgery date, I figured it would be okay because my last one went so easily. It was back at Easter and I ended up grocery shopping right after I woke up from the anesthesia. It was crazy. I didn't even need to take much pain medicine. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case this time. I hurt. The morning of the party is a total haze to me. I don't even remember making the food at all. My guess is that the pain meds made me stupid and so I can't remember jack. That night was kind of weird too because I wasn't up to speed. I didn't really enjoy the party but at least the kids did (which is what really matters).

Hayden (he's some kind of Bakugan creature)

Silly Boys

Roller Skating-My Favorite Childhood Activity (10/2/10)

Emerson, 5

Hayden, 7

Hayden got an invite to a skating party back in October and I had no idea what was going to happen. My kids had never been on skates and all I could think was that my kids were going to break a limb. Clayton had to work so I was on my own to watch out for the two of them. They were really unsteady at first but then they just took off, much to my surprise. I was so relieved. See, it wasn't all about the relief that I didn't have to worry so much about them falling as it was for me to be able to skate on my own, lol. I love to skate! I skate better backward than forward and I can do spins. My abilities come from spending all my weekends at the rink as a middle schooler. I worked there too when I was a teenager so I have been on skates quite a bit during my younger years.

We all had a blast so I believe that Hayden is going to have a skating party for his next birthday. I am so glad that the kiddos love skating as much as I do. :)