The Stephens graciously hosted the 2nd Lord of the Rings marathon this year. I believe the first one was held about 4 years ago. I slept more than I watched, due to our early (very early) post Christmas sale shopping. More than sleeping or watching, I ate. There was a plethora of delicious food just an arm reach away. I am vowing to actually watch the whole thing next time, I'm talking all 12+ hours, as only the extended versions are acceptable for such an occasion.
Right before the Elves brought our new Christmas Eve PJ's we had a family talent show. My dad shared one of his childhood Christmas traditions. He used to perform this song with his sibs using homemade puppets. It was fun to watch the grand kids participate in an old tradition.
Many lovely talents were shared. For mine I shared a video which, as quoted by my mom, is "'R' rated, and pornographic". So naturally, I'll post it here.
Porcelain Renaissance bunny
Disco Ball (it really works!)
December 17th marked our 3 year anniversary! This year Sam is giving me a combined gift for Christmas and our anniversary... A house! I guess that's better than all the stuff I had on my wish list.
Sam was recently called to be a member of the Elder's Quorum presidency. Since they were in charge of a booth at our ward's Trek to Bethlehem we had the privilege not only to attend, but to dress the part as well.
Here are two of the things Landon was completely obsessed with this holiday season. Papa's star, and of course Mickey's Christmas Marching Band. Lucky for us, both were conveniently located. 
All the sibs were in town this year for Christmas so Landon got lots of fun playtime with cousins and uncle Dick (who's name landon pronounces perfectly...). 
Our little family was lucky enough to take a trip to St. George and spend a week with Sam's family. Each day was filled with lovely activities to occupy our time. Grandma Terry's house is absolute heaven for Landon, or any kid for that matter! She has every toy ever made, and lets the grand kids create any sort of chaos they wish. Landon has 2 cousins pretty close to his age who quickly became his new best friends.
The weather was beautiful so we spent many afternoons in the Shumway's lovely backyard. Sam rigged up the old dirt bike and (to my dismay) took Landon riding just about everyday. Landon doesn't know how to hold on so he just lays in Sam's lap, and then bursts into tears when it's time to get off.
I choose to ride the automatic 4 wheeler. I did learn to drive the dirt bike last time we were there, but it's too hard to shift and hold on to Landon. Plus, I don't tip over as much on a quad! I think Landon preferred the dirt bike, he kept calling the 4 wheeler a "tractor". He loves tractors, (just not as much as dirt bikes) so we had to make a trip to Stewart's job site for a ride on the real tractor.
The Thanksgiving feast this year was wonderful, and very much appreciated especially since our last thanksgiving was spent at the Salt Lake Village Inn. 
I did get to do some shopping while Landon played in the fountain, and the boys got to do a little quail hunting. Too bad we had so much turkey left over, I was really looking forward to trying some fresh quail... 
We were able to catch the last 10 seconds of the St. George Temple lighting ceremony. It is such a beautiful building. The Christmas lights were pretty too. 
Landon did really well on the car ride, except, even with our busy week he wouldn't sleep. Thank goodness for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD! We had such a great time! Thanks so much to our amazing family, we love and miss you guys!
(portrait by buff)
If judging by my last midnight premiere experience, any wise person would steer clear. I am not wise. Come to find out, I am actually a 14 year old girl. We girls started the night at 6:30pm making our "super fan" shirts. After dinner we hopped into the longest line I've ever seen (for a movie anyway). After being seated for 3+ hours, the feature began. 2 words can sum up the movie (and the book for that matter) VERY CHEESY. Despite the cheesy-ness, I loved it. Or maybe it's just the actor that I love... yes, that's it. (don't worry, our marriage allows celebrity crushes) We had fun and will probably forget how NOT WORTH IT it was by the time the next movie in the series comes out.
