Jace's First Christmas

Normally we are a December 23rd shopping family. Not always because we procrastinate ... but usually because we don't save money to get gifts (I get paid about then.) This year we have been buying things off and on for Jace since October. It was his first year and we were excited.

On Christmas Eve the Sandman comes to wish us a good night's rest. (you know ... MR. SANDMAN, BRING ME A DREAM ....) Jace had just gotten out of the bath and it was time to open up his gift. It took him a little while, but by the end of the whole Christmas experience he was opening like a pro.

Jace's Sandman PJs. The sandman also gives us a Disney movie (the Disney tradition was one passed on by my family. They are older now and don't just watch Disney anymore .... but we do!)

The Boucher "Motherload"

Christmas morning Joe got Jace out of bed and I ran down to get the camera.

See MOM! I've got this ripping thing down! Surprisingly enough he actually played with his toys. He enjoyed ripping up the paper -- but enjoyed playing with all of the musical plastic too.

His favorite gift came from his Grandma and Grandpa (Stohel). He has figured out which buttons play the music and will sit there for a surprisingly long time and play with it. When he is about done, he will try to stand up on it. Of course it doesn't hold his (massive) 22lbs -- and will topple over backwards. At this point, the game is over and he needs to be snuggled until he is not scared anymore.

Christmas morning was a great year this year! I loved sharing it with my family!

Good Night's Sleep (This year ....)

Christmas morning is a magical time! On Christmas eve you SWEAR you are tired -- you climb into bed with your crisp new pajamas and lay there for Santa to come.

You wait

and wait

and wait

Eventually you roll over and look at the clock. 2:25. Not exactly "wake up the rest of your family time. So you snuggle up in bed again

and wait

and wait

3:15

and wait

3:52

Could Christmas Eve take ANY LONGER? What seems like days later instead of hours, you roll over in bed (it's 5:15) and declare SANTA CAME!!!

I knew that I wasn't going to be waking up Jace at 5:00 in the morning to "open presents" ... I had to wait until he woke up. The above description is miss Jen Boucher EVERY YEAR! So this year -- feeling a cold coming on -- I took a Nyquil. And boy did I sleep.

6:15: (JOE) Santa Came (JEN) HMMM???
6:25: (JOE) Santa Came? (JEN) (Rolls over)

6:45: (JACE) MAMAMAMAMAMAMA (JEN)I'm up.

Okay -- so not the bright eyed excitement of the past ... but hey! I only woke up once! I was nursing a nyquil hangover for the better part of the morning -- relieved only by napping into the afternoon -- but I slept well.

Caught UP

I am officially caught up with my blogs. After being told that it has been a month since an update ... I decided to get my bootie in gear and start typing. The next 7 posts (or so) is what has been going on in the JJJ Boucher household. ENJOY!

40 Years!

What in your life have you been working on for 40 years? How many things take 40 years to complete?

As Joe and I took Jace to see the lights at temple square tonight, I couldn't help but marvel, once again at how beautiful and peaceful that temple is. Every temple has it's sense of calm and serenity ... but there is something about the Salt Lake Temple that simply takes your breath away. Coupled with the fact that every branch of practically every tree on the block has been meticulously strung with different colored lights. It's definitely a sight!

As I reflect upon the sacrifice that it took to establish the church here in Utah, I am so grateful for those that came before me. I am grateful that they had the courage, perseverance, and faith to do what they did. Temple building is completely different today. We are past the age of basic establishment, and the focus has turned to getting the word out to the masses. I am grateful for the little things that can remind me to be grateful, humble, and spiritually uplifted.

p.s. notice the picture in the collage on the top row, 2nd one in. ... the big one with the lights ... I took that! Someone should pay me to put that on a poster --or at least a post card! ha!

Setting Up The Christmas Tree

I can't wait to start new traditions with my family. Traditions are part of what I remember the most growing up. Home-made pizza on Christmas Eve ... 7-Up with Cherry 7-Up Ice Cubes, Sandman, Disney, Pull aparts, Grandparents, games, good food ... It's the traditions with my family that I cherish most.

This year we started our Christmas season out right by putting up the tree.

Up until this year we have had a fake (cheep) walmart tree. Last year it was on the verge of breaking, PLUS I HATE fixing the branches so it looks somewhat real -- so we decided to get a real one this year! I haven't had a real tree since ... probably

I was 10 or so. We make the long trek down the road to Harmons and picked out the "right one" ... a $34.95 wonder!

We took it home, put it in it's stand, and ate home-made pizza. over the course of a couple of weeks we have put the final decorations on it and voila! A majestic tree presides in our living room.

TENK

Joe ran the Winter - Sun 10K in Moab on December 5th. The two of us were going to run it together, but because of my recent health issues, I was not able to train for it (next year!)

The average temperature for Moab on the week of December 5th is generally about 40 degrees. Those poor 800 runners could only HOPE for a temperature that high. It was 15 degrees (maybe) that weekend.

Braving the weather, Joe set off to run his 6.2 ish miles. He hadn't trained like he would have liked because of all that was going on with work and family life, so his only goal was to run it without stopping. He figured that if he could do this, he'd have a decent time. He set off on his race. It was so much fun to be able to drive along side him. Every mile or so I'd stop, jump out of the car, and cheer him on! He did a fantastic job. His "official" time was about 53 minutes. They didn't have a good time keeping system, so that is very rough. He ran the whole way (with the exception of a 100 yard uphill stretch), and came in 204th place.

I am very proud of him and can't wait for us to start running together again as a family! We got to train for next year :)

Super Hero

Never fear ... we are teaching this kid right!

Best super hero EVER = Spiderman!

Turkey Hostess

I love to party. I really enjoy having people over to my my home to do it. I also enjoy a challenge. I love to learn new things. These aspects of my life collided and the opportunity presented itself for me to invite the Bouchers over to our home for Thanksgiving Dinner, I welcomed the challenge.

I invisioned a nice, wonderful afternoon -- to create the perfect meal, I needed to get the menu right, as well as the atmosphere. I went to several home decorating stores for the table settings, made 16 sets of dinner ware (it has to match!) and made little gift placements for each guest. Once all 16 of us were there it was time to eat!

We enjoyed a spectacular day of food, fun, friends, and family! (Cheesy!) It was exhausting ... but I'd do it again in a heart beat! Just let me know when it's my turn to host again! I really enjoyed it.

Big Boy Chair

My baby is a very mobile eater. By this I mean -- he will eat where ever I put him! He eats in the car (on very RARE occasions!), he eats on the floor, on the bed, on the table, in the Bumbo ... with Thanksgiving just around the corner, we decided to advance him to a "big boy chair". There will be 16 Boucher in our quaint little home -- no room for Jace to eat on the table!

A few teachers at my school went in together to get me the high chair that I had on my registry. At the time, we wanted a chair that would connect to a piece of the dinette set, and that is what they got. (We then realized that we would need a dinette set! So we got one of those.) The chairs we purchased had padding on them -- and I didn't want this portable high chair to permanently indent the padding ... so we exchanged the gift for this bad boy!

Jace has learned quickly that when he gets put in that chair ... his belly will soon be satisfied! Smart boy.

I'm gunna be a ....

When Jace was born, my siblings and I kept predicting what Jace would be when "he grows up". "He's gunna be a basketball player, look at those hands!" "No, he'll be a pianist!" "Look at his parents, that kid's gunna be a genious!" (I said that one!)

We discovered that you don't need an expensive fisher price piano when you have your own at home! He loves it.

He will sit there for quite a bit of time just jammin' out.

He immediately turns looking for approval. Once the "atta boy Jace"-s are exclaimed, he keeps on playin.

Whatever that kid's "gunna be" ... I will always be his proud mama.