Happy 9th Birthday to our beautiful daughter, Brooke Ann! We miss her so much and hope she is having a great party with the other angels in Heaven today!Click here to watch a video I made of BrookeI also made videos for Logan and Landon from birth up until now. I have included links to all 3 videos on the right hand side of this page under "Links to My Slide Shows." 
After all the family celebrations were over, and all the Christmas presents were opened, the boys unrolled their brand new sleeping bags on the living room floor and fell asleep within about 2 minutes! Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!
After a prime rib meal and an afternoon spent with my Grandpa and Grandma Umscheid and other aunts, uncles and cousins that live in the area, it was time for our final Christmas celebration at my parent's house! We always feast on sub sandwiches and snack food...yum! After supper, it was time for our last round of presents, but there were still PLENTY of them to unwrap! The boys loved everything they got, but they were extra excited about their sleeping bags that they got from grandma and grandpa, and the electric Cars 2 race track that they got from Uncle Ben, Aunt Alyssa, and Eli! A Christmas tradition at the Umscheid Christmas is lottery scratch tickets, so we ended our fun time together scratching our tickets with the suspense of just how much money we might win! Jeff and I won our personal best...$14! It was a GREAT Christmas, and time with family is the best gift ever!
This Christmas was my nephew Eli's 1st Christmas, so it was extra special! He definitely got spoiled, as you can see by his stack of presents! 
Landon had been wishing for Santa to bring him a remote controlled Buzz Lightyear, and that is exactly what Santa brought him! He also brought Landon a toy truck and horse trailer with a horse to haul, and many goodies for his stocking! Landon is a very easy kid to please, so he was very appreciative of the gifts that Jeff and I bought for him as well! Each present he opened was "the best one ever!" :) I love that he gets so tickled, even about the littlest things!
Logan was very relieved on Christmas morning when he saw that Santa had made a stop at our house! :) He had asked Santa for a remote controlled Finn McMissile car (from Cars 2), and there was one sitting there waiting for him to play with! Santa also brought him a neat fire truck that shoots water missiles, and lots of stuff for his stocking! Of course, Jeff and I bought him some gifts as well...he seemed excited about them all. His exact words after opening presents on Christmas morning were, "This is the best Christmas I can ever want!" At least he was thankful for all he got! I am thankful that Jeff and I can afford to buy our kids presents...I know others are not as fortunate. 
On Christmas Eve, the boys and their Sunday School class sang 2 songs at the 7:30 service. Logan and Landon looked so handsome (they are the only boys in their class) and the girls looked beautiful! Their songs were: "Away in a Manger" and "Hark the Helrald Angels Sing." The boys struggled the learn the words to the second song, but they kept practicing and did great! Though there are only 7 or 8 kids in their class, they all sang loud and sounded great! 
On Christmas Eve day, Uncle Brian and Grandma and Grandpa Duvall traveled to our house for our Christmas celebration! We usually head to Cherokee (Jeff's home town) on this day each year, but the boys had a Christmas Eve program that they were in, so we needed to stay in town this year. Having Christmas at our house also meant preparing a Christmas meal...something we are not used to doing! :) Jeff prepared most of the meal for us, and made the most delicious turkey ever! Then it was time to open presents! The boys loved all of their presents, but the big hits were the Star Wars light sabers! After presents, we all enjoyed watching "A Christmas Story" (the movie) together too, which provided us lots of laughs! Before we knew it, the day was done and it was time to get to the Christmas Eve church service. We had a great day together!
Landon has been SO EXCITED to have his pre-k Christmas program this year, and on Thursday morning, he finally got to take the stage! I think he was mostly excited to perform on an actual stage in an actual auditorium! Probably around 60-70 four and five year olds sang the Christmas songs they have been practicing for the past month. It was a cute program, and unlike last year, this year Landon actually sang and did all of the actions to his songs! We enjoyed watching him, and he was proud of his performance! God Bless the brave and patient pre-k teachers...they have their hands full, but do a wonderful job! 
Last night, we celebrated my brother and sister-in-law's marriage (which took place last March when they eloped in Lake Tahoe) by having their wedding reception for friends and family. The night was filled with great food and lots of dancing! Logan has been worried for 2 weeks about having to dance, and, while he was pretty picky about his dance partners, he boogied most of the night away! Landon, on the other hand, told me all along that he would dance, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to dance at all (of course, he wasn't feeling well, either). Landon was only looking forward to dancing the hokey-pokey, so when that song came on, he hit the dance floor without a problem! LOL! After a long night, both boys, as well as Jeff and I, have been recuperating by lounging on the couch, watching movies, and taking naps! We had a great night in celebration of a great couple!
