Happy Holidays

I didn't have time to get out Christmas cards this year - I just couldn't get it all together. We wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. We are grateful for all of our blessings this past year, and for all of our wonderful family and friends. Thank you for the wonderful cards - it was great to hear from all of you.

Happy Holidays

Love The Claysons

Welcome Molly

On December 26th, my sister Heather, after 4 weeks of bed rest was induced, and Molly Lynn Haws was born at 10:30 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 21 inches long. She has a ton of hair!! We are so excited to finally meet her. Congratulations Heather, Aaron and Lilly!

Christmas Day

After our fun Christmas morning at home, we decided to brave the roads and visit Chad's family. I was a little nervous because it had snowed a ton, and the roads weren't to great, so we decided to take the pick-up (thank goodness). We made it there, but had to go through plenty of snow drifts. We opened more presents (we are blessed), and then went outside to play in the snow before dinner. I was worried about making it home, but Chad is a great driver in the snow (even though he likes to scare me!). We made it home and crashed from all of our Christmas festivities.

Claire and Owen came outside to go sledding, but they didn't like that the sleds were hooked to the back of a 4-wheeler. I finally convinced them both to give it a try. Owen just cried, and Claire laughed/cried, but at least they tried it.
Our finished Frosty. The kids had so much fun making him.

Christmas Morning 2008

Christmas morning was so much fun. It was so nice to be at home, and I think Chad and I were more excited than the kids. They slept in, so we didn't even open presents until 8:30. We actually had to wake Owen up, so he wasn't to excited about his stocking at first. He would look at things, and then just throw them behind his back. It was so funny. Claire thought Santa was going to come to her door and bring her presents, but she was happy to see that he just left them under the tree. We only had a slight problem. We had gone to Costco and bought a ton of AA batteries because we assumed that Owen's gift would take that size - nope it took AAA. So, Chad had to put the pickup in 4-wheel drive, and go down to the gas station to get new batteries. I think we paid more for 12 AAA batteries than we did for all of the AA batteries we bought. Oh well!!
Claire got a princess castle and some princesses to play with. She loves to lock the princesses in the tower while they wait for their prince to come - only one problem, she didn't get any princes.
Owen was so excited to get his GeoTrac. He hasn't stopped playing with it since he opened the package. He also got an extra train and some extra tracks to go with it.
We were so glad that J.R. could come and stay with us for Christmas. It was so great for the kids to get to know him better, and I think he might have even enjoyed himself.
Yes, it took all three of these boys to put together Owen's GeoTrac. I think Chad and J.R. had more fun with it than Owen.
Grant had no idea what was going on. He actually slept through the present process, and woke up after all the excitement had worn off.

We started our Christmas Eve festivities by decorating cookies. Thankfully my brother J.R. came to visit for Christmas this year, so he helped the kids decorate the cookies, and we just got to watch.

This is how Grant helped us make cookies.
Then Heather, Aaron, and Lilly all came over and we had a nice dinner. Then we opened a few presents and had a great time just visiting until it was time to go to bed and get ready for Santa to come. Don't you just love the kids new P.J.'s - their Aunt Jeanna gave them those (I love Owen's cape).

J.R. proudly showing off his Mickey Mouse coloring/story book - boy was he excited!!



Opening presents from cousins.
Last but not least, leave cookies for Santa and carrots for the Reindeer.

Clayson Family Party

This year we had the Clayson Family Party on Christmas Eve, Eve. The weekend before we had had Chad's Grandparents Christmas party, so the kids were a little confused when I told them we were going to Grandma's for a party. Owen just looked at me and said, "Again??" As always, there was lots of fun, and everyone had a great time. The kids were especially happy to see that Santa made an appearance. We started the evening with Grandpa telling the kids "The Night Before Christmas." We decided it was a little like nursery because they are all so young, and no one sat still for very long. Everyone got a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you wanted. It gets a little harder to decide what you want the older you get I've decided. We also read the Christmas Story, and all the kids dressed up to fit a part. Owen didn't want to dress up to be Joseph, luckily Uncle Brad stepped in. Owen decided after everyone was dressed, that he wanted to be in the pictures though. Claire was so excited to be Mary, she took her part very seriously and took very good care of Baby Jesus (Grant). It was so much fun to watch. The kids exchanged presents from cousins, and Claire was so excited to get a new tutu, and a book. Owen got a remote control car, which after trying to find batteries for, he wouldn't put down. Grant got more clothes, which are much needed. I didn't think I would have to buy much with the second boy, but they were born in different seasons. We also exchanged gifts with Chad's brothers and sisters. We got an awesome popcorn bowl from Kerry and Jason that will be put to good use. We had a great time, and it got everyone excited for Christmas.

Let it Snow!

This morning we woke up with a ton of snow. It had snowed all day yesterday and last night, and then the wind blew!! I decided that I needed to help Chad out with the shoveling so I got the baby to go to sleep, we put on our snow clothes, and out we went. Owen couldn't even walk because the snow was so deep. We had fun for a few minutes, and then decided we wanted to go inside and have hot chocolate.

Owen's Fight with a Coffee table

I just have one thing to say - the coffee table won, and Owen lost getting 3 stitches in his lip. Yes, it was our first of many (I'm sure) trips to the emergency room. I had to work at the Holt and Chad was going to the basketball game with his dad and a few brothers, so we asked our friend Jolie to watch the kids for a few hours. They had a great time. They went and looked at Christmas lights, had ice cream and played. That is until Owen fell and hit his face on the table. It was bound to happen. He runs everyone and falls all the time. He was so good. He walked into the house where I was waiting, and just acted normal except for the ring of blood around his mouth. He didn't even cry at the hospital until they gave him a shot.

The doctors gave him a shot of something to make it so he would relax and not remember anything. Once they gave him the shot he started to get this strange look in his eyes, and then it was like he was all gone (at this point I started crying and had to leave the room. I have never felt like my legs were going to come out from under me until that point). Anyways, they stitched him up and then we had to wait for him to wake up - one problem it was already 9:00 - way past his bedtime. So finally at 11:30 we had roused him enough that they let us go home. He is doing fine, and only complained once when he realized there was something in his lip. He is one tough kid!!
You can't really see his lip because it is more on the inside of his mouth. He got the stickers from the nurse at the hospital and insisted on wearing them to church the next day.

Claire's Preschool Christmas Party

For our preschool Christmas Party, the kids played SANTA Bingo, and then decorated their own gingerbread house. They had so much fun. Claire has learned to love making gingerbread houses this year, and was so happy that this was her 3rd house she made!

Claire's finished Gingerbread House - she was so proud of it!!

3 Months Old

Time sure flies by! Grant is already 3 months old. He is such a fun baby, and slowing becoming less demanding. He still won't take a nap unless in his swing, but we are working on that. He jus won't get on a napping schedule. He naps well for everyone else though!! He loves watching Claire and Owen play, and is really starting to love toys and trying to grab them. He also loves to talk to everyone, and absolutely loves being held so he can stand up. We are very grateful to have Grant in our family!

A Pirate Party

For story time at the library this week they had a pirate Christmas party. A pirate came and read a story, and then the kids made telescopes. It was so funny! Claire would walk around saying "Ahoy Baby." It was so funny. I would try to correct her, but she didn't want to listen to me. Lilly and Heather came with us this week, and they had so much fun. After the library we attempted the mall with 4 kids, but we didn't last long (I don' know how some of you do it!!).



Lilly and Owen looking for other Pirate ships!

Tuckered Out!

This is how Chad and I found the kids yesterday after church. We thought they were being awful quiet.

Snowboarding??

Last week we got a little bit of snow, but the first real snow of the season, and Claire was so excited!! She kept asking me when she could go snowboarding. It was so funny. I kept trying to explain to her that it was sledding, but she didn't care. So, I bundled the kids up, and out they went. They only stayed out there for about 15 minutes, but they had a blast. Claire just loved that Owen could sled with her this year, and was such a nice sister. It is so great when they get along. The tried to go sledding today (we have a lot more snow), but it is so cold that they only lasted a few minutes. I did look out at one point, and Claire was swinging, so she must have enjoyed her time outside.



Claire was so nice and would give Owen a little push when he needed one.

Gingerbread Houses

Last week we went to Chad's parents house for our annual Gingerbread construction project. I have to admit that I wasn't looking forward to it because it is always so messy with the kids. We usually have our house fall down (which it did this year), and it was hard to get the kids to do anything but eat it. It was so much better this time!! The kids had a blast, and we were able to fix our house after a small catastrophe. I am happy to report that our house is still standing, and looks like it might make it to Christmas this year!

Ward Christmas Party

I was asked in church if Grant could be the baby Jesus. I didn't mind, and then I was told that I would have to be Mary and Chad Joseph. I wasn't to excited about that part. Luckily the primary saved me, and just gave our family a narrative part. We had to be a family and Claire would ask questions about the Nativity, and then the primary would sing a song or act out a part. The best part was that all week I tried to get Owen to say a part and he wouldn't. But, when we were using the microphone, he wanted a chance. He finally got it when I wasn't paying attention and said something - it was quite funny.
Santa just walked into the room - Claire happy, Ellie, happy/scared, Owen - not really sure what to think.
Owen wasn't so sure about Santa. Chad had to carry him up on the stage, but after Claire took her turn, he couldn't be left out, or look scared, so he sat on his lap. The best part was that he told Santa he wanted a train. Santa gave him his bag of treats, and Owen got down and dumped the whole thing out. He looked up at me and told me that there wasn't a train in there. He then gave me the bag and wouldn't hold it because there was no train. After that we would ask him if he liked Santa and he would just say that he wanted a train. I don't think he quite understands yet, but hopefully on Christmas morning it will all make sense.
Grant was just tired at this point. It's not that he doesn't like the big guy, he just doesn't care!
Claire loved talking to Santa. She was very excited all day, and wasn't even scared a bit!! A big change from last year. She asked for Princess blocks this year - we'll see what happens.

Can't Get Enough!!

I just thought I would share how cute our little guy is getting. He loves to smile (when he isn't tired or hungry), and is getting so cute!!

We got our Christmas tree up for FHE this week. The kids absolutely had a ball with it, and were so fun to watch. Claire is becoming quite the little tree decorator and makes sure that she tells Owen how everything should be done. They are so much fun to watch this year. Owen gave up on putting ornaments on the tree pretty early on, but Claire lasted until the end. After we got the tree up we put the nativity out and talked about all the people. I just love how much they listen and soak up. They help me to get excited for Christmas.
Owen designated himself as the light tester. He loved to plug them in and make sure they all worked.
Grant loved watching Claire and Owen and loved the lights!

Chad helping Owen reach up high

So proud!!