Christmas Day

This was the first year we did Christmas at our house. It was pretty special!

Christmas Eve

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! It was going to be just our little family but we were lucky enough to have my parents join us. We still kind of "put things on" ourselves, though, by mixing some new traditions with some old ones.

Sweet Tess:
Sweet Mary (she just climbed the stairs for the first time in this picture):

An old tradition (Clark looks at this and says yuck! I see it and say yum!):

Mixed with a new tradition (an exhilarating game of Chutes and Ladders):

And another new tradition (Stockton had the time of his life!):

More Santa

Tess started screaming moments after this picture was taken. Pretty typical first encounter I'd say.

Orlando 2010

We had a very fun and successful trip to Orlando the week before Christmas. Clark had to go on business and his boss was kind enough to pay for me to go along since it was so close to Christmas. We've been wanting to take Stockton to Disneyland now that he's older and figured Disneyworld was a very acceptable alternative. :) We were surprised, though, that Stockton didn't just love Disneyworld. He liked the rides, but definitely preferred the hotel. Another big thanks to Gerald and Ginger and Mom and Dad for watching our girls while we were gone!

Highlights
Clark: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Universal Studios)

Maquel: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and not having to wait in line for any ride (apparently there are great advantages of having a special needs child).

Stockton: The hotel, which included two escalators, a "big" elevator, and two drinking fountains (they really spared no expense). He also liked the "flying ride" at Univeral Studios (Pteranodon Flyers), much to our liking.

Low-points

Clark: The weather

Maquel: The weather

Stockton: The weather

The high when we went to Magic Kingdom was 54 degrees! It was raining like a hurricane the day we went to Universal Studios, but we still had a great time, nonetheless.

Disney World:

Stockton really enjoyed the Toy Story ride at Holleywood Studios. It was one of the few he asked to do again:

Stockton really liked Splash Mountain while we were on it, but he didn't ever want to go on it again:

Remember how I mentioned the high was 54 degrees? I guess, in Florida, that means winter boots and coats:

I was under the assumption that Florida was warm in the winter. I was the only dummy wearing flip-flops! But no one else had incredibly adorable lime-green glitter toes to show off:

The Animal Kingdom (Stockton enjoyed this park much more than Magic Kingdom--he loved the animals):

The Safari Ride:

The Hotel (The Marriott Orlando World Center Resort):

Univeral Studios:

Dressed and ready:
By far, Stockton's favorite ride:

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (a must-see):

Hogsmeade Village:

Drinking Butterbeer:

Inside the Hog's Head:

Hogwarts at night (this would be a really cool picture with a tripod):

Here's our video we made of our trip again. I don't know why the quality was so poor when we previously posted it:

Stockton's First Trip to Orlando

Here's a sneak peek of our Orlando vacation we took last week. More to come.

The following video was made entirely from camera phones. Our phones also served as our DVD Player, GPS, camera, internet browser, alarm clock, phones, email, video game system, etc. Hard to remember how we got along without them.

Santa 2010

We had a very successful visit to Santa Claus. Stockton is really excited for Christmas this year! When I was putting up our Christmas tree Stockton came into the room and said, "There's the Christmas tree! Santa will come!" I guess he remembered from last year. It's been really fun to see his anticipation.

Santa: What would you like for Christmas?
Stockton (spoken with lots of excitement): A basketball hoop!
Santa: Alright, you be a good boy.
Stockton (as we're walking away): Where's the basketball hoop?

I guess we still have a little bit of teaching to do.

Merry Christmas!

If anyone would like a Christmas card send me an email with your address (maquel.evans@gmail.com). :)

The 2010 Version of My 1987 Primary Talk

Stockton gave a talk in Primary last Sunday and did an awesome job! This talk has a lot of sentimental value because it is the modernized version of my very first Primary talk on prayer. Pretty cute stuff!

Stockton's 5th Birthday Party

Stockton had his first birthday party this year. He didn't ask for one, but I decided it was beneficial in many ways to throw him one. One of the most difficult things for me as a mom of an autistic child is watching everyone else with neuro-typical children have birthday parties. That might seem really silly, but I feel very envious when I see other kids get so excited about the day, the friends, the presents. . . .. Stockton has yet been able to look forward to a day or an event with much anticipation. So, as therapy for both Stockton and myself, I thought it important to teach him about birthday parties.

He chose to go bowling (from a few options) and we only invited a few cousins (just in case Stockton threw a tantrum at some point in the party--his cousins know that's just Stockton). In his ABA therapy the week prior to the party we reviewed with him the details of what was going to happen at the party. We even practiced opening a few gifts.

Stockton did so well! He didn't protest once! Sure he didn't want to bowl himself but he was so excited to watch the other kids bowl. He sat at the table at ate lunch with his friends (so what if he only drank his chocolate milk), he let the kids sing "Happy Birthday" if they did it softly, and he was perfect at opening his gifts, knowing that after he opened his presents he got to let the balloons go outside.

The part that was really impressive to me is that he wanted to go with me to take his friends home. He wanted to be with his friends longer!

I'm so amazed at my little boy and the progress he's making. He's come so far! I feel so blessed to have him, just the way he is!

Most of you know that I'm so not "crafty" but I did try a little for Stockton's party.
The invitation:
The decorations:

The favors:

And, the cake! For those of you who are crafty, don't laugh too hard at my amateur cake. For those of you who are like me, look what I did!

Trick-or-Treat

Halloween 2010. Unfortunately, no one was in the mood for pictures this year. Still, we had the cutest spider, kitten, and duckling ever!

Nauvoo and Missouri

To celebrate my huge accomplishment of nursing twins for an entire year (yes, I'm bragging just a bit :)), I decided I needed to celebrate with a vacation. Clark and I have wanted to go to Nauvoo for a couple years now and we finally made it happen last month. It was such a special trip! The weather was perfect, the company was wonderful (my parents joined us, thus I have fabulous pictures), and, of course, it is one of the most spiritual places ever!

Thanks to Clark being a frequent flier, we got upgraded to first-class! I've never been in first-class before (and I probably won't ever be again), so I made the most of the experience by gloating just a bit. They treat you like celebrities up there!

The Nauvoo Temple:

My dad and Clark forgot ties to go to the temple but they found some pretty impressive ones at Walmart of all places!

Around the town:

Joseph Smith's homestead:

The Nauvoo House:

The Cultural Hall:

The Gunsmith Shop:

The Mansion House:

The Exodus:

Inside the Red Brick Store. Clark suggested I read this:

The graves of Hyrum, Joseph, and Emma Smith:

At sunset:

Carthage Jail:

Liberty Jail:

Adam Ondi Ahman:

Far West temple site: