Christmas was definetly a huge change for Anthony and I. It was our first official Christmas with just our little family. ANthony had to work at the fire station on Christmas day so we had to stay here in Utah while everyone else went to Idaho and Oregon. I was so sad at first, but as the season went on we all became more and more excited about the idea of having a special and quite little Christmas. Well, almost quite, because nothing is ever really quite with myself and Maya in the same room. We are anything but quite, but it was a pleasant change. We enjoyed introducing new traditions and maintaining the ones that ANthony and I both grew up with. It was so fun to sit back and watch our children bask in the wonder and excitment of the CHristmas season. we had fun explaining the true meaning of Christmas with Maya since this is the first year that she was really able to understand. There was no rush, just peace and pure bliss as we watched our children enjoy this time of year.

one of my favorite things about CHristmas growing up was unveiling the Christmas boxes and all of their forgotten contents. I loved the box of CHristmas books that my mom would read to us every year with the stories of baby Jesus and of the clever little elves as they worked all year long to make my christmas wishes come true. So we took the kids to find a new book about santa and about jesus's birth and carried on our own tradition of reading them to Maya and Kai. It was so fun. Now the books are tucked neatly and safely in the garage to waiting their unveiling next year where they can become like new again.
Another tradition that we have carried on from the pabst family is our never ending surprise balls. Each year at the tip top of the stocking lay a big ball of streamer. as you unwrap the ball a surprise of candy or little toy comes falling out onto your lap. it has been so fun to carry on this tradition although it can be quite the ordeal for Santa to create these balls o fun. the kids seem to love it and it is so worth it. Even mommy and daddy get one too. it is a tradition for the young at heart as well.

Every year Anthony and I make it a point to make each other a gift. This year I made him a quilt to take with him to work since he works 48 hours straight, he obviously has to take his own bedding to sleep. The blanket that he has at the station with him now is the first gift I made for him for CHristmas while we were dating and so I guess it is a little worn. Plus the fact that Anthony is such a chick when it comes to the cold. He is ALWAYS cold. so I double stuffed this blanket with wool batting and made it queen size + 2feet extra in the length since he is so tall. I put pictures of the kids and i around the quilt so that he could always have us there snuggling up to him at night (i know, cheezy, but Anthony is the king of cheese so it worked out great!!!!)
For me, he surprised me by finishing the cupboards in our kitchen by putting glass in the two that I wanted to use as display cupboards. I had been working on refinishing our cupboards all summer and thanks to Anthony they are now completely finished. Now he just needs to finish the recessed lighting and the lighting in and under the cabinets....i know, i know, I am just so hard to please, it is never enough!...Really, I just have an incredibly talented husband who has been blessed to be able to do so much for me. He is beyond incredible!
the grand finally of mayas surprise ball....gum. Her prized posession. SHE LOVES GUM!!!!


It was so fun watching Mayas excitment this year.She couldn't even wait for me to grab the sissors with this one.
Thank you Claire!!!
Thank you Grammy and Bapa!!!!
Thank you Nana and Papa!!!!
Thank you Daddy!

Kai and Maya did so good on the plane ride to Washington. Kai had us all laughing when he put on the airline earphones and listened to the complimentary showing of "the Break-up". He just kept looking at us and smiled and then turned back to watch the movie. I guess he has a crush on Jenifer Aniston....can you blame him?Maya's favorite part of the trip to New york was the huge castle of toys known as FAO SCHWARTZ. I almost hit the floor when she said to me, after playing there for almost an hour, "mom, I wonder if Santa knows about this place?" She really loved the huge piano from "BIG". Here she is doing her own rendition of CHopsticks. We had to explain to her that the piano is too big for Santa's sled. More like the 25grand price tag was a bit to big for his budget this year.

One of our favorite spots was the fireman museum built in honor of 9/11. we talked with the firemen there for a while and they ended up giving us the exlusive directions to the uniform shop for the New York CIty's finest. Since Anthony had his firefighter id we were able to go there the next morning and blow our souvenir budget on the real sweatshirts and hats. It was worth it to have the real thing. No cheesy nock-offs for the Pabst's. Maya could have cared less about her sweatshirt after she saw the curious george doll. It was the best combo ever for her. nothing better than her hero firefighter daddy and her favorite monkey.

New York or bust!

We had the greatest time in New York. If it wasn't so far away from family I would make Anthony move us there in a heart beat. Oh, and maybe vecause we would also have to give up our 3 story house for a studio apartment in the Bronx. I guess visiting will have to be enough for now. All the bright lights and interesting people were so exciting.