Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas

Even though we weren't with family in Utah, Christmas was still very delightful around these parts. We have wonderful friends we have been blessed with and we were all able to celebrate together.

Christmas Eve

We hosted a Christmas Eve party at our house the night of, so most of the day was spent at home preparing by some and relaxing/playing by others...

 The boys getting some good use out of the empty wrapping paper rolls.

So debonair!  

 Thad received a felt board from Brielle in the mail and couldn't get enough of it. Or his toys. Or Barney.

He also couldn't decide what to wear. 

 Thad LOVED checking out all the Christmas cards we got in the mail and he especially loved it when they got posted low enough on the door that he could chat about and point at the people he recognized.

Soon enough the party got started and we all had friends galore!

 We rented Polar Express the night before, and luckily Noah and Peyton appreciated it just as much as Thad!

(Do you like how we barricaded our tree from the younger ones? It worked.)

After some DELICIOUS food and catching up with friends from the Stamford Ward that we don't see nearly enough, the games began!

 Moroni and Lisa introduced  the"Box Within a Box Within a Hundred Boxes Wrapped with Loads of Tape and Yarn with a Prize" game last year, so we had to carry on the tradition!

 A friendly game of White Elephant was  also involved and we all ended up with something we didn't need, but definitely enjoyed!

 Brian seriously stole this neck pillow from somebody on his turn. I was laughing so hard! He said he's always wanted a neck pillow. Wish I would have known. 

We ended the festivities with a beautiful article in the Ensign, "Come, Let us Adore Him" by Elder Patrick Kearon. It reminded us why we were even having the celebration that night. 

Our Savior was born.

What a fun group of people to spend a fun night with!

After our guests headed home to prepare for St. Nick, we got to work on getting this boy to bed.

 New jammies were of course a must!

Soon enough we were ready for the Big Man to devour the delicious cookies, stuff our stockings, add a few more boxes under the tree and his reindeer to nibble those carrots! 

Christmas Day

Brian and I started stirring around 5:00 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep, so we decided to get up at 5:30 and let the magic begin!

We turned on A Christmas Story, napped a little and Brian rested his head on his new pillow.

By 8:00 we couldn't stand it any longer and woke the boy up...

First thing: the giraffe he asked Santa for!

He opened a few more presents and couldn't get enough of the next one:

 He didn't want to ditch it for the rest of unwrapping gifts.

So darling!

Every few presents, Brian and I got to enjoy one too. :)

(Probably my favorite: silver necklace with a pearl and 'Thad' and 'Wes' tags...so pretty!)

We had some fun opening things from Grandmas and Grandpas!

Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Kent hooked us up with some stocking stuffers,

And Santa informed them of that monster truck Thad had been asking for! Awesome!

Grandma Teresa and Grandpa Russ surely didn't leave us hanging either:

More stocking stuffers,

Living Scriptures,

(Probably the thing Brian and I were most excited about)

And a scooter! 

~Oh how blessed we are~

 We emptied our stockings, 

And enjoyed the goods before Skyping and calling family!

Passing some time before church. What a handsome ham!

 All of us in our Christmas best!

 It was wonderful to spend an hour at church on Christmas Day. The speakers, songs and sacrament again reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas. How blessed we are to have the Gospel and the truth about what our Savior's birth eventually lead to. What a loving Heavenly Father we have.

Post church we probably could have settled on the couch and enjoyed our gifts for the rest of the night, but luckily we have some great friends and didn't spend the night alone.

 We didn't get many pics, but luckily I got one of these 2 cuties together.

Eve is such a doll and Thad had a ball enjoying her Christmas gift!

Cynda.Camille

Cynda and Ben were the hosts of this beautiful dinner, and the food and company was spectacular!

Cynda has beautiful china that she broke out for the special occasion and Thad loved the glasses...hopefully he doesn't make a habit of it. ;-)

Christmas Card 2011

mErrY ChRisTmaS 2011

Brian finished his 1 year rotation at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in July, and accepted a job with Ernst & Young (an accounting firm) in Manhattan. It has been such a fun experience for him to be in NYC so frequently and experience the hustle and bustle of city life, even with the 1+ hour commute!

Thad is becoming such a good boy and getting so excited to be a big brother come February! He loves attending joy school and soccer with boys from our ward and just being with friends in general. Dinosaurs, play doh, wrestling with dad and watching movies are a just a few of his favorite activities.

I am enjoying our family of 3 for the next few weeks before Baby Boy #2 is scheduled to arrive February 2, 2012. Nesting is a wonderful quality of pregnancy and I have been and will do plenty of it before his big debut.  Being a mother, serving in church callings, attending play dates, dates with Brian and experimenting with DIY projects are the things that keep me ticking!

Our family is loving life on the east coast and we have enjoyed 2 wonderful trips out west this year. We miss Utah dearly (mostly the people in it, but those mountains are a close second!), but love Connecticut more with each person we get to know and fun opportunity we wouldn’t get to experience otherwise.

With Love,

The Monsens

Christmas in the City

We debated about going to NYC this year to check out the Christmas fun, but we had decided since we are going to live here for lots of years that we will have plenty of opportunities when I'm not 34 weeks pregnant and out of shape.

 Well, after talking to the other moms at joy school yesterday and completing this awesome project:

I was in the spirit and decided that with all the Christmas shopping done and plenty of time to prep for the Big Day, we should head into the city. I called Brian and he rearranged a few things so he could meet us at the train station at 3:45.

Before leaving Grand Central, we checked out this fun train display:

Thad isn't one to gawk over trains, but he thoroughly enjoyed this and was asking for a train for Christmas afterwards. 

We strolled up 5th Avenue to check out the window displays on our way up to Bloomingdale's to finally visit Santa a few days before Christmas.

Thad spotted this display and LOVED it so we had to take a picture.  

 This is one of the Tiffany & Co. windows. They had several small ones that weren't too elaborate, but they were really fun to look at! Sometimes the simpler they are, the better!

 After an hour wait, we finally made it to the front of the line!

 Thad dutifully recited what he wanted Santa to bring him (a monster truck, a giraffe and a big boy bed) and left a very happy boy because Santa gave him a little toy reindeer. The things kids love. :)

 After that exhausting wait, we had to stop for a New York Slice. 

Thad devoured that whole piece!

 We crossed Central Park and checked out Columbus Circle Mall and the Holiday Markets.

There was A LOT of walking involved, so this picture is taken at one of our rest stops. Sometimes I forget I have limitations as a pregnant lady, but Brian and Thad were so patient with me and all our stops and slow walking.

Last stop: 

The Christmas tree of all Christmas trees!

 Seeing that tree doesn't get old!  

I'm so glad we decided to trek around the city and check out some of the fun Christmas things NYC has to offer! To top it off, the weather was PERFECT! Brian and I didn't wear coats for a good part of the night and Thad didn't even need his gloves or hat. We couldn't have asked for a better night and I can't think of any better company to spend my time with three days before Christmas.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here!