Christmas Events

We had such a fun Christmas and it all started 2 days early! We knew we were leaving Christmas afternoon but we also knew we were getting a Wii. We thought it would be hard to leave it after getting it the same day so we decided to send the kids on a hunt for the present. Luke wrote several clues that sent the kids all over the house. Anyway, in the end they opened the Wii! We set it up immediately and had the best time playing it!

One of our favorite games is a bike race. Oliver was hilarious! When he played the bike game he was running in place and moving his arms! He got so into it! We were laughing so hard!

On Christmas Eve we finally put our gingerbread house together. We had been meaning to for weeks and something always came up...finally the finished product! It may not be beautiful but it was fun to put together!

That evening, Oliver discovered 3 presents on the doorstep! Th Elves had dropped off p.j.'s for the kids! This was a hit! The kids went crazy...we love those elves!

Christmas morning...Sabree got her Littlest Pet Shop house and pets from Santa!

One of Oliver's favorite toys...a remote controlled helicopter...thanks Grandma and Grandpa Oliver!Jaylee got a Cinderella doll!On our way to Orem...it was so sunny so all the kids wanted sun glasses. I thought they looked cute! Plus, Sabree's sporting her new clothes!
We love tired little kids when it works out like this picture! Tired and still awake = disaster...tired and sleeping = heaven!
Grandma and Grandpa Oliver
Jaylee and Tyson's girlfriend, Amelia. Jaylee never lets anyone do her hair, but on Christmas she let Amelia do it! It's crazy but still...it's up!!! It's a Christmas miracle!Grandpa Adams and JayleeAmy and Sabree! It was so fun to see Jake and Amy again! Amy played littlest pet shop with Sabree for a while. Sabree was in heaven!
Mandy, Eli and Sabree! We never get to see them enough...again, so fun to see the aunts and uncles!
The girls spent some time cooking with Grandma. They had a great time. Sabree got a new cupcake cookbook from Grandma and Grandpa so they made some cupcakes. The girls also helped with Chex Mix...building great memories!
This pictures pretty much sums up the Christmas events. It was fun, the kids were cute! We're already counting down for next year!

Oliver's taking a stand!

Yesterday I helped out in Oliver's kindergarten class for a Christmas party. We seperated the kids into groups of 5. Anyway today I was talking to Oliver about his party the day before. One part of the conversation was so cute! It went something like this...

I asked, "Who was that cute girl that was in your group. She had blonde hair with curly piggytails. She was wearing a black shirt."

He paused for a minute..."Mom, she dresses immodest all the time so, NO WAY!"

Luke and I had to turn away and laugh quietly. I wasn't trying to set him up with her! I just wanted to know her name! It was so funny!

Later, I pulled Oliver aside and told him I was so proud of him for recognizing how important it was to dress modest. He is such a good boy!

Snow! Sledding! Chocolate!

It snowed most of the day on Saturday. It was really beautiful. I told the kids to get their friends and we would build a snowman. Unfortunately, it was not good packing snow so we decided to build a little hill in our front yard to sled on. That wasn't going well either so we packed everyone up and went to a real hill. We were sledding for over 2 hours. it was so much fun!

Oliver and Tanner

Our neighbors, "the Lammi's". We have the same age kids. Gwen and Sabree and friends, Oliver and Davin are friends, and Emily and Jaylee are friends.

Julie and Sabree

Hayden, Carter and Erin (Carter is Oliver's friend, I visit teach Erin and we've become really good friends.)

Cute Ollie...I love his smile!

Sabree and Gwen

After Sacrament meeting we went to my Aunt Cathy's house in Tremonton. Every year all of her family gets together and makes candy. They also invite a lot of extended family. This year we got to go! It was awesome. The kids had the best time. It was great to learn how to make the chocolates but it was also great to visit with family.

Now about the chocolates...I can't believe how many we made. Cherry cordials, orange sticks, chocolate dipped caramels, almond joys, peanut butter cups, divinity, whatchamacalits, peanut clusters, fudge, truffles, toffee, and caramel/chocolate dipped pretzels...plus we did all of this in milk and dark chocolate. The kids also dipped all kinds of candy like cinnamon bears, sour patch kids, fruit candies, and put the peanut butter cups together. Cathy also had the kids build their own gingerbread houses. I think we found a new family tradition!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures of us "in action". Here are some of the chocolates though. They might not look perfectly pretty but they taste perfect!

Christmas Caroling

We went Christmas caroling last night with several families. It was a lot of fun! We have made a tradition of caroling as a family, the kids always have so much fun. All the adults were discussing how caroling is kind of a forgotten activity. Why is that? It seems like people used to sing more at this time of year than they do now. I think it's unfortunate, soooo....everyone get out and sing to others. It's a little cheesy but it still makes people feel good!

Dad's Singing

I was out tonight with some friends and Luke fed the kids dinner. After dinner he told them they could have dessert.

They asked, "what is it?"
Luke said, "I'm going to sing to you and it will be dessert to your ears!"
He proceeded to sing them a song (jokingly) and then asked, "was that yummy for your ears?"
Jaylee (age 3) said, "That song made me want to throw up!"

I love the funny things that kids say!

Pickleville Playhouse

Luke and I took Sabree and Oliver to a Christmas play tonight. It was really fun! One of our friends in the ward wrote, directed and starred in the play. It was incredible. I can't believe that people have that kind of talent...not only to write a play (which would be extremely difficult), but to write all the music too. That takes talent. Anyway, it was a really funny play and very entertaining. The kids loved it! This will definitely be the beginning of a annual Christmas tradition for us. Here are some pictures from our night.

Before the play the kids got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas!

Ollie really, really wants a pair of shoes that he saw at Target and of course they are awesome! He also wants these little skateboards that come with a little ramp.

Sabree wants pet shop toys, zhu zhu pets and much, much more!

This is Sabree, me, Oliver, and Ollie's friend Carter. Carter's dad is the one that wrote the play.

The play was on USU campus so after the play we showed the kids around for a minute. We took them by the "A" where Luke and I had our first kiss and became "True Aggies'! Good times!

Lots going on...Nativity, holiday talk time, breakfast in bed!

I can't believe how time flies! I cannot believe that we are already well into December and the year is almost over!

Live Nativity
We went to dinner and a live Nativity with our friends (Bryan, Cherie and Fam) tonight. The kids had a good time. It was really nice. You can't help but feel the spirit at events like the Nativity. It's interesting to watch little kids at an event like this too. Even at a very young age, they sense the significance and spirit of the Nativity.

Anyway, we saw the nativity, then walked around a little farm of different animals. The kids got to pet the animals. Then we had hot chocolate as we waited for a hay ride. Overall, it was a great night! I have to admit, last year's baby Jesus was a lot more impressive (my little nephew, Branson)!Jaylee on the hay ride. She said, "that was fun when the horse rode us!"

Julie, Luke, Jaylee, Sabree and Jaiden

Nelson Family + Sabree and Ollie

Jaylee petting a baby goat

Cute kids!

Holiday Talk Time
One of my favorite things so far this Christmas season has been our holiday talk time. At the end of November we started decorating for Christmas and I was trying to think of something special to do with the kids. I decided to put Christmas lights on our bed and spend some time each night with the kids on the bed with the Christmas lights on. So we started holiday talk time. Luke and I rotate nights and we spend 5 minutes with each kid just talking to them. It has been so fun. The kids look forward to it every night and so do I. We like it so much that I think we'll keep it going even after the holidays and I think I'll even keep the lights up. It makes it feel like a really special time.
Breakfast in Bed
Through the month of December as a family we try to do at least one act of service every day. Of course, on the top of the list is breakfast in bed for the kids.