I always feel like I have to start every blog with my excuse as to why it's been so long since my last post. I am probably one of the few who read this so it really shouldn't matter. Nevertheless, stating my excuse always makes me feel better. ;-)
I think we can all understand how busy life is around the holidays, and so it was for us. It's a good kind of busy though. The holiday season is filled with baking cookies for those you love, creating memories with your children, and establishing traditions with your family to be remembered for years to come. That is why I love the holidays so much. I love spending time with those I love and finding ways to show my appreciation for all who make my life filled with happiness and joy.
The kids were so excited to make gingerbread houses this year. It's always a fun night for us. We buy the gingerbread house village kit. It's amazing! The kit comes with four little houses. Each child gets to decorate their own and since they are small, we can complete the whole thing in just the right amount of time before meltdowns ensue.
They were each so proud of their gingerbread house. They all turned out so cute.
Jenna didn't like that she didn't get a gingerbread house of her own to decorate so we had to give her some extra snuggles.
Daddy and his girls.
Andrew had a cute Christmas program at his school before the holiday break let out. He got to dress up as a shepherd. The classes learned bible verses, adorable songs, and made decorations for the special day. It was really fun to watch them all sing together.
Andrew's friends A'niyah and Charlotte.
That's the cutest shepherd I've ever seen.
There was a cookie reception afterwards that really put some Christmas smiles on our kids.
Happiest. Baby. Ever!
We also hosted a little Christmas get together for a few of our friends. We got into a babysitting co-op with three other families in our ward. We do it twice a month. One couple will take all the kids and watch them for three hours while the other couples get to go out on a date. The hosting family feeds the kids dinner, lets them play, and usually ends with a movie. It's awesome!! We have loved doing it with these sweet friends of ours. We thought that Christmas time was a perfect opportunity to celebrate keeping up with this for a whole year. We had a hot chocolate bar, cookies and treats, crafts, songs, and a white elephant gift exchange. It was a fun night.
The dads were on baby duty while the moms helped the big kids with their crafts.
We made reindeer antler hats, and they turned out so cute!
The hot chocolate bar and treats were a success. The kids especially loved getting whipped cream squirted into their mouths. What's a party without a little whipped cream, right?
My cute little reindeer.
We even remembered to get the whole group together for a picture. I love these guys!
Finally Christmas morning came. The kids could hardly wait another day. It was a really warm day. I think it got up to 82 degrees that day, and of course, the AC in our house went out on Christmas Eve. Awesome. It was actually the opposite of awesome. We were hot and not handling it well. We had planned to spend a little more time at our house on Christmas but because of the heat, we decided to pack up early and head to my mom's house. We were all glad to have cool air again. I know, we're wimps. I have no problem admitting that!
We started Christmas morning around 6:45. I was shocked that the kids didn't wake up earlier. That is actually sleeping in for them on a normal day so Josh and I were thrilled. We let the kids open their stockings. It was so cute because Anna said, "Wow! We must have been better this year than last year because we got way more candy this year!" Haha! I didn't even think about it but that girl remembers every detail of life, even how much candy she gets each year in her stocking.
After they opened their stockings, we made breakfast and sat down as a family to eat. We had pumpkin waffles, buttermilk syrup, hashbrown crisps with bacon, onion, bell pepper, and cheese, and smoothies.
I think Jenna was digging the Christmas breakfast.
Daniel was having a hard time eating so Anna was helping him out. Such a little mom.
Waiting patiently for gift opening to start. Daniel melts me with his big brown eyes. I sure do love him.
I can't get enough of this squishy, curly haired, smiling baby. She is my heart!
Anna is the sweetest, most enthusiastic little girl around and I love her for it.
Here's the whole crew before we got started.
Last year for Christmas, we gave Anna an Easy Bake Oven. I got together with a few of my friends we made these adorable cake mix refill packets. Anna was so appreciative of the time and effort that I had put into the gift. So, this year, I really wanted to make something again. I like giving the kids something that I really put my heart into. My sweet, sweet friend Lissa helped me make the kids some blankets. I made them out of minky fabric, so they were super soft. I also wanted them to be large so they could use them forever. I could hardly wait to give them to the kids. I was so, so excited. I had prepared myself for them saying, "oh, cool," and moving on. However, the kids absolutely LOVED them. It made me so happy. I wanted them to know I had worked on something for each of them and that it came from the heart. This was their first present to open and was a great way to start the morning.
Even little Jenna got one. She's so adorable!
I realize this picture is really bright but you get the idea. Her blanket was pink and purple with some cute rick rack around the edges.
Anna's blanket was teal and purple with butterflies. It was the perfect choice for her.
Andrew's was baby blue, white and grey chevron stripes. He loved it.
Daniel's blanket had adorable dinosaurs on it with a bright blue back. His was a perfect fit for his little personality. He calls it his, "dinodaur blankie."
LOVE!!
These next few are just of the kids opening their gifts. I love their expressions in each picture. They were all so happy.
The kids got skates, a new bike, games, legos, walkie talkies, race tracks..... It was a good morning.
Jenna was content with the candy. Smart girl!
Grandma and Grandpa Lee got her this piggy bank. It's a perfect gift. She plays with it all the time and is great for her fine motor skills.
While we were in Utah visiting our very best friends, the Carrs, they let Jenna use their son's high chair. We LOVED it! We have never had the room for a big high chair so we have always used a small one that attaches to a kitchen chair. That one is fine. Certainly nothing wrong with it but we loved the big tray and soft seat of the Carr's high chair. So, what do you think Jenna got for Christmas? Ding! Ding! Ding! A new high chair. We love it, and so does she!
The box was taller than her. ;-)
We left our hot house and went to Gran's. The kids got to open their gifts from them and were so excited.
Andrew got a Buzz Lightyear from Granny and Grandpa and this face says it all. He plays with it all the time. It's a new favorite at our house.
"YESSS!!!" Priceless. Daniel got nerf guns and darts. There couldn't be a better present for this boy. He is constantly shooting walls and bad guys and Andrew. Ha!
My brother and his sweet family came down and we got to spend a few days with them. It was wonderful. I love seeing them. My sister-in-law, Ashley is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. I love how we can sit in the same room for hours and either talk the whole time or sit in silence and it's totally fine. I love that I can be myself around her. Their daughter, Aubrey, is just the cutest thing. She and Jenna are only three months apart and were instant friends. They kept looking for each other and played side by side the whole time. It totally melted my heart. Now that we're moving to Athens, we'll be a lot closer to them too. I'm thrilled about it!
The girls loved playing in the water outside.
Such a cutie!
Andrew built this lego airplane completely by himself. It has 500 pieces to put together and he spent hours doing it. I think legos is one of the best toys to buy. It really helps kids to think, focus, and learn to follow directions. It's awesome. Andrew usually builds the models to scale a few times and then whips out his creative juices and builds things on his own. That's when I love it most. He is so good at coming up with new spaceships, airplanes, and fighter jets. This is a lego boy! He'll make a great engineer one day.
This is a classic Andrew picture. It pretty much sums him up to a T.
Anna and Andrew got skates for Christmas. The first hour or so of putting them on, Josh and I looked at each other and asked one another what we were thinking. The kids could hardly stand still on them. You should see them now. They skate too fast for my comfort and are thrilled about it. We have a family motto that "hard workers never give up!" I remind them of this all of the time. I think it's great for them to look back and see the progress that they've made because they didn't give up and they worked hard.
It was a warm day on Christmas for sure. We even stuck our feet in the swimming pool. Don't be fooled though, the water was freezing!!
One of my favorite parts about Christmas vacation is that our wedding anniversary is three days after Christmas. We love having babysitters so we can go out and celebrate. This year marked eight wonderful years of marriage. We went to Bonefish Grill and to a movie to see The Martian. It was a really fun night.
We're more in love now than ever. It's so wonderful being married to your match. Josh is truly my other half. We are so happy together and it just keeps getting better.
