December

December is my favorite month. It's always busy. I always think I'll get more done than I actually do. And I always say I'm going to do better next year about the "keeping Christ in Christmas" thing. I did do better this year, but I'm still saying the same thing.

We missed "The Nutcracker" this year, which I was sad about. Instead we took the kids to see "A Christmas Carol" and it was really good! Bonus: many people from our new ward performed in it and we happened to be in the same row as some very good friends. So things really work out. Jared had me laughing so hard, again. He wasn't sure who the Bishop's wife was (our ward was just reorganized, taking a sliver of our old ward and combining with slivers of four other wards), so I told him the songs she sang in the performance. He said, "Oh wow, she's really good. And to sing that in another language had to be pretty hard." This comment reminded me of something my Dad would say (once people start singing or talking with an accent he has a hard time making out the story). Anyway, all the songs were indeed sung in English. Later that night we went to his Paramedic graduation and he was the Valedictorian! Everybody, and I really do mean everybody, raved about how wonderful his speech was. I am so proud of him and am so blessed to share a life with him. I hope our kids take after his smarts, good looks, work ethic, athleticism, people skills, and charm. There is more to add to that list but you get the idea.

One day I went out while Jared stayed home with the kids and he took these pictures because they were being "so cute." I did Jessie's hair before I left, but it didn't look like this. I also dressed Noah in proper pants, but he somehow ended up in Jessie's pajama pants. He has a thing with taking his clothes off. Occasionally, he will put other clothes back on. If he does put more on, it's usually a siblings pajamas because he can reach their pajama drawers and get them on himself quite easily (I assume. He hasn't actually told me why he does this).





Confession: I really like some of the kids Christmas movies. Elmo's Christmas Countdown? So cute! And great music! Barbie in the Nutcracker? Pretty much makes me cry every time during the Pax de Deux scene. The story itself is sort of an abomination of the original, but I like it. My kids just aren't going to feel the same way about Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as I do, but that's okay. They are allowed to have their own movies that will bring a sense of nostalgia when they are old(er).

We went to Jared's dad's retirement party and I'm so glad we were able to go. We weren't really sure until a day or so before and it felt a little hectic trying to get ready for that AND Christmas, but it was all worth it. All of Jared's brother's and their families were able to come except for Jacob and Carly and it was really fun to see everyone. We made gingerbread houses while we were there and Joy had some other special, Christmas-y activities planned for the kids, which was great fun.

We didn't make it back in time for the big Christmas program at church. I may have shed a tear (it's my FAVORITE meeting all year). We drove (faster than usual) all night on wet roads through lots of rain and didn't even stop to sleep, but we were still just a couple of hours shy of home. Being the stalwart people we are, we decided to stop by the mall for some Christmas cheer and eat some Cinnabuns for breakfast. Then we took the kids on the carousel and train ride in the mall. Luckily, all of our Christmas shopping was done by then, so we just enjoyed all the great music and decorations and then made the last hour drive home. We rounded off the day by driving to Candy Cane Lane to look at all the amazing Christmas lights (no pics) that evening.

Oh to be young again and think it's "fun" you're "GONNA PUKE!"

The next day was Christmas Eve! The most exciting day of the year! We always make snickerdoodles on Christmas Eve, but didn't this year. The day before we left for CA we made sugar cookies. This was quite an ordeal! More so than the last time we made cookies because there was cutting of shapes and frosting and sprinkles involved! Anyway, we still had LOTS of those in the freezer so I just didn't worry about the snickerdoodles this year. I am proud of myself for doing this. See, sometimes I do things that are important to ME at the time but aren't so much in the big scheme of things. I have a lot to learn about letting things go.

On Christmas Eve we played lots of games. We took the kids to see "The Rise of Guardians." (Excellent. Picks up where the books left off). We had baked potato soup and french bread for dinner, and the kids made "Christmas trees" with sugar snap peas, pretzel sticks, and cheese cut into a star. We drank white hot chocolate and had cookies for dessert. Then we could dress in Noah into  his Christmas pajamas (he's a little messy). We played a game where I hide all the nativity pieces throughout the house and leave clues for the kids to find them. This is great fun for all the ages and I have to remember to do this every year for FHE. We watched a Christmas Kid History video, an animals singing Jingle Bells video, and a wonderful church video before reading the scriptures and other stories and sending the kids off to bed.

So here are some Christmas pictures. Christmas was magical and somehow is more so (than I remember, anyway) each year.

Candy! Totally okay to have candy before breakfast on Christmas morning, right?

 Logan and Porter got lots and lots of Legos plus cool storage for them. They also got some Perry pajama pants in their stockings and they both wanted to change into them immediately. All of the kids were audibly amused that Santa put bananas in their stockings this year.

 Santa brought Jessie the Cinderella Barbie she asked for! Plus a carriage, Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother, and other Cinderella stuff.

 Santa brought Noah the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Doesn't he look so sweet in this picture? At some point he rushed off to put Logan's clothes over his pajamas. I know this phase will end. I know it.

We learned that Minnie shouldn't spin so close to our hair...

Our tradition has been to go through stockings and Santa's presents first, have breakfast, and then open the rest of the presents. This year we did the same thing and I'm always happy my kids don't rush through it too much. They really enjoy playing with everything they get from Santa, really enjoy eating breakfast and talking,  and didn't grumble when I asked them to clean up and get dressed before we opened the rest of the gifts. It was so nice. For breakfast we had overnight blueberry french toast, steakhouse bacon, and North Pole smoothies. Everything was tasty, but I'll probably try something else next year. For dinner we had ham, crockpot mac and cheese, Christmas jello, must-have-recipe salad (from the gooseberry cookbook. SO YUMMY), rolls, and old-fashioned candied apples (another yum).

And guess what? Looking through these pictures, I so don't care about how NOT put together the house is. It bothered me a lot before Christmas that I hadn't gotten more done. I could use a little decorator's OCD sometimes, I guess.