More December Festivities

I can't believe Christmas is in 4 days!!!  We haven't had too many extracurricular things going on this December, but we have tried to do a few festive things.

Last weekend we had our Ward Christmas Party in the morning, and then that night, Jeremy and I went to his work party at his boss's house.  It was nice to meet some of the people he's been talking about and of course it's always nice to have a night out!

This week we made some Christmas goodies and then took them around to our neighbors.  We have some really sweet neighbors (all of them at least our parents' ages or older), and they are always happy to see the kids.  We don't know them super well, so I think they were pleasantly surprised we would bring them something. :)

 Licking the beaters from the snowball cookie dough.  No, Anna didn't have one - I have no idea what she's putting in her mouth!

Then last night we drove around our neighborhood and looked at Christmas lights.  It was so fun!  We were amazed by how many of the houses were super decked out.  We didn't have to go far to see some impressive displays.  After we drove around for 20 minutes or so, we came home and watched Rudolph.  It was the kids' first time seeing it, and our first time in a long time.  It seemed so old!  Haha, but it was fun.  Then after the kids went to bed, Jeremy and I finishes wrapping a few presents while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on NBC.  It's such a good one!

Anna before we went out last night, she was giving Jeremy the cutest snuggles!

 She opens her mouth like this all the time...

 Hehe, and she does this super cheesy grin all the time now too.  I love it!  It makes me laugh every time.

Boys ready to drive around and see the lights!

Anna also had her 9-mo. checkup last week, so I found the boys playing "doctor" later that night:

Okay, no idea why that is loading sideways.  Sorry.  Oh, and in case you're wondering, Anna still tops the charts on height and weight (20lbs 15oz & 29.5 in.).  AND she has now taken a step twice.  Ahh!

So anyway, the kids are very excited for Christmas.  I had them do some jobs around the house to earn some money so they could get each other some Christmas presents, and they've also been working on some homemade art and cards for loved ones too.  I've been trying to really stress the giving part of Christmas, since the excitement of getting presents doesn't really need any extra emphasis for kids to be excited about it!  It's been nice to see them get into it though.  They helped me wrap presents for people and they wrapped each other's gifts too.  Eli keeps telling me "We can't fit any more presents under the tree!  It's full!"  We've also had a lot of family night lessons about what Christmas is really about, so I hope that's sinking in.

Eli emptying the silverware - he did such a good job, it's becoming a regular job for him. :)

We have our church Christmas program tomorrow that we're all participating in (except Connor and Anna), and we're last-minute putting together a caroling thing with the missionaries for Monday night, and then it's vacation time!  So if I don't blog again before Christmas, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!  Love you all!