Christmas

Christmas Day was lovely! It was a bit of a blur because Grace was literally awake until 2am Christmas Eve night because of her broken leg, and then she woke up at 6am and was quite cranky, but other than that, it was a great day! The kids were anxious to go downstairs!

 Everyone was excited about their new things. Connor and Eli had been requesting a basketball hoop and a drone (respectively) for months, and neither one thought they would actually get them, so they were very pleasantly surprised! Anna wanted a swingset, but that's a little difficult in the winter, so we got her a slide and she has been enjoying it! It was going to be for both the girls, but then Grace broke her leg, so we were happy we had stashed away this little rocking horse from our neighbor thinking we might give it to her for Christmas or her birthday. That worked out great!

 It was a beautiful sunny day and looked so pretty with our little dusting of snow. This is the closest we've ever had to a white Christmas, so we were excited!

 Grace got several new baby dolls for Christmas and has been loving on them lots.

 Knowing how much my husband likes soft cuddly things I got him the world's softest shirt (it's like a thick blanket made into a shirt) and a plush throw blanket. He was pretty happy!

 Weee!

 The Weaver cousins got Eli this pentomino puzzle and everyone was obsessed with it for the first few days! My mom literally spent hours on it every night after the kids went to bed, it was hilarious.

 Along with the Bop-It. Haha.

 We got lots of new fun games too! And yes, everyone's wearing shorts and it was super freezing outside (I think this was actually the day after Christmas). They think as long as we don't have to go anywhere that day, they can wear shorts. Whatevs.

 Handsome man.

 My dad took this picture. It was one of a few smiles we got from Grace on Christmas Day! Poor baby. Glad she got to enjoy her horsie!

It was a great Christmas! We just hung out at home playing games and resting Christmas Day and the day after and then on the 27th, Jeremy and I went down to Louisville to go to the temple. My parents watched the kids and we were able to go do sealings in the temple together, which we hadn't done in a really long time. After, we went to lunch and then headed home and then my parents left shortly after. It was a good visit!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was on a Sunday this year which I thought was perfect. It was nice to get all ready in our nice Sunday clothes and go enjoy a meeting filled with Christmas music and messages. Then we came home and enjoyed being all together as we prepared for our special Christmas Eve dinner and evening.

 My parents drove down that day and joined us until the 27th. I also invited my friend Jami over with her two kids. Her husband started a new job out of state and she has a toddler and brand new baby and was alone for Christmas. :( We enjoyed having her with us Christmas Eve. Her daughter and Grace are only a week apart.

We were hoping for a white Christmas and late afternoon, it started to snow!

 We had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner - ham, roasted potatoes, rolls, Brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli cauliflower salad, spinach strawberry salad, and Christmas jello. It was delicious!

 More snow coming down!

 Connor had fun holding baby Kamden. Good practice!

 After dinner we cleaned up and prepared for our annual nativity reenactment. It was fun to have a few more participants this year and a live baby Jesus! :) Last year we added Samuel the Lamanite to our lineup and it was a hit again this year. Connor was Samuel and we all had fun throwing stones at him (and missing, of course).

 Grandma was our angel appearing to Mary.

 Jeremy was the donkey and Eli was a disgruntled Joseph (haha, neither of the boys ever want to be Joseph).

 Our baby Jesus wasn't so sure at first, but he settled down and was so good!

 Connor was sore afraid of that angel!

 The three wisemen:

 After the nativity, we had lots of tasty treats for dessert. I went overboard as I do every year, making goodies all month for friends and neighbors and freezing extra to pull out on Christmas Eve. We had fudge nut cookies, fudge mint cookies, snowball cookies, fudge, Monster M&M cookies, ginger cookies, cinnamon sugar almonds & pecans, and Jami brought some cream cheese brownie bites. Pretty fun!

After dessert, we got the kids to bed and began Christmas morning preparations. Jeremy got to work on Connor's new basketball hoop!

 I love seeing everything set up and ready right before we go to bed, anticipating the excitement of the next morning. It was a great Christmas Eve!

December Festivities

Despite Jeremy traveling every single week in December up until the week of Christmas, we actually had a very wonderful Christmas season. I had pretty much all my shopping done by the time December came, which was definitely on purpose, so I could focus on more important things. We were able to watch the Light the World videos everyday and pick one small act of service to do. It really made the Christmas season special and I have loved doing that the last two years. We also were able to give a lot of "food" gifts to friends, neighbors, and teachers and that was enjoyable too. I tried to include the kids in a lot of giving activities to get the focused on something other than the anticipation of lots of presents. Overall, I'd say it was a successful year!

I loved seeing this scene several times - Christmas lights on, fire blazing, blankets out, etc.

 Reading a Christmas book with Dad

 We took a trip to the temple the first weekend in December and that was a great way to kick off the month!

 I think Eli took this picture. :)

 Face-timing with Uncle Jon and family.

 Snuggled up in the basement to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional:

 Opening an early Christmas present:

 New jammies!!

 Playing in the first snow of the season!

 Sweet girls reading together.

 And holding hands in the car...

 Playing games on Sunday afternoons...

 Making snowflakes... (Eli took these next pictures too)

Graham cracker houses!

 
A nice warm December day!

 Getting ready to bring goodies to the neighbors...

 Christmas cards! We ran out of room by the end. I love seeing all the happy familiar faces!

 Hooray for December! I was also able to participate in a Stake Music Fireside this year. I didn't get any pictures, but it was really fun. I played a piano duet with an excellent pianist in our stake and sang in a couple numbers as well. It was fun to do something musical!