Christmas Memories

We had quite the fun weekend! On Friday evening, we headed up to Salt Lake to take the kids to Temple Square. Our first stop was at the Grand America Hotel. We loved their window displays and the cookie at the end was totally worth the trip! Amazing!

 The pastry chef's at the hotel made the huge gingerbread house! Everything is edible and it is beautiful!

 The kids got their passports and had to match the correct "Merry Christmas" phrase to the correct country. They did a good job and we loved seeing the beautiful windows!

 Waiting to get their passports stamped and their cookies! This will be a new family tradition!

 We grabbed a bite to eat at City Creek and headed over to Temple Square. We are always amazed at how many lights there are!

It was cold, but they were good little troopers. 

 Adam and Tessa love the lions on the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Every time we go there, it brings out their inner lions. Tessa was pretending to be a lion cub.

Gwennie was such a good girl and just went along without complaint. We bundled her up good and she liked all the bright lights. 

On Saturday, we had our ward Christmas breakfast. After we ate and sang some carols, a special visitor surprised the kids. Adam was so happy, he burst into tears. Sorry, Buddy-you get that from me:)

 Santa put on quite the show. He had all the kids up on stage singing, Rudolf. 

 There they are pretending to be reindeer. 

 Gwen can almost say "Ho Ho Ho". 

 Santa asked for a special helper and he chose Tessa! He told her to pretend like she was asleep while he told everyone "The Night Before Christmas". Tessa didn't move a muscle. Everyone loved watching her and my neighbor said Santa couldn't have picked a better kid for that. I don't think most people have ever seen Tessa hold that still before. 

 We waited in an eternal line to sit on Santa's lap. They said it was worth it though. 

We came home and had some fun with Santa beards. I told the kids we would write our letters to Santa next week, so they needed to narrow down their lists a bit. I swear they grow daily!
Tonight, we went to Ma and Pa's house for Advent. We have done this for years in my family and I took pictures tonight, but for some reason, my phone won't let me download them.
We have a wreath with 4 candles-one for each week of Advent. Each Sunday, my Dad (Pa) will share a special Christmas message with us and then we light a candle and sing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I am grateful that my kids are are able to participate and learn about our family traditions. For me, that's what makes the holiday season so special.
We have many more activities and adventures planned for the month. Only 2 more weeks until the "Big Day". Tessa can hardly stand the wait!

Christmas Countdown

Day 6-Reindeer Cookies

On Thursday, my little Chef's made some cute and yummy Reindeer cookies. They did most of the work themselves and the cookies turned out great!

 Gwen did what she does best....empty the cupboards.

The final product! I like that they gave some of the Reindeer freckles. 

Uncle Ben's Mission Call and Father Christmas

A big white envelope came in the mail for Uncle Ben yesterday! As soon as President Monson  announced the age change for missionaries at conference, Ben's papers were in-literally! We have all been making our guesses as to where he would be going. Last night, he got to open his call and find out!

 CHILE!!!! He will be serving in the Chile Vina del Mar mission for  2 years and reports to the Provo MTC on April 10th. My Mom was glad to hear that cause it gives him more time to earn money. The bummer part is he will miss David coming home by about 3 weeks. We thought Chile was fitting since it's Ben's favorite food.

He is excited and overwhelmed. We are so proud of him for making the decision to serve the Lord. I am glad my kids have so many missionary example to follow. We are excited for Ben!

 We got home late but the kids were expecting a visitor during the night, so they made sure their shoes were ready by the tree. Father Christmas was coming!

 They woke up to find some fun surprised in and next to their shoes. 

 Adam was thrilled to see a new hot wheels car. Cause you know, he doesn't have enough of them....

 Gwen was happy about more snacks. She loves her baby puffs!

 Tessa was so happy to get a new necklace. The first thing she said was, "Oh! It's so beautiful! Thank you, Santa!!"

 Santa also dropped off his little helper last night. Christopher Pop-in-Kins is here until Christmas to keep an eye on the kids for Santa. Adam and Tessa were so excited to see him! They have been talking for days about the places he might hide this year. 

Christmas Countdown

We started off the week with a Grinch Party! I have been so excited to do this and hope to make it an annual event from now on. Adam and Tessa made Grinch masks for the party. I think they look pretty creepy actually. 

 We had a Grinch dinner-complete with a Roast Beast, Who-hash, Who-pudding, Grinch punch, a green salad, and some broccoli. Tessa was so excited about our Grinch dinner, she even ate the Roast Beast!

 I"ll bet we have have the only Grinch who wears a crown. 

 After dinner we played "Pin the Heart on the Grinch".

 After a nice Family Home Evening lesson on the real meaning of Christmas, the kids got to enjoy their Who-pudding. 

 Day 4- The Gingerbread Game

 They rolled a dice and got to color in that number on a gingerbread man. Tessa was a little bugged that I didn't have a gingerbread girl to color. 

 Gwen just liked playing with their hats. 

It was a tie! They each ended up getting 9 squares to color.