Christmas Activities

We have been having lots of fun this week with some of the Christmas activities I planned for us to do this month! On Sunday, we made more candy cane ornaments for the Christmas tree. Tessa took all the the existing candy canes from our tree and decorated her bedroom with them. She told us, "I need a Christmas room!" She is so my daughter!!

Tessa's candy cane came out very big and very colorful!

On Monday, we started a new tradition. Thanks to a good idea from The Friend, we decided to put up a paper tree in our kitchen and make ornaments for it. On the ornaments we wrote things about Jesus. We will add more ornaments to our tree every week for family home evening during the month of December.

Both kids did a good job thinking of things about Jesus, although Tessa really wanted to write "pancakes" on one of her ornaments. She is still thinking of her blessings for Tom the Turkey.

On December 5th, we have more fun family traditions! Father Christmas comes that night (my German heritage) and we added a little twist in our family and that is the night Christopher Pop-in-Kins comes to our house. Before bed, Daddy read Christopher's story and then the kids got their shoes ready for Father Christmas.

They were so excited to wake up Tuesday morning and find treats in their shoes!! They both got some candy and Adam got 2 new cars and Tess got some princess nail polish!

Seeing how excited they were made me so excited for Christmas morning!

They were SO happy to see Christopher! He stays at our house until Christmas Eve. He hides in a different spot everyday, so each morning the kids have to find him. He is Santa's special helper and watches the kids closely while he is here, making sure they are being good!

While Adam was at school on Tuesday, Tessa did this to the Nativity Scene that the kids have. It brought a tear to my eye. A good reminder of what is truly important!

Tuesday we made Santa beards and the kids had a blast with them! Their new favorite thing to do is try and trick people into thinking they are Santa.

Wednesday we made reindeer with their hands and feet. They really love it when we do these kinds of projects because they love having me smear paint all over them!

They both turned out pretty cute!

Christmas Time Is Here!!!

We finally decorated for Christmas last night! The kids have been so excited to get our Christmas tree up and we had a fun evening getting the house all festive!

I love watching Tessa try and put the branches on the tree.

Adam was a good branch fluffer!

After 7 years, we finally got a star for our tree. We told Eric he was our Bumble:)

Tessa was so helpful with the tree....her bunch of lights all got put in one general area.

Baby ornaments!

Tessa's spot on the tree where all the ornaments ended up. I let the kids decorate the tree and then "fixed" it a bit after they went to bed.

Reading stocking notes!

Having our traditional cinnamon rolls and egg nog

The last 2 years Adam has worn a Santa hat all December long...even to bed! He was so happy to find his hat in one of our Christmas boxes. Tessa got in on the fun this year. Adam was pretty bummed when I told him he couldn't wear his hat to school today.

We are so excited for Christmas this year! Not only is it my favorite time of year, but we are that much closer to holding our sweet new baby! Only 5 weeks to go!

Family Outing!

Yesterday we decided to surprise the kids with a family outing! Eric took a half day off of work and the kids were so shocked to see him come home earlier than dinner time! We surprised them by taking them up to Salt Lake for the afternoon and evening.

Our first stop was the Living Planet Aquarium. It was a free admission day, so we thought we would take advantage of that. The kids LOVED it!

We cannot get her to keep her eyes open or look at the camera when taking pictures. But, her hand is on her hip and her bum is sticking out-that's what she calls her "princess smile".

Adam loved touching the sting rays! He spent a good 10 minutes petting them. Tessa didn't want to touch any, but helped Daddy touch a few.

The penguins were a hit! We had so much fun watching them swim around.

Adam's piranha face!

After the aquarium, we surprised the kids with a train ride on Trax into downtown!

We spent some time at Temple Square, the Church History Museum and then treated the kids to a dinner out. It was so nice to get out and do something fun together! My favorite part of our evening was while we were at one of the Visitor Centers at Temple Square. Adam asked what we were supposed to be doing and I told him just being reverent and thinking about Jesus. His reply, "Well, it's really hard to think about Jesus when you are this hungry!" I love the honesty of children!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

We had quite the weekend! It might take several days to recover from it, but it was fun! We had lots of family activities going on and we kept very busy!

Thanksgiving day Adam and Eric played in my family's traditional "Turkey Bowl". Adam was so happy to finally get to play some football.

Aunt Katy and Eric trying to catch Adam

My cute boys!

Running for the touchdown!

Adam and Tessa tackling Aunt Katy

We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner thanks to lots of hard work from Mom and Dad!

Tessa's dinner consisted of a roll, some mashed potatoes, and 3 pieces of candy corn. A perfect Tessa dinner!

Friday morning Eric left early to go skiing with his family and the kids and I headed up to the mall to see a very special person fly in on Chopper 5!

They were so excited to see Santa! Adam couldn't stop giggling.

We were so thankful that it was warmer than last year!

Santa came around and said hello to each boy and girl. He got a hug from Tessa Boo.

Later that day all the cousins came over to our house to play for a while. Baby Rees got lots of attention from them!

Friday night we celebrated Mamma's birthday!

All the grandkids helped blow out the candles and then had to help pull all the candles out of the cake!

Saturday we went power tumbling! The kids had so much fun!!

After power tumbling, we headed back up to my parents house to decorate for Christmas. This was always a big tradition for my family, and even though most of us have moved out, all the kids still come home to decorate for Christmas each year.

Ares and Tessa got tired of waiting for everyone, so they started on the tree by themselves. It looked like a palm tree by the time they were finished.

After decorating we always have our traditional decorating dinner and then doughnuts, hot chocolate, and egg nog.

There was so much to be grateful for this weekend! We were happy to see so much family, spend time with so many cousins, hear big announcements, and are so thankful that Heavenly Father was watching out for Jake and Angel and their family. We are so blessed to have such loving and happy families!