Gingerbread Houses and Hot Chocolate Party

Last night for Family Home Evening, we had the Riley's over to make gingerbread houses with us!

 Tessa helped me get all the candy ready. We had quite the spread! I made all the houses ahead of time and the frosting was ready to go in bags, so the kids just jumped right in!

We have some creative kids! Their houses all tuned out amazing! We enjoyed spending the evening with our wonderful friends. Actually, we consider them family more than anything! We filled our bellies with yummy hot chocolate, the kids played, and the mommy's and daddy's got to catch up on life. We are so thankful for the Riley' and are glad they came over for a fun evening!

A Kiddo Update

 Today was our ward Primary Program. Adam and Tessa both memorized their parts and did really well when it was their turn! Adam said, "Heavenly Father wants me to pray to Him often, anytime, anywhere". Tessa said, "Our life has a plan and it began in Heaven."

Adam is excited to have another loose tooth. He asks me daily if he can go play basketball on our very frozen driveway. He reads multiple books at a time and just finished his first Harry Potter book.

Tessa is full of imagination. We are constantly playing dress up, or shopping, or library, or kitty cats, or clubhouse, or having tea parties. She is reading so well. She loves to write love notes to people.

 Gwen might seriously drive me crazy!! She has been my most difficult 2 year old! And, she's not even 2 yet!!! We thought Tessa was independent. Gwen has given Tessa a run for her money!! She is constantly into something or trying to do something she knows she shouldn't. I feel like 5 minutes after she's awake, I am already out of patience for the day. She is lucky she is so cute!!

 She loves to dress up! We often find her wandering around the house in a tutu, a crown, high heels and as much jewelry as she can get away from Tessa. 

 She wanted to go play in the snow with Adam and Tessa, but for some reason the snow freaked her out and she wouldn't even go outside. She looked cute all bundled up. 

 Her biggest news is that she is binky free! I wasn't mentally prepared to do it yet and there are times I want to give it back to her, but she has done so well without it and it's nice not having to keep track of her one and only binky. She's dying to use the potty, but I know for sure I am not ready to start that adventure!

 Gwen loves her big sister and wants to do everything Tessa does. They both loved their new dresses for church and had to wear matching butterfly necklaces. I hope they grow up to be best friends. They already fight over clothes and accessories, so I can only imagine how fun the next 10-15 years are going to be!

Christmas Countdown

We started our Christmas countdown activities a few days ago. On Monday, the kids wrote their letters to Santa. Gwen colored him and nice picture. Adam and Tessa were anxious to get their lists to him!

 Wednesday we made snowflakes to decorate our windows. 

 Friday we made our traditional reindeer cookies. They were gobbled up quickly!

With the yucky weather this week, we have also enjoyed time coloring Christmas pictures, watching some of our favorite Christmas movies and reading our favorite Christmas books. The kids are looking forward to seeing what is planned for next week!

Father Christmas and Christopher Pop-in-Kins

Last night the kids left their shoes under the tree for Father Christmas to fill! They weren't disappointed when they woke up this morning to find treats and treasures. 

 Father Christmas also left our Elf behind. Christopher will be watching the kids until Christmas! 

 Adam and Tessa have been dying for these toys called, Robofish. They each got one and a shoe full of candy!

 Gwennie got some coloring books and crayons and candy. She didn't waste anytime eating her chocolate. 

A happy start to their day! We love our Christmas traditions!

Meeting the Pioneer Woman

I have been looking forward to this past Tuesday for weeks and weeks! Eric took the day off so I could have a much needed mommy day away. My plan was to leisurely make my way to Salt Lake where I would spend the day shopping and treating myself to a yummy dinner. Well, my "day off" ended up being one of the most stressful days of my life! Thank you arctic weather! 

Katy and I found out that Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, would be in Salt Lake for a book signing this past Tuesday. We ordered our books, circled the day on our calendars about a a billion times ( I was a little excited) and have been counting down the days. I didn't think the snow would put such a damper on our fun day, but it did-a bit. All of my extra plans got tossed out the window, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to try driving to Salt Lake in our awful weather. I gave it a shot and while the roads were completely horrible, we managed to make our way to Salt Lake to meet Ree. 

This was our view the entire 2 hour drive to Salt Lake. Yes, I said 2 hours-and that's from Orem! We didn't go faster than 15 mph the entire time we were on the freeway. But honestly, I was ok with that!

 We made it to the bookstore alive and got our hands on this gem! I have been so excited to get this!

 Since we had pre-ordered our books, we had "priority" tickets, which meant we only had to wait in line to meet Ree and get our books signed for about 35 minutes.

There she is!!!! 

We actually were standing by the front of the bookstore when she walked in. I was expecting her to have some sort of entourage, but it was just her. The first thing I said when I saw her was. "She's really real!". She was so nice and friendly to everyone as she made her way to her signing spot. She told us all we should have been shaking our fingers at her for being a few minutes late. 

 We're getting closer!!

 I went blank as soon as it was our turn, but really, what do you say? She's no diva and that makes her all the more awesome! She told me she liked my coat and we decided we must be distantly related because of our red hair. She was so nice and easy going and it was so fun to meet her! I want to be her when I grow up-minus the whole living on a ranch thing. I don't think I could do that as gracefully as she does!

We stopped for a quick bite to eat on the way home and then started our journey southbound. It only took me an hour and a half to get to Spanish Fork, and that's with dropping Katy off. So, going home was a little bit better. In the end, I am glad that we went and met Ree. I have a lot of new recipes to try and I can't wait to get started!!