Decorating for Christmas

Friday evening, we got out box after box and put up our Christmas decorations. The kids love putting the tree up. (Someday I'll have a real one again.) Tessa is excellent at separating out all of the branches and Adam does a good job of fluffing.  

 They were thrilled to find the box with their hats and headbands! Caleb was not so thrilled.

 My little Readers didn't waste a minute once the Christmas books came out. 

 Christmas movies galore! We will be well entertained this month. 

 Gwen was happy to find all of her movie friends. 

 They are always so excited to hang their very own ornaments. 

 Gwennie loved that her picture was on an ornament.

 Our favorite part of decorating for Christmas is reading out stocking notes. Gwen decided to try and wear her stocking as an actual sock. 

 Daddy helped the girls read their notes. Tessa was grossed out that one of her goals was to try a fruit. Needless to say, that one didn't happen. 

 All done and so happy to celebrate this wonderful time of year!

 Our traditional cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate and/or egg nog after decorating. They watched the Grinch and Gwen was so enthralled, I don't think she blinked once.

 Saturday morning, Daddy, Adam and Teddy Elephant put up our Christmas lights. 

 That evening we went back to Ma and Pa's house for more tree decorating. 

It was a fun and festive weekend!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

The Friday morning after Thanksgiving, we always go up to the University Mall to see Santa fly in on his (a) helicopter. We have been doing this for years and it's something the kids always look forward to. Ma and Pa met us this year. Gwen was so anxious to see Santa!

Poor Pa getting attacked by Adam photo bombing. 

The girls were thrilled to see some special Princesses were waiting for Santa too. Elsa and Anna were there too, but the line to see them was ridiculous. 

Caleb was not impressed with our early morning family outing. Especially since it was his nap time. 

Santa finally arrived and the kids waited very patiently for their turn to say hi to him and give him a hug. Santa is always good to stop for pictures!

Her dream came true and she got to see Santa!

Mrs. Claus was there too and reminded the kids that Santa checks his list often. 

On our way home that afternoon, we passed a horrible accident. It was on our off ramp, so we couldn't get off the freeway when we needed to. It looked like a tanker truck and later we learned that a tanker truck full of fuel, slid off the freeway and exploded. People in our neighborhood heard the explosion. Other motorists who were there when it happened, jumped out and saved the driver. He is up at the burn unit in Salt Lake, but the fact that he is alive after seeing this accident is nothing short of a miracle. It was humbling to drive by this scene and it was a good teaching moment for the kids as to why we always wear our seat belt and obey the speed limit. We missed the initial explosion by minutes. We kind of felt like someone had been watching out for us. 

Thanksgiving 2014

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we always go to Ma and Pa's house for our Pre-Thanksgiving Family Dessert Night. We always have fun visiting with our extended family and getting to see our cousins. Tessa and I made our favorite turkey cookies to share with everyone. 

Adam writing to Uncle Ben

Then our week got not so fun as we all (at some point) came down with a nasty virus. Adam and Tessa missed 2 days of school which they were not happy about. 

Our final look at Tom the Turkey this year. He got so many feathers! 

Our countdown activities were kind of a bust with everyone getting sick. The kids ended the week with some Turkey Target Shooting.

Thanksgiving morning was spent playing games, watching the parade and preparing some yummy food. We made these fun Pilgrim hat cookies. 

I'm so thankful for these cuties!

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon and evening at Mamma and Bampa's house. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. 

This bad mommy forgot to take any pictures of this little guy alone on his first Thanksgiving. So a bedtime selfie with Mommy will have to do. 

Christmas Time is Here!!

On Friday, Adam and Tessa both woke up sick and missed their first day of school. They were not happy campers! We had a very lazy day and by the evening, we were all going a little crazy. We had been planning on attending the Lighting at the Riverwoods that evening, but when everyone woke up sick, I figured we wouldn't make it this year. 

However, we decided to go and get out of the house for a bit. We had so much fun seeing Santa arrive and seeing all the millions of Christmas lights turn on all at once. Gwen loved it! It was nice to get out as a family and enjoy the beginning of the holiday season!