More Christmas Countdown Activities

I can't remember what numbers each of these activities go with, so we are going to stick to the days of the week. Eric asked Adam this past weekend what some of his favorite Christmas traditions were and he said that our countdown activities are one of his top 3 favorite things to do at Christmas time. That made me so happy to hear!! My hard work has paid off. 

Last Monday, we had the Riley's over for another fun gingerbread house making party. I love watching the kids work so hard on their houses and I love hearing them all play together. I am so thankful we have such good friends that are really more like family.

 Adam made a school house, Tessa was most proud of her pumpkin patch, and Gwen loves the funny face on the side of her house.

 I'm so thankful for this beautiful girl!! We have been friends for almost 15 years. Crazy how fast time has gone. 

 Wednesday we started a new tradition that I will have to improve upon, but we had a North Pole dinner. Everything we ate was red and green. We even made our spaghetti noddles green! My dream is to have Christmas dishes someday to make these fun meals more festive.

 Thursday was Festival of Lights! The kids loved seeing all the lights. We missed not having any snow though. Afterwards we took Daddy out to Salem Pond to show him those lights too.

 Friday night, we had our Polar Express party. Forgot to take pictures.

 Saturday we went to Spring Haven for the Nielson Family Christmas Party. We had a wonderful time as always and the kids loved having a pinata to destroy this year. It was fun to spend time with our wonderful Nielson family!!

This weekend we also had a reindeer breakfast, complete with reindeer pancakes and reindeer milk. 

4 Months Old

This adorable little boy turned 4 months old yesterday. Where does the time go?! He got sick about 2 weeks ago and for some reason, that made him forget how to eat all over again. So, the last 2 weeks have been a struggle, but other than that, he is seriously the most perfect and happiest baby you will find. He has discovered his shrieking voice, his tongue and his feet. He loves to see his siblings and he loves to see his Daddy walk in the door after work. Our Caleb is simple delightful!!

Saturday Adventures

Our activity for Saturday was to head up to Salt Lake to see the Christmas windows at the Grand America and then head over to Temple Square to see the lights. 

We loved the windows this year! Gwen was hard to keep wrangled, but the older two loved them.

 Gwen showing us the lights outside. 

 This giant gingerbread house is made from real gingerbread!!!! It was crazy amazing!

 Getting to Temple Square was the adventurous part of our evening. We got stuck in horrible downtown traffic. It took us over 30 minutes to get from the hotel to even close to Temple Square. Then we got stuck in a protest marching down from the State Capitol (hence the traffic). Then once we finally got parked, Gwen barfed all over the parking lot. And finally every person in the state of Utah seemed to be at Temple Square that night. It was so packed we couldn't get to anything. We eventually made our way to the very edge of Temple Square by the Church Office Building so we could take some pictures. We go every year and have never seen crowds like that. It was nuts, but it will definitely be a year we remember. 

Gwen was amazed by the lights and the "Castle Temple". The older kids were really sad we didn't get to see the nativity or go into any visitor centers. We might have to go up during an afternoon so they can see those things this year. All in all, the lights were beautiful and despite the crowds, it was nice to feel the peace of Temple Square. (Especially after getting caught in an angry protest.)

 We had a fun evening together making new memories.

Saturday Surprises!

Friday night, the kids put their shoes under the Christmas tree for Father Christmas to fill. Mommy had a rough night with little sleep and so Daddy got up with the kids the next morning to see what was in their shoes. They were happy to find shoes full of treats!

 They were also so happy to find that Father Christmas had left Christopher Pop-in-kins behind to keep an eye on the kids until Christmas. 

 Tessa was the first to spot him!

 They wasted no time unloading and tasting their loot. 

 After a minute of being downstairs, someone started knocking on the front door. Tessa had actually tried telling us before all the kids were awake that someone had been ringing the doorbell, but we told her she must have been hearing things cause no one should have been ringing the doorbell at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. 

When Eric was downstairs with the kids he heard the knocking, so he opened the door and they found Aunt Katy standing on the porch!!!! She wasn't supposed to fly home until Wednesday evening, but she was sneaky and surprised the whole family by telling us the wrong date. The kids were so excited to see her and after about 30 minutes Eric came and woke me up so I could see her. He woke me up and told me to look at the pictures he had taken of the kids. I am not going to lie, I was a little annoyed because I was deliriously tired. I tried to open my eyes and when he showed me the pictures with Katy and Gwen I was totally confused. It was a fun surprise though and I am glad she is home for the holidays!

  And like a good Aunt, she brought doughnuts for the kids for breakfast. Tessa and Gwen only ate the frosting, as always.