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!!

Adam's Tooth

 Last Tuesday, Adam finally lost his top front tooth! It has been loose for weeks and he has been anxiously waiting for it to fall out. It fell out while he was at school. He got a little tooth necklace to keep it in, but sadly, his tooth fell out of the necklace during recess, so he didn't get to bring his actual tooth home. Luckily, the Tooth Fairy still came and brought him a dollar. I love how he looks without his tooth and love to hear him lisp when he talks. 

Christmas Time Is Here!!!

We didn't waste any time this weekend getting ready for Christmas! Early Friday morning, we headed up to the mall to watch Santa fly in on Chopper 5. Poor Gwen got car sick right as we pulled in to the mall parking lot. Thankfully it wasn't too cold, so she was ok without her hat and coat that she barfed on. She perked up quickly and was so excited to see Santa.

Ma, Pa, and Uncle David came and joined us for the big event!

Gwen was excited to meet the bear from Build-a-Bear.

Adam and Tessa remember from past years to hang on to their hats, close their eyes and hold on to something when the helicopter lands. Gwen was not a fan of Santa landing.

They waited very patiently for their turn to say hi to Santa.

They got so visit with some of Santa's elves while we waited.

Gwen was excited to see Santa! He commented on her very blue eyes.

We came home and got to work on our house! Adam got to help hang the Christmas lights.

We have good tree fluffers.

Gwen was excited to see the tree go up and Tessa was excited to find some favorite decorations. She and Adam didn't waste any time putting on their favorite Christmas hats.

These kids did a great job decorating the tree!

Gwen was on day two of no naps and by the time we were done decorating our house she had had enough. But that face! It's so sad, but so cute all at the same time!

Reading our stocking notes. 

One of our traditions is to have doughnuts and hot chocolate when we decorate for Christmas. I got creative this year and came up with these cute reindeer doughnuts.

Saturday morning, we headed back up to Ma and Pa's house to help  them decorate their house for Christmas. Gwennie still isn't sure about Uncle Danny.

Tessa was the last one decorating the tree. She wouldn't leave until every last ornament was on the tree.

Gwen's new favorite thing to do is to pretend to change her dolls diapers. She pulls out the wipes and wipes their bums. Sometimes she even tries to put some ointment on them. Or, she chases Adam or Tessa around the house trying to put ointment on them. Saturday night she was playing with the rabbit, Hocus Pocus, and decided to change his diaper. The fact that she was wearing a Yoda Santa hat made it all the cuter.