Christmas Eve

The kids were so excited to wake up Christmas Eve morning! It meant they were one day closer to Christmas!!

Mommy got the mail on Christmas Eve and we were all shocked to find letters from Santa in the mail for Adam, Tessa, and Gwen! They tore them open and read what Santa had written. Each letter was personalized to each of them. Santa told Gwen he couldn't bring her a real horse because of laws and boarder regulations, but he would do his best to bring her a toy horse. 

 They couldn't believe they actually got letters from Santa!

We treated the kids that afternoon to a movie. Something we rarely do. We went and saw The Good Dinosaur. We loved it and I loved watching Tessa's face through the whole movie. She couldn't stop smiling. 

After the movie, we headed to Ma and Pa's house for some Christmas Eve fun! Aunt Katy helped the kids make luminaries and then they lit them along Ma and Pa's sidewalk. We used to do this every year. It's a tradition I miss seeing in their neighborhood. 

 Ma and Pa made a delicious Christmas dinner for all of us to enjoy. 

 We were glad to have Uncle Ben home with us this year!

 Tessa with her Christmas quesadilla. 

After dinner, the doorbell rang and to the kids surprise, they found our Elf, Christopher on the front porch with a note for them! I wish we had recorded the screams that came out of these kids! They were ecstatic!! Adam cried from laughing so hard. Christopher's note had some clean up assignments for the whole family, so we could get dinner cleaned up and all have some fun together. Christopher popped up in a few different spots during the evening, surprising the kid and bringing them treats. They loved it!

 We played some fun games. We tried to pick up marshmallows with chopsticks. 

 Christopher appeared on Pa's shoulder!

 We played a silly M&M game that didn't really work, but it was funny to watch Daddy and Danny try it. And Uncle Danny filled the house with smoke when he built a fire. We all went home smelling like we had just been on a Christmas camp out. 

 We played Christmas scattegories. It's not a Lemley party if we don't play scattegories. 

 After games, Pa read us the Christmas story and the Polar Express. Then we hurried home to get the kids ready for bed so Santa could come!

The kids quickly got their jammies on and brushed their teeth and got their reindeer food spread out in the snow. 

 They got their Santa treats and milk all ready. 

 Then they got to open their Eve books. They were so anxious to open a present!

 They were so happy about their books. Caleb got an Animal book, Gwen got a Sophia the First book, Tessa got a Dinosaur book, and Adam got a Space book. 

They got into bed so quickly so they could read for a few minutes and then get to sleep so Santa could come. Their enthusiasm was contagious. Christmas is so fun with these kids!!

It's Almost Christmas!

It's almost the big day and the kids in our house could not be more excited! Adam is trying to figure out a way to sleep all through Christmas Eve so it can be Christmas faster. We have been keeping busy with lots of Christmas activities. 

Last week, Gwen and 2 of the kids Mommy babysits painted snowflakes. They loved getting to paint (always a favorite activity) and Mommy was glad to have them occupied happily for 30 minutes. 

 Adam was worried about wearing his red Santa hat during the big BYU/Utah rivalry game last weekend. Mommy had to fix that problem and he was thrilled!

 Saturday was our fun day up at Spring Haven for the Nielson Christmas Party. We had so much fun visiting with our family. The kids were so happy to go play at the "big cabin". Some of the uncles were teasing Uncle Lynn and Uncle Kevin, saying that it's not everyday you have a general authority and a lawyer cooking you breakfast. 

 Gwen spent a good chunk of her day playing air hockey. 

 Tessa and Eve became fast friends and spent the day playing make believe together. 

 And Caleb loved the slides!!

 There is always such fun teasing and laughing during games and gift exchanges. 

 Mommy and Caleb got some quiet snuggle time.

 Mette let the girls play her harp. They were in heaven!!

We got all of our holiday baking done early this week. Yummy!!

 Monday evening, we delivered treats and presents to neighbors, friends, and primary teachers. It wore poor Gwennie out. 

 Tuesday was a snowy day, we we hunkered down and had a game day. We played domino's, jenga, Uno, and a couple others. 

 We have read almost every Christmas book we own this month. That's quite the accomplishment if you know how many Christmas books we have!!

Tessa and Gwen decided to play "Nativity" this week. Tessa told me they wanted to play it so they could feel the spirit. 

 We all loved Mary's dinosaur slippers. 

 They took their parts quite seriously. Tessa played Mary and Gwen played Elizabeth. Adam and Caleb had to play all the boy parts of the story, so they were busy with frequent costume changes. 

Mommy made reindeer pancakes for breakfast. Adam was really the only one happy to see them. Both girls only like butter on their pancakes. 

 We had our friends over for some last minute cookie decorating for Santa. Mommy came up with some fun cookie designs and the kids decorated their own cookies. I'm pretty sure more frosting ended up in their bellies than on any cookies. 

We started something new this year and put up what we call our Jesus tree. It has ornaments with names of the Savior and pictures to correlate with those names. For a couple of weeks now, we have added a new ornament and picture to the tree and talked about our Savior each day leading up to Christmas. It has brought such a special spirit into our home and the kids have asked me several times if we can do this every year. I am so grateful that they have loved it as much as I have!