Christmas!!!

Monday was mostly a day of preparations - however in the morning we took time for a fun little nearby museum.  There is a nearby museum called "Wings over the Rockies" that was right up his alley - so the kids and I, my cousin Julia and my dad all bundled up and headed over for a morning of fun and exploration - they have a fun area of math games that the kids just loved.  It was a fun morning - we went home and put James down for a nap, then Julia and I spent the afternoon singing at the piano.  :) 

 

In the evening, we went to Aunt Joan's house for Bagna Caulda night - a fun family tradition, followed by more singing!  We finally got the kids home and to bed with their new slippers and started getting set up for Christmas - pies made, presents set out and finally, bed time for the adults! 

Bright and early the next morning, the kids were up and ready to get going.  They had a blast digging through stockings and unwrapping stuff - they all seemed to be happy and loved what they got, so i guess we did ok :)  My big presents for the year were a serger from Dan and a Game boy 3DS from my parents.  I got Dan a bike rack and bag for his bike so that he can ride his bike to work once it warms up :)  (don't look at me like that - it was his idea)

We tried to skype with Great Grandma Penny and Aunt Pam, but had connection issues - but the kids now have a whole new wardrobe of very cute clothes :)

The rest of the week has mostly been recovering.  My parents headed home on Friday and decorations came down Saturday - now we are (not really very) quietly enjoying our vacation together - well the kids and I are - Dan has had to work to get a project done, so he's been at work every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas.... 

Last night I got to go hang out with a friend from Texas who was in the area - we had a really fun quiet night playing games and chatting!  I left to over an inch of snow on the ground - and today we have a nice soft blanket of white covering everything. 

More Holiday Fun

We've had a busy week getting ready for Christmas and company.  We had school, pre-school for Evie - helping our dear friends move, and of course Christmas activities.  The kids all had their last day of school on Thursday, I went in to volunteer to help out in Anna's classroom party - we had fun reading stories together, doing crafts and eating treats. 

Friday, we had Becky and her girls over for making Christmas cookies - Becky and Zoe and I did most of the making and decorating - my kids were still trying to meet the "you must clean up the play room before you can decorate cookies" requirement that they had been trying to meet all day.... not that the play room was that messy, but they kept forgetting that they were supposed to be cleaning.  They did finally get to decorate a couple cookies before dinner.  Then they got to pick one to eat after dinner. 

Saturday was busy with cleaning and such, in the evening, we went over to Grandpa's for a Christmas carol sing - my cousin Julia was supposed to make it in time to sing, as were my parents, however delayed flights for Julia and treacherous weather for my parents meant that neither one made it on time - they did however eventually make it safely.

Sunday we all headed to church for the Christmas program - it was beautiful!  Sara really did an amazing job of bringing everything together, even though she had hardly any time to prepare and plan!   After, Uncle Doug and Grandpa joined us and we had a great dinner of waffles and hash browns - which James insisted on helping to make! 

Holiday fun

It's been a fun and busy week. We had preschool here this week and had fun reading books and playing games and coloring. After preschool on Tuesday, I helped out one of the moms by watching her kids for a bit after preschool - when she came back to pick them up, she locked her keys in the car and had to hang out with me while she waited for her husband to come unlock it for her - I fed them lunch and as a thank you - she helped out with the pile of dishes that was the result of me forgetting to start the dishwasher the night before. Which meant that when Dan got back on Wednesday, the house was relatively clean.

Dan got back on Wednesday, just in time to make it to Eileen's concert - she has been singing with a choir at school and they had their first concert on Wednesday - she did such a good job - it was so much fun to watch her!
 

We have some good friends who are getting ready to move - I've been helping out with packing and cleaning as much as I can - on Friday, Taylee came over to spend the night and have one last sleepover - her mom was really sweet and provided some fun gingerbread stuff to decorate and the kids had a blast decorating and eating gingerbread men and trains.  And of course they had a blast just hanging out and being together.  

Saturday we went over to Grandpa's for some caroling - we walked around his retirement center and sang Christmas Carols - the kids had fun singing and enjoyed even more all the sweets that everyone was handing out.  :)  They also loved ringing the bells and making lots of noise....

After the caroling - I went to my concert and the kids went home.  The concert went really well and I really enjoyed singing with the group. 

Sunday night was Dan's company dinner - Dwayne and Nicole came with us and we had a lot of fun - I always have fun with Dwayne and Nicole and Newell and Becky - the food was really good too and we had a really nice time. 

Baby It's Cold Outside!!

Monday this week, we went out after school and work to get our Christmas Tree - we headed to Home Depot and had fun picking our tree  :)

We then took it home to decorate it - it was kinda late by that point - so we just let the kids hang their ornaments.  James mostly just wanted to play with them and it's taken a few reminders (every minute) that they aren't toys and he can't touch.   He just has such a hard time not playing with the "BALLS!"  

The kids were fighting over who would put the star on the tree - so Daddy decided that Mommy would put the star on.  So for once, there is a picture of me :) 

Tuesday, the temperatures dropped drastically and we got snow - unfortunately, the snow caused one of Dan's co-workers to slip and break his ankle - which meant that he couldn't go on the show this week and the only other person who could go was Dan - so bright and early on Thursday, Dan headed off to Florida (and somewhat warmer weather)  We have been below freezing since Tuesday - which means that there isn't a lot of ice - but by now the snow has been so packed down it is a bit slippery.  The kids have still been having fun playing outside though - and Eileen came home from school on Friday and said "Mommy, when I finish my homework and piano, can I go shovel the drive way?  Why yes, Eileen, yes you can!

Eileen and Anna were both very good shovel-ers and helpers and because they were outside, everyone else wanted to be outside too!

This little girl came inside after playing outside in the snow and she just looked so CUTE with her rosy cheeks and all bundled up in her winter clothes!!  

Saturday and Sunday have been a bit insane - Saturday I had my first Christmas concert with the Colorado Mormon Chorale - I brought meatball subs for everyone since we were gonna be there for almost 5 hours without break (mostly I made the mistake of asking the president if there were any plans for feeding people...)  

Sunday since Dan was gone, I couldn't go to ward council meeting, so I watched the kids of my counselor so that she could attend meetings - which meant that I didn't have enough room in the car, which meant that we all walked to and from church in below freezing weather - they way there wasn't so bad, it was chilly, but sunny so we made it there with cold noses, but otherwise fine.  The way home 4 1/2 hours later was not quite so nice.  It was colder and the sun was going down and all the girls were complaining horribly about being freezing before we got home (and that was with hats, scarves, gloves, snowboots, big coats, tights, and everything else we could find.  Church was eventful - as it always is with a grumpy (almost) 2 year old - but James did well as long as I was willing to hold him the whole time - then he was sweet and cuddly and quiet - but now my back and arms are a bit tired!  LOL - a good work out though!

After we got home we had hot chocolate to warm us up and nice hot oatmeal for dinner.... yeah - I was tired..... and then we put James to bed and the rest of us went downstairs to enjoy the Christmas Devotional - it was WONDERFUL!  such a wonderful way to start the Christmas holidays with our family!  It's so nice to be able to enjoy it at home with out having to drag a bunch of tired cranky kids and a cranky momma out of the house to watch it!

Home Again

We really enjoyed a fun few extra days with our Utah family - we kept very busy!  We made and played the Thanksgiving game.   

 

We helped Paul and Candace take care of their chickens - feeding them, cleaning their coop, collecting their eggs and catching them to put them back in their coop after cleaning.

We hung out at the Haymore's cabin and had all kinds of fun on swings, zip lines, ATV's and more!  (Well Dan and the older 4 hung out at the cabin - James was horrendously cranky and needed a nap. 

 We ooh and aahed and cuddled with an ADORABLE new little baby!  The kids really loved little Eliza - even James was fascinated by her and did a good job of being gentle with her. 

Poor little Evie got sick - and slept for most of 2 days, then felt mostly better :) 

 We all had a lot of fun playing outside - the weather was cool, but sunny and James had a blast with all the big boy's balls - soccer balls, basket balls, baseballs - he would have spent all his time outdoors if we let him - but the kids all spent a lot of time outdoors, playing, riding, jumping, running.  James loved getting lifted up to make a basket - he would run after the ball - walk in front of the hoop and say "help me!" 

Thursday we drove home - the kids were all sad to leave, and we are already planning another visit!  We spent the next couple days settling back in and re-stocking our fridge - The kids had oatmeal and cereal for dinner on Thanksgiving day :P  I had potato skins, I don't think Dan had anything....

Sunday we got to church early to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency - Dan got a new calling, he is now officially the Executive Secretary, which is going to mean some changes around here.