Exercise is Good...So are Pants

This has been a fairly typical fun and busy week.  Monday the kids didn't have school because of President's Day, however, Anna, Aaron and Evelyn all spent at least some part of the day at the school for the UIL competition.  

Tuesday, I went to work out as usual and David had a blast playing with his friends.  In the afternoon, Anna had a track meet while I took Aaron and Evelyn to piano lessons.  Anna did well in her track meet!  Here she is passing a couple girls in the last lap!  Dan also had an Elders Quorum activity in the evening. 

Wednesday was fun!  We had a homeschool field trip to the Animal Shelter.  Eileen and David both really seemed to enjoy it.  Then we headed home to have lunch with Dana and Addy and Aria.  We had a fun lunch and play time with the kids.  Then we had youth activities in the evening and Dan had some fun hanging out with his friends. 

Thursday was choir for me and Eileen and Anna.  It was wonderful!  I came home rather exhausted, but I loved it!

Friday morning, after helping get kids to school, Dan took off for Austin for a quick work trip.  He wasn't going to be gone too long thankfully!  He did a great job - well enough that he was asked to go do it again in Florida - that same weekend.  He said no.  I'm so glad to be married to a man who puts his family first!  He came safely home on Saturday afternoon!  Anna had her Solo and Ensemble competition Friday evening - she got the highest possible score! 

Saturday was a slow sort of day.  The kids all slept in, so we had a nice quiet morning.  Then Anna and I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon making her second pair of pants - she now wants to make enough pants to be able to wear them every day of the week!  We had both really been enjoying this time together and Anna has really been enjoying learning to sew and make her own clothes. 

So this week was the first week of the competition that Mom's personal trainer is doing, so I've been trying to make an effort to be more consistent in my exercising.  I tried working out on the Ring Fit one afternoon, but having the kids "help" and make other comments drove me nuts.  However watching David try to do the exercises with me was adorable :)  He's such a sweetie - as long as he gets his nap!  :) 

Sunday was a wonderful day!  Church was great - the talks were great!  The primary kids did a great job listening and singing and I got to spend Junior primary snuggling with a sweet little sunbeam who was a little nervous about being there.  After, we had fun playing games together and chatting and reading scriptures. 

Music and Love

It's been a crazy busy week!  Monday was the recording session with MCO.  Julie Ann and I headed out around the same time Dan took the kids to school and headed down to the Meyerson Center.  We were there from 9 am to 8:30 pm with a lunch and dinner break, plus a couple short breaks here and there for bathroom and sitting down.  The youth of the choir (Including Eileen and Anna) arrived around 4:30 and then we finished up the last two songs that had the youth in them and even got out a few minutes before the scheduled end time of 8:30.  After, we hurried out to take Julie Ann to the airport for her flight home, then I got the kids some food, then dropped off our carpooling friends and finally headed home to collapse on our beds.  It was a crazy, busy and wonderful day! 

Dan was amazing and took everything on by himself today - he even made waffles with David for breakfast.  Now David is obsessed with cooking and wants to help with everything we make in the kitchen.  If he sees us starting to make something, he goes right to the stool and drags it over to the counter and waits to help! 

Tuesday was much harder than I realized it would be.  I was so tired and sore.  I did our usual workout and it seemed so much harder than usual after a long crazy day of recording!  We still had a great time and David had fun playing with friends.  Then after I put David down for his nap - I put myself down for one too!  In the afternoon, we had piano lessons, robotics and then in the evening, Evelyn had a meeting about middle school.  She was so excited and had a blast. 

David loves to help set the table - and as part of that, he gets water for everyone!  It is so sweet!  He doesn't usually get very much in each cup, but it's so sweet of him to serve everyone that way!! 

Wednesday was a crazy day.  David and I were out running errands all morning.  We had library books to return, repairs to pick up, craft projects to prepare and more.  After school, the kids had primary and youth activities.  We made pipe cleaner ninjas with the boys and since then, that is all James wants to do, we not have an army of pipe cleaner ninjas around the house. 

Thursday morning, David and I went to a little Valentine's Day party with some friends from the ward.  We had a great time playing together and eating lunch together and giving each other valentines.   Thursday evening was choir practice again.  It was great! 

Friday was Valentine's Day.  Dan had heart shaped biscuits for us for breakfast and I had gotten some candy for the kids.  In the evening, Eileen watched the kids, Anna went to babysit for another family in the ward and Dan and I went out on a date.  We had a yummy dinner, then went and walked around the game store until we picked something. 

Saturday morning, Anna and I went to work out with Mom and Sandi, then we headed home and Dan went for a run and the kids and I did a bit of clean up before our babysitter got her and we went with Eileen, Anna and Aaron to the temple.  It was a wonderful evening with them!  After we went to Chili's for dinner and dessert.  We had a lot of fun chatting with them and goofing off with them. 

Church today was wonderful!  It's been nice getting to sit with the kids.  Primary went well - the kids were pretty well behaved!  in the afternoon, we had a family from the ward over for dinner.  We had a fun time eating and chatting with them.  Then Eileen, Anna and Aaron headed for a Stake Youth fireside.  After our friends went home, we got kids to bed and played some games with Evelyn and chatted with Dan's parents.  Jessica had her baby tonight!!  She is so beautiful! 

Snow?

Once again, I was awful at taking pictures this week.  It was mostly a week full of the usual busy-ness.  School and extra-curricular activities, piano lessons, robotics, choir, UIL, band, track, seminary.  

Wednesday youth activities were cancelled for weather.  We got a tiny bit of snow - such a tiny bit that if I had tried to take a picture of it, no one would have realized there was snow in the picture... so I didn't bother.  But it was enough to have David running all over the house yelling "It NOWING!!!!!" over and over again.  His enthusiasm was adorable.  :)  The rest of us were a bit sad to have the youth activities cancelled though.  :(  

Thursday was choir and it was wonderful!  Friday evening, Dan and I went to the temple and did some sealings.  It was a so wonderful to finally get those families sealed together!  We grabbed a quick dinner on our way home, then I headed out to practice the organ.  Evelyn and James went to go sleepover at their cousins house.  They had a awesome time, but they came home very tired and a bit cranky.  

On Saturday, I went to work out with my Mom and Sandi and my Dad took Evie and James and Taz and Kai on a walk while we worked out.  Anna and Eileen and Aaron went to the temple with some friends and then stopped at IHOP on the way home.  Dan attempted a long run in training for his marathon, but he struggled a bit and came home a little early.  I went to practice on the organ again, then we collapsed!  

Church was wonderful - the talks given were wonderful!  Primary was a little crazy today, but we survived.  After, we had a "Linger Longer" with lots of yummy food!  We cooked and brought 8 lbs of pulled pork - it all disappeared.  Evie also made cookies to bring - those also vanished.  It was lots of fun though.  Dan and I went with Aaron so he could get set apart as the Secretary in the Deacon's presidency.  It was wonderful!  because we were late, we almost missed our pulled pork!  :)  After, we had a primary teacher training meeting, Anna stayed to help watch kids during the meeting, then she and I headed down to the airport.  I signed up to help host one of the visiting orchestra members for the recording tomorrow, so we picked her up from the air port.  Turns out she also crochets, so we had a fun chat about things we have made and shared pictures and projects - Evie and Eileen also had fun showing off their projects.  We had a low key snack session instead of a real dinner, then had fun playing games for a bit before putting kids to bed.  Now I need sleep before tomorrow's recording session!

Back to the Norm....

Well apparently I did a bad job at taking pictures this week...  Grandma and Grandpa Jones headed home early Monday morning - everyone was sad to see them go - especially David.  Our week proceeded with it usual busy stuff - laundry on Monday, school, Family Home Evening, and more laundry on Monday. 

A lady in our ward was looking for some one to turn a logo into a vector file for her, I told her I could, so I spent some time in the evening working on that.  Then she came over on Tuesday to help with David so I could work on it some more.  It was a doodled pictures with lots of little parts, so it took some work, but I finally got it done on Wednesday.  Tuesday was also my work out class in the morning, piano lessons after school and Anna's robotics club, plus Anna had meetings about getting ready for High School. 

Wednesday, the youth had their activities - they had a great time.  The girls were doing a family history activity and they were supposed to bring a food from their family - Eileen made and brought Shortbread cookies.  mmmm  I practiced on the organ and then we headed home with out forgetting Aaron :) 

Thursday was choir, rehearsal was great and I got so spend a couple minutes chatting with Megan.  Her daughter is singing with the choir this year - and both girls are excited to get to be there together.  Eileen keeps saying that we need to have them over so we can hang out outside of choir so they can actually talk.  :) 

The kids had Friday off school.  Except Eileen.  So Anna and Aaron had a youth temple trip in the morning - they needed help with driving the kids down, so I offered.  David came with me so Eileen could get her work done.  Anna and her friends schemed together to be in a different vehicle than their younger brothers who are all new deacons.  It was pretty funny.  :)  They were even willing to give up the heated van to avoid the dreaded younger brothers.  While the youth did baptisms, David and I walked around the temple grounds and waited in the van watching Thomas the Tank Engine and he even went to the bathroom in the temple.  He was very excited about his temple trip and has been talking about it ever since - the "going potty in the temple" part was a big hit apparently....  He cracks me up - but I'm glad it was a special experience for him! 

In the evening, Dan got home a little early to get Aaron ready for their camp-out that night.  They had a great time with a good sized group of young men and their dads.  They even got to sleep in cabins and the weather was nice, so I don't think Dan minded it too much!  Anna and I went out so she could spend some of her hard earned money on some art supplies.  Somehow we instead ended up getting patterns and fabric to make her some pants....  but not the art supplies... 

Saturday morning, Eileen was willing to watch her younger siblings so Anna and I could go work out with Sandi and Grandma.  Mark was there this week, and he kicked our butts....  We got home and Eileen had dozed off on the couch, so I asked her if she was feeling well and sent her to bed - she slept most of the day, so I think she wasn't feeling great, but Evie was very helpful with David, so it worked out ok.  Dan and Aaron went to help someone in the ward with an antenna, then he went for a run.  Anna was very eager to get to work on her pants, so we got to work and I realized that with the type of fabric she had picked, it would be best to surge the edges, but my serger needed new blades, so we took it to a local repair place and I spent a crazy amount of money to get it fixed up and tuned.  Then I took Anna to the one craft shop that had been closed the night before for the art supplies she wanted.  We got home and had a yummy dinner together.  Then I took a bath and Dan watched a movie with Eileen. 

Church today was great - it was nice to be able to sit with my family - Evie was complaining last week that I never get to sit with them, so she was excited.  We had a great evening after church, Anna and I worked some more on her pants - getting patterns cut out, then Dan and I went on a walk with the four younger kids - the weather was just perfect!  I love Sundays!! 

James turns 8

This has been an eventful week for us!  Monday the kids were off school.  We mostly took it easy, but Grandma and Grandpa came up during the afternoon to take the boys out for ice cream.  Then they took Aaron to pick out a present.  (James' present was going to come after his birthday)  He picked out two huge nerf guns which now reside in our back yard and the boys have fun jumping on the trampoline and shooting each other.  They have been having a blast together though. 

Tuesday was the now usual crazy - school, work out class, play time, Robotics, piano lessons.  In addition to all that, I had a hair appointment, so after the work out class, David played for a little bit, then we headed down to Frisco.  Everyone loves David there - he is such a sweet and well behaved boy usually and he just charms everyone. 

On the way home, I stopped at Micheal's to drop off the pressed cross stitches which still didn't look as good as they would stretched, but they had told me they couldn't stretch them and still put them in the frame and while I know how to stretch, I don't know anything about framing.  Thankfully, there was someone who knew more what he was doing when I went there this time.  He said he would stretch them for me and fix the matting and that we could replace the mats in the older ones to match for a cheap price.  So I left the new ones and said I would bring all the others in later in the week.   

That evening, Dan had an Elder's Quorum activity that he wanted to be able to go to.  So we hurried through dinner so he could go.  Eileen had been having a hard time with a math problem, so she took it to Dan who also couldn't figure it out, so Dan took it with him to the activity, turns out that the only other person who came was an Electrical Engineer and between them, they figured it out.  Eileen was so much happier after that and Dan had a great time getting to know him and working together to solve the problem.

Wednesday was great!  After school, it was kind of a crazy rush to get things ready for the Primary Boys activity, and in the craziness, I lost track of time and forgot to pick up Aaron from his UIL practice.  I finally got him home in just enough time to eat a quick dinner before taking Evie and James in to their activities.  The boys and I brainstormed ideas for future activities, then we made monster bookmarks and played some games.  The boys really seemed to like the bookmarks - James kept wanting to make more even after we got home.  It was cute!  Dan picked up the younger kids, dropped off the older ones and then I stayed and practiced organ.  Then I almost left Aaron again - I'm still getting used to having to take three kids home from the Youth activities....  Sigh... poor Aaron.  

Thursday was James' birthday!  My little boy isn't so little anymore.  Anna was decorating his cake for him - he gave her 5 different ideas for his birthday cake - he just couldn't seem to settle on one thing, so she picked the one that would be easiest to decorate.  She got up early on Thursday to get the rest of the decorating done, but it looked amazing!  

The girls and I had choir practice Thursday evening, so poor James didn't get as much excitement on his birthday as he wanted, but he did get pizza and ice cream and cake.  

Friday, Dan took the day off work, so he and I spent the morning running errands together.  He needed to make a stop for work, and we ran by Costco and got the boys suits for their birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa.  Then we ran by Michael's so I could drop off the other cross stitches, at first the girl there was going to charge me $90 for the matting that the other guy had quoted me as costing $10.  Thankfully he was there and came by in time for me to get everything straightened out.  Now we just need to wait on the pick up.  

I went to get the kids from school while Dan went to see a doctor before heading down to the airport to get his parents.  Turns out Dan's mild cough and stuffiness had turned into a sinus infection, so he got some prescriptions which I tried and failed to pick up after half an hour of waiting.  So we finally all got home and had dinner together.  Grandma and Grandpa gave David his new quilt - it's BEAUTIFUL!  I gave her free reign, and I love the colors and pattern she chose!  And so does David!  

David loves having them around - he wants to sit with them, play with them, do snuggle time with them, have them get him dressed.  All things he usually only lets mommy do.   We spent what was left of the evening playing games and eating more cake and getting things ready for the baptism. 

James' baptism was wonderful.  He was so happy!  And the wonderful thing is seeing him trying to keep those covenants he's made!  He is such a sweet boy!  We are so grateful for the friends and family who were able to come and those who were with us in spirit.  

We spent the rest of our Saturday chatting and having fun together.  My parents came over for a bit after the baptism to chat.  We played lots of games and had a yummy chicken noodle soup dinner.  Then more games and chatting before the kids went to bed.  Then I went to practice the organ for a bit and Dan played with Dwayne.  

Church was wonderful!  Aaron gave his first talk and looked so good in his new suit and tie!  Dan let him borrow his pocket watch to wear in his vest!  He was feeling pretty good!  He did a wonderful job on his talk, and while he felt a little nervous, he didn't let it show!  My organ playing went mostly well.  Eileen directed the music and did a great job despite having a very hard song to direct!  Primary was wonderful - though James wasn't happy because his baptism book wasn't ready for him yet.  He sulked a bit, but I was glad.  Since I was playing piano during the baptism, I didn't have time to write him a note, so I was able to write one today and stick it in with the others.  

After, we went home for a yummy pancake dinner and some fun games and a beautiful walk around the neighborhood.  The weather has been perfect for going on walks this weekend!  David is really going to miss Grandma and Grandpa when they go home tomorrow.  It has been so wonderful having them here this weekend!  

Music, The Temple and a Wedding...Oh My!

We had a bit of a crazy week.  Monday was the usual sort of day it usually is.  Laundry, grocery shopping, school, seminary, and FHE.  Tuesdays have become regularly crazy.  There are all sorts of early drop-offs for the kids for extra-curricular activities.  Then David and I head to the church for the work out class and play time.  Then in the afternoons there are piano lessons and now Anna is doing Robotics which meets after school on Tuesdays.  So we scramble to get everywhere and then come home for dinner. 

Wednesday morning, I had some errands to run, and one of them was a stop at Michael's.  Dan had taken some needlepoint to get framed and they had framed them and sent them back to us with the folds in the fabric still clearly visible.  I was rather frustrated, so I took them back in hoping they would be willing to get these fixes done with out re-charging us for them.  Thankfully they were at least not going to charge, but they said they couldn't press it or stretch it as is usually done, so I took them home to press them and they will put them back in when I bring them back.

This week, we had MCO rehearsal on Wednesday.  And we needed to be there a bit earlier than usual.  There was a parents meeting before and both Stewart brothers were there to ring in the new season.  Rehearsal was a ton of fun - The Grand Chorus got voiced and it was amazing!  Plus he said I have a gorgeous voice!  :)  This season is going to be amazing, I'm so glad the girls get to participate in this!  plus, it ended early enough for them to still get to go to most of the youth activity that night.

Since choir was on Wednesday night, we had Thursday night open and used it to go to the temple.  Dan and I headed out after getting the kids some dinner, and had a wonderful time serving in the temple.  We stopped for a quick Ramen dinner on the way home, then got home and collapsed for a bit before bed. 

David has become obsessed with Play-dough lately.  But it keeps him happy and busy for nearly half an hour, so it's worth it the clean up.

While we were going to the temple, Anna realizes that Evie isn't her usual happy, bubbly self and tries to talk to her about it.  Evie doesn't want to talk to her about it.  She manages to get from James that Evie has been bullied some at school.  She finally gets Evie to open up to her about it - some girls have been calling her fat (I don't know any healthy kid who is further from fat than she is) and she was feeling very upset about the whole thing.  Anna handles this all like a pro while we are gone.  After, she asks if she can get Evie a journal and decorate it for her so she can use it to get through this.  So on Friday evening after all-region, I took her to Walmart to get the journal and decoration supplies, (I also took Evie to get a present for a birthday party on Saturday - then we had to try to hid the stuff from Evie!) Then Anna stayed up late that night decorating the journal's cover for her and putting inspirational quotes on the inside to help cheer her up.  My momma's heart was just swelling with love and pride for this amazing young woman and her thoughtfulness and her desire to use her talents to bless her family! 

Friday was the beginning of a busy weekend.  After getting the kids off to school, David and I headed over to the church to help a friend set up for her daughter's wedding.  His friend Addy was there with her mom also, so he had a blast running around and playing while we set up.  We had lunch with them then headed home so David could nap.  Anna had all-region band practice all day at the high school. 

Saturday began nice and crazy.  I started out the day with a quick musical number rehearsal with Brihana, then I was at the church all morning and most of the afternoon.  I was helping set up the wedding luncheon and then making sure everything was ready for the wedding.  It was kind of crazy watching the wedding party - they seemed so young (granted they are young - they are right out of high school) but it made me feel rather old!  Dan wasn't very nice and said "You know it could be just 5 years before we are looking at this."   Thankfully I don't think Eileen is the type to get married early.  Or Anna for that matter.  Life goes so fast sometime.  The wedding and reception were beautiful - I helped with set up and food prep and making sure the food didn't run out and had fun chatting with friends and trying not to cry - apparently I'm one of those people who always cry at weddings....  It was all beautiful though and our bishop did a great job with his first wedding.  After, we left to head to Anna's all-region band concert.  She was first chair trumpet in the concert band!  They did an amazing job!   We got to sit right up close to her, which was fun!

We came home and had some dinner and got kids to bed before Dan took Anna and some friends down to her first youth dance!  She called two of her friends from church and offered a ride and they had a blast together! 

Sunday was ward conference.  The talks were wonderful - my organ playing went pretty well, and my musical number went well.  I'm always amazed at how much better it goes in church, than it does when I'm practicing.  The Lord helps magnify my meager efforts to bring the spirit into the meeting!  After church, we met with the Stake Presidency for a little bit.  It was a great Sabbath day! 

Back to School

The weather was beautiful on Monday, so we used one of the last days of freedom to go to the zoo.  Anna was babysitting Taz and Kai, so I offered to pick them up and take them with us.  So we all had a fun time at the zoo, we rode the monorail and the carousel.  We ran around and played and climbed on things and had a great time!  The kids loved getting to go with cousins and the weather was just perfect! 

Tuesday was a lazy kind of day - since we knew we would be at the zoo all day on Monday, we saved most of the laundry until Tuesday, so that was laundry day and we mostly took it easy and had a fun last day together.  David managed to sneak a stamp into nap time - so when I got him up, he looked like a smurf.  

On Wednesday, the kids started school again.   Mostly they were excited.  While I miss having them around, it is nice to get back to a schedule.  After picking the kids up, we went home for an early dinner with the sister missionaries.  We realized while they were there that they both knew Bianca.  I had known that one of them served with her while she was in Oklahoma, then other came out to the mission with her.  She is heading home this week to get her back cared for and treated properly and hopefully she will be able to go back out soon.  It was wonderful having the sisters over!  After, we had Primary activities and Youth activities and organ practicing for me.  Then Dan went and hung out with some of the guys from the ward.  

Friday was Aaron's 12th birthday.  It may have been a bit anti-climatic since he was going to be picking out his presents on Saturday, so he didn't have anything to open, but he got his Naruto birthday cake made by Evelyn.  The cake was very yummy and Aaron loved it.  

Saturday morning, Anna and I went to work out with Grandma and Sandi, then we headed home.  We had forgotten to get Aaron his temple recommend interview, so we had a member of the bishopric come over to give him a recommend before we headed off to the temple.  The kids were excited to have a babysitter other than their sisters, and we had a wonderful time at the temple.  The baptistry  was full of families taking their new temple recommend holding kids to the temple - it was amazing to all these youth coming to the temple!  After, we stopped at the church bookstore so Aaron could pick out his scriptures and case and get his scriptures with his name on them.  They didn't have the CTR ring he wanted in his size, so we will have to get that online.  

Church today went great.  My organ playing wasn't too bad and the talks were wonderful.  Primary was a bit crazy - this new later time is really hard on the younger kids.  And they were all a bit talkative and crazy.  After church, Dan and Eileen and I went to visit a family that we minister to.  Their daughter had seen one of the crochet dolls I made for my kids and really liked it, so I made her one.  I brought it with me and gave it to her today and she was so excited!  She played with it the whole time we were there!  She is such a sweet little girl!  We had a great time chatting for a bit, then we headed home for dinner.  After dinner, we did scriptures and prayers, then sent kids to bed.  Then Anna creamed us all in Space Base.  :)  Well tomorrow is back to the full schedule craziness.  We calendered out this week tonight and it's a bit crazy.  Choir is starting back, piano lessons starting back and all the school activities are starting back.   But now it's on the family calendar and Anna and I have it all in our planner, so hopefully we don't forget anything....  

Welcome to the Roarin' 20's!

We've had a fun week with the kids home!  We had a great time playing games together, I beat Aaron 3 times in a row at the game of Life - he wasn't very happy about that.  But he was a good sport and we had a fun time!  We also played Apples to Apples with Evie and her friends and had a lot of fun!  Unfortunately I had so much fun I kept forgetting to move laundry :)  

Tuesday was New Year's Eve.  We had a fairly relaxed morning, then in the evening, we went to a family dace that our friends have every year at the church.  It was a ton of fun - we exhausted the younger kids and rang in the fake new year at 8:00 pm then went home and put James and David to bed.  Then I pulled out the puzzle and we watched "the Sandlot" with the rest of the kids while doing a puzzle.  The kids really seemed to like the movie - and Evelyn is especially excited to now know where "You're killin' me smalls" comes from.  We woke Dan up to help us ring in the new year at midnight, then we all went to bed.  :) 

Eileen skipped out on the family dance and went to see "Rise of Skywalker" with Grandma and Grandpa.  She had a great time - and I think she was glad of an excuse to not go to the dance. 

Wednesday morning, we had the music people all come over to do church music stuff.  First the choristers all met together to pick the music for the next couple months and figure out our schedule, Then Diane and I met with our primary music chorister to talk about the music for the upcoming year and how we would like singing time to go.  It all went very well and now hopefully we are set for a little bit now!

Dan took me to see the same movie Wednesday evening.  We really enjoyed ourselves and Eileen seemed happy to be able to talk with us about the movie after we got home. 

The rest of our week was pretty low key.  On Saturday, Anna and I went to work out with my mom and Sandi, and Evelyn went to go to a Bob Ross painting class with my Dad.  She had a great time and came home having done an awesome painting!  She was so proud of it!  

Sunday was wonderful - church was wonderful and after, Aaron was ordained a Deacon.  It was rather crazy to realize that with 3 kids in the youth program and 2 in primary, I now have more in the youth program than primary - and none in Jr. Primary.  They are all growing up so fast.  After Aaron was ordained, we joined the ward for it's first Break the Fast.  Dan made home made bread, and I made honey butter to go with them.  It was a great time and great food and a lot of fun!  

Merry Christmas 2019

We had a fun week!  On Monday, Anna went down to babysit for Taz and Kai.  While we did laundry and had fun together around the house.  We had a fun family home evening night playing a game that Evelyn taught us called "Don't Eat Petey"  I think we all had fun playing - even the older kids who were skeptical at first.  :)  Watching David was the funniest - he was so excited to eat the candy, but he got so into it!  He loved yelling "Don't eat petey" with all the rest of us, even if he didn't understand why!  

Tuesday morning, we went to see Frozen 2 with Sandi and Taz and Kai.  We went to an early show hoping to beat the mall traffic - it turned out to be a good idea.  We got there before the crowds and we had a great time together.  The movie was great and we all had fun!  

We spent the rest of the day having fun at home and getting things ready for Christmas.  There was cooking to be done and cleaning to be done and stocking stuffing to be done.  We had a fun time acting out the nativity with the kids.  Eileen was the donkey.  Anna was an angel.  Aaron and Evie were Joseph and Mary.  James was a wise man, and David was whatever he wanted to be.  Sometimes he was a shepherd with me and sometimes he was a wise man with James and sometimes he just ran around and had fun.  Dan was our narrator and I think it was a wonderful way to do it!

After we had some egg nog and the kids opened their Christmas Eve presents. We all got some fun jammies, then the younger kids headed to bed!  David just LOVED his WOODY pj's!  

  

The younger kids headed to bed and we moved the presents out and stuffed stockings and got those set up and all ready for Christmas Morning.  

Christmas morning came early, but the kids were excited!  Even Eileen and Anna didn't grumble too much about getting up before 10.  :)  We started with stockings and paused to eat some breakfast before opening the rest of the presents.  They opened their presents from Grandma and Grandpa Jones while we video chatted with them, then they opened their presents from each other, and finally their presents from us.  We had a fun time and the kids seemed happy with their gifts.  

Dan got me a printed book with 2 years worth of early blog posts - our family journal finally in paper format!  It's so much fun to read through and talk with the kids about it.  I simultaneously want the kids to all read it and not touch it.  :)  Or at least not lose it/leave it on the floor/get food on it/tear the pages....  

Wednesday evening we went down to my parents house for Christmas dinner and presents.  The kids were so excited and they love playing with their cousins.  My parents found some presents Grandma Penny had gotten for the kids and gave those out along with their gifts.  The kids were very excited!  Evie especially so since she got her luggage for her trip to Scotland!  We teamed up with my mom to get my dad some painting stuff - he is going full tilt into these Bob Ross painting classes!  It's so fun!  

Thursday, We took Eileen and Anna out to get part of their present.  Eileen had gotten some crochet patterns and was told that we would take her to pick out yarn for the pattern.  Evie got a fish tank - Gregory died recently - he lasted almost a full year and Evie was very sad, so we got her a new fancy fish tank and told her we would take her to pick out some fish.  She also used some money she got from Great Grandpa and Grandma and Grandpa Jones to pick out some decorations for the tank.  Meet Hillary and Chelsea.  She got a couple female bettas 

Friday, Anna went down to babysit again and the rest of us stayed home and played with our new toys and I enjoyed having the full run of my craft room again now that the Christmas boxes are out!  

Saturday morning, Anna and I went to work out with Grandma - and we brought Evelyn too.  After, we stopped by my parents house to pick up some things and change before heading to the American Doll store for Evelyn's present.  She loved going in there and getting to pick her doll and an outfit.  She and Anna have been having fun playing and dressing up their dolls together.  It's so fun to watch them together!  Then on the way home we had lunch with Grandma and California Pizza Kitchen.  It was a wonderful morning.  Then we had a great afternoon together.   We played some games and I cleaned up my craft room. 

In the evening, Dan and I went to the temple together.  It was great to be able to go and we ran into some people from the Frisco 6th ward.  It was a wonderful way to close out the year.  We had a quick dinner after, then headed home.  I grabbed my organ stuff and headed right back out to practice for Saturday.  I love playing, even if I'm not very good, but I will be glad with Brihanna is back and we can switch off.  

Church today was great but a bit chaotic.  The talks today were wonderful and my organ playing wasn't too bad - not too many mistakes and the ones there were weren't too big or awful!  After I headed to primary where we were missing a pianist and a lot of teachers.  Somehow it all worked and we made it through the last week of the year.  We spent the afternoon playing games together and having a good time together as a family.  Anna spent most of the afternoon and evening working on her Christmas present - she even let David "help"

We had a lot of fun playing games - but it has not been my day for games - I lost once to Evelyn, once to Eileen and twice to Dan.... sigh.... maybe next week....