Christmas

We celebrated Christmas morning at home.

The kids were just as excited for each other to open the presents that they bought, as they were to open gifts given to them.  Lauren was so excited about her Justin Bieber Calendar that Austin got for her.

Jessica made the cutest post for Jason for Christmas.

Ashlyn was so excited to open her Fur Real dog Cookie. 

Austin got new snow gear.

Paige was just happy looking at all the shiny paper!  She open a few little toys with the older kids help.

Jessica decided that name brands are the only acceptable "cool" clothes to wear, so she got a lot of clothes and anything related to Twlight. (She says she is Team Jacob.) 

After we opened presents at home, we went over to my parents house to exchange gifts with the extended family and have breakfast in our jammies.

Christmas Eve Eve

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without family.  I love our Christmas traditions.  We celebrate Christmas a day early so we can all be together, which means we also celebrate Christmas Eve a day early.  That makes it Christmas Eve Eve.  :-)  We gather at my parents house to enjoy a night of food, fun, family and remembering the "Reason for the Season"

I love watching the kids act out the First Christmas

I love our annual "sleigh" ride through the neighborhood to look at the lights.

Our group was so big this year that we couldn't all fit on the wagon, so we piled into Miss B (our shuttle bus) and followed behind them.

December

December came and went so fast!  I feel like I missed it!  Christmas is my favorite time of year, but we were so busy this year, I think I forgot to slow down and just take it all in!  Luckily, I took pictures to help me remember!  We went to Jen's annual Christmas party, which is always a blast! 

And of course, we spent time decorating the house and putting up Christmas lights.

These are all of the boxes I brought home from our storage unit.  I didn't take any pictures of the finished product this year.  Probably because I didn't slow down long enough to appreciate how pretty it looks with all of the holiday decor.  Paige enjoyed the view from upstairs with the girls, where she was safe from all of the breakables.

Jessica had some friends over to bake Christmas cookies.

Of course Austin had to come in to make an "awkward" face for the picture.  I must be old because I don't get it.  I get it, but I don't get it. :-) I am enjoying watching Austin and Jessica become close again.  They were so close when they were little and then grew apart during the boys and girls don't play together because they have cooties phase.

Paige would crawl in and look at the Christmas tree as often as she could.  I was surprised that she never tried to pull the ornaments off.

Her four top teeth came in at the same time, so she has a total of 6 teeth now.

She loves to "help" with the laundry and the dishes

Ashlyn still loves to wear a million different outfits a day and often shows up to preschool wearing dress up clothes or some creative ensemble she put together.  She is a girl through and through!

We had our primary program at Church.  Yes, I took a picture while we were practicing!

 We had our last Sunday teaching CTR B.  We loved our primary class!

The big kids went to Washington DC to visit Travis.

 I was so emotional watching them leave!  Putting them on a plane and sending them off was tough! I worry too much! 

They had a great time on their trip, but we were happy to have them back home!

Ashlyn decided she really wanted to have her ears pierced.

 She cried until she looked in the mirror.  Then, she was all smiles!

 We decided to do Paige's ears too.  She was more upset about having to hold still than she was about getting her ears pierced.  I wish I would have done them all as babies!

We took the bus up skiing, even though there wasn't a ton of snow on the hill.

That doesn't include Christmas and New Years and I'm sure I'm forgetting something!!!!