Christmas!

This is Christmas Eve, the kids got to open 1 gift

and they got these cute P.J's!!

This is the first time I have done that,

and they really liked it, it started out the excitement!

Top of the stairs, waiting to go down!!

This year, Santa did something a little different.

He only put out 1 gift for each child, unwrapped.

The rest were all over the family room, wrapped up, so the

kids had to run around and look for their presents!

They loved it, and it made it more exciting, because they

took in each gift as they opened it.

I filmed the running around opening packages... so that

was the aftermath!

Kenton was soo sure he would get the WII, and I guess

he was right, Santa brought it - but had hid it in a corner.

It was the last gift he found, and was a little worried,

because he had already opened some games for it,

but couldn't find the actual system!

And McKelle wanted a Doll House!

She got it, but there was nothing inside it, she had to

find all the accessories around the room in packages!

She has played with this for hours every day since Christmas,
GO SANTA, this was the perfect gift!

Kenton also wanted a Dragon Castle and Batman stuff!

Santa Claus, as usual, goes a little overboard at our house,

BUT, what can we say! Softy's at Heart!

Christmas Lights!

We Finally made it to Temple Square this year!!

We haven't gone since Kenton was a baby, and I
put it as a for sure TO DO, and I am so glad I did!

My kids loved the nativity, McKelle, even though

she is only 3 was soooo into it, and loved seeing

Mary and Josa ( as she calls him)

It was really cold, but that also makes

part of the memory!

ZOO LIGHTS!!

We also made it up to Zoo Lights!

We really liked it - I thought it was

pretty amazing how many displays they had!

The 3D glasses were also really cool!

Traditions!!

Last year I started something, I will carry on as long as I can,

Pie Making - with my Grandma!!


I went to her house to learn how to make pie crusts,

and this year, I did it again. It was really neat to

spend time with her, and take my daughter.




Here is McKelle thinking she is queen chef!

She loved helping peel the apples...

I am so grateful to still have her around to teach me

her skilled art of baking amazing pies and treats!

And I will continue keeping Thanksgiving Pie Making

a TO DO as long as we can!


CHRISTMAS

SO, money is always tight around the holidays...


And I wanted my kids to start to learn the value of

earning and spending money... along with giving...

So they had to make charts that earned

"Santa Bucks"

to pay for the gifts they were going to give

to their cousins this year.

So this year while at the store, they looked at the

price tag, and knew how many bucks they had,

so then they realized how much they could spend.

It took a lot of good deeds to earn enough for their gifts,

I think it really made Kenton appreciate giving his

gifts... McKelle, well she didn't quite catch the

meaning, when I told her she didn't have enough

Santa Bucks, she went to the chart and wrote on it,

and said " now I have more Mommy"

COUNT DOWN!!!

I have been searching for for a few years for

some kind of Advent Calendar, but didn't

find anything that quite fit the bill, so

after going to Enrichment, I came up with this idea...

My mom and I made this Christmas Tree with

pockets to stick Popsicle sticks in it, that a gal in my

ward makes, http://designbyjanece.com/

and so you combine her really cute idea,

with the count down, and it was soooo FUN!

My kids loved getting up and picking out a stick,

and then finding out what we got to do that day...

So when we were at 24, we got to put the special

Star Stick on the top of the tree,

and they knew that it was Christmas Eve!

The Manger Scene!!

As kids, we always did a manger scene at my Grandma's

house each year, at our Family Party, well this year,

I really wanted to start the Tradition up again, with our

family. My mom and I got fabric for costumes, and started

a back drop. As always we had too much on our plates for

it all to come together, but we got it started and will continue

to add to the back drop and costumes for the next few years!


So these are some of the main traditions we have in

our family, and things that really made our Holiday Season

really fun and meaningful!