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!