Christmas

Santa came! Kids slept 'til 7am, so Merry Christmas all around. Lots of present opening, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Audrey's big gift - a doll castle as tall as she is!

New stuffed animals are always a hit.

New pjs from Aunt Lauren. It was just the five of us, so we lived in pajamas pretty much all day.

New Lakers shirt for our sports fan, and lots of Lego building. He lived at the kitchen table.

For two Christmases Tyler's asked for the Millenium Falcon and Santa finally brought it! All Legos were from the new Star Wars movie - he was one happy kid.

Art supplies from G-mom and Pop-Pop:

Cole got tons of superheroes, legos, a Hulk remote control car, and light sabers. Everyone's big gift was a giant trampoline for the backyard from me and Adam (the Black Friday find!) We'll put it together after all the rain. We made a yummy pork tenderloin dinner, talked to far-away family, and packed for Utah. It was a wonderful Christmas Day. Grateful to have spent it with these four:

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve always makes me think of my mom. It's her favorite. Tonight we started with a fancy dinner for five at Islands.

Then we came home and had an awesome family home evening led by Tyler, who taught us about the symbolism of Christmas (thanks to his primary teacher!) Kids opened one small gift each. Audrey got a stuffed animal to sleep with tonight (from Tyler), and the boys got BYU hats from us:

All ready for Santa. These three still really believe, and the excitement in the house is contagious. We followed Santa on the Santa Tracker until he hit the east coast, then it was time for bed.

Adam and I are cuddling in with screeners and dessert. Wishing all the elves a good night sleep, and kids that don't wake up before 7am!

More Christmas Week

Shopped at Trader Joe's early this morning and came out alive! Made a bunch of Adam's favorite toffee. Chips and dips and yummy food around. Kids are soooo excited! Catching up online with the yule log, Christmas music, and our tree full of presents underneath. This is pretty nice:

A few more photos from our week. Always love acting out the nativity in primary Sunday before Christmas:

Our angel:

Under the weather siblings reading books:

Finally feeling better. Fantastic to be outside for a bit in sunny weather with a few friends.

Cole got to hang with these beauties when we went to Star Wars. Love the McCoy girls:

Adam took Cole last minute shopping:

Spent the rest of the afternoon watching Elf, delivering treats, and following Santa on the Santa Tracker. We are ready to celebrate Christmas Eve!

Santa Train

I bought tickets for the North Pole Express about a month ago, before I knew we'd be fighting the sickies. Luckily the kids were on the mend, and maybe it was just what we needed - to get out of the house for a new holiday adventure. First funny thing (only in hindsight), I bought Cole brand-new Paw Patrol pjs that I loved. Saved them to give him special for the train that night. He was so excited. Then minutes before we leave he pees his pants for the first time in months!!! Grrrrr. Guess they'll be his special Christmas Eve pjs instead. After we got over that whole mess, we had a lovely evening. The train station was charming, and despite the crowd there was a nice small-town feel.

Waiting to board!

They served chocolate milk and cookies, we sang holiday songs with the elves and read "The Night Before Christmas". We picked up Santa in the "North Pole", then he rode the train back with us, asking each child what they want for Christmas and giving them a nice jingle bell.

After the train ride the kids sat on Santa's lap. Audrey and Cole said they want stuffed animals. Tyler said legos.

It was a nice family night, helped to slowly get us out of sick land.

Movie Day

We saw it! First showing of the day and it was sooooo good. Right after the movie Tyler went to the doctor. Can you tell he was under the weather? But nothing would keep him from finally seeing Star Wars.

Going on almost two weeks of taking care of sick kids I'm starting to lose my mind a bit. Being a cranky mama to sick little ones sure doesn't make you feel good about your mom skills. Thankfully Adam is off so there's two of us, and with some drugs in his system fingers crossed Tyler is on the mend! We might not make the temple lights or other holiday outings, but we are sure catching up on Christmas movies.

Parties!

Church Christmas breakfast this morning. Henry Danger and Game Shakers wrap party tonight. Lots of movie and football watching in between. (PS - make sure you watch the Christmas episode of Henry Danger to see Adam!)

Bunch of Stuff

Cole's Sunbeam teacher at church sent me these pictures. This one is my favorite. It really should be my screen saver - these handsome boys will always make me smile. Cole and Henry:

Sunbeams for two more weeks. Lots of love and fun in this group:

This week Tyler had the bug. With Tyler it always lands in his chest, so fever and lots of coughing. Luckily he's on the mend. Before that the big kids had their winter concert at school. The music teacher did a great job. The recorders didn't even drive me up the wall! Very cute song choices.

Audrey's brownie leader sent over some photos, too. From ice-skating, Audrey on the Zamboni:

Brownies getting their first aid badge:

One more at The Nutcracker:

Pajama Day at school for the big kids. This picture looks pretty happy, but right afterward Tyler coughed up a ton of phlegm and we had this whole thing about whether or not he should go to school since he's still not 100% (go away, bug!) He swore he was better and really wanted to go since it's pj day and they're watching Ella Enchanted of all things, since they just finished the book. I let him go, but worried all day. No word from teacher so hopefully no news is good news?!

 S'mores with the 2nd graders:

 Cole was a wise man in his preschool nativity. Too cute!

They sang holiday songs for parents, then Santa came. Cole asked for a remote control car.

After school Tyler said he had a great day, then did this:

 Audrey told me a kid in her class threw up right behind her at the assembly (!!) Tonight, and this weekend, is all about getting healthy. Holiday movies and hot chocolate, I think. Welcome winter break, and get these sickies out of here!

This Week

Spent a good part of the week taking care of this sick little girl. Luckily only a fever. Sick meant catching up on holiday movies, too. But before that she got her soccer trophy, and end of season party.

Audrey's family history school project. She did her presentation on my grandma, which made me kind of nostalgic. She was an awesome lady. I missed her a little this week.

More science time for these friends - making play doh and hand prints with sprinkles.

Our annual gingerbread house decorating night. Used up a ton of Halloween candy, too.

This weekend we celebrated Mikey's 30th birthday with family and friends. Got us excited for our trip to Utah with all the Taits. Audrey and I also went to The Nutcracker with the girl scouts. Kallie was performing. It was a fun evening with the girls.

Ready for my last day of Ladybug, Adam's last week at Henry Danger, and the kids' last week of school before Christmas break. Then we're all off!