MISTLETOE!!!

 We spent Christmas Eve at my sister Amy's House. She and her husband Jake just moved into their first house and it was so fun to take the tour.
We played a game...not sure what the name of it was...so we will just call it "The Funnest Game EVER!
Amy had taken a bunch of gifts; candy, gift cards, play dough, hair accessories, etc. and wrapped them up in a giant ball with packing tape.  We had the little kids pair up with an adult and then we passed around two tins with a die in each.
The pairs rolled the die until they got a 4 then they would yell "Mistletoe" and start unraveling the ball until another pair rolled a 4, yelled "Mistletoe", stole the ball and started unraveling it.  If you unraveled something before someone the ball it was yours.
It was so much fun to watch and even funner to play. Kody and Tessa were the funniest with Tessa pulling and yanking with almost more strength and determination than Kody. :)

Christmas Dresses

I just love dressing the girls in their Christmas Dresses in December.  Love these beautiful girls!

It Takes a Village...

and some socks to make us happy!
We were so excited for our annual trip to Christmas Village.

It was so great to have Aunt Becca back from Pennsylvania.

We bundled up and braved the cold...

to see the lights and all the cute little decorated houses.

This year we even got to ride the little train.

Then we headed back to the house.

We got all the grandkids together (all 16 of them) handed out the presents and then the pandemonium started.  First they all opened their books...which they all loved.

Then they opened their pajamas and promptly put them on.  The granddaughters also got these cute fuzzy slippers with toes.  It was a little tricky getting each little piggy into each slot and I think each of them commented at least once that the "socks had an extra toe!" :)

The grandsons each got a light sabre and the duels began!

Baylor was just happy to be held the whole night!

Nativity Night

It's become a Christmas tradition to visit my Aunt Lori's house and see all her nativities.

She feeds us chicken nuggets and mac 'n' cheese. The kids get to hear a nativity story, ice cookies, and take a cute nativity craft home.

This year she had a nativity scavenger hunt that the kids loved. 

 Here are a few of our favorites:

 The smallest nativity.

 Cat Nativity

 African Nativity made out of dried and twisted wood.

 Russian Nativity with stacking wise men.

 Stained Glass Nativities

 Dog Nativity

 Wire Nativity

 Nativity in a Box.

Scrooged

Since Kylie was gone when we saw the Nutcracker over Thanksgiving Break my mom decided to take her and the grandsons to see Scrooge at the Terrace Playhouse.

She loved being with Grandma and Aunt Aly, eating snacks, and watching the play.

Kylie loves plays and the night was the perfect thing to kick off the holiday season.

Here Comes...

SANTA CLAUS!
A year or two ago a couple of my friends and I decided that we should get together so we could have a little adult conversation...oh and let our kids play.
We would meet on Mondays and rotate whose house we held it at.  This little playgroup became known as "Mommy Monday"....see it was all about the kids ;)

Well this last get together was possibly the best Mommy Monday EVER!

As we were gathering we heard a knock on the door and who should appear but the jolly old elf himself...the REAL Santa Claus!

All the kids took their turns with him.  There were little to no tears and each child got a special candy cane stick.

It was pretty magical.

Thanksgiving...with a few perks

 We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  The younger girls enjoyed making indian headresses and having "feasts" with their preschool and kindergarten classes.

 Tessa had to earn each feather in her headress; she got one for knowing all her numbers, another for memorizing her address, etc.

  We had a different Thanksgiving this year with Kody and Kylie traveling up to Oregon to visit Kody's family. The other three kids and I spent Thanksgiving at the Plain City Fire Station where my brother-in-law is the fire chief. The food was delicious!  The company even better!

How many of you had a personal firehouse tour of the ambulance and firetrucks over Thanksgiving? Just one of the perks of knowing The Chief ;)

Our little Baylor wore his superhero firefighter onesie under his turkey sleeper to make the day complete!

The week was so great!  Our cousins slept over, I saw Breaking Dawn Part II with my sisters, aunt, and mom, I got a night to myself when my girls slept over at the cousins, and Tessa and I saw the Nutcracker preformed by Ballet West at Weber State.
Such a relaxing week with lots of great activities...so much to be thankful for!