New Year's!

We don't have a bunch of pictures from New Year's but it was such a great night. We had one family over and we ate a yummy, easy, kid friendly dinner of meatballs, pasta and marinara and a great salad and bread plus lots of flavored sparkly drinks. After dinner we played Guesstures Hanks vs. Romneys and we cleaned house :). The kids and dads had a little Double Shot competition while we got the yummy ice cream sundaes ready. The 2.5 hours flew by when they had to head home at 8:45 for the teen party happening at their house.

After the friend party, we told our boys they could stay awake until midnight. We had so much fun playing Just Dance 4 on the Wii, Apples to Apples and Monopoly. Mike took a cat nap from about 10:30 until 11:30. As the hour neared we turned on Dick Clark's New Year's Eve and watched some of the bands play. James fell asleep about 11:30, but the 4 us rang in the New Year together. I loved celebrating with them. They felt so grown up as we all toasted each other, tooted our horns and kissed and kissed. It was such a fun happy night. I don't mind staying in with these guys one bit!

The Week After Christmas!

I must admit, the week after Christmas this year was a bit of a bummer. I was as sick as I have been for awhile...I felt horrible for so many days. I'm not sure I was able to smell anything for 2 weeks and had such a bad cough, cold and head ache. Pierce was also on the outs. Add to that the fact that Mike has scheduled PTO all week, then ended up working SO SO SO much, even if it was from home (like 20 hours on December 26th). Kept trying to remind ourselves how grateful we are to have such a good job in this economy.

Now, all that being said, it was still a really great week and the boys had a blast with their new Wii games and new toys. If there was ever a week to be sick and busy this was a good one. We did manage to have some fun though.

We bowled and it was awesome. Pierce was a total crazy and obsessed with the singing Santa by the front door.

We had the best visitors ever! Family! It was so fun to see Mitch, Kelly and Maddy even if it was just for one day. We loved catching up and letting the babies play. It is always so great to see family.

Pierce has always loved Mitch.

Baby tubby time.

 We went sledding! It snowed a ton the day after Christmas. One day loved but we loved it anyway!

The boys with their apple juice slushies. It's a snow tradition.

We went to the Children's Museum and had a great time there.

 Pierce learned how to throw a fit on the ground. Luckily it hasn't happened much since.

 We cleaned up Christmas on the 26th. The whole downstairs was back to its usual self and I must admit, I felt a little scroogish but it felt so good!

Christmas 2012!

We had such a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We started it off with a mega party at the Tousa house. She made all the food for 80 people and we all ate and socialized and had a very merry time. After the food, they had a few great games for the kids and adults alike. It was a great way to start off our Christmas and a super fun tradition.

After the fun we spent the day wrapping up presents and enjoying our time together with Christmas music in the background. That night we had the Bullard family over to help us celebrate. We spent the evening eating chili, salad and cornbread, playing the candy bar game, and listening to a sweet story and writing out our gifts to Jesus. It was a little quieter than we are used to, but we loved it. As my kids get older, we all just have so much fun together and less of a need for lots of extra people.

After the Bullard's left, we opened our "jammies" from Mimi and Papa this year. The boys got basketball clothes and they could not have been more thrilled. These are the only kinds of clothes they get excited about.

One tradition we started this year that we will be keeping is the boys also opened up the gifts they got for each other on Christmas night. It is perfect because they are always so excited about what they got for each other and then so appreciative even though they are just dollar store gifts because they are the only things they opened that night. There is genuine love and gratitude expressed for each other on Christmas Eve and I loved seeing that. It makes giving feel really fun when people react so warmly and excited to the gift you purchased. Our home felt so warm. I loved every minute of it. We are still at perfect ages for Christmas and I kind of wish time could stop.

Our final tradition was to sprinkle the ground with reindeer food and place cookies and milk out for Santa then everyone was off to bed and Mike and I watched a few more Christmas movies (I had been making him watch them all month :).

CHRISTMAS DAY!!!
Such excitement! I'm not sure who loved it more...me or the kids :). They were all just so excited and so grateful for everything. Living away means you really open a lot on Christmas morning, so it was all super fun and exciting.

This is what happens when Mike takes the picture

Santa left some balls and a little Christmas trail for the boys to follow

Jace super pumped about his new book. He is a crazy reader.

2 huge soccer goals for the backyard. Too bad it isn't warm enough to use them right now.

They finally figured out the Santa trail and balls and found DOUBLE SHOT. Hooray!

Santa left Pierce a tool set, but he was most excited about the candy he swiped.

He loved his new books and cars. The boys loved introducing him to Christmas!

From us the boys got new Wii games, some books a couple DVDs and Santa filled their stocking with lots of other great stuff! Spoiled kids, but they didn't act like it for one moment!

From Mimi and Papa the boys scored Lion King play tickets. We can't wait to go in February!

Watching a preview of the show. Already excited.

Parker with his Nerf Blaster gun from my parents.

Jace loved his Monopoly game, Life game and football from my parents

Piercey loved his quiet book

James loved his legos more than it looks.

All of our siblings were so sweet to send gifts! Games, elf of the shelf, soap and candy. We felt way too spoiled!

Gummy and Gumpy sent the boys some funny faces! 

We had a wonderfully lazy day, eating breakfast, playing with all of our toys, and watching movies. Pierce was getting sick and so was I. Boo to that, but it was a really great day!

Christmas Chain and December Via Instagram

Once again, we decided to do our Christmas Chain this year. It's always so much fun and keeps us feeling the Christmas spirit all month. I love that I don't just lump everything into the last week before Christmas but we enjoy it for 25 days. We put all the necessary stuff on the calendar first, then pepper it with other fun ideas. We really tried focusing on serving others in small ways and it made the season especially bright. Here is December, day by day:

November 31. Saline tree lighting ceremony.

1. Saline Christmas parade.

2. Decorate the tree and house/First Presidency Christmas devotional.

3. Stamp Christmas cards.

4. Christmas carol dance party.

5. Christmas movie.

6. Christmas craft.

7. Spiritual Christmas moment.

8. School Christmas night at Barnes and Noble/Magic show.

9. Christmas treats to policemen and firefighters.

10. Buy gifts for siblings at the Dollar Store.

11. Hot chocolate with candy canes.

12. Make neighbor treats.

13. Deliver treats.

14. Gingerbread house making at the Elementary school.

15. Marshmallow snowball fight.

16. Wrapping a gift for Jesus. 

17. Write sincere thank you notes for teachers and deliver their Christmas gifts. 

18. Read a Christmas story.

19. Place quarters in candy machines at the mall and watch kids find a surprise.

20. Place Christmas games.

21. Sing at a rest home.

22. Go on the Plymouth Gingerbread house hunt/Christmas party.

23. Eat dinner and share Christmas traditions with another family.

24. Celebrate Christmas Eve; read Luke 2, open sibling gifts, open PJs.

25. CHRISTMAS!!

Our town has a little outdoor tree lighting ceremony with hot chocolate, cookies, a band and caroling. It was a fun way to kick off the season. It was so sweet to watch all these boys sing their hearts out. Something about Christmas music. The fun thing about living in a smaller town is that when there is an event it isn't so crowded you can't have fun. We love it.

The boys loved placing quarters in all these candy machines and watching the surprise on people's faces. Fun, small service.

These three didn't mind sitting on Santa's lap at our ward party. The Saline ward sure does it right. Every party has been fantastic! 

Jace had a cool assignment for science...follow a bread recipe exactly. Make two loaves, one for our family and one for the Salvation Army. Pretty awesome. 

Gingerbread house night at the school was a huge success.  We got tons of supplies and made some pretty impressive houses thanks mostly to Mike. James did think of the cool reindeer chimney though and both the boys were very artistic decorators. 

Our marshmallow snowball fight was serious fun this year with tons of families showing up. It was sticky fun with hot chocolate after. The weather was surprisingly warm, so we are glad we didn't count on the snow. This is one of our favorite December traditions. We love an excuse for a party.

These two sleep like this every singe night. Even when we tell them not to. It is so sweet.

Our neighbor gifts this year were crazy delicious. White chocolate/Oreo/Peppermint popcorn. Addictive and  amazing. We made so many bags. It was one messy and crazy afternoon.

Before we knew that everyone in Saline goes in on a teacher gift, I had made these cute felt wreaths for all the teachers. So, they got a group gift and a wreath. As a note to myself, never to that again. WAY too much work. I really hate crafting. However, they didn't turn out too horribly, so that was a bonus.

Delivering the treats to the firemen. We also dropped them off at our local police station. They were a very welcome surprise and the kids had a fun time doing it.

Pierce trying to ride his best buddy Cooper at the ward party. It cracks me up to watch him show love.

The boys all had great class parties this year. It was fun to go to all of them. Somehow, Parker is the only one who ended up with a picture. 

Pierce is obsessed with both Jesus and Santa. Anyone with a brown beard, he calls Jesus and everyone with a white beard he calls Santa. He walked around our house all of December and most of January saying, "Santa, ho ho ho!" We loved it. 

We sent out LOTS of Christmas cards this year, as always and LOVED getting so many in return. We live away from so many of our friends and loved ones, it's one of our favorite ways to make sure we stay in touch. 

Dance party. The moves speak for themselves...Gangum style works for everything. 

Obsessed with fake Santas and pictures of him...hates the real thing. 

Ate WAY too many of these.

Love, love love our awesome town. They had such a fun little Christmas parade for us to enjoy and afterwards we got to see Santa!

Went on our annual Plymouth Gingerbread house hunt. One of those traditions that is more about visiting a different town and eating there. Loved seeing the tree walk and the few good gingerbread houses. 

James Kindergarten Christmas program was extra special this year...only one week after the Connecticut shootings. Made us all especially grateful to watch our little 5 year olds sing about happy moments, peace and love. 

We got LOTS of gifts in the mail. They were all just amazingly generous. Thank you all!

We took one Friday night to sing at a rest home. It was so good that we did, the facility was in dire need of Christmas cheer. Hope we brought a little bit of Christ's spirit to those lonely halls. I am always so impressed with my boys and the way the comfortable show their love to others when it counts. I hope they are always that way.

Mike singing in the car. We loved having him around for as much as possible.

One slow night I asked if anyone wanted to play a Christmas game with me. Their reply was, "Let's play tackle the elves!" It wasn't exactly what I had in mind. It's becoming more and more obvious that I am outnumbered.

This sweet baby is growing up way too fast. We just love him so much.

It was a GREAT December!