some of our fav's

After the hug fest we headed upstairs. Here are a few of our favorite gifts this year.

Ashlyn and her UNO Moo game.

Eto, or should I say Dr. Dreadfull.
And yes, we have recently eaten a zombie bug, zombie skin and a little bit of zombie barf mixed with bubbling brains. It was, um, delicious.

Alyssa with her latch-hook, a favorite of mine when I was a little girl.

Brings back memories.

Bryson and his Legos, of course.

Brandon and his precious Buccaneers shirt.

Tyler opened a foil covered chocolate fish. On the back there was a note directing him to the freezer where he found his very own bag of salmon. He was very happy.

Ms. Geography Genius and her New World Atlas.

And Ms. Geography again with the gift that meant the most to her. It only cost $2, but came straight from the heart (and from DI) from a certain boy named Silas.

It was a very Merry Christmas indeed!

hug fest

Christmas was so wonderful this year (besides the fact that our camera broke on Christmas Eve and so all of our Christmas day pictures are horrible). We loved going to church and feeling the spirit and then coming home to a house full of presents. We tried something a little different this year and had all of the kids put their presents to each other (see dollar store post) under our little "live" tree in the basement. Right after church we headed straight downstairs after changing back into our jammies.

And that's when the hug fest began.



After each gift a heartfelt hug was given. (Ash had just recieved Rapunzel hair)
It was precious.

And then the hugs started to get a little exaggerated.

A little rough.

Even a little dangerous.

But even in spite of the danger, the hugs continued.

There were many, actually most, that were sincere.

There were so many that caused squeals and smiles and laughter.

There was even a unique self hug, given by Ashlyn to Ashlyn after she opened the gift she had chosen and wrapped for herself.

But a hug is a hug and there were definitely plenty to go around on Christmas morning in our house.

HUGS!

twas the night before christmas eve

Our Christmas Eve Eve tradition.

Definitely my most favorite night of the whole year.

Our candlelight dinner with 4 bottles of sparkling cider.

Our opening of desperately needed new pajamas.
(Tyler's old ones were floods practically up to his knees he has grown so much this year.)

Our culmination of the advent scripture reading by candlelight.

Our sleepover, all together, watching movies, telling stories,

laughing and eating treats.
Our family.

That's really all there is to it.
And that's why it's my favorite.

let it snow

It has been the driest December on record.

On record!

This was the one and only snowstorm we experienced this month.

It was all gone by 3:00 in the afternoon.


This weather is scary.
Kind of creepy really.
I need some snow.
I need some moisture.

I can't believe I'm saying it, but I need some Winter.

only a dollar

Years and years ago, when Kara and Tyler were little, we started the tradition of Christmas shopping at the dollar store. It was the greatest idea ever. They held their hard earned 3 dollars in their tiny little hands and walked through the door into a store where they could pick anything they wanted for the family members on their Christmas lists. We stood back as they persued each aisle, looked carefully at the tool aisle, the toy aisle and the beauty aisle. They filled their little carts with so many treasures and then the hard process of elimination began. They would then, ever so thoughtfully, pick the perfect presents.

They felt so grown up.

They felt the world was at their fingertips.

Nothing was off limits.

It was so fun to watch.

This tradition has continued and even evolved over time as most traditions do. It has now become a very precious December date with dad. He takes each child one at a time. He doesn't say a word as he lets them independently shop to their hearts' content. He sometimes makes three trips in one night, but the one on one time is worth it- as is the look of accomplishment on their faces when they are done and proudly hand over their crumpled wad of bills at the counter. There used to be a time when there were so many dollar stores out there that each child had their own store. Now that the dollar store boom has ceased we are limited to only the Dollar Tree and the Dollar spot at Target. But even with the limited choices we rarely have a repeat.

When they get home the wrapping immediately begins. And that is almost as fun and important as the shopping. Each gift is wrapped with a lot of care and a lot of love and a whole lotta tape.



Names are printed on tags with the utmost of care.
It is very serious business.



At one point as our kids got older we proposed a change. We asked the kids if they wanted to each pick a sibling and buy them a more expensive gift at an upgraded store. The answer was unanimous: NO WAY! Dollar store shopping was a tradition and it would stay that way. My older ones have gotten really good at picking out great things from those dollar store aisles. It has kind of turned into a competition as to who can find the best stuff. And as the years have gone by I find myself throwing away fewer and fewer cheap plastic toys after Christmas.

And so we continue to Christmas shop at the Dollar Store. My kids continue to save their hard earned 9 dollars each year. They continue to enjoy December dates with dad. They continue to buy gifts for each and every member of our family. It doesn't matter that some of the gifts break within moments of being opened. It doesn't matter that the Santa whip was really a cat toy (That cat toy has become a favorite). It doesn't matter that the hand sanitizer smells like raisins. It only matters that each gift was bought with love. The time and thought put into buying and wrapping each gift matters. Thinking specifically about each member of our family and what they might enjoy, that matters. Its the art and beauty of giving that really matters.

And that's a whole lotta stuff and a whole lotta smiles and a whole lotta mattering for only...

one dollar.

salt lake city

With Trevor having so much unexpected "time off" this year, we decided we were going to enjoy it. We were going to take advantage of it and spend lots of time together. We were going to play. And play we did. One afternoon we headed up North to Salt Lake City.

Our first stop was the Grand America Hotel.

What is there to do at a hotel one might ask?

At this hotel, tons. It definitely was grand.

First we looked around the new toy store, Jou Jou.

We also just explored this fantastic 5 star hotel. My kids walked in, looked around in amazement and said, "I didn't know a place this fancy even existed in Utah!"

They had a Christmas scavenger hunt that took you around the whole hotel. One of the stops was this giant gingerbread house, made with hundreds of pounds of gingerbread and candy.

My kids wanted to move right in.

At the end of the scavenger hunt we found ourselves in this cute little candy shop where we got free sugar cookies as our reward. Sweet!

We then hopped on Trax and made our way to the Church History Museum.

We really enjoyed the Creche exhibit and the Pioneer woman who told us stories and gave us molasses cookies.

As we made our way through the lights of Temple Square, Eto lost a tooth, which was very exciting. Our last stop was the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building.

The lights, the view, that glorious temple.

It was magnificent.

graham crackers and gummy bears

We have been making gingerbread houses with the Walters family for, oh, probably 10 years now. With December being so busy for both of our families, often times it has been hard to coordinate. But it is one of my kids most cherished traditions, so we always make it work.

Always.

This year we found a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon to squeeze it in before different evening festivities.

As always, we had a great time.

We are lazy and so we use graham crackers. And that is totally OK with us and with the house constructors. They have never complained. And we always have tons of candy and try each year to come up with new things to make the decorating more exciting.



One candy item that is a must are the gummy bears. We could not make the houses without the gummy bears. They are the gingerbread house occupants, the frolickers in the front yard, the participants in every outdoor activity. They are very much a part of our gingerbread day.

My new candy addition this year was that bowl of white stuff. It is white cotton candy and it was a hit. There were snowmen created, snowballs sculpted for snowball fights and snow covered roof tops. The cotton candy will definitely be back next year. It added a whole new dimension to the decorating.

The gummy bears were very busy this year, as usual. They were sledding outside their houses, stringing up tiny strands of nerd Christmas lights on their roofs, participating in snowball fights, hiding in snow forts, and a couple of gummies could even be found creating some "yellow" snow. Yes, you have got to love making gingerbread houses with boys and naughty bears.

Never a dull house around these parts.

My girls on the other had keep it much more appropriate and are more concerned with the overall aesthetic appearance of their houses. I overheard Brandon this year whispering to Bryce, "I'm just stacking on as much candy as I can so I can eat it later, it doesn't matter what it looks like!"

And it doesn't really.

Those gummies are happy with just about anything.

Even yellow snow.

riverwoods

We so enjoyed our trip to the Riverwoods last year during the holidays,

that we decided to make it a tradition.

Last year it was pouring rain.

This year it was just cold.

One of these years it will be perfect with lightly falling snow, I just know it.

We had a little visit with the big guy. My older children (actually just the boys) would like it known that they did not sit on his lap, they just humored me and smiled nicely for the picture.

We enjoyed a quaint, cold and somewhat stinky carriage ride.

And we played for almost an hour in the world's greatest toy store, Blinkenstaffs, which was totally bustling with holiday shoppers.

Once again it was a delightful evening, even without the lightly falling snow.
Maybe next year.

Subbing for Santa

Kara was pretty much in charge of the Sub-for-Santa fundraiser at the High School.

It filled all of her time.

(and I really mean ALL of her time)

It filled our entire garage.


It filled the whole main floor of our house.



And it absolutely filled our home with the spirit of love as we watched these kids serve and work so hard to provide a Christmas for 13 needy families in our community and their school.

They gave of their time and their talents and their hearts.

They gave.

And that's what Christmas is really all about, now isn't it?

Rockin around our Christmas Tree

For me it was a mouse.

A tiny mouse sleeping peacefully inside a tiny matchbox.

That was my favorite Christmas ornament, the one that I couldn't wait to find when I opened up the ornament box, the one that always had a special place on the tree every year.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is giving my children a special ornament every year. I love thinking about them when I pick it out. I love watching them look through all "their" ornaments every year when we decorate the tree. I love that they have favorites too.


I love that way back when I only had 3 kids I found these ornament boxes.

They have a space for each ornament and then a label that you can write what the ornament was, the year, who it was from and why you bought it or what special meaning it has. I bought 6 of them. Three for my current children and three for the future children I hoped to have.

And then our sweet little number 7 came along.

By that time they didn't make the boxes anymore. Believe me, I have looked high and low. I have scoured the stores and Internet. They just don't exist. So, sadly, she has a big ole plastic ornament organizer for her special treasures. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind one bit. (But I do!)

Some years I have really stressed about getting ornaments. How could I find the perfect one for each child to capture their year? One year I opened up their boxes and realized that there were several boring ornaments in a row. Like the year I must have been completely overwhelmed because I just bought a pack of simple snowflake ornaments and gave them each one (lame). Then the next year was the September 11th tragedy and so I felt I had to get a patriotic one and so they all got the exact same flag ornament. The very next year we moved into our new house and so I got them all "new house" ornaments. What was I thinking?

I have since simplified my ornament purchasing. I no longer have to find the perfect ornament. I just need it to be fun and whimsical and memorable. Kind of like a mouse in a matchbox. Now, every once in a while I do come across a really good one. Like last year when I found a snowman hugging a tree and it just happened to be Tyler's first year on the Tree Huggers football team. Or when I found the sparkly turtle wearing a Santa hat the year Brandon got Bilbo. Mostly though, I just go for the fun and different ones.

(No, that red ball is not one of her special ornaments.

I am a little more creative than that, thank you very much.)

This year I tried something totally different. In mid-November I packed all the kids into the car and headed to Hobby Lobby. I told them that this year they were going to pick out their own ornaments. I told them there were only 2 rules. One, they had to really look through all the ornaments and make their choice thoughtfully. And two, they were not allowed to make any comments about what other kids were picking. They couldn't say, "That one's dumb," or "Why are you picking that one?" They all agreed to the rules and the hunt began.

Some got it done right away and some took forever. And guess who was the only person that had a hard time with rule number 2? Yep, me! I would look at some of the choices and think, "Really? That's what you really want?" But I bit my tongue. I bit it hard and placed the big yellow smiley face wearing a straw hat up on the counter and paid for it.

I mean, a smiley face in a straw hat is whimsical, right? It's fun, isn't it? It's definitely memorable and I think it will make us laugh in the years to come, and actually I love the thought of that.

And so, nestled all throughout the branches of our magical Christmas tree are the ornaments of my children's lives. The ornaments that tell their stories, that reflect who they are and how much I love them. We have doggies and leg lamps, BYU footballs and cell phones, we have fairies and sparkly shoes, Star Wars and snowmen, we have pianos and trains, a pine cone hedgehog and a Santa eating at McDonalds.

In my opinion, we have the perfect tree

And I think my kids and my tiny mouse would agree.