Christmas 2011

Christmas Eve we went to my mom’s house

Finley, Bay and Jack enjoying the annual set-up under the tree.

Bay with the penguin that drives us all crazy each year with it’s song.

Jack preferred the more quiet Mr. Grinch.

I got this idea from pinterest, but I threw it together and didn’t have all the ingredients…sugar doughnuts with candy corn nose and choc chip eyes (I melted some chocolate kisses to make the chips stay, but it got messy. They will be cuter next year.

I have to have the peanut butter and choc kisses cookies!

Cousins

I told Bay we could do a reenactment of the Christmas story on Christmas Eve and surely she remembered! So I threw together some costumes and the kids “acted” it out while Tyler read the scriptures. It was super cute.

Enter little shepherd Jack…

Complete set…Finley was one of the wise men.  

Then we played the pirate game.

Grandma Jan and Doug gave the kids gifts. Bay got her first big Lalaloopsy doll!

the yummy ginger bread.

When we got home the kids opened their pj presents and …off to bed.

Jack smiling with his shoulders again. haha

The set-up

Bay excited over getting a Barbie and Ken of her own—not a hand me down from mom.

Jack took some coaxing, but he got into the unwrapping. I think he thinks it is more of a chore…plus, he liked to take his time and enjoy each one—which I kinda love.

He got a “big Buzz” that he asked Santa for.

Her loot is kinda ridiculous. But look at that grin! Plus, Santa got them all for super cheap. :)

Jack liked to line all his “guys” up on the tv stand and admire each of them.

She got the “unicorn” she wanted!

Comparing their Hawaiian Buzz and Jesse (along with Jack’s little Woody doll.

She got her Hawaiian hula girl that she threw an enormous fit over in Hawaii! How did Santa remember that?

They both got these cute cell phones in their stockings…but just watch they will go back to using old calculators as cell phones in no time.

Right here he is saying “SpiderMAN!”

The kids exchanged gifts this year and picked them out themselves…Bay got Jack the drill he is holding and he wanted to get her the unicorn she asked Santa for, but I was able to get him to pick a stuffed unicorn and then he picked a pack of makeup—which he referred to as a tool box. :)

A remote control car!

Daddy got a new drill too! So they were comparing.

Bryson made us eggs and “hashBROWNS” and sausage and I made the muffins…it was a great breakfast.

This is Bay’s present from preschool that she gave me…it is the cutest picture ever! But it is a cookbook.

And a little hot pad.

This is Christmas night….we unpacked some more toys to play with.

Jack and his train:

We also got out Bay’s Cinderella castle. So fun!

We had a great Christmas, though we were sick (everyone but Bryson). It was fun having Christmas in my grandparents’ house! It is a great house for the holidays bc I absolutely love the fireplace…and we had a real tree this year. We enjoyed spending time with family. We spent Christmas eve with my side and Christmas Day with Bryson’s. (I didn’t take any pictures at Bryson’s family’s house bc my camera’s batteries were depleted).

My kids were great at remembering what was important and remembering Jesus in their prayers…it was super sweet. I have a lot of fond memories from this year’s holidays and I am very grateful for my kids. I am grateful for my Savior and this time of year is the best time to remember Him and serve Him by serving others.

We hope you all had a great Christmas!!!!

♥

The true meaning of Christmas: Santa vs Jesus?

This is a lesson I found on pinterest! It is awesome and the kids LOVED it!
I made a door that looked kinda like ours with the wreath and a little ornament for the door knob and taped it on the computer with the picture of “our special guest” pulled up behind it.

The following is copied straight from the blog post I found on this pinterest pin: click HERE.
“First, I held up a picture of a door I drew on a piece of paper. This door was covering a picture behind it.  I said, "Pretty soon we might have a special guest visit our house. You never know! I'm going to give some clues that describe this person and you guess who it is." The clues included:

• he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good.
• he has a beard and a kind face
• he spent his life giving to others
• he's often pictured in red and/or white clothes
• he loves little children
• he gives the very best gifts
• you can never see him, but you can feel him
• he gives us a wonderful, special warm feeling
• he can get into our homes even if the doors are locked
• he has special, wonderful powers
• we want to give gifts back to him, but he doesn't need anything we could buy; he just wants us to give to other people. (My kids have been talking about giving a present to Santa.)
• I ended with, "He encourages us to be good so we will be ready when he comes."

The kids all excitedly shouted "Santa!" Then I had the youngest come and open the door to welcome our guest into our home.”
Then when the kids opened it we compared how Santa is a lot like Jesus and is trying to be like Jesus, just like the rest of us…

But Santa too worships Jesus. I love this picture!