Christmas Spirit

I think this year was our best for bringing "real" Christmas spirit into our home.  First of all our little friend Chippy the elf showed up.  He was super silly hiding in really random places that made everybody laugh.  This year he brought a special letter that asked the kids to donate some of their toys and clothes to his friend Jingle's family because they didn't have much and Chippy told them how kind our family was.  

Within an hour the kids had 3 boxes overflowing from their bedroom of all kinds of things they were willing to part with to help another family.  Chippy took the toys to the North Pole so Santa could give them an EXTRA big delivery this year.  Alissa was particularly generous, it made my heart swell with gratitude for the lesson these kids learned.   It's just "STUFF" and the lesson is far more important.

I didn't get a picture of it but we also printed off pictures of little gifts and each time somebody did something kind they wrote it on the present and taped it up on our garage door under the magnet of baby Jesus and it was the gifts we were giving him.  On Christmas morning after the Santa surprises and before any gifts were actually opened we read through all the gifts we gave to our Savior for his birthday.  I seriously felt so pleased with our gift and felt as though the Savior was pleased as well.  It's certainly a tradition we will be keeping.

We mailed one military package and 2 missionary packages as well as wrote a note to 4 missionaries from our ward.  It felt good to do this as I know they were appreciated.   It was good for my kids to see this service too.

All the Christmas shopping was done and all gifts were wrapped well before Christmas day so we were able to spend time together doing some fun things.  Took the kids swimming since they had earned $3 doing some chores around the house.  Molly actually didn't have any money left because she spent it on gifts for her siblings and didn't want to do any more chores.  Ella felt like doing something kind and decided the gift to her sister would be to pay for her swimming.  Made me proud of her.

Ella and I practiced a duet "Silent Night"  about a million times so we could perform it for Christmas Eve.  It was so much fun for me to spend that time together with her on the piano bench.  Even though she got sick of me, I didn't get sick of her. ;)  I am sure I was way more nervous to perform it on Christmas Eve for the Braithwaites than she was.  So grateful for the soothing effect of music and the meaning of the words in "Silent Night".

9 Month Lincoln

My baby is 9 months!!  It's amazing to me to think back at the week he was born.  It's unreal that he was a struggling baby in the NICU.   He is such a big happy boy now.

Thankfully all of his sisters are pretty good with him now.  Molly is still a bit crazy with her constant picking up and packing around but I can trust her in the same room with him for a few minutes now which is improvement.  He is super fond of Alissa because she normally just sits and plays with him I believe that is mostly because he is too heavy for her to pack.  He is 22 pounds now and she is only 39.  She is the BEST of all of us at making him laugh.

 

I think it's fun when they get creative and do things like this old box and jump rope sled. :)

Or a giant circle surrounding him with his toys.

He has learned to get around mostly through rolling and doing giant stretches while pushing with his feet.  He started standing up a little bit against anything he can grab.  I loved watching him give himself kisses in the mirror.

He went swimming for the first time over Christmas vacation and the water was cold so it took a few minutes to decide we were having fun.  I spent about 2 hours snuggling him in the pool and watching the girls tricks.  Summer swimming will be better.

He had an ear infection and has struggled with not feeling well and certainly not sleeping well for the last while and it was obvious why when 5 teeth popped out within about 5-6 weeks.  He now has 3 top and 2 bottom teeth.

Such a precious sleeping baby.

His dad thinks he is his best buddy and gives his big smiles and kisses right when he walks through the door from work.  Lincoln loves him equally however still prefers mom over anybody and I am good with that.  He does say "dada" all the time now too.  I'm pretty sure he means mama though, ;)

When a blessing this baby boy is to our family.  He is such a sweetheart and so much fun for all of us.  So grateful Heavenly Father decided it was time for him to join us and can't wait for all of our fun times ahead.

Snow Globes

We had some empty baby jars so we decided to make some snow globes.  The kids had a good time.

Family Motto

When my kids came home and told me their school motto I was immediately struck that we needed a family motto.  So for family home evening a few months ago we sat down and wrote out some qualities we wanted to display and we mushed them all into a short little motto the kids could memorize.  I put a prize out there for anybody that memorized it and within the first week our family all had it memorized.  We now say it together any time it is appropriate to remind each other and before school each day.  I just love it.  We just had it simply typed and hanging on the garage door for us to memorize but I made it a little more fancy to put in a frame.

Sure love my family and that we share the gospel which brings great joy to all of our lives.  I am grateful we have direction in our lives through our Savior and his example.

4th Annual Christmas Caroling

We organized our 4th annual neighborhood Christmas caroling.  This year we did things just a little bit different.  We had our group family home evening at my house prior to going and everybody ate dinner at my house and then we bundled up and headed outside.  Each year I try to figure out a more efficient way for everybody to sing louder and more together so I had 15 copies of "books" printed and made a CD of music.  After it was done somebody volunteered to do it next year so it wasn't too effective.  But yay for somebody else doing it next year!

It was fun having my family all be there with us.  We had about 50 people.

We came back to our house for hot chocolate and treats afterward again.

I just love how the Christmas carols bring the Christmas spirit so much.  I almost always am brought to tears as we sit together and sing.  I am reminded of my love and appreciation for the Savior, for my family and friends and so many blessings flood my mind.

Gymnastics Recital

The girls had their gymnastics recital on Saturday.  We did Molly's super straight hair in rag curls the night before and it turned out so cute and curly for her performance.

She and Alissa were not a bit nervous just excited and ready to go.  Showing their bridges. 

And splits even though Alissa can go completely down in the splits she wasn't doing it in this picture. 

They were so cute and did such a great job.  I was happily surprised that Molly kept up with all of the girls and did a great job.  The girls have had a good time being in gymnastics with their teacher Melissa but Alissa hasn't been enjoying it as much since Molly has been doing it with her.  She complains about Molly pushing her and things like that so we decided to separate the two of them into different classes. We will see how it goes.

I love their teacher

My cute girls.

So Ella started gymnastics at the beginning of the school year right along with the little girls but she was also playing soccer and piano lessons so after week 1 we decided it was too much and since we already paid for soccer we made her temporarily quit gymnastics.  Then when soccer got done she was heavily involved with play practice so we had to postpone gymnastics another month.  She got to go for one practice before the recital and her teacher told her she could join them and do the recital so Ella actually did perform after the girls.  My camera memory card was full so I only got video on Dustin's phone and no pictures.  I was impressed with her full confidence in herself although it was pretty foreign material.  She just went with the flow.  

Grandpa saved the day and put the sleeper hold on Lincoln.   Love that grandpa!

Gingerbread Houses FHE

December just wouldn't be complete without our traditional graham cracker gingerbread houses.  This year we invited our friends the Hansens and the Taylors over to join us.

We had a great time making houses and then having a nice lesson on the true meaning of Christmas.  It's such a blessing to share our beliefs with good friends who also feel such graditutde and love for our Savior. 

Christmas Trip to Utah

Our friends the Hughes live in Logan and were kind enough to let us come stay with them this weekend.  We stayed up late, played, ate and laughed harder than I have in a while.  Man it feels good to have such great friends!  We are super blessed.

We went to their sacrament on Sunday and then headed to temple square to show the kids the lights and visit the visitors center for a while.  It was 57 degrees when we got there.  Pretty amazing for December 7th!  Made it nice to just wear some light jackets as we walked around.

It is amazing the spirit that you feel as you walk around those grounds and look at their little Nativity set up in front of the visitors center.  You can listen to the scriptures being read about the Savior's birth and just feel so deeply that He truly is "THE GIFT" of Christmas. 

I love this family of mine so much.  I just felt so blessed to be able to go to temple square with them and see the lights.  Even if it was for only an hour and even if it took us way longer than it should have to get there because of all the potty breaks and stretch breaks for screaming kids. 

As we were walking to the car Ella said, "Mom & dad, thanks for bringing us here."  

Made it all worth it!  She is such a sweetheart! 

LOVE this cute boy! 

I just love this picture of Dustin and Lincoln.  It has made it to my top favorite pictures for sure.   

Alissa wanted to have this picture right here holding Lincoln. So sweet! 

Ella the alien. 

I am so grateful for the Savior and for his life.  I know he is the gift of Christmas and that we can give back to him by living as he would: giving, loving, sharing.  I know He is the way back to our Heavenly Father.  So grateful to celebrate this month and to find ways to serve and love others. 

So beautiful!  So thankful to be a member of this church and to know I have the opportunity to have an eternal family.