Sledding

Saturday morning we talked Dustin into taking us on the four wheeler around the neighborhood for a little ride.  We had such a great time!  I love my little family.  It makes my heart so full to hear them laughing and smiling.  I am so very blessed.

Bateman Family Party

I had an idea this year to organize a Bateman Family Christmas party.  I was thrilled when I found out everyone except for the missionary and the cousin living in Canada could be there.  Ella and I made assignments to everybody and showed up and it was fantastic!

This is my mom with her parents and brothers.

Grandma & Grandpa (they really were happy)

We had a photo booth and had everybody's family get a picture taken.  Dad and I tested it out first.

Everyone was kind enough to participate.

Jeremy didn't make it into the photo booth I guess..

Our cute 1 year olds.

And our cute 5 year olds. 

We had some food and a small program.  Grandpa read everybody a few stories that he had prepared.

Then we sang some carols and had a few musical numbers.  Two of which the girls sang and did so beautifully!

Then grandma and grandpa gave gifts to all the great grandkids.  They were thrilled!

We got them to sit still for about 2 seconds while we took a picture with their great, great grandma Bitton and their great grandma and grandpa Bateman. 

Pretty lucky kids!

We played a few minute to win it games and had a few laughs.   Even grandpa played!!

 

We are pretty blessed to live close to family.  We used to get together with this group of family so much and since our families have grown so much it's hard to get together.  I'm grateful we took this opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  The real foundation upon which this family has been built and the glue that has held us all together.  The grace that we are counting on to help us enjoy eternal families.  Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses

This year we invited Kailey, Kaitlynn and Kourtney over to make gingerbread houses and to practice a song they were going to sing at the upcoming Bateman family party.  I decided to venture out an make real gingerbread and even though it wasn't perfect I think they turned out pretty nice.

The girls had fun none the less which is all I really cared.

Sure love Christmas time!

Christmas Caroling

For the past several years we have had my parents come pull a trailer loaded with sometimes family, always friends and neighbors around our neighborhood while we sing carols.  This year it was super wet and cold however a few families still came out and we had a good time.

We always end with some hot chocolate and treats which makes for a pretty perfect evening.

High Priest

It was a special Sunday because Dustin, the youngest in his family, got to ordain his oldest brother Devin to the office of High Priest.  They are 20 years apart and I am for sure that they never dreamed this day would happen, but sure enough it did and they both felt pretty happy about it.  As did the rest of our family.  Sure love these two!

Home Depot, Santa & Christmas Tree Saturday

We scheduled a busy Saturday.  We started off the day taking the girls to Home Depot where they got to make a fun little kids wood craft.  When I told them to "SAY CHEESE"  they all too naturally struck this pose which I am glad I got on camera.  The true colors of siblinghood.  ha ha

Then we headed to Dustin's work party that the kids looked forward to for weeks!  They got to have a picture with Santa, eat pizza and choose a really cool gift.

Then we loaded up our four wheeler and snow gear and headed toward Kelly Canyon to find a Christmas tree with Dustin's nephew Bryan's family.

It started off all good when we got there at like 3:30.

We loaded the kids up in sleds and took off. 

However it very quickly got dark and super cold.  Lincoln was abnormally uncomfortable and whiney which made for a long trip.  I finally told Dustin just to use his best judgement and cut something down so we could go.  The girls were all fine except Molly who didn't feel much like hiking, she just wanted to stay planted next to me which was fine.

We quickly took a shot of our beautiful tree and headed back to the car. 

The reactions of people that see our tree make me laugh.  It's pretty sparse, however it's my favorite tree yet because well.. my husband cut it down.  Merry Christmas!