Bateman Family Party

We had our annual Bateman Christmas party again this year and it was a success.  We ate dinner, had a short program including the nativity and the girls singing a sweet primary medley and grandma and grandpa told some Christmas memories and gave their great grandchildren their gifts.

It really is a blessing that our families live so close together.  We were missing my sister's family and one cousin and her family but everybody else lives in town and was able to make it.

My cousin's wife, Steffani did a photo booth for us so we could remember everybody that was there. 

Great, grandma Bitton and I.  (She is 92!)

Christmas Caroling

We did our annual neighborhood Christmas caroling again.  We had around 60 people there for our biggest turn out ever.  It was great.  I love having them all come out and sing carols and enjoy each others company.

This year we had Pettingills, Dahles, Paynes, Hansens, Petersens, Chuggs, Balls, 2 Taylor families, Rigbys & Goochs. 

We also took a larger speaker this year and provided everybody with folders with the words in them so we could have everything run smoothly.  Dustin is way more concerned about that situation than I am but happy we could both feel comfortable with the way it turned out.

What a blessing to have so many friends and a neighborhood to carol to.  Also so thankful to my parents for being willing to drag us around every year.  They are fantastic.

The Nutcracker

This year the girls and I went to see the Nutcracker.  In November I put together 25 envelopes with something to do each day.  Most of them were small things like watching Elf together or making treats for our neighbors but this particular day we got to go see the Nutcracker.  Because I thought far enough in advance we had 2nd row middle section seats so it was pretty awesome to see the dancers so close and their expressions.

Love these sweet girls! 

Dad and Lincoln sent me this text that they were having pizza and watching Bubble Guppies for their "guy time".  Made me laugh!  Love this family more than anything!

Choosing a Christmas Tree

We decided last year was so much fun finding a Christmas tree that we wanted to do it again this year so we loaded up and unfortunately I felt sick all day with what I believe was the stomach flu based on the fact that Lincoln had it the day before and the rest of my family got it within the week.  Because I wasn't feeling great Lincoln and I just sat in the car and watched as dad and the girls found us a tree off the side of the road.  We drove up Fall Creek to find it and it was a beautiful tree.

So happy to have our tree for this year picked out.  It looks awesome!

And what would a drive be without some selfies in the back seat.  Lol.. I picked a few out of a TON taken by these two silly girls.

Two Concerts

As part of our Christmas gifts this year I felt like experiences would be more memorable than gifts so I created 25 days of Christmas cards for my kids to open each day that have an experience we get to do such as make gingerbread houses or go Christmas caroling.  These were part of our experiences.

Last night we had the opportunity to take the girls to a BYU-I Christmas concert with David Archuleta as a special guest.  The girls, mostly Ella, were excited to go to their first concert.

I'm pretty sure if you asked the smaller girls what their favorite part was they would say the dancers and the background that looked like Elsa (from the movie Frozen) had been there.  However I'm pretty confident every single one of us felt the Holy Ghost as well as the Spirit of Christmas.  It was a fantastic night that we enjoyed together.

Lincoln got to stay and play with James and had the time of his life.  I'm pretty sure Jameson is his favorite person to play with.

On Friday night we had the opportunity to go with my parents to the concert Voice Male.  A man from our ward is a part of that A Capella group and I wished so badly I had brought the kids to that concert because it was entertaining!  They were hilarious, we seriously laughed until we cried and the music was awesome.  None the less we had a great time and look forward to going again next year.

Implant

That little baby tooth sure served me well but the root was gone and I got a cavity in it so it was due for the implant I had dreaded my whole life.  Truth be told though, it wasn't even a tiny bit as bad as I had dreamed it would be.  It was a piece of cake.

I chose the IV sedation so I could relax about it because my anxiety got pretty high from worry about it.  The doctor hooked up the blood pressure and pulse and told me the stats were pretty low for being nervous so that was reassuring.  It was good to get the IV in though it made me just feel sleepy. 

Here is a picture of the beauty.  Looks painful but honestly it wasn't bad. 

And little did I know I was going to be leaving the office and be toothless for the next 8 weeks!  I have a retainer with my tooth in it but cannot eat with it in so I pretty much don't wear it because, lets be honest, I eat all the time. :)

Ella earns her Faith in God Award

Ella has worked really hard on learning all 13 Articles of Faith and doing all of the requirements including meeting with the bishop, writing and baring her testimony and many more and was able to earn her Faith in God award last week at our Activity Days Recognition Night.

Three of the girls earned it and as her parents we felt pretty proud of our girl.  

We took her on a special date all by herself to the Olive Garden last week and her dad ordered her a special drink even which she quickly sucked down.  But we enjoyed some uninterrupted time with our girl who is all too quickly growing up.  I love who she is becoming, such a beautiful girl inside and out!  

Ella's bread

Ella came home from school yesterday and told me that her friend had told her at lunch she has never had home made bread so she asked, "can we make some mom?"  So I helped direct her in making it all by herself and it turned out beautiful and delicious.  Of course this loaf got a little squished after cutting it fresh out of the oven.  It's hard to wait when the anticipation is high.

Good job Ella, for making great bread but also for being such a thoughtful friend.