Christmas Day

We had another pretty awesome Christmas day.  Santa brought the kids all something they wanted.  Lincoln got a strider bike and a big train, Molly got some roller blades and troll dolls, Alissa got a big stuffed animal and a gymnastics mat and leotard and Ella got a bike, dress and fitness watch.

We were fortunate this year for Christmas to fall on Sunday so at 10:30 we headed to the church.  Most all the church meetings in the area were cancelled because there was a huge amount of snow fall and cars were getting stuck, however we all live so close to the church that everybody was able to make it there safety.  It was a wonderful meeting and the spirit was felt through the beautiful music and scripture they had prepared.

After church we headed to my parents house for more Christmas excitement.  We dressed up for the THIRD time this year and the kids did the nativity.  It was especially fun to have Heidi's kids in there with us since they hadn't done it before.

Mom got these cute new animal costumes and an extra angel for the extra amount of kids we have now.  They were a hit.

We had fun opening presents we had brought for each other and felt again an overwhelming gratitude for all our blessings.  My good friend, Farrah's parents are serving a mission in Africa right now and they made a post on Facebook about how many of the kids there got a single balloon and were thrilled!  Made me think a little harder about our situation.

Ella got a sewing machine. 

Alissa and Molly got fully stocked with Barbies and a Barbie house. 

Look at the simplicity of this.  I love these boys and am so thankful for my family.  They are such a blessing!  So thankful for the Savior and his life and Atonement which is the greatest gift of all.  I pray as the year commences and a new one begins I can regain some focus on the Savior and the most important things in this life.  Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Ballroom

 A local church put on a play for Christmas at the Civic Auditorium and invited Rocky Mountain Ballroom to dance at it.  Ella's team danced only one dance but it sure was cute.  She had to get all dressed up and over to the Civic 4 nights in a row in the middle of busy December which was a bit stressful but it was fun to watch her on stage with that giant smile on her face the entire time.

She loves ballroom and she LOVES dressing up.  She gets to have the whole works, curly hair, make up, beautiful costumes and high heel shoes.

The night I went out to watch her, Dustin had to work late.  Ella wanted her friend McKenzie to come watch too so we brought her with us and stopped at Pizza Hut to redeem all the Book It awards the kids had got.  We at pizza in the car on the way over and arrived an hour early because that's when Ella had to be there and we just waited around in the auditorium for it to start.  They had fun photo props the kids could play around with.  Lincoln was crazy though grabbing things and running around so it made it a bit stressful.

Right when I thought things were calming down and the show was going, Molly decided she was going to throw up.  It wasn't too huge of a surprise because Dustin and Ella had the stomach flu two days earlier and Lincoln and I two days before that.  So we situated the other kids, went to the back and let Molly throw up in the trash can in the back of the auditorium while chasing Lincoln all over the place.  Uh... I was a bit frustrated when we got home but such is the life of a mom, right?  Gotta love it!  

Ginger Bread Houses

We got together with the Hansen's for our annual Gingerbread house making activity.  The kids love this little tradition and sadly Alissa isn't pictured anywhere because she was sick with the stomach flu that night.  She was the last of our family to get it and unfortunately felt sick that night after dinner so she was laying on their couch.

These guys are the best friends.  I don't know what we'd do without them. 

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.