Pictionary

After dinner one evening, we were all bored so Kevin came up with the great idea to play pictionary. It was a lot of fun. Laycee and Logan's pictures were just scribbles, but it was fun to watch them "color" while we tried to guess. I think we might try this another time when we are bored again!

Temple Lights

The Christmas season is never complete without a trip to the temple to see the lights. The temple grounds are beautifully decorated with Nativity Scenes and Lights.

The Temple
We went on this particular night becuase our niece Alisha was singing in the choir. They are an acapella choir. The of course did an amazing job.

The Three Kings

The best picture I could get of the lights as a whole.

Afterwards, someone across the street was selling hot chocolate and doughnuts, so we went over there to finish the evening with some yummy treats. I love Christmas treats!

Comforts and fashion

Haylee got a new outfit, so she posed down the "runway" for us. Isnt she a natural? lol

When I was a little girl, I remember mom making two things during winter time. Carmel toast with hot chocolate and carmel popcorn. We had all the stuff we needed for the carmel popcorn, so we popped some up.
Baked it and got to eat a yummy treat after our fashion show!

There are just some comforts from childhood you never want to give up.

Christmas Photos

Its that time of year... Photo Time. I think each year gets more challenging. But I did get one picture where they are all looking. I have to thank mom for the beautiful dresses as well. Not what I would typically pick for the girls, but they are amazing and Haylee LOVES it.

Ok, I know they aren't smiling, but it is super cute!
This was the best picture I got and what do you know? It turned out too dark to see anything!

Our first attempt

Prescott

Dec 5th, Prescott held their annual tree lighting ceremony. They have day long festivities with a parade. So, Mom, Kevin, Joe's family and us treked our way up there. We watched a movie on the way there.

We were lucky to see something more than cacti as well.
We got there and all have to pee, since they couldn't wait, we decided to share.

The hotel just outside of Prescott has the largest gingerbread display in (I donno, the world maybe they said?). This is a scene from Up!

The kids got to make their own gingerbread men.

Here they all are TL to BR: Haylee, Emma, Tyler, Trent, Laycee, Reagan, Logan

After looking at gingerbread and trains, we went to save a spot for the parade.

My sweet Haylee girl!

The fam!

The kids plus Emma

The girls minus Reagan

Marching Band... This was the longest parade I have even been to. It took nearly 90 minutes to get through!

It was colder than we anticipated, so Logan snuggled into what blankets he could find.

Haylee and Trent decided to try body heat.

Reagan, Joe and Tyler tried body heat as well.

Me and Haylee- Do we look alike? lol

Laycee cuddled with Nana who sat next to Lynnae and Kevin

Girl Scouts as reindeer

And Finally Santa!
It was a fun day and if we are every here during Christmas time again, I think I might head up there becuase the kids really enjoyed it.

Trees, Elves, and Dogs

Well these pictures are backwards. But... one night for Family Home Evening, we decorated the tree, dressed up the dogs and took some pictures. Here is Haylee, Kevin, Nana, Trent, Momo and Yuki.

Laycee and Logan with the clan.
This is their christmas card picture, or similar to it.

Fredy Rat Elf

So Kevin heard about this book, The Elf on the Shelf. It is about an elf with magical dust who watches over you each day and reports back to Santa each evening. When he comes back while they are sleeping, he finds a new place to watch. It has been very fun for the kids to find his new watch spot each day. I didn't know how I was gonna like the idea at first, but I love it! I am glad Kevin heard about it becuase the kids like it and it gives them a physical item to "watch" them. We have talked about spiritual parallels, so hopefully this fun idea will also double as a teaching moment.

And here are some pictures of the kids decorating the tree.

This as the kick off of our christmas season, and even though I posted these late, this took place nearly 2 weeks ago... so expect the next posts to be about our Christmas fun... or most of them anyway.

advent calendar

This yes instead of buying a calendar that has one piece of candy that my children have to share, or making one for each filled with candy, I saw this idea online. Ok, it didn't turn out exactly as I intended it to from the start and had I known we were doing a tree in the end, I would have chose different paper, but this is my creativty at its best lol. So, instead I cut 3x3 squares. Haylee and Trent helped me fold them in half and I finished the folding and glueing. It was a great project for us to do together. And instead of candy that I would be tempted with, nor do I think children need candy every day, we put for gummy vitamins in each day so they each get a vitamin instead! I love it and I think next year I will make one out of wood and fabric so we can use it from year to year now.

Photo Time

So when I was taking pictures of Laycee and then Logan for my blog sidebar, mom and I decided to get a couple of them together. It has been a long time since we have done that, so we took advantage of the nice weather. Here is pose one...

They were afraid of this plant, so this one never turned out good.
I love these ones.

This is my favorite!

And who doesn't love the Laycee love... except maybe Logan!