Make it a December to Remember

It's December and we spent the whole month doing so many fun events together. The Christmas season is always magical, but I think this was definitely a December to remember. Here are a few of the fun things we did this month leading up to Christmas Eve and Day: 

The day after Thanksgiving we set up our tree. I love that the kids are old enough to decorate downstairs. They do such a good job decorating the tree and I just get to sit back and enjoy. And just for the record (because the kids fight about it every year) Brynnli got to put the star on our tree this year. 

After the decorating and cleanup was done, we watched our traditional movie "Elf" with hot chocolate. I may have fallen asleep during the movie and the kids said I was snoring loudly the last half of the movie,  but there's nothing I love more than watching a movie with the Christmas tree lights in the corner. 

When our Christmas tree is up, that's the ok signal for Kitty to come to our house. He brought his book and some treats for the kids. 

Brynnli is getting so good at reading, so she read us the book. 

Last year we were in the middle of our remodel and I didn't even decorate our tree. This year was so much fun because I got to decorate in our remodeled piano and family room. It was fun to find new places for our decorations. I love our piano room like this and kinda wish I could keep it like this all year. 

Do you want to know another one of our new fun favorite Christmas traditions? Family coloring contest. Everyone chooses their picture then we spend a night coloring together. Which picture would you vote as the winner this year? 

Oops, looks like Kitty swallowed some gum. 

Brynnli had to research Christmas in a different country and do a report at school about it. She chose Sweden because her great-grandma is from Sweden, so that makes her "part Sweden" and also her middle name is Linnea which is a Swedish flower. She made this cute doll and told all about Christmas in Sweden. 

Another round of Disney dinner. This time we watched Moana and had teriyaki chicken, macaroni salad, and rice. 

I got my Christmas nails. Look how cute that reindeer is. 

Ummm... well that's one way to watch tv. 

Brynnli wanted to do choir this year and we were so proud of her. She had to wake up and go to school early two days a week. Sometimes it was hard to wake up so early, especially because she had dance so late the night before, but she went to choir practice every week. We got to go to her school and hear her perform. They did so many fun Christmas songs, but my favorite was when the kids got out their kazoos and played a song. 

Kitty is sneaky and hung up the kid's underwear by the chimney with care. 

I took Makayla and her friends to the Utah gymnastics meet. They are such a cute group of girls and so hilarious. 

Their goal was to get on the big screen, and they finally made it. 

Caden started playing Jr. Jazz. He is on a team with Johnny, his friend in our neighborhood. Caden and Johnny make a great time. Caden is a great assist and Johnny makes a lot of points. We've started calling them Evans to Orton, reminiscent of "Stockton to Malone" way back from the 90's Utah Jazz. So far Caden's team has won both of their games and Caden is doing so well. 

We had a family day at the ice rink. 

Santa even showed up riding the Zamboni

Tracy was scared to skate, so it took Tyler on one side and Colton on the other, but she finally went around once. Tyler's hand may haven been broken by her squeezing it so tight, but she made it. 

We went to see Santa, but we were all convinced this must have been one of Santa's helpers, not the real one.

The kids wrote Santa their wish list. Makayla wants wireless ear pods and shoes, Caden wants coding Legos, and Brynnli wants a Barbie Dreamhouse. Santa wrote the kids back and Kitty delivered the letters. 

Brynnli asked in her letter if she could touch Kitty because some kids in her class are able to hold their elf if they wear a special glove. Kitty got this special glove so that he didn't lose any of his magic.

Brynnli had a special Christmas party with her dance team. They had a pajama party. This is such a cute group of girls. 

Kitty brought the kids Krispy Kreme donuts. Yum!!

Terry and Craig bought all the adults tickets to Kurt Bestor. I love going to Kurt Bestor's concert every year and this year was extra good. 

Tyler tried on Terry's glasses and I think he looks pretty good in glasses. Good thing because Tyler is starting to have problems with his eyes and if he will just make an appointment with the eye doctor, I'm sure he will be wearing glasses soon... I mean he is almost 40. 

I think we might have found the real Santa!! We had a family day and started the day with a visit to Santa. Let me back up for just one minute. Earlier that day Makayla was having a little meltdown because she thought her teeth looked yellow, so she wasn't smiling like she normally does. When we went to meet Santa Makayla hesitated to go over to him, but he called her and Caden over to him and the first thing he said to Makayla was that she had a beautiful smile. He knew!!  He spent time with each kid and asked them to remind him what they wanted for Christmas. 

Then he reminded all the kids how important it is to believe. The end result is my favorite picture this Christmas season. 

After our visit with Santa we went to dinner at Teppanyaki. Our chef was hilarious, and our food was delicious. 

Caden and Dad were the only ones to catch the shrimp in their mouth.

After dinner we got snuggled up in our snuggies and went to see Christmas lights. 

We had our Christmas party with "The Twelve" Grandma Terry and Grandpa Craig spoiled us all again with season passes to Lagoon!!

How cute are these two in their matching Christmas jammies? 

Although I'm scared of what their "special delivery" is. 

Kitty set up a kissing booth. Looks like he had a lot of characters show up for a little kissie kiss. 

I got to help Brynnli's class at their Christmas party. I was in charge of a game and we played ring toss with reindeer antlers. 

Did I just buy Bella Christmas jammies? Why yes, yes I did. Does that make me a crazy dog mom? Why yes, yes it does. Do I care? Nope. Besides, how cute are these two? 

Bella's jammies say, "Dear Santa, Define good"

Oh man, Kitty the Elf is funny this year. We had the hardest time finding Kitty all morning until the kids went to make breakfast and opened the fridge to see this...

"Help! I think the milk has gone bad!"

Don't worry, no elves were actually harmed in the making of this picture. 

As part of Jr. Jazz, Caden gets to go to a Jazz game. Tyler and Caden had so much fun, ate way too many treats, and cheered on the Jazz as they won that night. 

Looks like Kitty got all tangled up while wrapping some presents. 

Makayla asked me to brush her hair one night and before you know it, Bella was "brushing" my hair too. She's such a smart dog!!

Can you believe all the fun we have had so far this month? Stay tuned for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Thankful, Grateful, and Blessed

Thanksgiving is always a great time to reflect on what were thankful for. We love making our Thankful tree that looks so bare in the beginning of the month, but by the end of the month it is full of so many things we are blessed with. 

I got to go with Makayla to one of her last primary activities. They went to the South Jordan historical center. They had a section that was all about the Bingham copper mine, so we took a picture of Makayla next to this miner to show Tyler since you know, he's a mining engineer and all. I am so lucky I got to go with Makayla on one of her last activities. Can you believe she will be in Young Women's next year?

This is my old boss Kalene. I ran into her on our way to the Utes game. 

The girls finally got their dance pictures back, and oh my goodness, our girls are amazing, talented, and beautiful. 

All three kids got to be in the primary program at church. This is Makayla's last program, and although I was sad about it, she was not. Makayla seems to think she is too old for primary or something? They all did a great job on their parts, and I especially loved that I got to sit with Tyler and enjoy it this year instead of planning it. 

Craig and Terry stay at our house on weekends they come to the big city until their house is ready. Our kids decided to make their room into a hotel room, complete with towel animals. They are the cutest. 

Its hard to tell in this picture, but Bella has her toy stuffed animal in her mouth and is lying on her back playing with it. It was so cute. I tell you, this dog has brought so much joy to our family. 

She laid on my legs for the longest time like this while I gave her a pawsage (paw massage). 

On our way to Thanksgiving dinner. My hair and makeup was on point this day. 

Gotta love these little stink bugs in the backseat. They are the best kids and I am grateful every day they are mine!

This year for Thanksgiving we had "Soup and Sides" at Bill and Bonnie's house, then we came back to our house and had my family over for a traditional turkey dinner. I'm grateful for the holidays I get to spend with family.

Do you know one of the funnest things about Makayla? She likes to go Black Friday shopping with me. I remember years ago when I would go out by myself and see mom's shopping with their daughters and I longed for the day when I would get to do that with my girls, and now it's here! 

All the shopping required a short breakfast break at Kneaders. 

How do you know Christmas is close? The first major snowfall of the year. Brynnli was so excited to get on her snow clothes and spent hours playing outside. 

Yep, our hearts and our thankful tree are full this year.