A Family Date

When we made our Christmas Bucket List this year I told the kids we were going on a special family date and there would be a fun surprise. The family date was set on our calendar for December 23 and the kids could not wait! Finally the day arrived and we gave each kid a special present to open.

They were really excited about it until they opened it and saw it was a gift card. They didn't really understand what it was for and were underwhelmed to say the least. Once we explained that their gift card was to Build-A-Bear, they gave us the reaction we were hoping for. 

After waiting in a very long line, the kids finally got to pick out their bears and it was finally our turn to stuff them. Each kid got to push the button that filled the bears with stuffing.

 Then they got to put in a special heart.

Each bear the kids picked out fit them perfectly.

 Then it was time to wash and dress their bears.

And finally, meet: Hallie Bear, Captain America, and Menna. 

 I think it's safe to say the bears were a huge hit and the kids absolutely love them!

 After Build-A-Bear we surprised the kids with dinner at Tepenyaki. The kids were hilarious to watch as the chef lit up the table with fire. Our kids didn't know what to think.

 But they did think the food was good. They especially liked eating with chopsticks.

 After dinner we ended our family date night with dessert at Waffle Love.

I just can't express enough how much I love this family of mine. We have three great kids and a whole lot to be thankful for. 

Getting Ready For Christmas

Despite this being a very different, hard, and disheartening December, we have continued with our traditions and tried to find some happiness and joy in this special time of year. 

The kids picked out a gift to donate to Toys for Tots. Kayla picked a turtle toy, Caden picked superhero legos, and Brynn picked Minnie Mouse Legos. I love that they understand how important it is to give, especially this time of year. 

The kids put on a nativity show for us. My favorite part is the teddy bears as the three wise men. 

 Crazy Rudolph hair.

 We made gingerbread houses. Brynnli lasted about 5 minutes before she was bored, but the other two had a blast.

 Tyler and I had tickets to see Kurt Bestor again this year. He had a special guest, Jenny Oaks Baker, play a few songs with him and I would say it was by far my favorite Kurt Bestor concert I have ever been to. I especially loved the song, "Noel" he did with Jenny.

 The kids got to see Santa and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

Funny story, Brynnli wasn't feeling well that day and was throwing up, but we thought she would be fine to make it a few hours. We were almost to the front of the line when Brynn told me she was going to throw up again. I had a vomit bag in my hand and she was dry heaving as I casually walked through RC Willey to the bathroom. I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to an already gross situation. Once she threw up, we walked right back and sat on Santa's lap like nothing had happened. 

We had our traditional Christmas party with Terry and Craig and the Jones family. Our kids were spoiled with way too many toys. 

 Both of the kids got to dress up in their pajamas for school for "Polar Express Day" they had so much fun and thought it was so funny to wear pajamas to school.

And of course, Kitty the Elf has been hiding in some pretty memorable spots this year. Some of our favorites include playing with Light Bright, playing "Go Shopping" with the kids' toys, getting all tangled up in wrapping paper, leaving treats, hiding in the Christmas tree, and leaving fun notes. 

Only a few more days until the best day of the year!

When We weren't in Disneyland We...

We did do some other things this month besides go on the best vacation ever... See, here's proof:

I gots my hairs did. I need to figure out how she curls my hair because I just can't seem to recreate this same look right after she does it.

We celebrated Carson and Camden's birthday. This was taken just a few days shy of Camen's actual birthday, so here are the three 3 year olds!

Karen drew our family name for Christmas this year and brought over an early present... Matching Christmas jammies. Oh my! Let's just say they only looked flattering on a few of us.

I'll let you guess who. 

 Ummm.... who sleeps like this?

 So I haven't mentioned it on the blog yet, but Tyler got a new job! What? About a year ago Tyler was actively looking for a new job because while DMC has been a great company to work for, it has become very stressful for not just Tyler, but the whole family. There were a lot of responsibilities placed on Tyler's shoulders, with no direction. Tyler was traveling A LOT for work, which was taking a toll on me and the kids. He was stressed every night and would end up working 12 hour days with some nights and weekends too.  I honestly worried Tyler would have a nervous breakdown from all of the stress. Tyler interviewed for a few jobs, but none of them were the right fit. We weren't willing to move our kids out of state, and we weren't going to take just any job.

After a few months with no luck of a new job Tyler and I decided to take a step back and just wait out DMC. Well about two months ago DMC's direct competitor, Cementation, contacted Tyler about a job. They had his resume and were interested in interviewing him. Long story short, Tyler interviewed with them and they and gave him an offer, which we excitedly accepted. Interestingly enough, DMC countered for a ridiculous amount of money and we started to question our decision of leaving. After a lot of discussion, fasting, and praying, we knew we needed to trust our initial decision and leave DMC, realizing no amount of money could justify the stress our family has been under. We are so grateful for the new opportunity. Tyler started working at Cementation on November 13, right after we got home from our vacation. So far it has been a great change. There is some stress with starting a new job, but so far the change is exactly what we needed for Tyler and our family right now. I honestly believe this job was presented to Tyler at the exact time he needed a change. It's not a coincidence this job fell into Tyler's lap at this time, and I am so grateful for the new opportunities this job will provide.

To celebrate we went to dinner at The Roof. We had an amazing view of the Salt Lake Temple and a delicious dinner. 

 Oh, so much sass crammed into one little body!

 Carson seriously grew overnight. He's almost as tall as I am.

 Caden had a "Feast Day" at school and I got to help out. He pretended he was irritated I was there and taking a picture of him, but I know deep inside he really loved having me there embarrassing him.

 Thanksgiving dinner was so much fun this year at Tammy's.

 Friday was spent decorating our tree and spending the entire day in our jammies.

 Caden got to put the star at the top of our tree this year.

 Then we had our traditional hot chocolate and movie night.

Makayla ran some errands with me on Saturday and she was so excited to go to "Subway Sandwich"... just me and her. I really loved having someone to shop with. It reminded me of all the Saturday's I spent with my mom shopping and going to lunch growing up. I hope we can continue this fun tradition!

 She clearly loved her sandwich!

And this girl... she asks almost every single day to go to Target and get popcorn. This particular day she insisted on bringing her purse full of toys. I just love that she loves Target as much as I do. 

Caden had a field trip to Thanksgiving Point, and boy was it stressful leading up to the day. Caden was so worried about riding the bus. He was worried the bus driver would crash. He was worried because there are no seatbelts on the bus. He was worried he wouldn't have any friends. As much as we talked through it, he was still nervous until I told him he got to take a lunch with him and he could take his new LEGO lunchbox. He got even more excited when we went to the store and he picked out a Lunchable with Oreos. Luckily, the morning of his field trip he was ready and excited. 

When I picked him up he was so excited and told me all about the fun things he did there. Even days later he would tell me he wished he could go on a field trip everyday. 

Makayla writes the cutest notes. I had to chuckle at this note:

*I had a bad day today but my dad played music and it helped me and my brother then I had a better day.