This is the first time in a while that I have felt a little
overwhelmed typing up a post. I
just feel like so much has happened.
Here were a few traditions and activities we did in December:
We got our $5 tree permit and got a 15 foot tree in the
mountains this year. It was huge
and we had to go to the store and get more lights. But it was beautiful and so fun to decorate and have up. Devin is teaching me how to decorate a
big tree. It is a process. I got some extra branches and enjoyed
making garland for the fireplace and doorway. It was quite an ordeal and ended up dying the week of
Christmas. I need to remember to
soak the branches for 2 nights before I hang and wire them next time. It was fun finding the Christmas tree
with the kids – who am I kidding, they stayed in the car for the majority of
the time but they still enjoyed the hot chocolate and binoculars and snow the
few times they did get out.
We had a lot of fun family things we did. I always over prioritize gingerbread houses. I usually end up yelling at the kids or something but I keep doing it. The kids did tents. We also did some gingerbread men and women. I loved Brynlee's cyclops.
We did a night in Bethlehem this year and it was so fun. We don't have enough kids to do the nativity so we invited 2 families over to stock up our nativity! The adults came dressed in biblical attire. We ate appetizers for dinner then for dessert the kids paid their taxes for dessert. It was pretty fun and I think we will keep the tradition next year.
Another tradition that I liked was doing a Mexican night Christmas Eve. It was pretty fun to be with friends and eat. It is an exciting time and fun to spend with friends.
We had a few programs this year. I’m sure it is nothing to what we will have in the years to come. Brynlee did a great job at her preschool program. My favorite song they sang was the reindeer hocky pocky with reindeer ears. Then we had a church Christmas breakfast that was fun. The kids sang a Children’s song and Santa came. Brynlee was SO excited to see him and talk to him that Callen became excited and asked for a tractor.
Elfy came and visited us this year. She/he is hilarious and always find a funny place to come back to after reporting to Santa.
We also wrote letters to Santa from the store adds. She had a cute letter for Santa that I took a picture of before sending in the mail.
I finally found out how to enjoy good food and not spend week in the kitchen! Freeze everything! It was awesome and will be doing it from now on. I canned and cooked my heart out the first of December and then got to enjoy family time at the end of the month and when visitors came.
Finally the last tradition that I loved and I want to continue is sledding basically all month! We did the lazy man sledding with a fire. We couldn’t go without hot chocolate, oranges and smores. It was so fun to invite different families. One memory I’ll always remember was going with Lisa! I love her and their kids are so sweet and nice to Brynlee and Callen.
Finally we had Devin’s work party. It was at a restaurant and included dinner with a white elephant exchange and ugly sweater contest. It was really fun and we ended up laughing so hard with Christina and her husband. Devin did an awesome job creating a cool gift for the girls and we are going to have to find a better ugly sweater for Devin next year.
Another part of December that I don't want to forget is piano. My semester incentives and tuition ended Dec 1. We had a dress rehearsal concert at a nursing home on Thurs and then a concert at church Saturday morning. Both we combined with Stephanie's studio. It was really fun and the kids did so well. I was so proud of Brynlee. At the nursing home she played 3 songs and then went and shook hands with everyone. For the concert she bowed when done then turned and asked me on stage if she could please play one more. It was cute and everyone was laughing. She was flawless!
Devin and I went to the mall to do some last minute shopping
and we stopped at saw the Mall Santa.
The kids were so cute and giddy and I hope we keep that going to.
Here is our Christmas card we sent out. With 350 relatives on my side and
plenty more friends and family for Devin, we were pretty limited with who we
sent a card to. It think we have
decided to send out a lot more next year.
Receiving cards is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I love seeing everyone and what they
are up to.
On top of everything else Devin and I had a co-ed volleyball
league up in Mescalero. Mescalero
is an Indian Reservation and about 40 min drive. So we got a babysitter once a week and had a fun little date
night driving up and playing volleyball together. It lasted for about 3 months. We ended up loosing about half way through the tournament at
the end but it was still worth it and so fun. We were invited onto a team by one of Devin’s patients, so
we didn’t know any of them and ended up making a lot of friends and have a
blast with them. Oh and Devin isn't just better than me know, he is amazing. I chose this picture cause you can see him jumping as high as the ref. He just floats up there till he decides where to hit the ball. The reservation was pretty ghetto - I took a picture of a gas station we went to in between games.
A few nights before Christmas I got to participate in giving our ward's secret santa gifts and poinsettas. It was so humbling and fun to do with the presidency.
As far as Christmas goes, we had a missionary
Christmas. The ward missionaries
came over the skype with their families at 10:30, we skyped with Braiden in
Cali at 1, then we skyped with the twins in Chile and Mexico at 2. So the kids woke up about 8:30 and we
opened gifts slowly and ate a bunch of yummy food all morning. Some of our favorite gifts was a love
sac, princess castle, john deer tractor and a decal for the piano! The kids were so cute opening up gifts –
it reminded me that Christmas is one of my favorite holidays!
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