It's the beginning of December so you know what that means- Charlie came to visit! This year he showed up in an airplane! We were able to carry him downstairs with us so that he could watch a Christmas movie that night too which was a fun bonus!
Grandma sent them some fun presents!
Originally, the porch was supposed to be much wider than it ended up being. But we were so tired and ready to move on that it was a fight we just didn't have in us anymore. Well, a couple years in and we have the energy to fix it so we paid someone to come out and double it! Hopefully this will help a lot in the summer and give us some shade. This porch is just right in the sun in late afternoon around dinner time and we always want to eat dinner out there!
Every year we do the same thing and every year it is one of my favorite days! We decorated the Christmas tree with our Rudolph movie and our chip dip!
Just like I did for Halloween, I thought it would be really fun to put Christmas pictures in the parlor on the gallery wall. I wish that it didn't take me as long as it did but it was quite a bit of planning to figure out what size was needed and which pictures to use haha. But in the end I was so happy with it!
We got tickets to a cool LDS Christmas comedy show called Laughing All the Way. It was actually so funny and I got to see Hank Smith and John Bytheway! I love them so much!
For years I have wanted to go to the Kristkindle Market in Salt Lake but it is always so crowded and December is so busy. This year Bryndee and I decided to go together and actually make it happen! It was a cute little market! They had fun snacks and treats, cool little shops, and it felt very Christmasy even with the lack of snow for this time of year.
There were these fairies (don't know why) but the girls wanted a picture with them
This year we decorated stockings again! I remember doing that as a kid and it is so easy but the kids love it. Small effort and great reward!
Also time for ice skating! Getting back out on the ice was a little wobbly but we got our groove after a little while!
The Cocoa Bird is a little sweet treat shop in Heber that has really difficult hours. They are almost never open and only open for holidays or special events. I heard that they were open for Christmas and went down and got some treats! They were delicious, a good price, and the store was cute!
We try to make it on the train every year and this year we went with both the Cowleys and Pattersons. It was a blast! Emilie, Dave, Colton and Stacey came and then the whole Cowley family came too. We were on a different cart than we normally are but the elves came and made everything magical for the kids! And of course, Santa coming and handing out bells was the highlight!
Getting the bells!
Colton photo bombing our family picture
Santa took a picture with all of us!
In what is seeming to be a yearly tradition, the kids each made a snowflake shop! They spent lots of time making the snowflakes and then set up stores where you could see them like a museum or purchase them.
We made it to the live nativity in Heber again this year! Rusty was going for Young Mens so I went with Jess and Sara with her kids. It was really cool and Sara and Jess had never been so it was fun to watch them be kind of blown away by it all. The singers this year were absolutely unbelievable.
Alyson and I wore our Christmas jammies and went to a hotel for the night! I booked an Airbnb because last year in the hotel we had a hard time with getting the TV to let us watch the Christmas movies we wanted. When we got to the AirBnb it was so dirty and clearly not cleaned. Dirty towels were in the tub, trash in all the trash cans, dirty sheets.... it was not great. So we got a refund for that and then went back to the normal hotel haha. Other than that it was uneventful and fun- just what we wanted!
While I was on my overnight with Alyson, I had bought a bunch of soap for the kids and Rusty. We had read the Christmas Miracle of Johnathon Toomey and I thought it would be really cool for the kids to carve a nativity out of soap. They worked on it while I was gone and it is my favorite nativity now!
The Bartons came over to make gingerbread houses! We had lots of different candies, frostings, and we even pulled out the hot glue gun to solidify the houses before we started decorating haha. Not every kid wanted to do that though and some opted for the old fashioned way. It was really fun!
Emmaline invited my girls over to her house for a girls tea party! It was fancy and there was fancy food and crafts and my girls just loved it!
Decorating for Christmas always takes a long time, but I still enjoy it! You just listen to Christmas music and it's so fun to bring all the decorations out again after a year.
The soap nativity!
For a fun date Jess and I went and saw a radio performance of Miracle on 64th Street! It was really cool and only the second time I've ever seen anything like that. They were dressed up like the characters, but they only spoke into the microphones. It was awesome!
The kids had a piano recital- Della's first ever and Henry's first in a while. They were really nervous but they did so well! Henry played Tarantella Brillante and Cat Waltz. We were so grateful and blessed that Emilie, Jess, and my parents came out to support them. We went and got some Mexican food before because it was a little late. Our neighbors, the Carlsons, had asked Winston (the teacher) if he could move our performance to their recital so we could be together. I was so proud of my kiddos! They did great!
Wanted to be included haha
Sara threw a cute Christmas party for the book club kids! It was really fun and they got to play games and decorate cookies.
The Nalders wanted to go on the Heber Christmas train with my family and my parents, and they ended up buying some pretty expensive tickets. It was kind of a tricky situation but we decided to pay for ours and go with them and do the train a second time. It was fun!
My mom did her annual Grinch party! This year we decided to make some adorable grinch cupcakes and I don't know what happened but our frosting was not working out haha. It was actually so hilarious because the faces just were sliding right off of the cupcakes haha! The party was really fun!
In a weird twist a lady came and decorated my dad. I don't know why but it's what happened.
We went to the Porter Christmas Eve breakfast, but this year it wasn't on Christmas Eve which I liked even more haha. I forgot to get my kids costumes for the nativity so we just kind of made due with what we had... and it was not that great haha.
Henry hahaha
We had a blast making our Christmas cookies again this year! The kids are getting more and more helpful and independent.
We have leftover stuff for gingerbread houses after our party with the Bartons so we just kept it out for a few days and when the neighbors came over to play they all made one!
This winter the snow has been terrible and the weather has been really warm. In a lot of ways that is really a bummer and we are sad about it, but in trying to find the silver linings Rusty and I have been running to the pond! In December! Which is crazy!
Dad and Rusty sang "You Make it Feel Like Christmas"
Jessica and I did a fantastic rendition of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer with our puppets
It was finally Christmas Day! So much excitement and happiness! The kids all came downstairs after we took some pictures and got things ready. And I guess that Della's note to Santa worked because he left each of them a letter! This year Henry got some ninja weapons and a remote control airplane, Della got a Barbie airplane, and Amelia got an airplane that can go on water. I guess it was the year of the planes! What a beautiful Christmas we had. I'm so grateful for my family, and so grateful for the Savior Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate. We have so many blessings!
I got a new bike from Santa!
It is so funny, but one of the girls' favorite gifts this year (if not their most favorite) was these ear muffs they wanted and I said no to and then got them as surprise!
Amelia loved her new red high heels!
As an extra surprise, we got the girls a big vanity to put in their room!
And Henry got a telescope!
The aftermath
Rusty loved his new record player I got him!
A fun game from Grandma Phyllis
We had another dinner with Mammadovs! This time we did the rocklette and it was so fun! I haven't done that in forever. They always go above and beyond for dinners or parties and we love hanging out with them.
It was Alora's birthday! We went over and had a little party with her. She is so cute!
Henry's Highlights:
- "Choices were made" about the band name Weezer haha
- At dinner he started to drop something and he said, "Help me Rhonda!"
Adeline's Adventures:
- I honestly don't remember the context of this one haha. "I feel like this world is getting higher in prices. Inflation is killing!"
Amelia's Updates:
- Rusty: "Amelia you need to talk quieter, I can't read."
- Amelia: "Dad, I know you have this dream where you're the king, but you're not."
- Says "Brutal" all the time
- Came over to me and said, "Mom I was just sniffing Bailey's butt to say hello because you know dogs sniff butts to say hello."
We went back to get our ski stuff from Al's in Orem! We are excited and hoping for a great ski season!
Emilie got me this picture of Santa flying over my house! It is perfect!
I tried out these pancakes again and they went better this year!
Kids were playing a game with Rusty where they try to clip clothes pins on Rusty without him noticing
Almonds up her nose... because why not
Attacking Weston
Letter to Santa from my Sweet Della
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