QUILLOWS
It's a little blurry but this is a picture of 2 of the 3 quillows I made for the kids 3 days before Christmas! Lily's was a little more work than the 2 in the picture because I weighted it with poly pellets, but I still managed to get them all finished (minus these two still needing tied... at this point I don't know if it's going to happen. Lol).
LEO'S PLACE
Over Christmas Break we spent a good 4 hours in Leo's Place with cousins! Yay!
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
We like to go to Iona to see the Belnap's Light Show (and Klingler's but they weren't able to do it this year :-( ). I don't like going on Christmas Eve because it's way too busy, so we went a few days early! We all had a good time!
The kids wrote letters to put in Santa's Mail Box downtown, but on Christmas Eve when we left the house I totally forgot to stop at the mailbox, and Crystal didn't remind me until we were almost to my parent's house (in the opposite direction), so we settled with the regular mailbox this year. Oops...
9 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Well winter showed it's face this week. I'm so glad we have a truck this year that handles these roads so much better than our little car! We might actually get to see Grandma and Papa Cook this winter! Thank goodness because they were nice enough to watch Jay so we could go on a date for our anniversary! The girls were at Star Wars with my parents (Ty and I have yet to see it... sad I know). When we went to pick Jay up, Grandma and Papa had pulled out the old train set! Jay was so beyond excited about it! His love for trains is unbelievable!
Last year my mom put together the most amazing Ward Christmas Party. She turned the church hallways into The Polar Express train and several rooms were decorated for stops the train made on the way to the North Pole. She wouldn't let any of us go to the party because she wanted to do it when she had everyone for Christmas this year. Haha. So on Christmas Eve we all embarked on a journey to the North Pole! Several days before my parents left a package on our doorstep with train tickets and Polar Express robes for all the kids! They were SO beyond excited!
As we rode the train Ty read The Polar Express. We stopped at Mrs. Clause's Bakery where they cut out their own cookie to bake! While it was baking we made another stop where they played a Train Walk game for prizes! Then we boarded the train where we had hot chocolate and watched the 'hot chocolate' scene from the movie. We then made a stop at Santa's Workshop (Santa wasn't there of course because he's busy on Christmas Eve). Grandma and Grandpa tricked us by having us all stand against the wall and telling us they had an important gift to give us. I knew as soon as they looked at each other that something was up! They pulled 'snowballs' out of their santa bags and attacked their innocent and unarmed children and grandchildren! Can you believe that?!?!? Lol. After the snowball fight they handed out gifts from Santa's bag. The kids all got snuggies!
We found our way back to the bakery where the kids decorated (and ate) their cookies and then we boarded the train and listened to the rest of the story as we rode! We stopped in the Nativity room where we learned the true First Gift of Christmas and everyone was given a bell to remind us to always believe.
We then ate dinner in the train car where we had hot chocolate and watched the Polar Express! On the way home we drove around town and looked at a few more lights. When we got home, we put out cookies for Santa (cookies they decorated with no restraint at Mrs. Clause's Bakery) and went to bed!
CHRISTMAS DAY
Santa found us! He even brought a toy for Roscoe and Angel! We started off the morning at home opening presents from each other. After getting ready for the day we went to Grandma and Papa Cook's for breakfast! We visited with Uncle Todd and Aunt Brooke over Facetime where they shared some great news! They are having a girl!!! Wahoo! The rest of the morning we opened presents from each other and had a good visit! Grandma and Papa were getting ready to leave for Bear Lake so we didn't stay long, but we had a good time!
My parent's started out by giving each of us a wonderful gift. Inspired by Charles Dickens' book to his children "The Life of Our Lord" (highly recommend by the way), my parents wrote "A Proclamation To Our Family" and framed it for each of us... even the grandchildren! This was the best gift we could have asked for! I was so impressed by how the grandkids sat and listened to Papa while he spoke that I couldn't help but take a picture!
My mom is always joking with us because none of her children have an electric can opener when we grew up ALWAYS having one. Haha. One day she said she was going to get all of us an electric can opener just so she could use it when she's there. lol. Sure enough she gave us each one for Christmas! Haha! Best part was on the inside of the lid was a note that said we each got a food storage rotation system! Yay! I've seriously wanted one for years! Can't wait to reorganize my food storage!!!!!
After letting the kids ride on the Razor with Papa for a bit we headed home where the kids played with their new toys while Ty and I started packing for our trip to Bear Lake!
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| The girls made this horse monster for Jay. He loves it! |
