Christmas break... so far. =)

Playing some games before Christmas...

Checkers/ Cat and the Fiddle

Playing Twister

One comes down... they all come down.

Sleeping in glow of the tree Christmas Eve Eve.

I didn't get pictures, but Christmas Eve was really fun. We went over to Matthew's parents for dinner, homemade strawberries and cream ice cream with all of Mom's famous treats, mmm..., watched Joy to the World, testimonies, and my favorite part, singing. I figured it's ok, I'll bring my camera tomorrow to Christmas dinner, but did I bring it... No. =( Oh, well. I think Breanne took lots of pictures. I'll have to get them from her.

Christmas Day!

Neil is always the first one up at our house. Before he knew I was up I stood and watched him. I could see the magic in his eyes. It was a beautiful moment and luckily there was a camera close by. =)

Soon after I woke up, Gordon and Jamin got up too. Tegan likes to sleep in, though. So we opened our stockings, then I started to make breakfast, and then later when Tegan finally decided to wake up, we opened presents. The boys were very patient. =)

Gordon got some dress up clothes for Christmas.

Christmas morning breakfast... crepes, strawberries, whipping cream, bananas, orange juice, and a cinnamon Christmas tree =)

A cool gift from Matthew's parents.

Tegan was very excited about the crinkling sound of the wrapping paper.

This is what happens when you fall asleep at our house. =)

Dress of the Week - Christmas present from Aunt Breanne. The shirt underneath is from cousin Elisabeth. =)

Playing in the snow

WooHoo!!! Sledding

Gordon and his friend Zach were crazy; they kept going up and down the hill together.

It was fun to watch.

Tegan even loved sledding with Mommy

I was surprised how much Neil loved sledding. He went with Daddy most of the time. He kept falling off Daddy at the bottom and he would say, "I'm ok. Let's go again!"

To be continued...

Jamin's and Gordon's Christmas concert

stocking ornament

Materials needed:

Red felt

String

Fuzzy ribbon - found at craft store

Christmas or other foam stickers

Other Christmas embellishments

Glue

Hole punch

scissors

This can be as easy or hard as you would like. I cut out the felt before hand. (Probably the hardest part.) I let the kids put the stickers on wherever they wanted. One put an elephant on his. It's all good. Then I punched a whole in the top and put the string through. I hot glued the fuzziness on and the Merry Christmas embellishment. That's it. Super easy. The kids loved putting the stickers on and talking about the different shapes and colors.

Christmas ornaments

Max the Cat

Max eats the tree, scratches the furniture, and gets cat hair all over the house, but we love him.

And moments like this is why. =)

Church Christmas party and Dress of the Week

Tegan's Christmas party outfit =)

Jamin and Santa

Santa asked what Gordon wanted for Christmas and ...

Gordon said he wanted one of those goody bags.

Tegan didn't like Santa so much

Neil loved Santa

Having a little snack after church

Dress of the Week

Merry Christmas! from Gordon and Neil

Made me laugh =)

I just wanted to write this down before I forget. So at Prelude to Christmas yesterday it was our Stake combined with a Catholic church. Close to the end of the musical performances, the Stake President gave a very nice message about remembering to serve others during the Christmas season and throughout the year. After his talk, the Priest over the Catholic congregation got up. His message wasn't quite as spiritually uplifting, but quite entertaining. He told a joke...

The Pope was having a very important meeting in Rome. All of the most important bishops and top people in the church were there. He asked his secretary to make sure that he wasn't interrupted by any phone calls or messages during the meeting. So the meeting was well underway when the Pope's secretary came in the room. After speaking briefly, the Pope got up and left the room to answer the phone. When the Pope returned, he looked quite shocked and told everyone that he had some very exciting news and some not so great news. He said that the second coming has come and that Jesus was on the phone. Everyone in the room was very excited and the room was full of energy. Then one of the bishops remembered that the Pope had said that there was some bad news and asked what it was. The Pope said, "Well, He was calling from Salt Lake City."

Busy Sunday with a little craziness

MY DAY

7am wake up, make breakfast then get ready for church

7:45 Matthew leaves for church (he has to be there early every Sunday for meetings)

Once I am ready, I start getting the kids ready.

9am the time I realize I need to hurry or I will be late.

10am church

10:15 the time I got to church

12-1:30 Visiting Teaching workshop/lunch

2-3 baptism

3:20 got home

3:45 Matthew got home

4pm missionaries and in-laws came over for dinner

5:15 encouraged the missionaries to go so we could get to the Stake center for choir practice

5:30 left for the stake center

6pm choir practice

6:10 got to the stake center

7pm Prelude to Christmas

10pm got home and put kids to bed

Prelude to Christmas is a musical performance that our church puts on every year. The last few years we have gotten together with a Catholic church in the area and both churches have various musical ensembles that perform Christmas music. This year Matthew and I were in the choir and I accompanied the choir with my flute in one piece. I was also asked find an ensemble from our branch in Selkirk to perform. Jamin loves to sing, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for him. He chose Joy to the World, practiced a ton, and did an amazing job. I was so proud of him. It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of that many people and sing. Afterwards, there were refreshments and I was enjoying people come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed Jamin's singing, when someone from behind said, "You need to get your son now." I turned around and to my complete horror, I saw my little Neil running around the cultural hall with NO PANTS on. Aaaaah! Matthew had some business he was attending to, so he wasn't around. So I immediately went to Neil, scooped him up, trying to cover him behind Tegan, and swiftly moved to the bathroom. Then I didn't quite know what to do. I decided to wait for a miracle. I was not going to leave that bathroom without anything to cover Neil. Luckily a miracle came. A very kind lady came, asked if she could help, and located Neil's pants. They were wet, in the men's bathroom. So I guess he didn't quite make it to the toilet and thought an appropriate solution would be to take them off.

Dress of the Week

Christmastime is coming near...

Matthew and I were Joseph and Mary for the live nativity that our church put on at the Forks. Jamin and Matthew's Mom =) were shepherds. It was a fun time. I am glad that were able to have this experience. A great way to start the Christmas season.

Dress of the Week

Gordon's Christmas recital for MYC

The kids went to a nursing home and sang and played lots of Christmas songs. It was cute. Gordon had a hard time holding still, but he had fun and the elderly people enjoyed it.