We had lots of fun in December!! Here's a recap of some of our festivites.
(for some reason my pics are not showing up so I will put them on a different post)
1.Near the beginning of the month we decorated the Christmas tree at our house. It's kinda weird when you're using someone else's decorations but we pulled it off. And it looked great. Then a few days later Naunie invited Blake & Sonny over to help her & our other cousins help decorate her tree. It was really fun watching all the boys decorate Naunie & Grandpa's tree. Grandpa even let Blake be his assistant photographer for the day. It was a fun day.
2.We attended our Ward Christmas at the beginning of the month as well. It was fun to visit with friends from the ward & for the kids to meet Santa & tell them what they hoped they'd get for Christmas.
3.We also got to go over to Naunie's & Grandpa's to make Gingerbread Houses. This has become a fun tradition. Colby & Kylie got to join in on the fun too since we did it during the day. It's always fun to see what the kids come up with & how much candy they can sneak too.
4.Another family tradition is to visit with the Johns family a few days before Christmas. It's so nice to get together with my crazy & fun family to eat & visit & watch the kids perform the Nativity. My kids never participate...the little stinkers. I'm so glad that my grandparents do this every year a few days before Christmas...that way we get to see everybody without as much rushing around.
Blake, Sonny & Gabreal were having so much fun together & I got a few great pics of the 3. It was cute!!
Another family tradition is that we go to Brad's Uncle's house for Christmas Eve & eat a ton of Mexican food. It's always fun to get together with them & enjoy the holidays. I've gotten used to not having turkey on Christmas Eve & now I look forward to the food...especially the refried beans....mmmmm....sooo good. No pics...maybe next year.
5.Here are some pics from Christmas morning at our house. The boys were very excited to see all the loot that Santa brought them along with all the other gifts. Sonny was pleased with all of his candy & decided he needed to lay it all out. Blake got a fantastic leather jacket & a Jets shirt (his fave team). They got lots of stuff to keep them occupied & happy....for a few days at least.
6.We also went over to Grandpa & Naunie's on Christmas morning to celebrate with my family. I love being around my family!! We all have our little quirks & that's what makes it great. I always feel like we don't get to spend enough time with each of our families...I guess that's what happens when both of our parents are divorced. More love to go around I suppose. Anyway it was fun watching my boys & my nephews open their Christmas gifts. We usually do a Yankee Swap with all of us adults. There was some good stuff this year. I got movie tickets...yay!! ( I still haven't used them yet). My Aunt Jeanne brought this peppermint pig & what you do is put it in a bag & say what you were thankful for & hope for the upcoming year & then hit the pig with a little hammer. Everyone in the room does it & then you take it out of the bag & eat the peppermint. It was really fun & I hope we do it again next year. After that Brad & I went to the movies with his brother Bryan while the kids went home to rest with Grandma Lisa. It was a nice day.
I'm so grateful for Christmas time. I love that we get to celebrate the birth of our Lord. I feel so blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life & the opportunity to teach it to my children as well. I only hope that my children gain as strong of a Testimony as I have throughought their lives.
