Sugar Cookie Stars

Christmas is not complete in my opinion, without a cookie night with Mammy. Sour cream sugar cookies.

She was a trooper.  She had a really bad earache but that didn't slow her down.  

There were tons of little hands going full blast rolling out the dough, cutting them out, and then decorating.  Oh, the decorating.  I turn my head and let them go at it while I dream of the nutritious juice I will make them in the morning.  

It's fun to watch them with their creations. A little more frosting, a lot more sprinkles, and tons of finger licking in between.

 A big glass of milk and a cookie covered in drippy frosting and sprinkles ends the night.

Chritmas Tree Sleepover

The boys look forward to this tradition all year.

The objective:

To stay up as late as possible watching Christmas movies and snacking, while trying to catch Frizz (our elf), leave to go to the North Pole.

Usually, Justin and I camp out in the living room with them but this year I got a humdinger of a headache and had to leave all the fun a bit early.  Justin shortly followed when the last little sleepy eye shut.

In the morning, I was feeling much better and we all had scarfed down a yummy pancake and fruit breakfast!

Joseph...

Kendall got to be Joseph in his preschool play this year. Mary... Sara, was just as cute! He worked extra hard and learned his lines, poems, and songs.

It really is a highlight for a mom to be able to sit back and watch.  I watched his sweet little teacher orchestrate the whole thing and felt so happy to have her in our life.

 I often catch myself mouthing all his lines and words to the poems and songs.  How embarrassing if the kids knew I did that!

I started to roll the camera and about 4 minutes into it, I ran out of room on my phone so I'm going to write a little of what I remember.

He was the letter H.  And his line was, "H is for happy Christmas sights."

I loved watching him "play" Joseph.  He was sweet and kind to Mary and referred to her a lot as his wife.  Not going to lie, that will get a lot of getting used too.  He even got the rolling donkey stuck and calmly rolled it to safety.

He starred at the little baby Jesus and kept fixing His little blanket and turning it just so.  It was tender. Again...I'm the mom here.

They recited a darling poem and they were all amimals in the barn when Jesus was born.  He was the sheep.  His line was:

I said the sheep with the curly horn.
I gave you my wool to keep you warm.
He wore my coat on Christmas morn.
I said the sheep with the curly horn.

Then at the end we all had punch and cookies and SANTA showed up!  These are a little blurry but I caught some of his expressions when Santa game in.... priceless!

The Director

One evening Nathan decided to put on a play for Justin.  The next thing I knew, I had a costume, lines, and I was the sheep.  Nathan was the Shepard and Kendall was the sheepdog.

Kendall was cracking us up because he would yelp, "Ruff, Baaa!"  over and over until we explained that that a sheepdog was a type of dog.

It was a fun night being silly!

Good Ole Fashioned Therapy.

 Justin met Kendall and I at noon.  We grabbed some sandwiches and fruit and headed up to Nathan's school to pick him up.  He was so surprised to see us!

We had loaded the car with the boys' favorite blankets and stuffed animals. We had overnight bags that  included church clothes and swimming suits.  That was the only clue we gave them as we started to drive off.  It really threw them off!

Finally we I could not keep the surprise any longer.  We were going to Hannah's baptism!  We had just enough time to grab some Cafe Rio and check into the hotel and change.

It was so fun for the boys to see their cousins!  Hannah looked so pretty in her white dress.  We loved being able to see her get baptized.

The next morning, we grabbed a pancake breakfast at the Village Inn next to the hotel and set off for our final destination: Glenwood Springs!

 We had driven by the hot springs many times before but never had we stopped to swim there.  We got there and it was 30 degrees!  The boys couldn't believe we were going to swim outside in the freezing cold!

We got into our swimming suits and ran to get into the warm water.  The water felt so good!  It was 98 degrees and the hot tub pool was 104 degrees.  It was so cold outside that the pool was steaming.

We switched back and forth between the pool and hot tub and played  and relaxed for several hours.  I felt like it was so healing.  The pools have 18 different minerals and we tried to soak up all the "magical powers" it had to offer.

I loved reading all about the history.  Here is a snippet:

They set out to harness the 3.5 million gallons of naturally hot mineral water that rises from the source of the spring each day. In 1888 the world’s largest hot springs pool was born in the newly established town of Glenwood Springs. It became world-renowned as a healing wonder set in a mountain paradise. Around the turn of the century, the Golden Age of Mineral Spas, it was referred to as “Spa of the Rockies”, when "spa" was defined as hot spring bathing.

 We were laughing so hard at the boys' hands and kept calling them our little prune danishes.  By the time we were done, we were SO HUNGRY!  We found a Qudoba next to the pools and ordered what felt like the whole menu.

We drove through the historical part of the town, window shopped, and then headed back home.... in a white out blizzard!  Scary!  We prayed our way home and when we got there safely, I couldn't stop hugging and kissing Justin and telling him how grateful I was for his driving skills on this trip.

Gingerbread Cottage

We have some serious decorators in this family.  They made a tasty masterpiece that I'm sure will be tempting them all season.

I love the drippy little details and the random candies are always my favorite.

Decking the Halls

A little Christmas music was playing and the next thing I knew, we were decorating for the holiday!  I know I say this every year but I LOVE THIS AGE! 

We are in full Christmas turbo spirit! 

I want to take advantage and fill this season with things that matter the most.  Cheers!

Thanksgiving Break

Lots of hanging out on the couch this week.  Nathan and Kendall got to eat many meals on the couch which is a complete novelty.

We did a 750 piece puzzle and took lots of naps.

Time to Eat!

 Thanksgiving was very low key this year.  Nathan was recovering from his surgery and we kept things very simple.

It was full of family, relaxing, and good food.

Justin's parents came over along with Todd, Martha, Buddy, Joann, Jackson and a surprise visit from Aunt Cindi and Jan. I had taken a picture of the whole clan but it did not turn out :(

After we got the boys settled down, Justin and I made our black Friday lists.  We did not know how it would end up going because it all depended on how Nathan did during the night.

The next morning I was able to hit 2 stores and then I turned it over to Justin this year.  He did great!

Sacks

 I made the boys little turkey sacks to put at their spot at the table on Thanksgiving.  Nathan was still pretty out of it and will jump on the turkey train next year.  So it was just Kendall.

I had five slips of paper inside:

Whisper "I Love YOU" in someones ear.
Go say a personal prayer and tell Heavenly Father everything you are thankful for.
Do a secret service for someone.
Write down all your blessings and see how many you can come up with.
Act like a turkey and flap your arms and see if anyone notices.

It was fun to watch him.  He had on a smile the whole time.