Christmas Break

Christmas Break is full of lots of fun activities.  A 2 night slumber party with the Christensen kids.  It has been warm enough to play at the park.  We get to play lots with our new toys.  Lots of playing the new Wii games.  Playdough. And driving Mom absolutely crazy.

Showing off their new PJs Grandma Mona sewed them.  The boys are matching and Zoe is able to match her doll.

Being Playdough chefs, wearing their new aprons.
                                     

Jack Jack tries too hard to keep up with the big kids.  He often falls asleep while eating his lunch.  Today it was in between bites of chicken nuggets.

I can't believe I have another week until Noah is back in School.  Can't wait to see what fun we can have  next week.

Christmas Day

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year.  We were trying to figure out the best way to handle all the commotion of present opening and playing with toys, while also putting an emphasis on the importance of attending and paying attention at Church.  Church this year was going to be a combined Sacrament Meeting with the other Fernley Ward.  Which means things would be really crowded and in order to get a good seat you would have to go early.  Lucky for us Dan already was going early to do his Bishopric duties, so we were able to grab great seats.  Since I know he'd be on the stand the whole time and I was worried about behavior during Sacrament Meeting with the kids focused on the toys they had to leave behind.  Or the mood they would be in resulting from tearing them away from their new toys.  I decided to postpone present opening until after church.  I must admit it was a little selfish on my part.  I didn't want to get up super early to have everything done before church.  So, we agreed to let the kids look in their stockings and open one gift before church.  The rest would have to wait until after church.  I thought this would help the kids be on their best behavior.  Boy was I wrong.  They were just as squirmy knowing they had gifts to open and distracted by the anticipation.  It probably would have been better to do it the other way.  We'll have to see, when Christmas falls on a Sunday again.

We didn't get too many pictures, or good pictures of the festivities.  I wasn't feeling well at all and managed to get in a nice nap in between present opening and our Christmas feast.  Dan did a great job cooking dinner and putting out a spread of appetizers and snacks.  Santa filled all of our stockings with our favorite snacks.  Laughing Cow Cheese, Gardenia Mix, Smoked Oysters, Pickled Herring, Cheese Logs, crackers, and Smoked Sausage.

Here is Zoe opening her package from Santa....

Tea Cup Piggies

Noah opening his present from Santa Clause...

A Crayola Cars 2 Glow Board

Jack Jack opening his present.  It took a lot of convincing and coaching.

A Shake and Go Car.  Fin McMissle from Cars 2

Christmas Eve

Can you believe Christmas is tomorrow?  We had a few more things to check off our list.  It wouldn't be Christmas without visiting the life size Nativity at the Egberts' home.  This wasn't that hard to do.  Zoe and I had the privilege of attending a special Birthday Tea Party for Suelen Egbert.  We got to taste so many yummy Brazilian treats.  She made this amazing chocolate cake that is to die for.  I hope she's around to make it for my birthday. The boys kindly dropped us off for the event and did a few last minute holiday errands.  When they picked us up we did a quick photo shoot before heading home.

Jack didn't know what to make of the giant camel, nor did he really want to be sitting on its back.  The older two had a blast playing and posing with the different figures.  There were way to many photos to post.  Some will make good blackmail material some day.  You would think with the way they acted that they owned the place.  We are so blessed to have the Egberts in our lives.

We spent Christmas Eve with the Christensens.  We ate lots of snacks, watched "The Polar Express," drank Hot Chocolate, and had a visit from one of Santa's Elves.  We found a package of Christmas Pajamas on their doorstep.  How did he know we'd be there?  We made sure to wrap things up pretty early since Christmas Morning would also be Sunday Morning.  Plus we needed to leave Santa plenty of time to visit our house.

Here is Jack and I enjoying the movie on the couch.

Kysha, Zoe, Noah, and Erik all cozy on the floor.

Our Family Picture.  Notice Mom & Dad match each other and the kids match each other (the same print, different colors).  I wonder if we can keep up this tradition?  Will the elf find our house next year?

Countdown to Christmas

The Christmas Season is upon us.  I don't feel ready for it at all, but I am ready for this year to end.  It has been a very eventful one at our house and not always in a good way.  I sometimes feel I have had more than my fair share of trials.  I have learned a lot from them and have come to realize my Heavenly Father's hand in my life.  When I was faced with something that seemed impossible to handle or deal with, there was some one right there encouraging me and helping me out.  It's funny how things work out that way.

We decorated the tree the other night.

I wonder how many more years Dan can get away with re-decorating it after the kids have gone to bed.  They don't seem to notice how drastically different it looks when they wake up in the morning.  I think it would be fun to leave it as is.  The kids always have a favorite branch, where all their ornaments end up.  So only half of the tree looks decorated.  This drives Dan crazy, he wants his tree to look perfect.  This is our attempt to keep a one year old from destroying the tree, tuck it in the corner and block most of it with the couches.  We shall see how it works.

Last night was the Ward Christmas Party and Talent Show.  I was so busy making sure that the food was ready to serve and everything was running smoothly that I missed out on a bunch of things.  Thanks to the Foist family my kids got to visit with Santa.  Too bad I never figured out where the pictures were posted.  Zoe was eager to ask Santa for a baby sister, I don't think she knows how things work.  Noah was yet again
terrified to sit on Santa's lap and really didn't know what to ask him for.  It took a lot of bribing and convincing him to do it.  I'm not sure how Jack did.  Next year he should be more aware of things.

The kids participated in the Talent Show.  They sang, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," with a bunch of kids from the ward.  Janie was kind enough to take a few pictures for me.  In all the craziness of getting out of the house on time and all my responsibilities I forgot the camera.

Dan Participated in the "12 Days of Christmas," with a lot of the priesthood brethren.  He was number 2 this year.  He created his own costume, fashioning it after Napoleon Dynamite.  He was really creative and came up with 12 different ways of saying, "Two Turtle Doves."

Unfortunately, Noah missed his Winter Concert this year.  He had the misfortune of coming down with a stomach bug the morning of the performance.  He was particularly bummed since he had a solo part.  The countdown to Christmas Break has officially begun.

Peek a Boo and Other Tricks

Where is Jack Jack?
There he is!
Where is Jackson?
Peek a Boo!
Jack has figured out how much fun it is to hide behind curtains and play peek a boo. He thinks he is so funny and it keeps him entertained for a while. That is as long as someone is willing to notice him.

Jack is getting very good at being aware of what is going on around him. The other night Dan began making kettle corn. Jack caught on quickly. He went to the draw pulled out a bowl and handed it to Dan. He then proceeded to stand there watching and pointing to the popcorn popper. He could hardly wait for the tasty treat to be ready.

Here he is enjoying his own bowl...