magical moments

If you know me at all, you know that I am
an absolute Christmas freak!
I love everything about the holidays...everything.
I get so excited for Christmas Eve that sometimes
still can't sleep the night before. So many FUN traditions,
the EXCITEMENT of the kids, being with family...
makes me smile just thinking about it all.
This year we started a new tradition:
Twinkie the Elf came to stay with us for about 2 weeks.
She came straight from the North Pole, full of magic and trickeries. Every night Twinkie would return to the North Pole and give Santa a report of how our family was doing. She would magically appear in a new place every morning. And of course, her trickeries were the best part! One morning she turned all the chairs upstairs upside down. Another day the kids awoke to find Twinkie had written her name on their arms while they slept. She made messes, left mirror messages, and finished her stay by taking a small object from each child and molding it into a bowl of jello. Pretty sure Twinkie will be returning next year.

...the sisters...

...the brothers...

...the mom & dad...

...waiting for the Christmas Eve program...
what better to do than torture Brit?

playing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"

singing "He's too Fat for the Chimney"

playing "Let it Snow"

playing "Carol of the Bells"

singing "Up on the Housetop"

all the cuzzins!

love this look of pure JOY!

phew...Santa remembered what I wanted...

...and Santa brought things I didn't even know I wanted!

That's right! Jace is Iron Man!

the word "cool" pretty much described everything for Carter

Maddy regifted this from her white elephant exchange
the possibilities for this gift are endless...

"Yes! A Zhu-Zhu pet!"

"Knuffle Bunny Two!"...a favorite series of stories.
Christmas was heavenly. I loved it from beginning to end. Well....
maybe the end, not so much. I'm always sad to see December end.
But I am grateful for family and the many blessings we share.

sounds of Christmas

The sounds of Christmas have been all around me. . .
music on the radio (since early November),
hustle and bustle at every store in town,
jingling bells on my front door,
crunchy snow and ice on the sidewalk...
But nothing sounds as much like Christmas
as hearing children singing.

If you didn't notice, there is a serious hole up top!

Jace didn't want a picture with his just-pulled-out-tooth hole...
I think he looks perfect!

Carter before the singing began...

Carter during the song....
he could not have been less interested in singing...
it was more mumbling the words this year.

Laityn's my-front-tooth-already-needs-braces smile...
we're in trouble!

Happy Maddy

I didn't catch a shot as they ended...
but the moment the song was over,
Maddy looked extremely annoyed about something.
I asked her about it later...
"Yep, I was annoyed. Can't remember why or who."
Typical twelve year old.

the giRLs
heading to Salt Lake to see
the Tabernacle Choir and David Archuletta
Lady was sure we were famous after
sitting through the performance and seeing all the cameras.

Love, love, love all this stuff!

you can see it on her face!

Concert #2 tonight....
Maddy sang along with somewhere between
120-150 kiddos in the 5th/6th grade chorus.
Needless to say, it was cRaZy, lOUd,
full of moms/dads/siblings/grandparents
and loads of hOlidaY sPiriT!

...have to admit, I'm sad knowing this is her
last year as a Legacy Lion...
beAutiFuL mAddY

As you can see from the above pics,
Maddy absolutely loved every minute!
You can see the JoY written on her face!

took these while trying to get the right settings in the gym...
not too shabby...of course, it's hard to get a bad picture
of these two cuties!

Only one more week until Christmas Break...
and yes, I am counting!

5 + 1 makes Jace 6 !

We celebrated Jace's almost 6 birthday tonight. The real day is on the 8th, but we had everyone here tonight for a little party. Ya know all those yummy holiday foods that you don't usually have the time to make. . . We made them all tonight! It was sooo yummy! Jace was thrilled with all of his presents, in fact, he had to sleep with some of them in his bed tonight.

my little man lookin' way too big!

Yes! Star Wars!

Airbender Sword... not quite like the one in the movie,
but close enough.

wishin' and hopin' for somethin' good!

It was a great night to spend with my whole family. I did realize that the time is fast approaching that I am going to need a double oven... too much food that all needs to be in the oven at the same time. The night was perfect...good food, family, and fun...yay!

it's December!

When I look around, there are signs everywhere that it is December.... Christmas lights & decorations, parking lots that are always full, every check stand at every store has a line, snow and freezing temps, the background on my blog.... but one of the biggest signs is that the choir concerts have officially begun. Kenzie performed last night. Maddy is next week, and then the big school-wide sing is the week after that. Because Kenzie is in 8th grade choir, we were lucky enough to get to purchase "the dress". Mind you, it's a $65 dress, that will never be worn again once choir is over. Kenzie looked beautiful, but I just cringe at spending so much on something that will be used so little. The concert was all about Christmas and the girls sounded awesome.

Told ya she was beautiful...that straight hair
took us over an hour...her curls are stubborn!

The kids' favorite song of the night was called "Fum, fum, fum".
It's a Spanish Dance Carol, but it's hard not to giggle when 70 girls
are all singing fum, fum, fum...yep, still giggling.