Old St. Nick

We were able to get in a visit with Santa himself just before Christmas this year. Landon wasn't about to sit on his lap, but at least he was okay with standing nearby. He also told Santa what he wanted for Christmas this year...a transformer (just like his cousin Tyler got at Thanksgiving), a camera and a remote control car. We'll soon see if Santa was able to fulfill his requests...

Nolan was pretty fascinated with Santa, especially his beard. He kept pulling on it, probably trying to determine if this guy was the real deal or not. The white hair and beard were all real on this Santa Nolan!

Abby loves Santa and wasn't at all shy to tell him what was on her Christmas wish list...

A camera, a craft jewelry box (like her cousin Paige got at Thanksgiving), and an art kit!

For some odd reason, Landon was more wary about posing with the real Santa than this fake one (I thought the fake one was a bit creepy myself!)

Merry Christmas Eve...
the most magical night of year!!

Our Santa Comes on a Firetruck!

On Wednesday night, we were just about ready to start our bedtime routine when we heard sirens in our neighborhood and knew who it must be. We eagerly waited with anticipation...

We were all super excited!!

He was coming closer...

And there he is!!

Santa Claus himself paid us a visit courtesy of our local volunteer fire department!

The kids even got some candy canes to go with this special visit...

I know I've said it time and time again, but I sure do love living in small town America!

Kindergarten Superstar

Abby had her very first school Christmas concert last Thursday night and to say that she was excited to perform on a stage would be an understatement. I'm still not sure what she has been more excited about, Christmas or this concert! She did a great job and was quite comfortable performing for everyone on her "big stage."

Here are all the Kindergartners this year (there are two classes of about 20 kids each in her school.) Her teacher, Ms. Austin, is the one sitting on the far right in this picture. We LOVE her and she is doing a great job with Abby!

They did a lot of singing...

A little music playing...

Some dancing...

And even role playing (they were all snowmen here!)

It was such a cute little concert and Abby definitely enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame on that stage. It brought back a lot of memories for me of the many Christmas concerts that I was a part of at Nisley Elementary those many years ago!

Ward Christmas Party

On Saturday December 10, we had our Ward Christmas Party. The Primary and Young Women were in charge this year and did a stellar job putting it together. (I was released as Primary President in September so I was able to just sit back and enjoy the whole thing!!) We had over 250 people show up and still had plenty of food to go around (the ward provided a ham, baked potato, salad and roll dinner for everyone.) After we ate, the Primary put on a live Nativity as we sang Christmas carols....

Then the big red man himself showed up to greet all the kids and hand out candy canes! (There was an email that went out a little earlier in the week saying that Santa was probably not going to be able to make it to the party, but alas, his plans were able to change and he made it after all. Abby was thrilled with this change of events. Landon kept his distance but admired him from afar!)

This little man was quite the hit in his "Santa's Little Helper" outfit!

Afterward, we were all treated to the original production of "How Mr. Grimm Saved Christmas" written by our Young Women president. The youth did an amazing job putting this together and it was enjoyed by everyone!

(Do you see that handsome man standing behind Cinderella? No use swooning ladies, he's already taken!)

We finished the evening with some yummy deserts. This ward is so fun and one of the main reasons why we want to stay in this area!

Come Let Us Adore Him

This nativity set gets played with daily in our home. I passed by it one day and noticed the way Landon had set it all up...

I thought it very appropriate and imagined this is just what it must have been like that sacred, starry night! O come let us adore Him!

O Christmas Tree

The Sunday after returning from Virginia, we decided we had better get to work on putting up our own Christmas tree. Abby and Landon were super excited about hanging up the ornaments. We let them hang all the ornaments, thinking that later we would redistribute them so that they weren't in just one big glob on the tree, but they're still hanging right where they put them!!

They did decide that the tree needed a few decorations a bit higher than 4 feet so out came their trusty little chairs to aid in the effort...

And then Jason added the finishing touch by placing the star on top!

Of course none of this would have been accomplished without the help from this tiny little foreman who watched and gurgled his approval from time to time!

(What...don't all good foremen think best with their fingers in their mouths?!?!)

We are loving this special time of year and trying to take advantage of all that it has to offer!

Our Virginia Thanksgiving

We headed down to northern Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with my sisters Tasha and Lara and their families. Tasha and Jeff recently purchased a home so this was their first time hosting our annual Turkey get-together. Their home is beautiful and we enjoyed great company, conversation, laughs and of course oodles and oodles of food. We didn't get any pictures of our feast, partly due to this little guy...

This is Milton...also known as the cat that almost ruined Thanksgiving!!

Right before sitting down to dinner on Thanksgiving day, Tasha was going to feed Milton and their dog Riley so that they wouldn't be so antsy during our meal. That's when we discovered that Milton was nowhere to be found. Tasha and Jeff searched the entire house and then concluded that he must have gotten out somehow while the men and kids were tossing footballs around earlier in the day. This began a multi-person "search and rescue" crew trying to find the missing cat. We searched high, low and everywhere in between and Milton was nowhere to be found. Finally after multiple searches through the house and the neighborhood by 8 adults and a few kids, I decided to try one more search attempt in Tasha and Jeff's bedroom upstairs. Landon decided to come with me and as we're both searching the area, I hear Landon exclaim "There's Milton!" Turns out he had somehow gotten into a clothes armoire which had later been shut, locking him in! Thanks to Landon, our Thanksgiving was saved and we all sat down to a nice dinner just a bit delayed!!

The weather over the entire Thanksgiving weekend was gorgeous so we spent most of Friday enjoying the great outdoors at a local park.

Then we headed back to the house, set up a quick Christmas tree, and began the part that all the kids had been looking forward to all weekend...our Christmas celebration! (We each stay home now for Christmas so for the last few years we have been doing an early Christmas on the days following Thanksgiving when we are all together.)

All the kids were super excited about opening up some early gifts (These are all the grandchildren on my side of the family...minus two babies who were napping!)

Landon was super excited about each and every gift that he received...

Abby, on the other hand, seemed to ponder each gift for a while...

Before declaring it a winner!!

It is so nice to be able to get together with some of my family during the holidays and we had a great time down in Virginia. Tasha and Jeff were great hosts in their new and very spacious home and we all had fun enjoying the Thanksgiving/early Christmas holiday together.