our December so far.......

December is my favorite month of the year. We have my mom's birthday, our wedding anniversary, Christmas and my birthday. Just Christmas alone is such a magical time and I adore everything about it -- the music, the lights, the trees, the decorations, the wrapping, the stockings, the elves, the nativity displays, Santa and all the excitement that surrounds him, the countdowns, the parties, the treats -- everything. I love Christmas. Here is our month so far leading up to the big day....

We took the kids to the Valley River Center mall in Eugene and they met THE best Santa. He was great! He just sat and chatted with the kids for forever and didn't make it feel rushed. He even talked about Sam and how the kids need to keep an eye on him this year because last year he tried to eat his cookies. (which the kids thought was so funny) He made it so fun. And the kids soaked it up. Jackson was totally enthralled with him. It was darling. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!

We took the kids to Build-a-Bear because I purchased some groupons for it which expire at the end of the month - so we made a trip out. Sam is against Build-a-Bear because it's just a gimmick, but I don't care. The kids LOVED it. Addie has done them before but this was a first for Gwen and Jackson.

Here is Gwenny with her new little friend "Hannah".................

Addie with her new friend "Star Wars" -- (which the whole Star Wars obsession in a whole different post)..........................
And Jackson with his new friend - "Two" (that was my favorite name of the day) :)............

We had our ward Christmas party. We had dinner and then the primary was in charge of the entertainment -- and since I am the primary president - that meant I was in charge of the entertainment. (along with my counselors and secretary of course - who are HUGE helps)

Anyways -- we dressed the kids as angels and had them hold little electric light up candles and sing 'Away in a Manger' and 'Silent Night'. It turned out really cute and the kids did a great job.

and some of the kids (my nephew Dallin) used their candles as lightsabers :)
after their performance they sang "Here comes Santa Claus" till Santa appeared....


and I had to include this one of my poor terrified niece...............

Next is my new obsession with craft blogs. I love them. And I especially love them around holidays for decoration ideas. These are the cute glitter trees that I made this year - courtesy of some craft blog. Aren't they cute?!?....................

Storybook Land. This year only Gwenny got to go. And that was just because she went on a field trip. We missed out this year for the rest of them for different reasons - I've been sick a lot this month - plus it ends so quick that we kinda just lost track of time. I haven't brought it up to Addie that it's over. I'm hoping she'll just forget about it this year.

Anyways - when Gwenny and I went - she got to meet Santa's top elf - Elfie -- and she hung on every word. It was cute.
Ginger bread houses (and trains). For family home evening we had Keith and Alicia come over to make these - because Maci insisted that she was left out at some time in the past when we made these before. I have no clue what she is talking about --- but we wanted her to be part of the fun anyway. :) It was a fun and frustrating activity --for all. The trains are much easier for anyone who is wondering -- the darn roofs of the houses would not stay on.

We also decorated sugar cookies - which we actually could eat - so that made up for the frustration. :)



someone got into the chocolate chips...............

Wacky Bounce and new camera

We recently got a new camera. It's a nicer one - and it should take some really good pictures -- I just need to learn how to use the darn thing to make sure I take good pictures. We took it to Wacky Bounce the day after we got it and took a bunch of pictures of the kids playing. I got some good ones and a lot of bad ones. Still learning. :)

Anyways -- this was our first time going to Wacky Bounce -- which is a place in Corvallis full of different bounce house things for the kids to jump and play on. Even the adults can jump and play on everything - so that was an extra bonus. It was really fun and it won't be our last trip there. Our sister-in-law Alicia and her girls went with us and they all had lots of fun.

my best friend

We had our 10 year anniversary on the 15th of December. I was telling Sam on that day that it's weird because years ago -- I thought 10 years sounded like forever - but now that it is here - it seems like it has gone by so fast. To which Sam responded - "It seems like longer to me!!" Hardy-har Sam. That's the great thing Sam -- he always makes me laugh. That's what drew me to him in the first place -- I love to laugh and he loves to make me laugh.

I can't even get into how I feel about Sam without turning into a blubbering sappy mess which would make you all sick and never want to read my blog again. But just know this -- I love him -A LOT!! :)

Our day didn't turn out quite as planned due to some medical issues with some family - so we ended up helping family instead-- which was just fine with both of us. We both agreed at the end of the day - that it was a good day. We had fun together no matter where we were or what we were doing. And the cool thing is -- we have a trip planned in April to go to China - so that will be our real celebration. :)

We managed to sneak out for a little bit to grab some dinner together. I didn't get any pictures of the two of us together that day -- but I did get this one at the restaurant. That's my Sammy - making me laugh again.