Christmas memories

Yes, it is already 2012, but I am just now getting around to blogging about our wonderful Christmas season. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family, and have been busy making the most of the most wonderful time of the year. My favorite memory is of us planning out our "gifts to Jesus" and seeing my girls find joy in serving others, even complete strangers. It's been great seeing so many people do so many good things for one another, and celebrate together the spirit of Christ.

THE PARTIES
Our church congregation hosted a lovely Christmas party. It was beautiful, the food was awesome, the company was great, but the real highlight for us was the children's nativity play. Lydia and about 5 others had speaking parts, and Lydia memorized her lines and said them so well! It was one of those moments I was so proud I wanted to cry! Cheesy, I know, but she just seemed so young to do such a big thing.  There were about 40 children in the program...most of them angels or shepherds... and when they were lining up to go on stage, little Claire was desperate to follow her sister up there, even though she was too young for the program! But we let her go up anyway, so she sat amongst the angels and pretended to sing the songs, but mostly just smiled at me :)
Both of the girls' schools had Christmas parties, but I only took my camera to Claire's, as she participated in her preschool's nativity play. She was a sheep! She said her baa's as she crawled down the aisle with the shepherds to see baby Jesus, and then sing songs up on the stage.

Claire was very excited to see Scarlett at her class party, and to show her around

SCARLETT: MY WALKING DISASTER AREA
If she wasn't only a year old, I would think that she had some personal vendetta against Christmas. Neither of my older two were so destructive. Here's just a small list of her accomplishments:
* tear the garland off the bottom of the tree, on multiple occasions
* climb up onto the table to eat the candies off the gingerbread houses
* decapitate one of the wise men of my nativity scene by throwing it across the kitchen
* tear petals off the poinsetta
* grab the bulb ornaments off the tree, then bang them together and end up with two handfuls of broken glass (she used a stepstool for this one...sneaky little thing)
* pull down the stockings from the mantle
* ...and basically be the opposite of helpful anytime we were making treats or wrapping presents or putting up lights and decorations.

But I could never get mad at her. She is so innocent. So curious. So cute.


THE LIGHTS
One weekend we met up with some friends for a "hayride" through one of the neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights. It was actually an event for Stonegate Fellowship church members, but we met our fair share of Mormon tag-alongs there ;)

Claire, Ellie, Addy, Lydia, and Hannah

The house with the best display had over 65,000 lights, a Santa collecting canned goods, and a Grinch on a motorized scooter, who scared Claire and Ellie into their mom's arms, but they still claim they weren't scared.

 

 I found a clip of the house on YouTube here. The house was even given its own radio frequency, and the lights were synchronized with the music. I'd hate to see his electricity bill.

THE SNOW!!

We had a white Christmas!! On the 23rd the snow started, and it didn't stop until Christmas morning. It. Was. Awesome.

We had given away our sled when we left Scotland...because it never snows in west Texas, right? So all we had were our snowboards, which provided hours of fun for the 3 little girls, and 1 big boy.

Lydia pushing Daddy and Scarlett down the little slope in our backyard

Claire pulling Lydia down the hill

Faster, daddy, faster!!

CRASH!....then 2 minutes of giggles!

The girls are done for the morning, rosy cheeked and ready for more later! Never a tear shed, never a complaint of the cold. They love the snow!

 FAMILY

This year, my brother Darren had to work on Christmas day, and so with most of my siblings living in Utah, my parents made the drive and did Christmas in Utah this year. I must admit it was nice not to have any guests, or big meals to plan, but we did miss them and were happy that they all came home on Christmas night...with cousin Madison! These girls played together every day.

 

CHRISTMAS DAY

..was perfect. Snow outside, cinnamon rolls in the oven, and giddy little girls in Christmas pajamas. We opened our gifts from Mimi & Papa (the chairs) on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas day Santa had placed some special gifts on their chairs and a full stocking. Santa ate his cookie and milk, the reindeer made a mess of their food, and even our elf "Sookie" ate his cookie before leaving us for the North Pole. I already miss the magic of that day.

 

 Christmas was on a Sunday, and I wish it was always on a Sunday. We broke up the day with a  wonderful Christmas Cantata at the church that helped us refocus on our Savior. We got back and took our time opening presents, and didn't finish until around dinnertime.

It was indeed a very Merry Christmas. Can't wait till next year!

Snow Day!

When I first heard that school was cancelled for snow on Monday, I was relieved and thought I would get to sleep in. How silly of me. My girls were still up at 6:30 am, and even worse...they were ready to play in the snow NOW.
I had flashbacks of our life in Scotland as I went about the house gathering up coats, gloves, boots and hats, and had to dress each one of them before we could go outside. Then when they wanted to come back in, all wet and icy, they had to take it all off again, or in some cases walk around tracking slush everywhere before I caught them.
But don't get me wrong - I LOVE the snow. We all love it. It is beautiful, it is peaceful, and it is fun.

Scarlett covered as much ground as she could the moment I put her outside, leaving her tiny footprints behind.

Claire just wanted to throw snow, and snowballs.

And Lydia made her snow angel... and ate snow.

 When I saw her doing this, I immediately remembered her first snow in Scotland..where she also had a thing for eating snow. Funny enough... she is wearing the same hat too! (I tried telling her it was too small... but by the time she was dressed it wasn't worth the argument)

This was the Thanksgiving that...

...that started out at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. It's a large chain hotel with an indoor waterpark and other family activities








... that the girls were best buds with cousin Brody, especially at the T-Rex Cafe!


... that Scarlett first met Santa Claus. It didn't go over too well

... that we skipped a day at the waterpark for a day at the big mall. Lydia and Claire enjoyed the double-decker carousel, but Scarlett had her keys in ignition and was ready to shop in her little car

... that Lydia spent a lot of time in the kitchen with Mimi. She helped make rolls, desserts, and breakfast parfaits!


... that Scarlett perfected her "war-cry." She would enter a room and scream (well, squeal really) at the top of her lungs to get everyone's attention. I think it meant she was excited to be around so many cousins. She hasn't done it since she's been home.



This was also the Thanksgiving ...
...that Uncle Jake got engaged to Carolyn!!!!
...that we lost power on Thanksgiving day, and while we played a game of charades, Josh paced around the house trying to figure out how he'd watch the Cowboys game
...that we learned what gelatin really is.. but we still consumed plenty of it
...that everyone brought their dogs home. At one point I'm sure there were no fewer than 6 dogs at the house
...that we met baby Samuel
...that we met Taasha's bff, Bon Qui Qui
...that we had, not one, but THREE days of feasting with different family members. Mimi did not ever stop working in the kitchen.
...that Jake bought his 5th wheel, and parked it on the lawn, prompting nearly everyone passing to quote "That there is an R V, Clark"

Claire's first dance performance

This year Claire is taking dance and gymnastics at the Bingham Center, where Lydia was last year. The Saturday before Christmas was her first performance ever. The result: total cuteness.

The morning, however, was a continuous battle. We were trying to clean the house, pack for vacation, and convince our stubborn Claire-bear to wear a costume that was too big with a tutu that was itchy. There was a lot of bribing that morning. And what Claire wanted most was to "go to the hotel" (we were headed to Kansas and to the Great Wolf Lodge), so the deal was, she had to do her dance for mommy and daddy and then we'd drive to the hotel. I think dad also promised her a new doll and some chocolates... basically anything she wanted just to get her in costume and to the mall on time. Once we got there and she saw her friends playing on stage - MAGIC - she was a performer! Miss Kimmy was so proud of her and said she was just like her sister... she picked up the moves quickly and followed along perfectly.

Fiddlesticks Farm

We couldn't get through the fall without a trip to Fiddlesticks Farms on the south side of town. It's a little pricey for what you get, but fortunately Josh's employer sponsored a family day!
The girls really enjoyed themselves, they could have stayed there for hours, except that the winds picked up and we were all getting dust in our eyes!

The Corn Cannon! She actually hit ONE target. The other two girls were afraid of the noise.

Scarlett's favorite part was the "learning barn", where you could watch baby chicks just hatching or watch a cow get milked! She was mostly interested in all the baby chicks.

Scarlett kept trying to crawl out... so Daddy had to ride with her

Off we go on the cow train!

Prospecting for gemstones! But it's too windy...we're about ready to go home.