Finishing Up 2015- Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fun Visitors

Wow I am super behind. Busy doing lots of good things, so this blog has suffered. So sorry to our good and faithful family members who continually check our blog. I'll try to wrap up 2015 here...

We had some great visitors! My cousins, Josh and Brittney, included us in on their trip and my kids loved them! Bridger and Myra started calling them "the Uncles". Before they dropped in Bridger and Myra were quizzing me about who was coming and what were their names... as I was about to tell them, Sawyer began dancing around on his chair and I yelled "Sit!". And forever after that name stuck. They really believe there is a person out there named 'Uncle Sit'. I did try to explain what happened and eventually they figured out that Josh and Brittney were indeed Josh and Brittney and not uncle Sit. They had to leave us on an early morning flight. When I told my kids they had gone home to Utah they nodded knowingly, "Yeah, so they can go back to see Uncle Sit". haha.

We all love Uncle Landon!

Thanksgiving had yummy food as always. Graciously, the Michaely's hosted us. They have a great big house and were able to invite all the homeless in our ward to join in on the festivities. When I say "homeless" I mean, everyone who is like us, without any family nearby. They had a packed house, and we had a very enjoyable afternoon/evening together.

Thanksgiving morning I ran the Ashburn 10K and took 2nd overall for Women, which won me $200. That was a happy surprise. Devin told me not to come home without winning because my run took the place of his Turkey Bowl... I thought he would just take the kids and let them play on the sidelines as he played football, but he claimed it was too cold. I felt bad he had to miss his game, but when I came home with a check, and found the house spotless and the Christmas lights hung on the house... I decided that the run was a fabulous idea and it should be a tradition. I have a great hubby.

Thanksgiving

Christmas is a wonderful, bustling time of year. I love it, but I definitely enjoyed it more before I was a mom. That's not to say that I don't still enjoy it, I do, totally! I especially love watching Christmas magic light up smiles on the faces of my kids. But now I am the one that has to create the fun and the memories, and it is all work. We have lots of fun traditions that I love and they help inspire us to be in the Christmas spirit and remember Christ, be jolly and watch for Santa. We created gingerbread houses with the Page's and Hinman's, acted out the nativity and had a white elephant exchange on Christmas Adam with the Tanner's and Baldwins, and had a Christmas in Bethlehem dinner with the Tanners. However, we didn't get any snow in December so Bridger still could not believe that it could really be Christmas without snow! Santa still did come, despite the unusually warm weather, and the rain.. It rained on Christmas, and we were dog watching TWO dogs that were not our own, and Bruce who is. I did not appreciate the rain and the dogs. Again, despite the rain, and the dogs, and the lack of snow... Christmas did come, and it came with presents wrapped, stockings filled, and many excited exclamations from the kiddos. It was a happy day.

My favorite time of Christmas break started the day after Christmas (when the dogs got picked up) through that whole week when my responsibilities were through. No more parties planned, nothing left to bake, or presents to deliver (and I was released as a ward missionary)... I felt I could finally relax and enjoy this time with my little family all together.

Gingerbread House Building (they always fail, but it's fun to fail... right?;) So long as we have friends around.)

Christmas Adam (the day before Christmas Eve)... Acting out the nativity with friends.

Myra asked for a little more than just "bubblegum" this year...

More Christmas Celebrations

Home-built tree by Devin

Christmas!

I love how much this boy loves books!

Elephant and Piggy

I was super excited when I saw our favorite friends Elephant and Piggy (from books by Mo Willems) were coming to a play in the Kennedy center. The kids were excited too and asked about it for weeks leading up to it. To heighten the experience, we rode the metro there (the kids had been begging for the opportunity)! I let Myra wear her Christmas dress for the occasion, which left a trail of sparkles everywhere we went!  As for the show, it was very fun. The kids and I loved it, and Devin was kind enough to accompany us there. Creative, engaging, and true to the stories. The actors played their parts expressly well. It was a musical, and we clapped along and waved our hands as cued. A fun show maybe especially (for the kids) because we smuggled in treats... we absolutely loved it!