Random December

December 2012

Matthew has really gotten into drawing lately. He did this masterpiece during sacrament meeting. I love all his cute little pictures. I especially love it when he labels it with 'I like Mom' or 'I love you'. 

We kept up our annual tradition of gingerbread houses for FHE. We go the easy route with premade houses, but we do add extra decorations. It's always on of the kids' favorites.

I also kept up the tradition of doing chocolate-dipped, caramel apples for friends, neighbors, teachers, and co-workers. I did about 50 apples this year. It's a lot of work, but it's always fun to see them wrapped up so pretty. And the best part is that they taste even better. We kept a few for ourselves as well!

One night when Jeff and I were out on a date, we stopped by the store quickly and Jeff found these totally ugly boots. I don't know- do you think fur is my thing? Too bad a $300 price tag isn't! Haha! So ugly.

Matthew had his very first experience with a dentist's drill. He was pretty brave, but he decided he doesn't ever want to have another cavity. :) I thought his little crooked smile was so cute though.

One Sunday afternoon, the kids decided to write a note to Santa so he would know what they really wanted for Christmas. Emily and Matthew wanted to be part of it too, but they can't write, so Jacob and Caleb decided to just do it all together and help them. I thought it was so sweet- they all sat close together around the table writing their note. Often times, kids will have quite the list of things they want for Christmas. When I saw their cute little note, my heart just melted. I am so grateful for these sweet kids- they only asked for one thing each. Caleb wanted a remote controlled place, Jacob wanted a pocketknife, Emily wanted princess dolls, and Matthew wanted transformer action figures.

We did our own little "family Christmas" before we left to go to Idaho to spend Christmas with our families. Basically we do all our family gifts so we don't have to transport them. It was a fun day together- later on in the afternoon, I found Jeff and Emily like this. It had been a fun and busy day!

Matthew had his preschool Christmas concert. I always love watching these! They're so cute and the kids are so fun to watch. Matthew is really growing up- I can't believe he'll be in kindergarten next year. He did a great job!

I love Christmas decorations. We spend many hours together in this living room, and  it's so fun to have it all cozy and decorated for Christmas. The kids' favorite place to be is sitting by the fire and the tree. Especially when we're doing family scripture study or FHE.

Matthew and Emily were so excited to see some of the first snowflakes of the season. As we were taking Matthew to preschool, we just had to stop and play in them and try to catch them in our mouths. I'm always ready for Spring when winter finally ends, but it is exciting to see the first snow in the early winter- especially as Christmas comes closer.

Matthew was so excited about the snow that he insisted on riding with his window down. Never mind that it was -6 outside! This kid is crazy and tough. :)

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012

We were grateful to be able to spend Christmas with our families again this year. It was a busy week and a half- we squeezed in as much as we possibly could with our two families.

The night we got into town, we were able to go with some of the Stevens family to dinner and to watch The Nutcracker- it was exciting because Danielle was in the ballet! She did a wonderful job, and we enjoyed the evening together!

On Morning, the Stevens family was able to do an early morning temple session together. We were all a little tired from being up late the night before together, but there really isn't a better place to be! We took the kids over to Scott & Mandy's in the morning so they could be with cousins, then drove up to the temple with the family. After the session, we met up at Cracker Barrell to do breakfast.

And of course it wouldn't be a Stevens get together without a little racquetball. My skills are definitely not as great when I playing 6 months pregnant- I try not to get too crazy :) -but it was still fun!  I just enjoy playing and being with the family. Jeff and the kids had fun too. Jeff was able to get in a few more competitive (better partner than me :) games and the kids had fun running through the courts between matches. They spent  most of their time playing in the cool kids watch area, but then a few came to join us at the end.

If you were to ask the kids their very favorite part about Christmas- it would definitely be the cousin time! I'm so grateful that they have such wonderful cousins. I'm just bummed we don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like.

Another afternoon we all went bowling together. It's become a fun family tradition as well. Some have skills, some are just entertaining. Once again- it's just fun to do it together.

One night, my family arranged to do a "Family History Night." We got a babysitter for the kids, and my dad arranged for someone to come to the seminary building to do a lesson on the Family Search program. We spent a couple hours going through the program and searching for names. It was pretty cool- especially when Kristie & Tom found many names from their family. We finished off the night with dinner at Casa Mexico- a family tradition. It was a fun evening.

Of course- there was plenty of time for just being together. I loved being able to go to church with the family, and just spend time at home together. Emily really had fun with Uncle Travis-he is such a fun uncle for all the kids!

There were nights of dancing & performing, reading stories, and playing games, and of course doing "tricks"

Our family kept up the tradition of a games at the gym. We tried a new game this year- dart dodge ball. It started out fun. Sometimes we get a little too intense. Might not be the best combination with littles and bigs, but I think we can tweak a few things to make next year even better.

I thought this picture was so funny- Lilah got hit by an arrow and decided to do a dramatic enactment. She was totally being silly- but her drama was just too cute!

We went to Les Miserables as a family on New Years Eve. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. Pretty powerful movie. Pregnancy hormones & intense movies make for an emotional, tearful experience.

New Years Eve- we spent  the evening at home eating, playing games, doing fireworks, and trying our best to stay up until midnight. I didn't make it this year. I think we had a couple boys who were pretty excited about being able to stay up though.

During the Christmas break. Jeff and I also had a chance to travel down to Utah for the wedding of Tony & Lori Gervais. Dad Stevens and I actually got to do the pictures/video for the wedding. We made a really quick trip down- we left Friday  night and came back Saturday afternoon. Mom, Kristie, and Lacey were kind enough to offer to let us leave our four kids so we could make the trip to Utah  faster. Tom & Kristie let us stay the night at their place- Scott & Amanda joined us there too- and it worked out just perfectly.
Friday night was the wedding dinner- it was fun to see the family and meet Lori's family as well. It was a really sweet evening of visiting with family, watching movies, and seeing the cute couple. I just love our family! I feel blessed to be part of such a wonderful group!

Saturday morning we were able to be present for the beautiful marriage ceremony in the temple. After the ceremony we did pictures outside. Being December, it was pretty cold, but I think everything turned out perfectly. It was just wonderful to be gathered with the family for a beautiful marriage. I was a little scared to do pictures with Dad- a wedding is a big deal- but it was us or nothing, so we were grateful to be able to help out where  needed, and I thought they turned out wonderfully.