Graham Cracker Houses

We continued our annual tradition of graham cracker houses and we were lucky to have Uncle Rick join us this time as he was in town for business. He is the fun uncle and our kids love him. We were glad he made the effort to come over. I love this tradition. It reminds me so much of my mom and the fun memories surrounding this tradition when I was growing up.

Basketball

Luke tried out basketball in the late Fall. He had a great coach and fun team members. Luke was fast on the court and became more confident shooting the ball.

Reindeer Games & Ward Party

I took Myles and Emma to a free event, Reindeer Games, put on by the city at the MAC. When the sun went down it was FREEZING! The kids really enjoyed all of the games, roasting marshmallows and riding the train. We waited f-o-r-e-v-e-r in line for the train ride, but the kids weren't complaining so I went with it.
After the Reindeer games, we joined Bryan and Luke at our Ward Christmas Party. Bryan ended up helping a lot with this night for our ward. We were both glad when the evening was over. :)

Santa Express

We surprised the kids with tickets on the Santa Express in Canon City, Colorado.  We had so much fun on the Polar Express in Durango last year that we found a closer version to try this year. It required some encouraging of the eldest child once or ten times to "have fun and just enjoy it" as he is getting older and some of the logistics of all of it doesn't add up. As I type it now, it makes me laugh thinking about some of our discussions on the train, but at the time I thought about giving Santa an additional name to his naughty list. :) We stayed the night in Canon City because the kids love the experience of the hotel and I had points we could use. I'm not sure what parent loves cramming the whole family into one bedroom, but in the name of FUN we did it.

Hahahah!! Maybe the sun was slightly in their eyes.

The open air "cabin" (I'm unsure what to call it) was cool. 

D.C. Work Trip

I took a last minute work trip to D.C. and maybe flew out a day early to "get out of dodge" (as my mom would say) and visited my brother, Dan, and his family in Virginia. I was horrible with taking pictures. The first night I was able to attend my nephew's football banquet. He cleaned up with the awards--proud to hear what a hard worker and leader he is on and off the field. I also think I had the cutest date in the room that night-my other nephew. I caught up with everyone again (except Logan) the following night where I was treated to a fancy dinner and asked if I was pregnant by my sister-in-law--haha! There was a little misunderstanding about the "Congratulations!" written on a dessert dish by our waiter. :)

I love receiving kisses via FaceTime from this handsome devil.

One of my favorite temples, the Washington D.C. temple, is under renovation for a few years. 

I'm currently serving in Young Women's and play "Name that Temple" with the Laurels whenever I travel. It's been a hit with them and it gives me good motivation to "always have the temple in my sights" even when traveling. 

Live Nativity 2018

Our family was invited to participate in a live Nativity in our neighborhood. It was short and sweet, but really brought the Spirit of Christ into the Christmas season for our family. It was a good reminder for me that not everything needs to be super planned out or lengthy in order to invite the spirit. We were grateful for the invitation and the spirit we felt that night.

Deck the Halls 2018

We decided to get out all of the Christmas decorations, turn up the Christmas tunes and set up Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. The kids were very much into the magic of Christmas.

The kids each took turns with the Santa hats.

I splurged on some bubble lights. I blame nostalgia. The kids loved them almost as much as I did.