The December Blur....

As was last year, Our Christmas countdown was a big hit and much needed. Keeping Evie out of the Christmas presents was difficult!

Oh my.... Christmas has come and gone and I look back on it as one giant blur of parties and laughter. Seriously though, SO MANY PARTIES!!! Because December is the month of food, family, and fun, we took that to the extreme (as always) and lived life to the fullest! Every weekend was packed with family events and adventure! I felt exhausted by the time it was all over, but content. I started out this post, thinking it would include all of December plus Christmas, but that turned into a novel. So I'm breaking it up. This is the "pre-Christmas" festivities post :).

December started off with a family movie night to see the latest Star Wars! Grandpa Nathan treated the whole family to a really fancy theater where they serve you dinner while you are watching the movie! WOW!!! We had a great time! :)

The kids were giddy all day with excitement to see this movie! They were all dressed up and ready to go about 6 hours before the movie started :).

My Mom had just had neck surgery and wasn't able to make it, and Sadie came late (surprise, surprise) so this was the most of the group.

We continued our family fun the next week with a trip to Nelson, NV to visit the old Eldorado Gold Mine! Austin has been obsessed with rock hounding and I thought this would be the perfect adventure to help his learning and understanding of where these precious gemstones and treasures come from :). It was the most beautiful sunny day and we all had a blast! We were all so intrigued throughout the tour and the kids loved being free to explore. Evie especially... she was so fearless! The tour guide was fascinated by her lack of fear and kept commenting on it. There were points inside the mine when we had to hold her to make sure she didn't jump down a mine shaft, but I was proud to say that we didn't lose her! haha!

Due to the lack of time, here is the rest of December in a blur of pictures and captions :). 

Many hot cups of Winter Tea!

Christmas magic with the Christmas Village!

I am the master of hot glue these days, but I couldn't not let them play with the village. Watching them was too special. Too magical.

LOTS AND LOTS OF YOGA to keep Mom sane!

My little mini yogi's showing Mom what they've learned! I love it! This here is downward facing dog.

This one is Warrior pose.

And tree pose! Very difficult for kids to master!

Yoga keeps me sane. Yoga keeps my kids alive. We all win here.

Lots and Lots of cooking! The kids helped me bake holiday treats to deliver to all our neighbors and friends! It was so much fun!

Reading the recipe and planning out who does what....

Bubbas watching the egg whites to tell Mom when they are nice and fluffy!

Mr. Independent these days.

But never too old to kiss his Mama :).

Yummy cream cheese frosting for our cinnamon roll up cake!

Those little hands.... I cherish them almost as much as her little button nose.

Honey is always a good idea :).

Spreading egg on the pastries to give the final product just enough crunch.

Evie was on apple duty.

We ate as many apples as we cut!

Baby girl is getting so big! Cutting up her apples like a big girl!

cutting the pastry dough

Mmmmm.... perfection!

My kitchen was a disaster and my heart was full!

I taught the kids how to make snowflakes this year!

They were in snowflake heaven!

Being that we live in the desert, 60 degrees in December called for a park day!

Poor girl was having so much fun she split her pants :(

Their secret hide out.

Daddy even showed up at the park after work with dinner! Yum!

Mom got a gorgeous Christmas present early! Dad is the worst at keeping secrets or keeping anything a surprise ;).

Lots and lots of cuddles while watching Christmas movies :). My favorite!

All dolled up for church!

Austin spent a weekend with Grandma and Grandpa so we took Sis out on a special date! She ordered corn and broccoli hahaha!

She also got to sleep in Mom and Dad's room because she missed her brother so much :(. She was one extremely happy girl to see him again! Their closeness makes my heart so happy.