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.

Thanksgiving Weekend Joy!! (2017)

Thankful for my family

We got sick the week of Thanksgiving and it was a doozy..... so our fun filled, action packed weekend didn't turn out quite as I had planned.... it was even better :). Well, except for the sickness part.

I should have known I was getting sick because I didn't have the energy I usually have and the thought of cooking Thanksgiving dinner had me in tears. I have been working 60 hour weeks this month which is totally out of the norm, but my job is a whole other story for another time. New boss, new structure, very unhappy nurses. That about sums it up :(.

Anyway, we loaded up on cold medicine and drove out to Logandale Thanksgiving morning. I was worried that it would be rough, but in fact it was quite the opposite! Every family member lent a helping hand (including the kids) and the job of cooking a massive meal was actually really enjoyable! Nathan deep pitted the turkey and smoked the ham, Josh and Thomas (Briana's boyfriend) set up the tables and chairs outside, while Grandma Porter, my Mom, Briana, and I worked together in the kitchen :). Even Austin wanted to help as he always does when I am in the kitchen. The air was quite warm from that busy oven, but it barely matched the warmth radiating from our happy hearts :). I was thrilled to watch Austin learn from his Grandma how to make Great Grandma Wiegel's famous sweet potato casserole, and it made my heart sing to direct my little girl while she set the table all by herself :). We happily joked around with each other and together we made a wonderful feast! Our group was smaller than usual, but it was just the right amount of people to really get in a good conversation with everyone.

Helping Grandma in the kitchen and learning all the secrets to making the perfect sweet potato casserole!

Evie helped out a bit too....

But she was more interested in setting the table outside :).

Taking a break.....Setting the table is hard work!

At some point Evie didn't have her clothes on anymore. The kids are always off with the dogs and getting dirty at my parent's house so it didn't bother me. As long as they were having fun, I was happy. After the massive clean up effort, and Grandma and Grandpa Porter had gone home, we sat around in the living room talking and laughing. At some point Briana and I even attempted acro-yoga which is a lot harder than it sounds! haha! We headed for home late that night and Evie instantly fell asleep in the car. Meanwhile, Austin serenaded us with all sorts of made up stories from his sweet imagination and I felt so much peace. So much love.

It was a wonderful dinner.

Poor Grandma Porter needs hip surgery and my Mom will be getting her second  back surgery next week. It's so sad to see your loved ones get older....

Nate and Thomas are already buddies, which is really surprising if you know Nathan... He doesn't like many people.

Eating, talking, laughing....

.....and loving :).

The two love birds :). Sadie was working......

I look terrible in this picture but it was one of the few that I was actually in.

We spent the next three days in relaxation mode. We lived off of Thanksgiving leftovers and we rarely left the house, except for our evening walks to the park to let the kids run off all their energy before bed. We spent our days cuddling by the tree, playing games, and enjoying being home together as a family. It seems that we hardly get moments like that anymore because of our opposite work schedules. Time when Mom and Dad are both home together and we don't have errands to run or things to do to prep for the following week. Okay, I did spend one morning alone getting all my Christmas shopping done, but that was only for a couple hours and all Josh wanted to do was watch football anyway. Yay for black Friday!!! :)

Cuddling up with Dad and watching A Christmas Story :).

A scene from our fun sleepover :)

We also made sure to have a date night each night after we put the kids to bed. It was much needed and we didn't even have to leave the house! Our romantic life looks so different now that we have kids, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I think my favorite moment of the whole weekend was our slumber party with the kiddos :). We all slept downstairs together on the floor in front of the Christmas tree and had a Land Before Time Marathon! I can't believe how many of those movies have been made but even more than that, I couldn't believe how enthralled the kids were with those dinosaurs! They barely moved except to grab some more popcorn! Josh and I cuddled and quietly giggled together as we watched them. It was a beautiful reminder of how blessed we are. I left this weekend feeling overwhelmed with love for my family and realizing that Christmas gifts are great, but nothing could beat what we already have. So much love......

My whole world.

I forgot to mention that I took the kids to meet Santa! It was supposed to be a family event, but Josh woke up with stomach issues that Sunday morning and he couldn't leave the house. It is so frustrating to me that this always happens right when we are about to do something really fun as a family.... like the Gilcrease Orchard, or our last cabin stay at Mount Charleston. Sometimes it feels like he is doing it on purpose so he doesn't have to leave the house, but he swears it's legit. All I know is my life became so much lonelier after last December when his hemorrhagic colitis landed him in the hospital :(. But the show must go on! And Santa waits for no man! So I got the kids dressed up and we headed off to the Winter Wonderland at Bass Pro Shop as we have every year. The toys and crafts they have for the kids to play with while waiting for your turn in line is seriously genius and it has saved me every year since I seem to always fly solo on this venture. Evie had a blast building towers with the blocks and Austin was obsessed with shooting ducks with the bow and arrows! I could barely pull them away from their play long enough to meet Santa Clause! We also visited the aquarium and watched the mermaid do flips in the water!

Little Robin Hood

I love that she can quietly play by herself :).

Enjoying the fish!

It's not easy flying solo with these monkeys but I sure do love our adventures together :).

This was a momentous year because NOBODY CRIED!!! Yep, that's right! We actually got through an entire visit with Santa and nobody screamed for Mom or burst into tears! It's a Christmas miracle!! Austin asked Santa for a Darth Vader mask and light saber and Evie asked for a Yoda mask and light saber. It was a little unusual from the typical kid, but they are both obsessed with Star Wars and they cracked Santa up :). We brought home tacos to Dad and after naps we took our walk to the park. It wasn't until Austin fell down and then looked at me and said, "Mom did Santa see that?! I didn't even cry!" That I felt the smug satisfaction that I can really use this Santa thing to my advantage ;).

Walking hand in hand to see Santa Clause. Melt my heart!!!

Our first good picture with no tears!! YESSS!!!

It's "almost" the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I've been craving some Christmas cheer in every way, so I made the decision to put up our tree the week before Thanksgiving :). We also finally made the decision to go with a bigger tree this year instead of our little 4 foot beauty. It was a hard decision because that little tree means so much to me. It was our first big purchase as a couple and I remember what a big deal it was. We didn't have $99 to spend, but it was on sale and our poor potted fern could only be used as a makeshift tree so many times.... Plus we were living in North Carolina and REALLY missing family. We needed that tree, and it was on sale ;). So every year as I pulled it out of the box, the flood of wonderful memories that came with it made me so happy. We were out on our own in a foreign state for the first time and we were pregnant with our first baby. I had made that little apartment so cozy and our first tree just perfected the warm spirit in our home.

Now, that first baby is four years old and we have many wonderful memories underneath that little tree. But it was time for an upgrade. However, I couldn't bear to not put our little tree up again this year, so we put it in our bedroom and the kids were more than happy to have two trees to decorate! Grandma Helm just happened to have a tree she was wanting to get rid of since she is getting older now and can't put it up and take it down by herself anymore. So we happily obliged :). Half the lights were burned out and I wasn't too fond of the multicolored lights anyway, so the kids and I climbed in the car and off to the store for some Christmas lights and decorations because now we had TWO trees to beautify!

While we were at the store looking for the perfect tree decor for our home, we also stopped in the toy section so Austin could pick out a toy for the little foster care boy we are buying presents for at Safe Haven. Our ward set out a Christmas tree in the foyer of the church and each ornament had an orphan child who was in need of gifts this year. It was the perfect opportunity to teach Austin about the true spirit of Christmas. The reason for the season. He was in awe that there could possibly be kids out there who didn't have a home or parents who loved them and he took his job of finding this little boy the "perfect truck" very seriously. Because of course he would want a truck (hehe). We also got him a warm comfy blanket to keep him warm on Christmas night and the rest of the day Austin was obsessed with writing this child Christmas cards to help him feel loved and happy on Christmas day :). It warmed my heart to see my sweet boy so worried about this child he has never met. It was a special experience and I made sure to let him know how happy it made Jesus to see him caring for, and serving others.

We went home and I got our tree all strung with pretty lights while we waited for Daddy to come home from work. Once Dad walked through the door it was decorating time!! We put on some holiday music and the fireplace channel on our TV (someday we will have a real yule log to light), and spent the evening making beautiful memories. It made me smile to see Austin being so meticulous about the placement of his ornaments. He really wanted it to look just right. And as for Evie, she had gathered up all the candy canes and was making sure they each had a friend in the cluttered section of tree she could reach (hehe). It was so cute because she really WAS trying so hard! You can always tell because she won't crack a smile or even look up from her serious business :). Both kids did a great job while Mom and Dad quietly walked behind them and spread out their beautiful arrangements ;).

He was so happy! There's nothing like having kids to make the holidays extra special :).

Just look at all those candy canes hehe!

I normally judge people who put up their tree too early because it totally skips Thanksgiving, but this year I understood it. With all the negativity in our extended family, country, and world this year, I needed to see that pretty tree all lit up and feel the warmth and love of Christ that it brings. Not to mention the beautiful calm to adds to my morning yoga hour :).