Pre-Christmas December in Review

 We have a tradition in our family where we decorate the tree together shortly after Thanksgiving.

 Sage helped by rocking out to the Christmas music while we decorated.

 This is Mason's most favorite ornament. He actually took this picture (and many, many others of this one ornament).

 We also celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday this month. She is a very special lady whom I love dearly.

 We did a lot of snuggling this month. Nic was on night shift and the kids liked to "tuck" him in the morning.

 We did the advent calendar again this year, though I wasn't great at taking pictures. We visited Santa, made cookies, read Christmas stories, watched Christmas movies, went to parties, and visited Temple Square. Here are a few pictures from our visit to Temple Square on a very, very chilly night.

 We stopped in the Joseph Smith building for some hot cocoa, cookies, and warmth.

 These two goofballs had a lot of fun playing with different Christmas decorations (most notably a very loud Feliz Navidad singing dog we got from last years' Hall party) , eating treats, and pretending to be Santa and his elf.

 Here is Santa and his bag (aka a sock full of rice that functions as a heat pack. We refer to as the "rice bomb"). He would make Sage sit by him and he'd say, "What do you want for Christmas sweet girl?"

 The weekend before Christmas the kids and I (Nic was working. Boo.) went up to Idaho Falls for the Kelley party, the Hall party, baby Ava's blessing, and the Holland party.

 For the Kelley party we went bowling, ate pizza and opened presents. Mason has since frequently said that bowling is "awesome". I must say I scored quite highly. I mean, there may or may not have been bumpers involved, but nevertheless a high score is a high score. Right?

 Later that night we went to the Hall party at the IF country club. Lots of food, lots of family, lots of kids running everywhere. We had a great time.

 London and Sagie

 (This is the baby doll my dad and Penni gave to Sage. What a good little mommy. I mean, every newborn needs a bottle full of orange juice.)

On Sunday we went to Rexburg and got to see Shawn and Lindsey's baby girl Ava be blessed. Of course I didn't take a single picture. But it was very nice and Lindsey put on a pretty sweet spread for lunch.

 

The Holland party. This was held at my mom's house. I love these people.

 Bubba and Sage.

 (Mason got a big toy gun at the Hall party. A lot of the boys did and there was a lot of fun to be had chasing each other around. When we got back to my parents house after the party Mason was getting out of the car while telling me every detail about his gun. He jumped out of the car, holding his gun, and ended up nearly poking his eye out with it. He had a bit of a black eye as a result. I should have told him he'd shoot his eye out.)

 The kids and I headed back to SLC the Tuesday before Christmas and got to spend a few days with a daddy who was among the living (he was no longer on night shift). We spent our evenings reading Christmas stories and dancing to Christmas music. We also delivered our "neighbor treats". We have a tradition of caroling when we deliver the treats, but this year we took it up a notch. We usually just sing a small portion of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" so as to not cause too much awkwardness. This year, however, Mason has been completely obsessed with the Chipmunks Christmas Song. I mean obsessed. He (still) sings it at the tops of his lungs in church, at school, at home, at the store, in the car, etc. etc. Well, he refused to leave anyone's front door without singing the entire song. It was pretty cold and I could tell our neighbors were freezing standing there while he sang, but they all clapped and cheered and it made Mason's night.

Next up, Christmas and New Years at the Cabin