December part uno...

Today as I got ready for Savannah's birthday party I realized that my camera was completely FULL (that never happens in ONE month for me!!)... a definite sign that our December was equally FULL   and overflowing with holiday festivities of all sorts...

 right after we got back from Mexico, we hit the ground running with Mike's staff party at the Domain. We held a really fun scavenger hunt for the team and enjoyed some yummy food at Gloria's (and this is the ONLY picture I snapped!!) We appreciate all that they do and are grateful for such a dynamic group of gals!!

 the next day we went to our annual Ward Christmas breakfast and took our usual "Family with Santa" shot...no tears from Lily this year;)...though she was thinking about it.

 after our ward breakfast, we headed to "Jerusalem"  ( Another local church puts this on and does an AMAZING job! best part is that it is free, NOT crowded, and perfect for a family with small kids)

 They had donkeys to pet...

 a camel to feed...

 and a few sheep too.

 we ran into 3 wise men in search of a babe lying in a manger

 while we were there the kids were able to "experience"  a little bit of what life may have been like when Christ was born

 they fetched some water from a well

 the boys enjoyed making rope...

 the girls like crushing wheat... and then getting to eat some of the flat bread with honey and cinnamon...

 The kids weaved baskets...

 and made bracelets

 did some mosaic tiles

 and some pottery...

 at every station the workers collected gold coins (given to us at the beginning) to pay taxes that were being collected by some gruff "soldiers"... it was pretty cool!

  But this (below) was by far the best part...amidst all the noise and activity going on, we couldn't find the babe,  until we had heard that the wisemen found them. We were led to a quiet, dim room where we found this...

 and we felt the spirit strongly. (even though I blinded them with my flash!)

 the next day Lily came down with a nasty stomach virus, so she and I stayed home and played with these

 she loved the "baby Jesus" and would kiss him repeatedly

 I was amazed at how long she played with the nativity set...

During the month of December we also got to hear Josh play some Christmas music (he is hiding on the far right close to his band instructor)

 there goes our handsome little trombone player

 can you tell he didn't' want me to take pictures? (too many people around;)

 Festive nail polish is a MUST at our house

 Next on the docket was Bella's preschool performance. Here she is with her incredibly sweet teacher Mrs. Amy

 getting ready to sing...

 I had to throw this picture in (above)...check out the boy on the bottom right- HA!

 Lils and I enjoyed Bella's class party

 and watching her pin the nose on rudolph and hear a good old Christmas story

 we made LOTS of treats (white chocolate peppermint popcorn)

 for 12 school teachers!!!

 Here is our little elf getting ready to deliver his at school...

 this year I FINALLY did something with the "REAL" Santa pictures that were taken 2 years ago (Thank you Grammy and Grampy for that amazing memory!!)

 Bella was sick and had a crazy bad case of pink eye that year...see it?

 next up was Zach's party, Bella is hugging him because he shared some goodies with her

 Sav's party was right after Zach's, so we all headed there and made it a family affair

 on Dec 18th we celebrated our anniversary with this YUMMY dessert, seriously this is one of the best ever!!! Thanks to my friend Kristen for sharing this goodness!!

 we made TONS more of that yummy popcorn  for friends and neighbors

 oh my...

 when school got out the kids had their list of things they wanted to do...

 this was at the top...paper snowflakes!!!

 while we did that, Lils played on the "HI- PAD"

 getting kind of crazy!!

 I should have taken a picture UNDER the table,it was MUCH worse-YIKES!!!

 then we hung them in our dining room to enjoy the rest of the month!

And then we made MORE treats for neighbors and friends...homemade carmel sauce with apples...

Some random shots that Sav suggested I take of them in "Christmas Clothes"

 The kiddies make cookies every year for each of their primary teachers- to say thank you- since they get new teachers in January...

 and they write notes

 and then we deliver them....

 This year we had a whole week of a school break before Christmas- so with all that time on our hands I  bribed the kids to carol to each house on our list ...about 24 houses over 3 days (they got warm fuzzies in their jar towards earning a late night)

 we practiced and practiced at home

 and they did AWESOME!!! they sang "we wish you a merry Christmas"....

 another thing on their list EVERY year (darn it!) is the gingerbread house

 Everyone kept threatening to eat the house - even Mike;)

 we spent many a cozy nights curled up watching christmas movies (my personal favorite part of the season) and for the first time ever I made wassle using Grammy's recipe...delish!!

 We set out to carol some more at night

 and got in the Christmas spirit!