Christmas 2019

We told the boys not to get up before 7am and hoped they'd maybe even sleep past that, but they all woke up within 10 mins of 7am and came bounding in the second they were allowed.  We tamed some bed head and snapped a quick picture and then released them to go see their presents.  Christmas is definitely not about the gifts, but man is it fun to surprise those you love with things they've really been wanting.  I love watching the excitement on the boys faces as they see what they got.  This year I even got to surprise Dean pretty big too.  He's the proud new owner of a shot gun.     

 Braddock's robot Boxer

 Bridger's tube cars

 Landon's buildable robot

 Tanner's Soda Stream

I'm still drooling over my new desk chairs.  Our last ones were BAD.  They were a faux leather that the boys had started picking away at so there were constantly little black flecks all over the basement.  These ones are much more my style....

 The boys draw names and do a brothers gift exchange and it ranks up there as one of my favorite parts of Christmas.  They were so excited to give each other their gifts and equally excited to get them.

 A couple weeks before Christmas I had the grand idea to make each of the boys a "Baby Book" and proceeded to spend countless hours late into several nights to get them done in time.  I paid more than I'll admit for shipping to get them here, but it was SO worth it.  They're just simple photo books with pictures of their first year of life, but I love how they turned out and love watching them enjoy them too.  To sweeten the deal they each got a coupon taped inside for an experience with Mom and Dad.  Tanner and Landon get to go to an escape room with us and Braddock and Bridger get to go bowling.  My favorite gifts are time together.

And Santa brought a box full of geode's for the boys to share.  They got right to work Christmas morning breaking them all apart and they turned out to be pretty impressive... 

Christmas Eve 2019

Christmas Eve we went to Grandma and PapPap's for our traditional dinner.  I'm always bad at getting pictures of that....too much eating I suppose!  Haha!  But I did manage to get this gem....

Food commas for Grandpa and PapPap

After dinner we came home to open our Christmas pajamas and hurry and get the boys to bed.  But first we finished reading the account of our Savior's birth and sang "Away in a Manger."  The excitement was palpable as the boys headed off to sleep.

 What would we do without Bridger in our lives!? 

Christmas Sunday Best

The Sunday before Christmas is always my favorite.  I love a Sacrament meeting completely centered on Christ.  It's the best way to usher in the celebration of His birth.  This year the kids got to sing with the Primary(the first time without me as their chorister...kind of weird/sad/relieving!), and then Dean, Tanner, Landon and I sang several songs with the choir.  There's nothing quite like music to bring the Spirit.  How grateful we are for the miraculous birth of our Savior.  For His life, His teachings, His example, His atoning sacrifice for each of us, and His incredible resurrection so that we can all do the same and live with Him and our families eternally.  God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.

Make Up Artist Extraordinaire

Not a day goes by that Tanner isn't experimenting or trying something new.  Today he somehow came up with the idea to make over his brothers with black eyes and cut faces.  I'm not even sure what all he used, but he managed to make it all from items we have at home.  He never ceases to amaze me, and it was fun to see him and his brothers work together on something this time.

Gingerbread Houses

Our gingerbread house tradition seems to look different each year.  We've done them with family, or with friends, or some years we've ended up skipping it all together, but this year it worked out to do it at home with our little family.  The kids are finally big enough to really get into it and do a lot of it themselves.  Tanner and Landon did their own, and Dean and I got to help Braddock and Bridger with their grand plans.  We had a lot of fun designing, building, and of course EATING!  We ended up with a couple playgrounds, Santa and his sleigh, and a more traditional house.  Tanner even made a cute baby Yoda.  And no night involving frosting would be complete without a few frosting mustaches!

Christmas Band Concert

In December Tanner had his first ever, band concert.  This year he joined the Jr. High Jazz Band as one of their keyboardist.  It's been a bit of a challenge, but with a little help from a great piano teacher Grandma who helped make the music more readable he pulled off an awesome holiday concert.  It was a busy night with half of us hurrying to the concert from helping at the local soup kitchen, but we made it in time and we were proud of our boy.

Manna Soup Kitchen

Our Ward had the great opportunity of helping out at a local Soup Kitchen the week before Christmas.  The Relief Society put the meal together, and the Young Women brought dessert.  We got to help serve, mingle with the guests, and sang Christmas carols with them too.  They got a fun visit from Santa and Mrs. Clause, and we ended the night handing out treats for them to take home too.  I feel incredibly blessed to be able to be on the giving side of things this Christmas season.  I know each of the people who came through that food line tonight are children of our Heavenly Father too and it was an honor to brighten their lives even if just a little.  And as soon as we wrapped things up at the Soup Kitchen it was a frantic scramble to get to the Jr. High in time for Tanner's first ever Band Concert.

The Polar Express

The boys have dubbed our annual drive to the local Christmas lights the "Polar Express."  They got in their jammies and brought pillows and blankets along for the ride.  We loaded thermos' with rich, hot chocolate to sip as we drove through.  Bridger konked out on the drive there and missed half the light show.  We finally convinced him to wake up and drove through one more time so he could see it all.  On the drive home the boys asked if we could sing Christmas songs which turned out to be SO fun.  We're doing our best to soak up this special season.