December

 We had quite the December full of Christmas cheer, family, good food, gifts and some sickness to keep us grounded. Wouldn't want to have too good of a time after all. 

We started out the month with the Victorian Stroll. Tanner stayed home with the youngest two. The oldest three played their Christmas songs at their piano studio and they all did pretty well, considering they hadn't practiced the whole week of Thanksgiving. 

After that, the older three wanted to go see the trains and Eliza wanted to visit Santa

When I asked her what she asked for she said, "I asked Santa for a giant teddy bear because I know you won't get one for me." She isn't wrong.

That night I started to feel pretty awful and woke up the next morning even worse. I stayed home with Asa while Tanner took the others to church. Our dear friends the Kooymans sat with our kids at church and besides Vivi being her normal wiggly self, they said the kids did great. 

I think I was the sickest I have ever been. I started to not make sense when I tried to talk to Tanner or text people and Tanner was getting a little worried about me. But the kids were such great helpers and we made it through. 

Tanner took this one morning...which is how most of our mornings have been going lately. I love how Chet is helping Austin with his math here; I am so grateful for the help my kids give. 

I felt better in time to celebrate Hanukkah by making donuts 

One of my dear friends from church brought us dinner that night "just because" and it was so nice to not have to worry about that. 

Vivi was super excited to wake up from her nap to donuts...can't say that I blame her.

We also decorated Christmas Cookies and I stayed relatively calm throughout the whole process. Must have been a good day for me. 

Maybe doing it on a day when Tanner was home helped. 

Eliza was so meticulous and focused decorating her cookies. 

Tanner's cookies

Vivi just wanted to make sure she had a lot of sprinkles on hers. 

We went to the Homeschool Christmas Frolic and the kids had a great time making pizza, singing carols, doing crafts, and playing Bingo. 

Eliza stayed the whole time at the Bingo station, insisting that she wouldn't leave until she won. I was real nervous as it went on, wondering how she would react if she never got a bingo. But on the last game she did! It was a Christmas miracle and she was thrilled with her prize: a candy cane. 

 

Mariah's friend, Stella, came home after the frolic and they helped me decorate cookies for my Relief Society activity that night. I got to spend time with friends and attempt a Nativity painting. 

We were really excited to visit the Giving Machine in Des Moines. This was the first year it was this close to us so we knew we needed to make the trip. 

The kids were really excited to buy a lamb, chickens, meals for refugees that live in Des Moines, and Peanut Butter for another local charity. 

I was able to help with the ward Christmas party. Some of the primary kids acted out the Nativity and it was very simple, but sweet. 

We watched lots of Christmas movies this month, 

had our annual sleepover around the Christmas tree, 

and read lots of Christmas books. 

We had an amazing Christmas Eve program at church. Mariah sang a duet and then she, Chet and I sang in the ward choir. The girls were excited to wear their new dresses and the boys looked dapper in their new suits. 

We were super excited to have dad ride with us to church, but forgot that he is still the Bishop and had to wait in the car for him to finish up after church. Thankfully we had some treats from friends to tide us by. There was a missionary couple in our ward and Chet would often give the sister origami flowers. They came for Christmas Eve and she brought Chet his own chocolates and said that she still had the first flower Chet had made for her. 

We opened our gifts Christmas Eve before we headed down to the cousin's house that night. The kids were so excited to give their gifts to each other that they had worked hard to buy. 

Eliza got her teddy bear! It's not exactly giant, but it was big enough for her...phew.

 

We then headed down to Missouri for Shepherd's Night. 

We had quite the spread. 

The kids spearheaded their own Nativity

I mean, have you seen a cuter holy family? 

Uncle Baydon read from the scriptures and the kids gave a great performance. They even coordinated the lights in the room for the changes in the story. 

The kids went to bed super excited for the next morning. Asa must have been excited too, because he had to be the first one up Christmas morning...and stay up for a while. But seeing him lay under the lights looking up in wonder made me think of that special little baby the first Christmas day. 

We woke up bright and early the next day and the kids were so excited to ring their bells to wake up the whole house. 

Stocking time! 

Because our kids had already opened their gifts we thought we would go and watch a movie while their cousins were opening their presents. But our kids insisted on staying and watching and they did so well. Of course Chet had to help put together Terron's scooter and Vivi decided Porter's new bike was hers, but luckily we brought her new balance bike so that little scuffle was solved quickly. 

The kids had fun playing with their new toys and got to watch a Christmas movie. 

I got hair tinsel for the girls and put it in everyone's hair. Eliza immediately decided that she hated them because "they felt like ticks" and ripped them out. But the other girls were able to last until bedtime. I'm going to call it a success. 

Brittany put together the most beautiful Christmas dinner. We loved eating by candlelight. The next day we relaxed and ate lots of good food and then headed home to get ready for Austin's birthday. 

Eliza was so excited to use her new kitchen set and made this salad all by herself. 

The next morning we celebrated Austin. He wanted crepes for breakfast and to open his presents as soon as possible. He also was adamant that he would not be doing school that day. 

A few days later he was baptized. Austin was looking forward to this day for a very long time. He wanted to make sure that he was ready for his Baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He also was so excited to send out invitations. 

Besides being baptized, the thing he was looking forward to the most turning 8 was his special baptism blanket from Grandma Crossley. She picked the word meek for Austin and I couldn't think of a better word to describe him. 

We loved having Grandma and Grandpa here for a week. 

Vivi sure loves her Grandpa. 

The cousins came back up to celebrate New Years Eve. The kids dressed up as characters from the New Testament and we had to guess who they were. They then shared how they could see Jesus in their character's stories. It was pretty special. 

This was quite the year. A new baby, a big calling for Tanner, and lots of learning and growth for the kids. We are so grateful for the many blessings we have been given this year and are excited for the new year and all that will come with it.