This year amongst the many parties, events, and activities we have scheduled as well as the regular Christmas preparations I can't help but seek those quiet moments each day (sometimes early in the morning, sometimes during a quiet second during Reid's nap time, or late at night when the kids have been tucked in) to remember the reason we are doing all of these things. Remembering to focus our energy on our Savior is my primary goal with my family. After all that is what Christmas is all about. I have an advent where the boys open a Christmas book each day and we read it together. I've also attached a challenge for some kind of service to perform each day. Sometimes it was simple like helping a family member for the day, gathering books to donate to our local library, gathering old coats to donate, choosing old toys to give away, or seeing how many people they could smile at that day. Other times it was bigger service opportunities like shopping for toys for tots, donating money to the Bishop to help families in need, or making a tithing settlement survival kit for the Bishopric. As the kids performed these acts of service we placed a heart on a paper that said "Our Gifts to Jesus". By the end of the month our paper was full of hearts. It was such a simple thing but seeing the accumulation of their service shows that little by little we become better. Each time we serve we can dedicate our lives more to our Savior. I am truly grateful for my boys and the excitement they had each time we did something for someone else. We truly learned how much greater it is to give than to receive and through that we have drawn closer to the Savior.
Below are some of the other ways we celebrated this magical time of year.
This was right before we headed to our ward Christmas party. The boys are wearing their Christmas sweaters. Forgive the bracelet in Reid's mouth. That's the only way I could get him to sit still long enough for a somewhat decent photo.
The boys with Santa Clause! Brother Niko is the best Santa ever. This year he suffered from what the doctor's think was a stroke probably a few weeks before this picture was taken. It's quite amazing and a blessing that he was able to come to our ward party this year. The boys were so grateful to see him. He loves the children that much that even his health didn't stop him from coming. We sure love this man.
The second grade hosted a gingerbread house making party instead of a traditional class party. All parents were welcome to come and help. Of course I jumped at the chance to go and be a part of this activity. The kids had a blast decorating their houses.
Xavier wanted to add a chimney so he could put Santa inside. Then he created a snowman with a snowboard.
The back was complete with a sunroof and solar panels. It was definitely the most environmentally friendly house in the room.
Me and my X-man had a blast creating his gingerbread house.
That evening we invited friends over for our traditional gingerbread house making night. So we definitely had a sugar filled day and night and gingerbread fun fun fun!
Travis and Hayden working on their house.
Karina and Sebastian making a lovely house too.
Tim and I sported our Christmas sweaters that were handmade by THE Tim Richardson. They were originally supposed to be ugly sweaters, but mine was definitely not so ugly. It was fun to wear them in honor of our fun night.
Xavier and Gavin made a red and white peppermint house this year.
Sebastian's completed house.
Mary and Cye definitely had a professional looking house. They made a great team.
The following day was my baking day. This year I made melted snowman sugar cookies, peanut butter reindeer cookies (which were so easy and fun to make), peppermint brookies, which if you haven't heard of these they are a combination of a brownie and a cookie. They were also super easy and soooooo delicious. I also attempted homemade caramels, but they didn't work out so well. I was a little sad about this fail because I love caramel, but I've never made any type of candy before and realize it's definitely something that takes precision and know how which I do not have.
Reid was my little helper (or cookie snatcher). He was eyeing the cookies the entire time I was wrapping them. Don't worry he was rewarded with a cookie of his own for being such a good helper.
Once the cookie plates were all wrapped and labeled it was time to hop in the car and deliver them to neighbors and friends. This is one of the boys favorite activities we do every year. The boys feel like they are Santa delivering presents.
Rewinding back just a couple days. This was Tim's sweater in progress. He made it for a work ugly sweater party. He got to repurpose an old sweater he didn't like wearing.
He didn't win any prizes but got many comments on how creative it was. So not ugly enough, but definitely creative enough.
Since I had a little bit of sweater envy Tim stayed up late the next night to make me a sweater too. What a wonderful husband I have.
My favorite part were the wings on the back and the three wise men in the corner.
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