Christmas break with Anna and Lindsey

We enjoyed having two of John's sisters here from Christmas to New Year's Eve. My kids were way more excited for them to come than Santa. We all had a great time and it was very literally a "break" from real life for all of us. It was nice to slow down and just enjoy home and family. I am grateful for these two sisters and their love for my kids. They don't come to be entertained or to see the sights, they simply want to play with my kids, and play they do! Thanks Lindsey and Anna for making our Christmas one of the best! We love and appreciate you and your example for all of us!


Here is what we did while they were here.
We played in cabins!Built huts!
Took pictures!
Played games!
Checked our tonsils!
Took more pictures!

Made John uncomfortable!
Played more games!
And even more games!
Built huts and had sword fights!
Played legos!

And more legos!

Played outside!

Did hair and nails!
Cuddled!
Watched movies!
Dressed up!
Had rides!
Played in more tents and tunnels!
Went to the zoo!

Opened lots of presents!

Most of all we we had a fun and CRAY time!
Happy Holidays!

Christmas

We had a fantastic Christmas this year. We all agree it is at the top of the list for great Christmases.

We had our usual Christmas eve of sloppy joes, root beer floats and spreading reindeer food! We read the Christmas story and watched it on a movie. Then we wrote notes to Santa and left him some homemade banana muffins and egg nog! Then the kids each opened a present which were games so we played them for the rest of the evening. This year for Christmas Zak and Lantz both got trains from Santa and Makelle got girl legos! They were very excited with their presents. We had a great morning just hanging out!


Here is how the morning ended with Zak and Dad working to build a cabin for real!

The kids each got a homemade pieced blanket from LaDonna and her kids.
Lantz mostly enjoyed candy.




It was a Merry Christmas indeed!

Getting Ready for Christmas

We had a fun filled December as we prepared for Christmas. My memory card in my camera wasn't work, and then my batteries were dead, so that's why the long delay in blog updating! Here are a few of the fun things I captured.


Christmas Eve we always have to put reindeer food on the roof and grass for all of Santa's reindeer!

John was off from school and was missing the gym so this is how his exercise looked.
All of the kids got letters from Santa and they were thrilled. They were all excited to hear they had made the nice list. Santa gave them some good advice and told them he knew of the great things they had done throughout the year.


We made one gingerbread house together this year and it was TASTY and beautiful!


Lantz was in heaven because he LOVES candy!


In December we did our branch's annual "Joy To The World" . I had to play the part of Mary the sister of Martha and tell first hand about Christ's power to raise my brother from the dead. The whole evening was very powerful as we had people from Christ's life tell of him. My testimony was strengthened that he is the master potter and if I put him as the center he can make me who is nothing into something amazing. I just have to put him at the center and allow him to shape my life. I was also reminded that he is the living water and that if I drink of his water I shall thirst no more. He has all power he can heal and he has compassion. He also has power over death and can restore life. He was born, He lived, and He died for me because He loves me. For that knowledge, I am very grateful. This night of Joy To The World was a great kickoff for our Christmas season. Zak and Makelle were asked to be Mary and Joseph both nights. They had to sit quietly while people experienced the life of Christ. It was a long time and I was proud that they did such a great job! Zak also was a great example of a missionary as he invited several friends and teachers to come to this program. We also enjoyed a carriage ride around the park as we enjoyed Christmas lights. We visited an elderly woman we didn't know and took her a care basket and my kids got to experience the joy of serving others even when it might not sound fun at first. We had some snow so we played in it and the kids took advantage of the ice storm and tried to skate around on it. We did lots of fun things but most of all we spent time together and tried to remember the reason for the season!