Christmas Day

Christmas was a little different this year but a lot the same. We stuck with our traditions, added a few new ones and had the extra bonus of being able to celebrate with the other Las Vegas Francis family. Zack was throwing up on Christmas Eve. Huge bummer. On the plus side, we watched lots of our favorite Christmas cartoons and just took it easy.  David & Emily took a huge risk and let us in their home for dinner even though we had sickness. We had plans to do more, but it was great just to spend part of Christmas Eve with some of our favorite people.

I had planned to bake cookies with Zack but since he was sick there was no baking and as a result no cookies for Santa. Oops. We totally forgot about it until I was tucking the kids in bed and Ben remembered. Luckily, I had 1/2 a cookie from a shopping trip the day before so we set that out for him. It wasn't homemade, but it was from Max Brenner so it was blessed by a Rabbi. I am sure Santa loved it.

This isn't our typical Christmas tree. Our usual tree is wide and wouldn't fit anywhere in this place. Luckily, I picked up this little gem last year for $8. My intention was to use it as a kid's tree but it served just fine as the main attraction.  And it fit just right at the bottom of the stairs and shared the space with several scorpions who like the tree are not alive (anymore).

We don't let the boys get up before 6:00.  They slept until 6:30 and Zack was feeling all better.

In school, the first graders learned about holiday celebrations in different countries. He learned that in Argentina the kids hang a paper chain from the door so that Santa will bring them an extra present. When he saw this chain wrapped extra present from Santa, he said, "I can't believe that worked!"

The "Santa's watching" reminder isn't quite as effective as it used to be, at least for the two older boys.  Zack, on the other hand, was pulling out all the be good stops. He became my little cleaning machine. All his extra willingness to help ended at about 10:00 am on December 25th though.  His older brothers owe him because I think his extra nice sort of balanced out their naughty. 

Noah has the best reactions. This airplane was just what he didn't know he wanted. It only took about an hour for him to fly it onto a neighbor's house. Thankfully we got it down, but it's now on park only flight restrictions. 

Ben had to know he didn't get an iPad, but I think he still had hopes. Good thing one of his top requests was inside. 

Zack haa a three year "biggest present" streak going. This one was a Glow Dome, from Ben. Noah took me aside to tell me that he thought it was mean of us to wrap something small in a big box. But we really needed this size box.

This is Matt pretending he is happy he got a calendar. It's a really cool calendar, but it wasn't exactly what he was hoping for.

This is Matt pretending he likes getting a tie for Christmas.

This is Matt pretending he likes getting two ties for Christmas.

This is Matt pretending he likes getting clothes for Christmas. They are Utah Jazz shorts, but still, he firmly believes that clothes are THE WORST Christmas presents.

And that was it. No more presents. Matt left the room contemplating how he could get so ripped off on Christmas. He won't admit it, but I know he was thinking I am lame. Until....

What's that? The Bugera tube amp you wouldn't stop talking about & desperately needed...

... the perfect amp for the dream guitar David gave him the night before. And just like that, I was the best wife ever. I have to say I am pretty proud of myself.  What a great Christmas!

Getting Christmas Crafty

This is my new favorite Christmas tradition improvement: PJ pails. So cute!!  I saw them at a friend's house and became obsessed. Luckily they are cheap and easy to make. You just need a paint can ($3.50 Lowes),a paint can lid key, paper, ribbon (to tie the key to the handle), 4x6 photo album ($1) and--the best part--rubber cement.  Another adhesive would probably work, but when was the last time you used rubber cement? I loved that stuff when I was little and I still love it now that I am old. 

My kids always know they are getting Christmas Eve pjs so there is no point in trying to hide it. Instead, I put them in the pail, added a personalized photo album and hammered down the lid to prevent snooping. The album part took a little time because we just started, and Noah already has 12 Christmases under his belt, but it was worth finding a picture from each year. On the opposite side of the picture, I wrote a little bit about what Christmas was like that year like if we had visitors, some of the presents he got or other memories.  The boys loved reading their books and remembering the pjs from the past.

Before I packed the pails away, I printed out a picture from this year and had the kids write down their own memories. I'm already excited to get them out next year.

12 Days of Christmas

December is always a fun month but this year was especially great. Mom & Dad sent us 12 days of Christmas presents that were really creative and fun. Among other things, the kids made (then ate) snowmen,

designed custom pancakes:

 created glOreos,

learned things they "can" do for Christmas, 

 and got some fun things to play with and/or use to decorate for Christmas,

including some "cheer for you rear" (her words, not mine).

 We also had some old friends from the Miller Ward stay with us.  We haven't seen the Rhodehouse family for several years, but it seemed just like old times. Nate is one of Noah's first ever friends. Ben & Kevin  and Zack & Lincoln were all born within a few months of each other. It was so much fun for the boys to hang out together. Their visit was a perfect excuse to see what the Bellagio does to the conservatory for Christmas. It didn't disappoint.

 How about flying reindeer? 

 And igloos....wait for it...

with a surprise

And these amazing flower covered polar bears.

And giant ornaments. Fantastic!!

  We got our Mo-tab in with a Hallelujah chorus fountain show.  (Not the best shot).

Ever since our Disney experience, the boys have been counting down the days until Tron. In fact, they've become a little fanatical about the awesomeness of the movie. It was so cool that Noah would go see it a million more times. Ben's 3-D glasses over the hair makes me chuckle.

  And to top it all off, David, Emily, Matt & I got to go see the Beatles' Love show for free! The show was absolutely incredible and a really fun impromptu night for us. We even saw Susan Sarandon in the parking lot.

We managed to find the Christmas spirit in Las Vegas, even though I wondered if we could feel like it is Christmastime without snow. Another highlight was going to see our stake's amazing Nativity performance complete with live animals, an angelic choir and the perfect reminder of the real meaning of Christmas.

Thanks Giving

November came and went quickly, like it always seems to do. The kids were out of school for most of the month. But we didn't really do much worth reporting.

Noah bought a Snuggie. With his own money. He loves it. I use it sometimes.

Thanksgiving and we didn't have to travel far for a delicious meal. The Harris family flew in and we enjoyed eating and playing with them and Papa & Nana. Emily cooked a great meal with the help of Leanne & Dianne working potatoes and gravy.

David cutting the bird: 

 Lucky Papa ate at the kids table. 

 I look at this picture and think, wow, isn't Noah civilized?

 This is more his style.

Emily dared to dream and we ended up at the Lion King.

We had great seats along the aisles so the kids could be right next to the animals when they walked down to the stage. We all loved it, especially the set and costume design.

 A little Smashburger. (It's not Five Guys. That's all I am saying.) 

Also part of our Thanksgiving festivities was building gingerbread houses. Emily is a super star and made all the gingerbread. The kids did a great job on their creations. 

 

Zack really wanted to put a Santa coming out (or is it going down) the chimney. He was pretty proud of what we came up with. Hint: it's the sparkle mint with Hershey's kiss wrapper hat.

 Ben likes fancy writing but otherwise took a relatively minimalist approach. 

We have been abundantly blessed this year. We've had a lot of challenges but they've made us recognize our blessings even more. Among a million other things, I am really grateful for family. My mom made this for us for Christmas, I don't know who said it, but I couldn't say it any better.

Elders @ Applebees

One of the highlights of our little California vacation was being able to stop and see Elder Johnson (aka Wacy, my nephew) and his companion Elder Jorgensen (also named Wacey-what are the odds?). Elder Johnson has been serving in the San Bernidino Mission for a little over a year. We visited him in Rancho Cucamonga.

He's a great example for my three boys and he was so full of the missionary spirit it was incredible. I am super proud that he made the choice to go on a mission.

L.A.

We decided to do something different than Disneyland on Sunday. After a yummy breakfast at Ruby's...

 we drove to LA so we could see the temple. This is a REALLY big temple. Really, I had no idea. It's huge.

Then we went to see the stars on the sidewalk where the celebrity stars are. You know, that famous street that I can't think of the name right now. Sunset? I was pretty much lost the whole drive. The street performers picked my nephew Aidan to perform with them. Who knew he had the skills to perform on the street? They were pretty talented dancers except that they spent 10% of the time dancing and the other 90% explaining why we should give them money. If you have to explain it, then you don't deserve it. Bringing up a cute kid to perform was the better money making move. (Nice guys though, they did give Aidan part of the earnings.)

The actual foot prints of the Star Wars characters who don't actually exist.

Wax statues look real.

The sun...it blinds!! The Hollywood sign is in the background. At the time it seemed like a good photo op. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have risked the possibility blinding of my kids.

This is the Griffith Observatory. It is very cool. 

  On the roof are some beautiful views of the city and maybe even the ocean. It was much clearer in real life.

I was looking for the boys and found Noah sitting on this ledge. It totally freaked me out until I realized that there is a roof just below where they are sitting.

What does it say about me, that the entire time we were in LA I couldn't get the Big Time Rush theme song out of my head? I don't think I have ever actually sat down and watched an episode even though it is on a lot, but I know that was a main motivator for my kids to see LA. Oh, oh, oh, oh...