A Fun Primary Christmas Party

This time of year we always look forward the all of the fun Christmas parties. The one that is probably the most highly anticipated is the ward primary Christmas party. Caleb loves to be around his little buddies in his class. This year our primary presidency went all out and truly made it a special party.

It started with pancakes that the kids decorated with whipped cream and candy.

Then there was a marionette presentation of "The Christmas Carol." This was really cool because it had a stage and props. The kids loved it. I don't think they had ever seen something like that before.

Caleb holding the marionette of

"The Ghost of Christmas Past"

After the kids sang a few Christmas songs, Santa came to visit with his bag of toys.

I asked Caleb if he wanted to wait and open his present on Christmas. He was too excited to wait.

After opening up this cute coloring activity he said to me, "Me and Izzy can both color this, mom." He is always looking out for his little sister.

There were also lots of crafts and fun things for the kids to do. It was a fun activity. I love it when teachers and leaders put in this much time to make these primary parties a success.

Girls Night Out at the Nutcracker!

A couple days ago I went with my mom, her friend (and my friend) Sheila, and my niece Maddie to Ballet West's production of The Nutcracker. I had never seen it before and I loved it. I didn't really know what to expect knowing that there would be no talking in it, just dancing. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the ballet. I'm not really into dancing but, I really enjoyed it. I don't know if Brandon would like it though. I can't wait until Izzy is a little older so I can take her. It was fun spending time with my mom and my niece. Our good friend Sheila had free tickets and treated us to a fun evening . Thanks Sheila! The nutcracker is a must see!

There's Nothing Like Icecream On A Cold Winter's Night!

One of our favorite things we like to do as a family is go get icecream at ColdStone. Caleb enjoys watching the icecream makers put together his yummy mint creation. Brandon can never turn down his chocolate reeses creation. Me, my favorite is cake batter icecream with strawberries and respberries in a crispy waffle bowl. And Izzy, likes a little of all of ours.

What's your favorite?

The Festival of Trees

Today I went with my mom to the Festival of Trees. This is a family favorite tradition that I do with my mom and sisters every year. Unfortunately, only my mom and I were able to make it. We had a lot of fun together hanging out and admiring the amazing trees.

This "Forever A Princess" tree is a very special tree dedicated to our friends Paul and Ashley Peterson who lost their sweet Ashley this year to a cancerous brain tumor. She was only 6 years old. This tree is so beautiful. When I saw their tree, I couldn't help but get choked up. It breaks my heart that these two amazing parents had to endure a trial like this. Our prayers are with them this holiday season.

Caleb couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap and get his favorite candy, a candy cane. Izzy is terrified of Santa and wouldn't come close to him. Maybe next year she will.

My mom spoiled my kids with yummy scones and cute treat packs that were sold at the festival. This little purse Izzy is holding was filled with treats. She loves purses. Isn't it cute?

Instead of a purse Caleb got a Thomas the Train treat pack

Even artificial Santa's scare Izzy. I was lucky that she was looking forward in this picture. She didn't want to take her eyes off of this Santa.

We had fun ringing in the holiday season looking at all of the amazing trees displayed.

There's not a better time of year!

The Highly Anticipated Gingerbread House!

Caleb loves to make a gingerbread house every year for Christmas. His sweet little eyes lit up when I brought home the box that displayed the cute model house on the front. For three days Caleb would carry around the box for 3 days until I finally gave in and made it for him. He was so excited! He helped me put all of the treats on it and couldn't help snacking on the treats during the process. These are fun times with the kids! I know that they won't always be excited about making these so I cherish these moments.

Since we made this cute little house yesterday, I have caught Caleb breaking off little pieces of icing for a small taste. He even licks the gumdrops off the rooftop. He wants to keep this "forever" and never throw it away. I guess that I may have no choice but keep a little Christmas around my house long after the holiday is over.

I would've taken some pictures of Izzy but she wouldn't stop throwing a tantrum. She was shoving candy in her mouth so fast! I took it away and, of course, she flipped out. It wasn't a happy memory to remember. Ha/ha!

Potty Training Izzy!

Okay so I have attempted to potty train Izzy last night and today. Last night, believe it or not, she went #2 after only a little bit of coaching. I was so excited thinking that this would be a piece of cake. The rest of the night wasn't quite as successful.

I forgot how much work it is to teach them how to potty train. I think it is THE HARDEST challenge with young kids!

I tried again today. I bought the cute Dora panties to try to get her excited about using the little potty. She was excited about the panties but not so much about the potty. I tried every 5 minutes to put her on and it seemed like between that small little break, she would go in her panties. I feel like I have been cleaning up pee all day long.

Finally, I just couldn't do it anymore. I guess that I will just keep trying a little at a time until she gets it.

If anyone has any advice, please send it my may? That would be wonderful!

These are some cute pictures of my little pilgram in his hat he made for Thanksgiving. I love the little stick figure next to his name with big ears. I love it when he makes cute stuff at school!

Decorating the Tree

A few days before Thanksgiving I pulled out my Christmas decorations. The kids had fun helping me decorate the tree. Caleb couldn't wait to get our stuff up! he also was SO excited to get out outdoor lights up as well. After all of that work, my house is ready for Christmas. I think the best part of Christmas isn't the shopping and the presents, it's the way my home feels all decorated with lights inside and out.

Tis' the Season!

Cougars & Coldplay

Well, Saturday was so sad cause our Cougars lost. Oh well, I think we all new who had the better team this year. Maybe next year. Thanks Jodi for the fun game party at your house. We watched the game in her theater, ate pizza, salads, and mom's famous carmel popcorn. At least the company was fun to be with.

After the game B and I went to the Coldplay concert at the Energy Solutions Arena. We got these tickets last minute from Brandon's work. We went with a few co-workers and their wives. We were so lucky to watch the concert in a suite with lots of yummy food to snack on. We had a great time. What a cool concert. It was truly amazing! For all of you concert goers out there, I would say that this concert was almost as good as U2. They sounded awesome!

These pictures were taken from the big screen. I think they turned out pretty good! I love it when they put those up so you can actually SEE the band.

They put on a great show! The lights were amazing and the confetti dropping from the ceiling was so cool! That's what concerts are about! The unexpected!

This was a surprise to the audience when Coldplay sang on a table in the middle of the crowd. lucky enough they were right by us. Notice everyone and their phones taking this picture.

Me and Brandon

What a fun night! I'm officially hooked on Coldplay. I wonder who we'll go to see next in concert. I hoping for Kenny Chesney. I keeping my fingers crossed!

Go Cougars!

We found these posters outside taped on our house this morning. Funny joke! Too bad these posters are for the wrong team! You gotta love this time of year!

Go Cougars!

Girls Night At Twilight!

Last night I went to The Twilight with a bunch of girls from my ward. Thanks to our awesome hubby's we were able to break free from the kids for a fun girls night out to watch the highly anticipated Twilight. We had a ton of fun! Some of my friends had mixed opinions about it but, I loved it! Of course nothing is better than the book but I thought it was done good! I wouldn't mind going again if anyone needs a buddy! Thanks girls! Let's do girls night again!

Megan, Lindsey, Katherine, Leslie, and me.

There were more girls with us that left before this picture. We had lots of time to talk about the show at Mimi's. It was fun! It's so fun to have fun neighborhood friends to hang out with!

Love ya girls!

Keepsake Designs

Christmas is just around the corner and its time to order your holiday cards. If you are like me I love to get them out early in the month so I get mine done quick. My sister Heidi has a little business that she has started making holiday cards, baby announcements, wedding announcements, and lots of other kids of cards. She made this Christmas card for our family last year. Aren't her designs so cute? Click here on her link to check out her designs. You'll love them! Order them before it's too late!

keepsakedesigns.net

Tinkerbell and a Sleepover

Me and Caleb thought that it would be fun to have a big family movie and sleepover night in our family room. We talked about doing this about a week ago and he couldn't wait for it. We did it last Saturday night. Caleb chose the movie Tinkerbell (B thought that was funny he chose Tinkerbell). My kids loved that movie! I guess Santa has a good idea of what to get them for Christmas!

My kids loved getting the sleeping bags set up and especially my blow-up mattress to jump on.

My kids always lay so close to each other when they watch movies. It's so cute! They were all sugared up with Skittles, Reese's, Mike and Ike's, and popcorn. Little did I know that it would be difficult to get Izzy to go to bed in her sleeping bag.

So, Izzy ended up sleeping in her bed and me in mine alone while B and Caleb enjoyed the "sleepover." The night didn't exactly turn out as planned but it was lots of fun! I have a feeling that family movie and sleepover night are going to become a tradition.

This really is fun, you should try it with your kids!

Early Thanksgiving!

On Sunday we went over to Brandon's parents for an early Thanksgiving dinner with his family. We had a good time together and we wished that we could've had the rest of the family with us to celebrate. Like many of us, many of his family members live out of state. It's too bad that it's not easier to get together more often. Anyway, my kids are the youngest in the family. So, these party pictures always show them with a bunch of my teenage nieces and nephews. Caleb loves being like "The big kids!"

Grandma brought a "pin the beak on the turkey" game. The older kids were good sports about playing it with Caleb

Watching everyone else have a turn

Little Izzy wasn't feeling very well when we first arrived, but soon got involved in all of the fun!

Caleb making up his own game. Look at his sweet smile!

B's dad and brother Eric

The biggest highlight of the night was the chimes that grandma and grandpa brought. My kids thought that was the greatest thing! Everyone got together and played Christmas songs with their chimes. Caleb wished we could take the chimes home. I don't think so!

Izzy playing her chime

Caleb didn't want to play only one chime, but two!

The turkey dinner was so yummy and the company was wonderful! I can't wait to stuff myself more next week! I love Thanksgiving!