This Week....

My best girls and I had a little Christmas party/gift exchange!

It's always nice to slow down and just have some girl time.

Even if it's just sitting in the mall chatting ;)

Thank you for the amazing robe, Kim!

Merry Christmas Ladies!

Dad grew a beard!? Can you believe it?! Who knew that he could? Ha!
He did NOT like me taking these pictures. But in the 30+ years of my life I've never seen him with facial hair before! Too bad he shaved a couple of days later.. even Mom liked it. He's just can't let go of the straight laced, missionary look!

I am a big believer in having children experience different cultures and religions.
Maybe that due to how I was raised.
The beautiful Catholic church downtown started their Christmas programs, so Ryan and I took Ella up for one of the days of Advent. 

Such a beautiful place.

I hope that Ella and all of my children will grow up with a strong testimony of our religion, but also have a respect for others as well. Although I believe we have the fullness of the gospel here on earth, I also believe that there are many other religions out there that are trying to do good with the truths that they have. I could only wish our ward choir could sound that good ;)

The kids are LOVING the 12 days of Christmas. They wanted a picture with their new stashes!

As a little girl almost every year I was able to see a performance of the Nutcracker ballet. 

Several of my siblings even performed in it many years in a row.

But with moving and having babies Ella had never made it to a single performance.

This year with Lila still being so young, I wasn't going to be able to take Ella yet again.

Then my Mom decided to go and invited Ella. Although I was sad that I wasn't able to take her and be with her for her first time, I'm glad that I had such a perfect stand in. I'm sure that my Mom knows the entire thing by heart! She even bought Ella this beautiful Clara nutcracker!

The days are getting closer and closer..... Christmas is almost here!

Lilly loves playing with princesses.

Everywhere we turn there's another Santa somewhere!

Lilly was in heaven, not scared at all. He gave her stinkers and candy. When asked what she wanted for Christmas she just said "toys". She then laughed and danced around the store the whole time we were there.

Seeing Santa for the Second Time and Much More

The Riverwoods in Provo always has a lot of fun things during the holidays, so the whole family got together for some Christmas fun!

Gabriel was terrified, so it was just Jude. Who wasn't at all afraid.

It was a bit too cold to get the baby, next year.

These kids were so excited, but wondered if Santa looked a little different from last time. Huh.

They all still asked for the same things. American Girl Doll, Darth Vader and toys.

The whole gang

After checking out several stores (I think that Dad bought like 50 chairs, no really) and letting the kids run wild through the toy store we all took a horse carriage ride. Lilly thought that was pretty fun.

Neinah loves horses

Then it was off to Kneaders for some yummy treats!

I could eat one of these tarts everyday! Yum!

Lilly wanted to wear this cute hat.

 Such a fun night to spend together. With less then two weeks until Christmas and then two weeks of Christmas break I'm sure this is just the beginning!

More Instagrams

This week started out celebrating one of my BEST friends ever birthday! 

Happy Birthday Tiffany!

The kids had a blast playing in ALL of the snow!

Lilly almost never sneaks into our bed anymore. Now I'm starting to miss all of her sweet cuddles

I love that Lila loves to be snuggled up like a newborn baby still...

Look who I ran into at the store.

Ryan got to open one of his Christmas presents early!

It was a record player so he could listen to all of the records left to him by his Grandfather, including several Christmas ones. (Hence him opening it early!)

Lila sure loves helping wrap presents! She has figured out how to roll across the floor to what she wants- which is wrapping paper!

It was so fun to put together a 12 days of Christmas for the kids!

Spent all evening shopping with Mom and Sami, then stayed up till 2am wrapping presents. Today I'm finishing addressing all of our Christmas card! (Ryan helped pick them out- the card pops out to be an ornament!) We are just about ready for Christmas!

My day- two fussy little ladies in overcrowded stores.. But I'm happy to say that ALL of my shopping is DONE!!!

Love when they nap together

She's looking so big in her carseat

Chris Mouse has been hiding in some pretty silly places!

It took the kids a LONG time to find him!

The 12 days of Christmas has been an absolute hit! 

It's been great motivation for being extra good!

Lila found a fun place to play.

I love this so much! Merry Christmas!

Jack must have a serious problem with "being rude" That, or Lilly has a serious problem with getting her feelings hurt

Anna's Dance Performance

To say that my family loves the performing arts (singing, dancing, acting or any kind) would be an understatement.

With me living so far away I have never had the chance to see many performances in person.

So when Anna had a Christmas program at school I went to support.
Lila, Mom, Dad and I were the only ones that were able to go.
I have to admit that with 10 kids in the family it wasn't often that I was alone with both my Mom and Dad. I felt like a little kid, sitting between both of my parents (they each wanted to sit by me) and have them give their full attention to me.. and Lila.
Makes me want to try harder to do that more with my kids.
 

 

Anna was great! One of the best, if not the best out of the whole bunch.

Her dance partner- Kent thinks so too ;)

Although Anna was great and I loved the numbers she was in, I had to sit through many others that were less then amazing.

With dance themes like "depression, bullying, texting and loss" It was pretty hard to sit through.

My parents and I were less then reverent, we couldn't help laughing and asking ourselves.. how is this conveying "texting while driving is bad"?

Of course it was totally worth sitting through to watch Anna.
She's so graceful! It doesn't even look like she's trying. Maybe she's not, maybe she's just that good.
Love you Anna!

Highlight of the night... catching Anna and her "dance partner" watching back video of their performance :)

Lila 4 1/2 Months Old

This little lady brings me so much joy!

She is always happy and smiling.

With the holidays coming up I feel like I haven't been taking very many pictures, just too busy.

I'm going to try to do better.

That drool is my favorite...