Rain in December

Until yesterday, all we'd really gotten as far as precipitation here in Utah was a bit of snow in November and a ton of rain in December.  In fact, Sunday it poured all day long.  It didn't help the Christmas spirit one bit but it sure was cute to see the kids holding umbrellas as we crossed the field to church (one of the nice things about living in Utah is you're usually right next to your ward building--ours is literally in our back yard).

Merry Christmas to you all! 

Jonah's Preschool Christmas Program

 Last Thursday was Jonah's preschool Christmas program. They must have practiced for weeks because those kids had to learn a LOT of songs! I was just beaming with pride and it brought me to tears more than once. I looked at Jon and said, "Can you believe we're at Jonah's school Christmas program?" I just couldn't believe we were already at the point in parenthood.

I purposely forgot my camera because I didn't want to lug it around and didn't want to be the obnoxious mom crawling down the front of the stage to get her kid's picture.

Thank goodness my father-in-law had his camera and we got plenty of pictures and footage.

Forgive the red eyes.  It wasn't my camera and I didn't feel like editing them.

The True Meaning of Christmas

I've been trying to teach my kids the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  I'm not sure how far it has sunk in and I wonder what they'd answer if they were asked some of these same questions.

Yes, I cried.

Sophie to two

I like seeing the changes in my babies over the years and I forgot to do Sophie's 2 year collage (becoming a tradition). 

She is such a joy to us! We love having our little Sophie.  She's sassy and oh-so-girly.  She loves princesses and dolls and chocolate.  She loves to dance and sing and has learned quite the vocabulary from her chatty big brother.

A Christmas Tradition

We've enjoyed visiting Midway in December the last few years for the creches exhibit in one of the churches there.  People share their nativity sets from all over the world.  It's neat to see the different cultures' depictions of that night.

The kids always get to dress up in costumes and be a live nativity. You can imagine how difficult it is to get everyone to look at once.

We also get to check out the many versions of gingerbread houses from the locals.  Some of them are very impressive!

We had a great day with Jon's family and finished it off with some great Mexican food at Tarahumara!

This Nativity was carved out of match sticks.  The kids loved the necessity of the giant magnifying glass.

One of the many times I had to say, "Jonah, don't touch!"

FLASHBACK!

This was from last year.  It's amazing how fast kids grow!! Sophie's in the back pulling her sheep hat off.

Thanksgiving in Colorado

It was our year to travel to Colorado for Thanksgiving which we were all very excited about.  The one thing that  put a damper on the fun was the miserable drive there.  The first 2 hours were through blizzards and over icy highways, and all the while we had Jonah throwing up in the back seat.  Jonah woke up sick the morning we were supposed to leave but we decided to go anyway, as he'd be throwing up no matter where we were and at least we could contain it in the car (thanks to the salad bowl and plenty of grocery bags--all fully inspected and hole-free).  He was a really good sport and made sure we were notified before each episode. Poor kid.

On Wednesday, we celebrated Sophie's birthday with the family.  I made my first batch of fondant which was even more difficult to work with than I suspected.  Those people on Ace of Cakes make it look so easy!  I was pleased with the final product despite all it's flaws.

Sophie loved her birthday presents which provided hours of entertainment through the week.  She loves baby dolls and feeding them, putting them to sleep, and even disciplining them!  I just hope her means of discipline will change before she's a real mom because I'm pretty sure DCFS won't let you keep your child after you throw it across the room or bang it on the table.

In spite of the frigid temperatures on Thanksgiving morning, we gathered the entire family for the Fort Collins Thanksgiving Day Run.  It was a 4 mile run which we all did eight years ago (before most spouses and any children came to the family).  This time we had three baby-joggers, 2 strollers, and twice as many people.  It was a great event and Jonah even got to run his first solo race.  He started out strong but tripped and skinned his nose on the asphalt so it took a little encouragement on my side to get him to finish.  It was about 1/3 mile and by the end, he was spent but so excited that he finished. (pictures to come)

Following the delicious meal, we broke out the karaoke machine and I opened the ceremonies with "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" and then forced the other adults to take part (no one was too willing).  The kids loved it, though.

Friday and Saturday were relaxing with just a little shopping, pedicures for the ladies, and the BYU vs Utah game for the boys (I'm glad I didn't watch that one).  Then we got the girls all dolled up in their Christmas outfits for some pictures (talk about break-down central).  We got a few good ones and mostly bad ones with someone crying and someone with their eyes closed.

This one just makes me laugh every time!  Can we say, "I'm tired and can't smile any more."

Beautiful girl.

The drive home was uneventful, thank goodness, and we were glad to settle back in to our usual habits.

How blessed I am to have such a wonderful family.  I have awesome brothers and a sister whom I love dearly and sisters-in-law that are basically blood.  My parents would do anything for us and often do.  I truly have much to be grateful for.

On Cold Days

It's always a challenge to find things to entertain my little wild things on the days it's too cold to go outside and play.  I was feeling courageous a few days ago and decided to do some Thanksgiving crafts with them.  We started by coloring turkeys.  Sophie has long since been banned from any coloring tools except crayons.  Jonah used watercolors on his and I was very impressed by his coloring each feather a different color and staying inside the lines for the most part.  His scribbling days are past.

Since the coloring pages didn't last more than 15 minutes and we still had hours to kill, I took it a little further and helped them make pilgrim hats.  Picture what you will, but it was not all pleasantries and Martha Stewart-like, it was more of me scolding Sophie for eating the glue stick, stealing the scissors repeatedly, or constantly ripping her head band apart (resulting in a head band with about 50 staples in it).  I'm glad we did it, though.  I want my kids to remember these kinds of things.  I have been trying to spend more one-on-one time with them instead of just sending them off to play (although they enjoy that quite a bit).

Ethington Kids

My awesome sister-in-law asked me to do a little shoot with her beautiful kids last week and just in time! The weather has taken a turn this week (I still love the rain and snow so I'm not calling it "bad" weather).

Happy Halloween!

This year we got to trick-or-treat with Buzz Lightyear and our very own giraffe! Jonah adores his Buzz costume that Mimi and Grandpa got him. I had to limit the times he wore it before Halloween just so we could make sure it wasn't ruined by then. 

Sophie wore Jonah's giraffe ("raff") costume this year and it makes me crack up every time I see her walk in it. It has a nice padded rear end so it looks like she has humongous hips!

We went to a Halloween party at my father-in-law's student ward and the kids had so much fun. Jon and I just thanked our lucky stars that we were in that single's scene anymore. It was also a dance, so I got to observe the awkward behavior from the side of the dance floor. We didn't dance but Jon did bust out a few of his old dance moves that lured me so long ago.  No one does a better body roll than Jon Bush.

On Sunday, we had our usual family gathering for dinner and all the cousins came in their costumes so Mamou and Grandpa could see them all.  They even trick-or-treated in some of the rooms in the house.

I dressed as a garden gnome this year and made my pointy had with some felt I purchased at our very own and brand new Hobby Lobby (love).

I love this!! LOL..."Mom, do I have to???"