We made the most of the girls off-track time. We played, we vegged, we did Christmasy things. I didn't take very many pictures, so here's a brief overview with what I do have:
Big brother likes to cuddle. Sometimes that means he cuddles while Mommy tries to learn all the extra music she needed to learn before Christmas. Cutie.
I still love that Costco sells a pre-built gingerbread house. All the kids want to do is decorate it, and I have no desire to be any more involved than buying the stuff for them to do it. Daddy did referee a little to make sure everyone got equal decorating turns. I think it turned out pretty cute! We did make gingerbread men, which were very delicious.
I held my first piano recital for my 6 students. Little sister did fantastic:
As did Big sister. The joy of only having 6 students is that the recital was short and very sweet.
Big brother was still in school most of the month. We enjoyed going to his program. He sang very well, when he actually sang. He makes one pretty cute reindeer!
We had lots of late nights. This particular night, the kids built a fort in the basement and slept in it. Here's Big brother, little sister and big sister:
And little brother, who actually gave up halfway through the night and came upstairs to sleep in his own bed. Funny boy.
Christmas Eve was probably my favorite day of the whole month. The kids were really good helping me clean the house up. Daddy had to work, but only 'till 5. After he got home, we grilled some steaks and ate them with our salad, roasted red potatoes & sparkling apple cider. It was a nice quiet meal. Then we watched a couple nativity shows, followed by our present to Jesus. It was fun to read all the good deeds that had been done over the last few weeks. Then we read our last Christmas stories and did our chocolate advent calendars. Followed by the opening of the Christmas Eve PJ's.
Then we read Luke 2 from the Bible and sent them all to bed. There was such a beautiful spirit in our home. That one night would have been enough for me this year! Christmas morning the kids were up around 7, they ate breakfast and opened their stockings. Stockings this year included sleds. The kids were pretty darned excited about that! This year we enforced the one-at-a-time rule for opening the rest of the presents. It's so fun to watch their faces light up! We enjoyed brunch at wife's parents house, then home to get dinner going for husband's family. A beautiful day of family and yummy food and happy kiddos. We spent the evening packing for Reno since we were leaving in the morning.
Friday we drove out, Saturday was four-wheeling for the boys. For the girls, it was grocery shopping for Kylie's farewell. Saturday night, we bathed all the kiddos in Shaye's big bathtub. The kids were in heaven.
Rub-a-dub-dub, 5 boys in the tub. My girls thoroughly enjoyed the bubble bath, Little sister wondered aloud what it would be like to live like this. Haha! We were up bright and early Sunday morning to get to church for Kylie's farewell talk. It was a beautiful meeting. I got to accompany her on the piano while she played her violin, and she made me cry. Jerk. After church, we all kicked into gear preparing food and cleaning up the messes that occur when you have 27 people hanging at your house for a weekend. It was fun to see some familiar faces that evening as people came to wish Kylie well.
Monday we headed home. Tuesday we cleaned and cooked Kylie's goodbye dinner. She requested tri-tip, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn & my rolls. We did homemade raspberry ice cream & cake for dessert. Wednesday she headed off to the MTC and her family headed home. Cedie & her husband stayed for our tradition of IHOP and chocolate fountain. The kiddos weren't feeling very well for most of the day, but they really wanted to keep the tradition alive. We watched How to Train Your Dragon 2, then put the younger ones to bed. Big sister got to stay up and watch Guardians of the Galaxy with us adults. She was thrilled. We did actually make it to midnight, and we watched some fireworks going off around the neighborhood before turning in. New Year's Day found us all fighting a nasty cold. It took down all of us, eventually. Sunday Husband stayed home with all 4 kiddos while I went to church. I would've stayed home, too, but I'd already missed my first week in my new Young Women's calling and felt like I should actually show up. So excited to work with these amazing ladies and young women! Anyway. After a day of rest, we seem to be on the mend. Husband didn't get it bad, and we're hoping that it stays that way! Happy New Year all!
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