Sunday, January 3, 2016
A Low Key New Year!
We decided to have a laid back, stay-at-home New Years Eve celebration with just our family. Mom and the girls went to Harmons in the morning and picked up some fresh shrimp for Mom and Dad. It was soooo busy! Jocelyn and Ivy used one of their $2 bills from Christmas to buy two donuts (they picked matching chocolate with sprinkle rings) and Mom got a chocolate éclair for her and Dad. Millie had a free pumpkin cookie. When we got home, Jocelyn and Ivy helped Mom prepare finger-foods for dinner. They made ham/cream cheese/pickle roll ups all by themselves while Mom made some baked raviolis and a vegetable tray. They also built a table centerpiece with candles and silver tinsel for our party. Along with food-making and decorating, we all spent the afternoon outside in the cold weather. The girls jumped on the trampoline and played at the Woodbury's home while Dad worked on building a new rabbit hutch and Mom worked on tearing the garden beds apart. Millie wandered the yard watching the work and then had an afternoon nap. At dinner time Jocelyn and Ivy sat at the table with Mom and Dad and had sparkling current juice in plastic goblets which they 'clinked' together and said "Cheers!" After we'd eaten our dinner, we started our party! At each hour we did a new activity. We made 'snow' and played in it with plastic animals first. Then we played a family game of Pie Face with Millie even participating! She didn't like the whipped cream to the face so much but she did like eating it off of her own and everyone elses faces. Then we turned on the TV and had a dance party with Kidbopz music and played the balloon game where you try and not let any balloons touch the floor. Then we played hide and seek with the balloons. We were going to try and stay up until the 10pm (eastern midnight) hour to see the NYC ball drop but we were all really tired by 9:00 so we did a Netflix kids countdown and then sprayed silly string and made noise at "midnight." It was a lot of fun spending time together and not having big plans. :)
So This Is Christmas....
...2015!
We had a wonderful holiday surrounded by all of our family this year. The girls are the perfect age for enjoying all of the things that make up Christmas; the lights, the songs, the pajama days at school, the gift giving, the gift reCEIVING, the train under the tree. I tend to think every year is the best one though :)
We usually go get a tree the weekend following Thanksgiving but this year the mountains were blizzardy and under 10 degrees on that weekend and so we waited until December 5th to go up and hunt down a tree. Last year we got a tree from Pine Valley mountain but it is getting pretty hard to find a nice looking pinyon there within a reasonable distance from the roads (our last years tree ended up being about 1/2 mile from the road and was a beast to get back to the truck). We opted to head up north to Cedar Mountain and look for a nice fir instead, seeing as we'd found such a nice one two years prior. Trent, Ashley, and their kids bundled up and came with us to get themselves a tree.
We wanted to hit the area just south of Cedar Breaks as we'd done before but the gate was locked at the turnoff so we continued up toward Duck Creek and stopped at a random spot that looked well forested. The kids followed us into the trees and, at first, the snow wasn't too deep; the ground was a bit muddy in places. We spread out and looked around for a few minutes finding a few ok options. The snow got deeper as we went on and the kids started complaining. We decided to clear a spot of snow near a fallen log seat and have Ashley hang out with them and feed them cookies while we kept looking. The three of us headed down a hill covered in deep snow and found a few better trees. We stood assessing them for a few minutes and finally picked two that we thought would fit our houses. I slung Millie onto my back as Kyle cut down ours, and then Trent cut down theirs. They were heavy and getting them back UP the hill in deep snow took some work. When we got back up to the top Ashley and the kids were gone. We correctly assumed that she'd decided to hike them back to the truck but they weren't visible through the trees. We decided to take an alternate route back, one that was in snow instead of across mud, hoping to protect our trees from breakage and dirt. It was slow going through the snowy woods. As we got closer to the roadway, I thought I could hear wailing. It sounded like a kid so I told the guys I'd go ahead and see if I could help out. I hurdled lamely along and the wailing turned into screaming and I could tell it was coming from more than one child. As I broke out into the open I could see a gaggle of children following Ashley, all of them a good distance apart screaming and crying. They had also taken another route back, one that was in deep snow. I hurried to the last in the line and he was dragging his coat behind him. I asked him why he'd taken his coat off but he just cried. I helped him put it back on but my two were still ahead and I was worried about them so I told him to keep hiking and I rushed to mine. Ivy was screaming hysterically and I found that the snow had swallowed one of her boots and she was walking in snow with a wet sock. I quickly found the boot and pulled her up onto one of my hips while I tried to get to Jocelyn who was also crying. She was just freeing cold and mad about the deep snow. I couldn't carry all three of them so I kept Millie and Ivy up and walked with sobbing Jocelyn until we reached the roadway and met up with Ashley who was also near tears. While we were searching for trees the kids had started complaining about the cold and she thought they'd take a more direct route back to the truck which ended up being through deep snow. Once everyone was back to the trucks and the trees were loaded, we mixed up some hot cocoa and warmed ourselves up. The kids still swear they'll never ask to go tree-hunting again :D And I think next year they'll do just fine!
The second weekend in December the girls had their Christmas dance performance at Desert Hills High School. They were well supported by their Grandmas and Grandpas - in addition to Grandma Dee - they're adopted Grandma from last years visit to Kolob Care Center. They danced beautifully, remembered all their steps, and smiled big the entire time! They also performed one of their dances at the Dickens Festival at the Dixie Center later that week,
The third week in December brought a wonderful surprise - Uncle Kalin flew home from North Carolina for the holiday! We hid him from his Mom until our Gingerbread House Party, and then, disguised as a homeless man, he knocked on the back window and scared her. She still didn't know who he was until after Kyle opened the back door and demanded to know what he was doing. He took off his beanie and wig and then, recognizing him, she cried happy tears.
A few days before Christmas, SGPD had a Santa and Cocoa party which we attended. The girls sat on Santa's lap and recited their wishes; Shopkins, makeup, a slingshot, Heely's, and gum. Then they ate treats, sipped cocoa, and colored with friends. Later that evening we went to dinner at Pancho and Leftys with our Whitehead cousins and family.
On Christmas Eve day we collected our old toys together and put them into our red bags and placed them at the ends of our beds.
The family Christmas Eve party was at our house this year and we had our traditional six-foot-sub and picnic salads. The adults participated in a White Elephant Gift exchange where many interesting presents were given; an inflatable ice cream cone, gold dollar sign glasses, an antler hunting knife in a cheesy display, a top of the head basketball game, along with others. The kids played downstairs and also with the train around the Christmas tree. We made it a short party so that everyone could get their kids to bed at a decent hour. After the party, our family of 5 visited the temple and viewed the nativity. Then we returned home, sat around a candle by the tree and read the birth of Jesus from Luke. We opened one present; pajamas and a new doll that looked JUST LIKE us with matching pajamas. Jocelyn's doll had dark blond hair with brown eyes and Ivy's doll had blond hair with blue eyes. They named them? Jocelyn and Ivy. Millie started looking around for a doll; she hadn't gotten one with her pj's. She was feeling bad so we let her open Grandma Candy's present, a doll with a carry bag. That cheered her up. We ALmost forgot to set cookies and carrots out but remembered just as we were falling asleep. Whew! So many things to remember on Christmas Eve!
After all the plans, bedtime still didn't happen until 9:30pm.
On Christmas morning Ivy was awake first but stayed in her bed until she heard Christmas music playing in the living room. Then she woke up Jocelyn and they both ran into the living room to find that Santa had come during the night. He'd left them an outfit, their own makeup, press on nails, Roger Hargreaves Little Miss and Mr. books, a slingshot, and a stocking full of treasures such as gum, chocolate, jeweled bobby pins, and stickers. They also noticed a large family present by the fireplace; a trampoline!!! Yay! Later when Millie woke up, she found an outfit, a Mouse in the House book, three Vtech animals, a wooden school bus with removable people, a metal school bus (she likes watching the girls school bus come and go), and a slide! There was a lot of happiness Christmas morning, even before the other gifts. We ate egg mcmuffins and yogurt and raspberries for breakfast, had just one (ok maybe two) pieces of chocolate, and then sat down around the tree to exchange family gifts.
Jocelyn received from Millie a pop up Night Animals book, from Ivy some Ugly Pets in a can, and from Mom and Dad a real accordian, a pink dance bag with your name on it and a black dance skirt inside, another outfit for your doll "Jocelyn," and a new coat.
Ivy received from Millie a pop up Bugs book, from Jocelyn some glow in the dark stars for her ceiling, from Mom and dad a Spirograph, a new pair of Bearpaw suede and fur boots (maybe for tree hunting?), a pink dance bag with your name on it and a black dance skirt inside, and an outfit for your doll.
Both girls received from Grandpa Doug a new school backpack with a set of legos, from Grandma Candy a Doh Vinci art kit, from Grandma Marj a Fisher Price digital camera, from Grandpa Lamoreaux a paper and bamboo umbrella and some Frozen art supplies, from Grandma Dee some coloring books, crayons, and chalk, and from Great Grandma and pa Lamoreaux a card with $2 and a snickers bar.
Millie received from Jocelyn a See and Say pull string toy with animal noises, from Ivy a Curious George jack in the box, from Mom and Dad a Vtech track for your Vtech animals, from Grandpa Doug a caterpillar crawl through tunnel, from Grandma Candy a dolly in a bag, from Grandma Marj a talking Thumper bunny, from Grandpa Lamoreaux a baby doll with a binky, and from Great Grandma and Grandpa Lamoreux a card with $2.
The girls said that the best presents of all though were each other. While watching the 'dancing lights' at the Stapley house earlier in the season, they had picked up on the song, "All I Want For Christmas is You!"
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas Tree....."
Frequently throughout the days leading up to Christmas and even on Christmas day one or the other of them would exclaim, "If all the presents were gone, I would still be so happy because I have my family!" Let me vouch, nothing can make a Mom cry faster than hearing her child say those words!
We had a wonderful holiday surrounded by all of our family this year. The girls are the perfect age for enjoying all of the things that make up Christmas; the lights, the songs, the pajama days at school, the gift giving, the gift reCEIVING, the train under the tree. I tend to think every year is the best one though :)
We usually go get a tree the weekend following Thanksgiving but this year the mountains were blizzardy and under 10 degrees on that weekend and so we waited until December 5th to go up and hunt down a tree. Last year we got a tree from Pine Valley mountain but it is getting pretty hard to find a nice looking pinyon there within a reasonable distance from the roads (our last years tree ended up being about 1/2 mile from the road and was a beast to get back to the truck). We opted to head up north to Cedar Mountain and look for a nice fir instead, seeing as we'd found such a nice one two years prior. Trent, Ashley, and their kids bundled up and came with us to get themselves a tree.
We wanted to hit the area just south of Cedar Breaks as we'd done before but the gate was locked at the turnoff so we continued up toward Duck Creek and stopped at a random spot that looked well forested. The kids followed us into the trees and, at first, the snow wasn't too deep; the ground was a bit muddy in places. We spread out and looked around for a few minutes finding a few ok options. The snow got deeper as we went on and the kids started complaining. We decided to clear a spot of snow near a fallen log seat and have Ashley hang out with them and feed them cookies while we kept looking. The three of us headed down a hill covered in deep snow and found a few better trees. We stood assessing them for a few minutes and finally picked two that we thought would fit our houses. I slung Millie onto my back as Kyle cut down ours, and then Trent cut down theirs. They were heavy and getting them back UP the hill in deep snow took some work. When we got back up to the top Ashley and the kids were gone. We correctly assumed that she'd decided to hike them back to the truck but they weren't visible through the trees. We decided to take an alternate route back, one that was in snow instead of across mud, hoping to protect our trees from breakage and dirt. It was slow going through the snowy woods. As we got closer to the roadway, I thought I could hear wailing. It sounded like a kid so I told the guys I'd go ahead and see if I could help out. I hurdled lamely along and the wailing turned into screaming and I could tell it was coming from more than one child. As I broke out into the open I could see a gaggle of children following Ashley, all of them a good distance apart screaming and crying. They had also taken another route back, one that was in deep snow. I hurried to the last in the line and he was dragging his coat behind him. I asked him why he'd taken his coat off but he just cried. I helped him put it back on but my two were still ahead and I was worried about them so I told him to keep hiking and I rushed to mine. Ivy was screaming hysterically and I found that the snow had swallowed one of her boots and she was walking in snow with a wet sock. I quickly found the boot and pulled her up onto one of my hips while I tried to get to Jocelyn who was also crying. She was just freeing cold and mad about the deep snow. I couldn't carry all three of them so I kept Millie and Ivy up and walked with sobbing Jocelyn until we reached the roadway and met up with Ashley who was also near tears. While we were searching for trees the kids had started complaining about the cold and she thought they'd take a more direct route back to the truck which ended up being through deep snow. Once everyone was back to the trucks and the trees were loaded, we mixed up some hot cocoa and warmed ourselves up. The kids still swear they'll never ask to go tree-hunting again :D And I think next year they'll do just fine!
The second weekend in December the girls had their Christmas dance performance at Desert Hills High School. They were well supported by their Grandmas and Grandpas - in addition to Grandma Dee - they're adopted Grandma from last years visit to Kolob Care Center. They danced beautifully, remembered all their steps, and smiled big the entire time! They also performed one of their dances at the Dickens Festival at the Dixie Center later that week,
The third week in December brought a wonderful surprise - Uncle Kalin flew home from North Carolina for the holiday! We hid him from his Mom until our Gingerbread House Party, and then, disguised as a homeless man, he knocked on the back window and scared her. She still didn't know who he was until after Kyle opened the back door and demanded to know what he was doing. He took off his beanie and wig and then, recognizing him, she cried happy tears.
A few days before Christmas, SGPD had a Santa and Cocoa party which we attended. The girls sat on Santa's lap and recited their wishes; Shopkins, makeup, a slingshot, Heely's, and gum. Then they ate treats, sipped cocoa, and colored with friends. Later that evening we went to dinner at Pancho and Leftys with our Whitehead cousins and family.
On Christmas Eve day we collected our old toys together and put them into our red bags and placed them at the ends of our beds.
The family Christmas Eve party was at our house this year and we had our traditional six-foot-sub and picnic salads. The adults participated in a White Elephant Gift exchange where many interesting presents were given; an inflatable ice cream cone, gold dollar sign glasses, an antler hunting knife in a cheesy display, a top of the head basketball game, along with others. The kids played downstairs and also with the train around the Christmas tree. We made it a short party so that everyone could get their kids to bed at a decent hour. After the party, our family of 5 visited the temple and viewed the nativity. Then we returned home, sat around a candle by the tree and read the birth of Jesus from Luke. We opened one present; pajamas and a new doll that looked JUST LIKE us with matching pajamas. Jocelyn's doll had dark blond hair with brown eyes and Ivy's doll had blond hair with blue eyes. They named them? Jocelyn and Ivy. Millie started looking around for a doll; she hadn't gotten one with her pj's. She was feeling bad so we let her open Grandma Candy's present, a doll with a carry bag. That cheered her up. We ALmost forgot to set cookies and carrots out but remembered just as we were falling asleep. Whew! So many things to remember on Christmas Eve!
After all the plans, bedtime still didn't happen until 9:30pm.
On Christmas morning Ivy was awake first but stayed in her bed until she heard Christmas music playing in the living room. Then she woke up Jocelyn and they both ran into the living room to find that Santa had come during the night. He'd left them an outfit, their own makeup, press on nails, Roger Hargreaves Little Miss and Mr. books, a slingshot, and a stocking full of treasures such as gum, chocolate, jeweled bobby pins, and stickers. They also noticed a large family present by the fireplace; a trampoline!!! Yay! Later when Millie woke up, she found an outfit, a Mouse in the House book, three Vtech animals, a wooden school bus with removable people, a metal school bus (she likes watching the girls school bus come and go), and a slide! There was a lot of happiness Christmas morning, even before the other gifts. We ate egg mcmuffins and yogurt and raspberries for breakfast, had just one (ok maybe two) pieces of chocolate, and then sat down around the tree to exchange family gifts.
Jocelyn received from Millie a pop up Night Animals book, from Ivy some Ugly Pets in a can, and from Mom and Dad a real accordian, a pink dance bag with your name on it and a black dance skirt inside, another outfit for your doll "Jocelyn," and a new coat.
Ivy received from Millie a pop up Bugs book, from Jocelyn some glow in the dark stars for her ceiling, from Mom and dad a Spirograph, a new pair of Bearpaw suede and fur boots (maybe for tree hunting?), a pink dance bag with your name on it and a black dance skirt inside, and an outfit for your doll.
Both girls received from Grandpa Doug a new school backpack with a set of legos, from Grandma Candy a Doh Vinci art kit, from Grandma Marj a Fisher Price digital camera, from Grandpa Lamoreaux a paper and bamboo umbrella and some Frozen art supplies, from Grandma Dee some coloring books, crayons, and chalk, and from Great Grandma and pa Lamoreaux a card with $2 and a snickers bar.
Millie received from Jocelyn a See and Say pull string toy with animal noises, from Ivy a Curious George jack in the box, from Mom and Dad a Vtech track for your Vtech animals, from Grandpa Doug a caterpillar crawl through tunnel, from Grandma Candy a dolly in a bag, from Grandma Marj a talking Thumper bunny, from Grandpa Lamoreaux a baby doll with a binky, and from Great Grandma and Grandpa Lamoreux a card with $2.
The girls said that the best presents of all though were each other. While watching the 'dancing lights' at the Stapley house earlier in the season, they had picked up on the song, "All I Want For Christmas is You!"
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas Tree....."
Frequently throughout the days leading up to Christmas and even on Christmas day one or the other of them would exclaim, "If all the presents were gone, I would still be so happy because I have my family!" Let me vouch, nothing can make a Mom cry faster than hearing her child say those words!
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