Christmas on the Sabbath

For the first time I can remember in a long time, Christmas fell on a Sunday. At first, I was bummed because I just wanted to stay home Christmas morning. But then I realized that there could be no better way to recognize the birth, life and atonement of the Savior than by going to church and partaking of the sacrament. We had two wards and a branch combine for a meeting that was primarily music. It was really beautiful and I found myself crying at the end, grateful for my Savior and grateful to be surrounded by fellow saints who also wanted to praise Him with song. What an awesome Christmas!

I remember a time when I was a child and we had a similar experience. It's one of my most memorable Christmases because I had to wait to open my presents. It made everything seem more special. I hope my kids remember today as well. 

When we got home, we changed back into our jammies to open presents. I didn't think Baylie was going to be able to wait. She was so anxious! She loved her presents, but mostly just wanted to open them. Before she was even finished opening her own she told her daddy and me that we had to share our presents too.

Jalen could have opened one present and played with it the rest of the day. He loved everything he opened and didn't want to stop playing with one present in order to open the next.

When we were all finished, I had my highlight when Baylie said, "Thank you, Mommy, for this lovely Christmas."

Merry Christmas!

My Favorite Christmas Tradition

Funny Kids

My kids crack me up. I am always amazed at their personalities, the things they say and the things they do. They have made my life so much richer than I ever imagined it could be. I take WAY too many pictures of them, but hopefully one day they'll look back on these photos and realize how much I loved watching them.

I've posted these pictures on facebook, but since I don't turn status updates into blog books, I decided to put them here.

We go to the zoo about once a week and every time, Baylie wants to climb the rock wall (ever since her cousin Cameron did it). You have to weigh at least 40 pounds to climb the wall and she's usually a couple pounds under. Yesterday they didn't have the scales out, so she got to climb! It was harder than she thought it would be. She got up about 12 feet, which isn't too bad for a first time. She can't wait to try it again.

The kids wake up around 5:30 every morning and David and I have resorted to locking our door to keep them out. The other day we decided to cut out their afternoon nap to see if they'd sleep in longer. Jalen didn't make it past 6:30 p.m. before he crashed. And they still got up before the sun!

The other day I came into their bedroom to find they had taken all their toys out of the cupboard, put them on their bed and covered them with blankets. I asked where they were going to sleep and they opted for the obvious choice.

Baylie has started dressing herself. She has a real flair for color. (She's also quite a poser.)

Yesterday Baylie called my mom at 5:30 a.m. and sang The Twelve Days of Christmas for her. (I guess that's Grammy's thank you for buying the book that taught her the song.) Here's a peek at what Grammy's wake up call probably sounded like.

The Christmas Jar Revisited

A couple of years ago, I posted about The Christmas Jar. Well, tonight we got a knock on our door and opened it to find a cute little Christmas bag. We opened it to find this...

It is mostly quarters and is a lot of money. We are so humbled by how kind people are to us. I'll be honest, sometimes it's really hard to be on the receiving end of charity. Until the past few years, we were on the giving end, which is much easier. But knowing that people are mindful of us and love us enough to share what they have is truly humbling and comforting. 

This has been a long and emotional week for me. I'm so grateful that it ended with this selfless act that reminds me why we really celebrate Christmas.

Nutcracker, Sweet!

Off to their annual Nutcracker date. Baylie has been waiting for this for months!

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Growing up, my parents always did an excellent job of keeping Christ in Christmas. We had nativities all over the house, a Precious Moments picture of Mary and Joseph that traveled around the room a little bit each day until they arrived at the manger on Christmas morning, we acted out the nativity while my Dad read from Luke, and we always prayed before opening presents on Christmas morning. 

David and I have tried to do the same with our kids. They have a Little People nativity that they can play with so they become familiar with the characters. (Somehow, Tiana made it into the stable - wise woman, perhaps?) For the 13 days before Christmas, we read something from the scriptures to track the story of Christmas. We have home evening lessons and daily talks about why we really celebrate Christmas. Regardless of our efforts, Baylie always starts by saying we celebrate Christmas for presents. The other day she clarified that it's to remember when Joseph and Mary gave presents to the baby Jesus. Getting closer...

So today after reading, Baylie wanted to take the lead. She asked us, "So what is the real reason we celebrate Disneyland?" Guess we still have work to do.

Lights on at the Zoo

I've posted before about how much I love our zoo. One fun activity is Lights On where they light up the zoo for Christmas. It's beautiful and a lot of fun. Last night we braved the frigid temperatures (62 degrees) and headed to the zoo.

Baylie and Jalen are big into posing and dancing.

Waiting to see Santa - love those dimples!

Baylie gave Santa a big squeeze, but Jalen still isn't digging the fat man.

We love the big fire to roast marshmallows.

Marshmallows on the stick!

We love Christmas!

Gingerbread House

I've posted before about our annual tradition to make a gingerbread house. Last year, I bought a kit after Christmas on clearance for about $1 and saved it for this year. Sad, I know. Fortunately, we got a call from a family friend that makes gingerbread houses every Christmas. She invited us over to make a REAL gingerbread house. We were very excited about the opportunity.

When we got there, she showed us some samples.

Then we got to work. The gingerbread smelled so great.  She had already baked it, but we had to put our house together.

Baylie put on the gumdrop roof. Shortly after that, she got bored, so David and I finished the job.

We made little teeter totter guys.

And here is a balcony scene with Gingerbread Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.

The gingerbread is now smelling wonderful in our house and we're wondering how long we have to wait before starting to eat it!

Thanks, Sister Johnson!

What Happens in Vegas ... is exhausting!

Instead of coming straight home from Disneyland, I decided to go to Las Vegas and watch my nieces while their parents and brother went to Hawaii. Baylie loves hanging out with "the girls" and that way my sister would know they were at home and probably not as homesick. It was so much fun

Poor Jalen was the villain of every pretend story and got blamed for absolutely everything. The girls were always "innocent."

Before the departure to Hawaii, we all went to see my nephew perform at a little Christmas village. There were carnival rides and a great little train.

Jalen was particularly excited to meet Santa.

It was a great time, but man am I glad I only have two kids - and don't have triplets.

Showgirls

Disneyland Dream Vacation

When my dad decided to retire, my parents took the lump sum he received for his sick days and decided to take the entire family to Disneyland. My parents rock!

We were nervous about going to Disney over the Thanksgiving holiday because we had heard it was the worst time of year to go due to huge crowds and long lines. That wasn't our experience at all. The lines really weren't that bad and we used fast passes to get around those that were. Best of all, we got to experience the holiday version of  Disneyland: snow in the evenings that smells like gingerbread, It's a Small World covered in Christmas lights, Sleeping Beauty's castle lit up with white lights and icicles, etc. I had always wanted to experience that and it was all I had hoped for.

We went to Disneyland every summer or so when I was a kid because we lived in California. However, in those days, you had to have a ticket for each ride.

With five kids, it was tough because it seemed like we never had enough E-tickets to do all the best rides. I remember the first time we went to Disneyland where once you were in the park, you could ride whatever you wanted to (after 1982). I almost cried I was so excited.

I have always loved Disneyland, but as I got older, I got more and more jaded and it wasn't the same. Now that I have kids, everything is different and Disneyland is as magical as ever. Disney definitely knows how to create an atmosphere that is all-encompassing and memorable.

I love my family and sharing this time with my husband, kids, parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews was one of the biggest highlights of my life.

These little girls have so much fun together.

 Sporting their Disney shades.

 Christmas tree on Main Street.

 Baylie LOVES the tea cups (Mommy, not so much).

 Jalen spent a great deal of time testing out the pavement. 

  I'm not sure he bought into the whole "Happiest Place on Earth" hype.

Baylie was so excited to drive the car. Everytime we hit the track and bounced, she'd say "What the heck is going on with this thing?!"

A week after we got home, she was almost asleep one night and she mumbled, "Next time we go to Disneyland, can I drive the Autopia cars?"

Grumpy 

Jalen did like the Jungle Cruise, but then, who doesn't? 

I love this picture of my mom with the grandkids.

 Princesses must have "lips" on at all times.

 A big cheese for the frozen banana. Somehow food always brings him around.

My mom at the exclusive Club 33.

Thanks to Grammy and Grandad for a great trip!