I've developed a bit of a gnome obsession lately. And kind people end up giving me gnomes! I saw these gigantic ones at Aldi. They were so cute!
I didn't buy one because they were $25, but then Sunday at church, someone anonymously gifted me one! I couldn't believe it! It was so kind and so unexpected! We named him Joe and he was such a fun addition to our holiday decorations.
I did purchase this sign. Aldi always has such fun things.
I was super excited when Aldi had these mugs because they were just like the ones we grew up with. I bought a set for each of my siblings. They were just as excited as I was!
Costco had this amazing nutcracker that was even bigger than Jalen! We didn't buy it though because check out that price tag!
We had our third annual goody making party. This has become such a fun tradition. It is always such a great way to kick off the holidays.
Jackson, LJ, Bo, and Jalen
Gingerbread cookies
When it came to decorating, the boys were more focused on quantity than quality.
Girl decorating vs. Boy decorating
The three ladies - April Alsup, Yasmin Baltzegar, and Esther Courtney - have been the dearest friends I could ever ask for.
Baylie, Ava and Alexa did most of the candy making.
Such sweet girls.
We love going to the living nativity at Union Methodist Church. They put on a very good show.
For our little ward party, Jalen was chosen to play the role of Joseph.
He was joined by Alle & Natalie Bailey (shepherds), Kaitlyn Bailey, Bella Howe, and Noah Fuller (wisemen) and Olivia Fuller (Mary).
The full cast: Carolyn Bailey, Sister Fuller, ?, Caroline Chorey, Kaitlyn Kirby, Belle Adams, Rachel Chorey, and Talia Stroud.
David and Jalen sang a Christmas medley with Jalen pretending to change the Alexa channel.
As always, we visited the amazing light show at Saluda Shoals. We didn't do any of the outdoor activities this year because it was rainy. We always go on a weeknight before school gets out because otherwise it gets crazy crowded. By going when we do, there is no line at all.
This year's gingerbread houses were masterpieces! Nothing crumbled or caved in! It was a Christmas miracle.
We put the houses together a day in advance so they'd be ready to decorate with the Elders the next day.
Aren't they cute?? Jalen's was a store bought igloo.
David wanted a Santa coming out the chimney.
Elders Kennington, Evans, and Allen were very excited to work on their house.
Baylie was intense.
Taking it seriously!
Elder Evans is an intense Utah Utes fan. David takes his decorating very seriously.
Jalen started out enthusiastic, but lost interest quickly. I ended up finishing it.
Baylie's masterpiece.
Of course Evans made a Utah Utes house.
Complete with Kyle Whittingham in the window.
It was also Elder Allen's birthday so we had a little celebration for him.
Cake from Publix.
Check out those layers!
He was super excited to get a South Carolina tie. (Katie Locklear made it for me.)
The Baltzeggars joined us for our annual Hanukkah celebration. So funny that our Jewish friends come to us to celebrate it.
I love this tiny human.
Jackson lit the menorah for us.
This year I made sufganiyot for the first time.
They were delicious!
The latkes were yummy as always. I had trouble keeping up.
We each had advent calendars this year.
Jalen has a very hard time only eating one a day.
Tashi even got one! she was very excited to get her daily treat.
I mentioned in a Facebook post that everyone in the family had a calendar but me and miraculously someone gifted me one by leaving it anonymously on the porch! People are so good! It was such a fun surprise!
We had a lot of wind and it appeared Santa had a little too much eggnog.
Baylie made lemon merengue and banana cream pies. She wants to have a bakery one day. I'm just glad she likes to cook!
We had our second annual soup and singing night and had a really good turnout. I can't find the videos I took, but it was lots of fun. The kids mostly played games.
This was the third year with the same luminario bags. I may have to break down and buy new ones next year.
We had Christmas Eve dinner with the Elders on my antique red dishes from Grandad.
It was a fun night!
The elders helped us act out the nativity. Our production is always a little bit pathetic, but it's great to have extra actors.
Christmas Eve jammies.
The Alsups taught us to cover the doorway with wrapping paper for Christmas morning and the kids love this new tradition.
Church was Sunday morning so we only opened our stockings before church. We then went to church, came home and got back in our pjs to open presents. We wanted to be sure to keep the Spirit of Christmas in the forefront of our celebration and it was a beautiful way to do that.Everyone loved their presents.
I got what I wanted too!
David and my unofficial Christmas gift was a tankless water heater. One morning we woke up and there was water runningn out the garage. Thank goodness that's where the tank is so it didn't damage anything! We had to boil water for a week and sponge bathe so we were all excited to get the new tank.
Our New Years celebration was pretty mellow at home.
2022 was a roller coaster ride for our family with many ups and some very scary downs, but we were grateful to be together and happy for the holidays.
No comments:
Post a Comment