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!

Called to Serve!

Wow - I have seriously slacked off on the blog! I promise to catch up with Disney and Vegas very soon. But in the meantime, the big news is (drumroll, please)....

My parents are going to Charlotte, North Carolina, on their mission!!

They're excited to go serve and I'm excited because they'll only be an hour and a half away from us. I'm trying to remind myself that they will be missionaries and I need to stay out of their way, but certainly I can plan all their p-day activities! (Note: P-day stands for preparation day when missionaries have a little free time to take care of personal things)!

They will start training on January 9 and then after about two weeks will drive out to North Carolina. I wonder how long I'll have to wait before I can go see them?? 

(Based on recommendations from David's professors and this new development, it looks like we'll be staying around here for at least another 18 months.)