K's Favorite Gift

K got this adorable horse stable from my mom for Christmas. She loves it and plays with it everyday while L is taking a nap. It came with some horses, but she also uses some safari life and doggies with it too.

Christmas at Home

We came home the day after Christmas and opened our gifts. I think we all got pretty spoiled this year. After we opened gifts M cooked a turkey and we had a nice Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Now all we have left is our Christmas with my aunt and her family.

"Santa" left this adorable couch and chair with floral slip covers
for the girls. Maybe now they won't fight over the single rocker they had.

All the gifts under the tree.

"Santa's" gifts. K got a pillow, which she specifically asked Santa for.
L got some cute little play doggies. She loves dogs.

K with her stocking contents and pillow.

L with her stocking contents and doggies.

The girls opening their gifts.

K was so excited about this gift.
Who knew Hungry Hippos would be such a great gift?

The girls gave each other horses. They picked them out
themselves and at different times. Guess they do think alike, occasionally.

The wonderful gifts from my hubby and girls.
My favorite is the lap top.

M's gifts from his girls and me.
His favorite is the conversion kit.

L's Christmas haul.

K's Christmas haul.

Christmas at Kountry Kim's

We went to M's parents house on Christmas Eve and spend a wonderful few days with them. M's brother, Luke was home from his first year of college and it was great catching up with him and hearing about how school is going. We also got to visit with his sister, Kenni and hear how her Senior year of high school is and her plans for college in the fall. It was a relaxing and enjoyable time, as always.

The gorgeous tree cut from their property.

Kenni's gingerbread house.

L playing with her stacking snowman.

K with her new pots and pans for the kitchen.

I got a flip! I was so excited!
If you don't know what this is, google it. It's grand!

M got a chronograph. It measures the distance a bullet travels.

I knitted scarfs for all the women this year.

I also made journal jars with questions for all the women.

Kim opening up his jerky.

Luke with a mouse for his laptop.

L's haul from Christmas at Bahmah's.

K's haul from Christmas at Bahmah's.

Making Cookies for Santa

One of our traditions is to make cookies as a family for Santa a few days before Christmas. I make the cookie dough. Then daddy rolls out the dough with help from K. Once that is done, K uses cookie cutters to cut out shapes. We bake them and then ice them. K is always so excited about making cookies for Santa. She picks out which ones will be for him before picking out her own. It is always a lot of fun for the family. Next year L will get to join in the festivities, but this year she was content to look on from her highchair as we worked.

Getting ready to roll out the dough.

K is good at rolling it out after we have started it for her.

Cutting out her first tree.

We always have a little left that we can't cut out.
Here K is rolling some dough into a long tube.

Then she curled it around like daddy does
when he makes cinnamon rolls.
We forgot to take pictures of the completed cookies this year.

Snowmen in December

Nope, it isn't snowing here, but we still managed to make some snowmen. Daddy made up some Rice Crispies but instead of making squares, we made snowmen. It was a lot of fun and K really enjoyed it. We ended up having way too many, I would devour them in a day or less if they stayed, so we dropped some of them off at K's friends house before church. We still have quite a few left, but they are slowly disappearing, one by one. Do you think they are melting?

K putting on buttons.

L was checking out what we were doing up on the counter.

Even Mommy got in on the fun.

Here is one that Daddy made. He made the arms by melting the
marshmallows with a lighter and then sticking them together.

Our Snowman army.

Christmas Program

K did a wonderful job in her Preschool Christmas Program on Thursday evening. There were four classes that each took turns singing songs. K's class sang Jingle Bells, Chubby Little Snowman, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and I've Got Peace Like a River. For the Finale, all the classes came on stage and sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas. It was a very good program and all the children did an amazing job!

K in her Christmas outfit.

I gave K a fancy new do for her hair.

K with her class getting ready to sing.

K with all the classes getting ready for the final song.

K standing with a couple of her friends after the program.

Christmas Program Songs

K's class singing Jingle Bells

K's class singing I've Got Peace Like a River



All the classes singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Why Did Rudolph Fall?

We got K all cozy warm in her rocking chair with a blanket watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. After a while, she came downstairs crying and this is what she said:



Apparently she was afraid of the Abominable Snowman and was sad that Rudolph fell down. She didn't think he was going to get back up again. This upset her greatly. But after I went upstairs with her and started the video again, she saw that Rudolph was okay and the story had a happy ending. It still touches me that she is such a tender spirit and is so effected by the things she sees. This is why we limit the amount of movies and types of movies that she sees. If she can carry this sensitivity through adulthood, I think she will be able to hear the whisperings of the Spirit so much better than the rest of us.

Ward Christmas Dinner

We had our Ward Christmas Party Saturday and I think it was the best one yet. I helped to set up the decorations in our Cultural Hall along with many others. When we were done it looked magical. We invited our close friends to come to dinner with us too. We enjoyed a dinner of ham, potato casserole, salad, and rolls followed by a plethora of desserts brought by ward members. After dinner there was a wonderful program involving the Primary children and some of the musically talented in our ward. The Primary children did a musical Nativity for us. K and her other class members were sheep. They looked adorable and did a fantastic job! I was so proud of her. After the Nativity story, there were musical numbers followed by a video presentation of The Night Before Christmas by many of the ward family members. You can find it on YouTube if you would like to watch it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1fsN9vvgnw

Here the girls are coloring on a book provided at each table.

L giving me hugs.

This is were they corralled the sheep until it
was time for them to come on stage.

The sheep coming on stage.

The sheep sitting nicely during the performance.
K is the one waving.

The entire Primary performing The Nativity. They did a wonderful job!

A Visit with Santa

After the dinner, we all headed down to the Relief Society room which had been turned into Santa's Workshop. Each child got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Then they got their picture taken and a candy cane. When it was K's turn, she didn't want to sit on Santa's lap. But she did tell him she wanted a pillow for Christmas. He told her to be good and listen to her parents and she would find one on Christmas morning.

Here is a picture of the entrance gate to Santa.

Here are some of my Young Women who were acting as elves for Santa.

Two more of my girls.

And another one who was doing a wonderful job with the kids.

Here is K with her friend Kaitlin and Santa.