Christmas Day

Thanks to a loving neighbor gift of wrapping paper and to Z.'s love of creating new traditions we tried something new. The kids all slept in the Family Room downstairs. We taped the doorway shut with wrapping paper. The kids called us(this would normally be a good way to get on my bad side at 6a.m.) to say they were breaking thru and ready to see the magic upstairs.

Z. with her pile after seeing what Santa brought

 S. with her pile after seeing and trying on what Santa brought.

 N. with his pile(and Harleys) after seeing that Santa did not bring him the xbox hard drive he so badly wanted!

T. with his pile after meeting the wolf buddy Santa brought. and trying out a few things, somehow not breaking them all, yet.

 Harley was exhausted by all the noise and paper and excitement. She was a big furry lump with a new toy on her face. Too tired to chew it!

 T. like the other kids, was so amazed and happy to see that Christmas Day actually brought SNOW! Just enough to sled on. His new ramp made a nice addition to the sled fort. I'm thinking that more snow would have made an even better addition to the fort, but at least we didn't have to shovel much.

 At grandparents A. for gifts and food. Tom and Renee brought their beautiful Labs. We love them. Even Donny likes having a fuzzy foot warmer, although he won't admit it.

 Hanging out in the best part of the house. The kitchen. And Tom brought Wisconsin Cheese!

 Donny and I enjoying the family time. Resting after a really early wake up!

 N. realizing we aren't the worst parents in the world just the sneakiest. We knew Gma bought him the hard drive he wanted so badly!

 T. loving the dogs!

 Scotty and Angela planning some Desert Ice Climbing for later that evening.

 Scotty draping the nieces in Nepali scarves from their last climbing trip.

 S. told me as she drifted into sleep that night that the best part of Christmas was snuggling with Aunt Renee and playing with their dogs. I'd have to agree the best part of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is doing so with Family!

Family Christmas Parties

Porcaro party. With Great Gma A. and Zoe. Although Grandma isn't actually related to any Porcaros we like it when she feels good enough to join the party. 

 N. and J. checking something out together. The teens tend to get a little bored after wolfing down the Handmade Ravioli and Sausages.

 S. dressed up as an Angel to act out the Nativity. As always there was a lot of delicious food and a lot of laughs at the white elephant exchange. I love living close enough to get together with all these family members at least once a year.

 And on another night, a most exciting night. Christmas Eve! We ate and played games at Blatters house. The kid cousins all love being together. Some how, miraculously, most of my siblings ended up there! Wonderful!

 Uncle Scotty and Angela.

 Uncle Derek and Andrea.

 I didn't get a pic. of Uncle Tom and Renee. But according to S, and the rest of the kids the gifts were the best part anyways! New Jammies from Gma A. They know whats inside and know its only 1 but the joy of Finally opening a present is overwhelming!

At home on Christmas Eve, after another party with grandparents M., awaiting Christmas Day!

Gift Anticipation

Even the dog feels the gift frenzy. Looks like we should have wrapped her treats in a smell proof box before setting them under the tree.

 Merry Christmas to Harley from Santa Paws. or maybe she is Santa Paws.

While watching lil nephew Ollie play under Blatters Christmas tree. He figured out that if he hit the presents that once in a while one if them would start singing Old McDonald or some such. And why would gifts need shiny bows? Ollie didn't think they did. There wasn't an intact bow left after a few minutes!

 Part of looking forward to Christmas is looking forward to the school break. And part of the school break is sickness. Always. S. is good at sleeping hers away in time for celebrating.

Concerts, Performances and other December excitement

For some reason waiting to decorate the Christmas tree creates a ton of excitement. S. was especially ready to hear mom say the word GO. I am loving that the kids are old enough to do it for me. Ive never found anything about the tree, besides looking at it, especially exciting.

 Z. started Ballet this year. Beginners got to perform as soldiers in the Nutcracker. She had such a blast. She loves Ballet and loves her fellow beginners.

 Post performance family pose. Sierra is hoping to be one of those little mice performers next year. Either that or the Prima Ballerina ;)

 N. has been in the PGJHS choirs for all 3 years now. He doesn't sing at home but he is excellent up stage. I love that they wear a Tux as uniform, so handsome!

 Another Post performance pose against a wall, minus mom, the picture taker.

 and yet another performance, but this time we only had to watch. Z. and T's school has a Christmas choir (that neither of them signed up for)concert and tree lighting and cocoa. Santa sure looks a lot like Principal Stubbs!

 S. was an adorable reindeer for her school performance. She wasn't feeling 100% so I didn't get her usual face splitting dimpled grin pose. She asked to be checked out immediately afterward, for a nap.

Z. likes to create extra excitement whenever she can. She made some delicious snowball cookies for us to enjoy since mom is a bum when it comes to baking traditions. Oh, the excitement of December!

MOTAB and the Muppets

 We got tickets to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas special with the Sesame Street Muppets. Grandparents M. came along too! We met up at the Gateway Mall. What a place! I love the bridge overlooking W Temple!

They had a special music fire and water show mid mall. The kids were impressed. Who knew fountains could shoot flames as well as water?

The Food Court was ridiculously crowded! We eventually got food but not a seat to be seen. So that was a first for us, eating on a dirty mall floor for dinner. Better than standing I suppose!

Candy Window Displays!!!

 Inside the Conference Center. Awesome! And the music and singing and Muppet entertainment was wonderful.

 Temple Square is such a pretty sight in December. So many lights! Im so glad we got to go and enjoy SLC and watch MOTAB. Great treat for us!

Well known truth about Kittens

If you want a Kitten and your partner doesn't, you compromise.
And get a Kitten!
Meet Aggie, the 2 year old Tabby addition to our family. He came from the Humane Society of Utah. They have a really nice friendly shelter!
He is a scaredy cat when it comes to the dog. But puts up nicely with the kids.

These smiles are tricks. The girls fight over who gets the cat. Poor cat!

 Kitty Boy, as I call him, had a crazy first week looking for the perfect hiding spot. In fact the first time we left for a few hours he was nowhere to be found afterward. Turns out there is an opening under the basement bathtub from the utility room. He was holed up as far underneath as he could get.

 Eventually he dared to go up 2 steps from his comfy basement hideout. That took a month.

 Now 2 months later he is comfortable upstairs for short amounts of time if the dog is calm. They had to figure out the pecking order. Harley is healing up a few scratches on her nose. And the cat isn't hissing anymore just seeing the dog.

 Cats are supposed to like playing with mice. Kitty Boy is no exception, except that the mouse he likes is the one Donny needs to work!

 Someday the dog and cat might get along. Today still isn't that day. We love them both anyways!

And just so you know adopting a shelter cat is a little bit contagious. Not long after meeting Aggie my Sister and her kids had to have one too. A trip to the Humane Society later, they have a new family member as well. He is beautiful, and calm and wonderful.

December

N. finishing up To Kill a Mocking Bird for English. Is this reading on the stairs between bars some kind of metaphor? Or just a way to stay awake thru the chapters?

 T. begged his Grandma A. to buy him a giant hat, I mean stuffed Dolphin. It was hard for him to leave it at home before the school break started. Now it takes up most of his bed!

 Interesting Bath/Playtime one Sunday. I love that at least 1 day a week they are creative and that on this particular creative day they weren't arguing. Maybe warm water is the trick to cooperation?!

 Harley Dog thinks the beginning process of the backyard fire pit is a great little bed. She is sure good at smashing down the leaf pile I raked into it. Smashing and redistributing , I should say.

 New screen time restrictions have made way for an impromptu game or two between siblings and/or parents. Who knew board games could actually be so fun? Oh yah, Mom did!

 They especially liked this one, Batik.

 And the Old Time Classic, Pick Up Sticks. More fun than it looks to pick up scattered sticks. I promise!

 Donny spent the majority of his November and December hours off in the cold garage with the HEEP. It has been transformed into a customized vehicle that actually runs. This is one of the times I caught him bringing parts into our Bedroom. Where Jeep parts don't belong. Unless you don't want them to accidentally get welding scorch or want them to stay above freezing. As long as our room doesn't become an addition to the garage permanently.