Our December is jam packed. I wouldn't have it any other way. The more the merrier. I try to not bite off more than I can chew, for the most part I feel like we do pretty good balancing the hustle and bustle with the quiet family time. My kids get a taste of both, just like I used to when I was little. One of our favorite parties is our little cousin party. The kids look forward to this as much as Christmas Eve. It never disappoints. We had the party at Jen's this year, we didn't want to get up there too late so I pulled Carson out of school an hour early. That may as well have been his Christmas present. You should have seen that kid come skipping down the hall, his backpack and lunch bag flailing behind him and this big ol' goofy grin on his face. Checking out early is appearantly pretty awesome!
Love these little cousins. I count my blessings every day that they are blessed to have each other in their lives. They can fight pretty dang good but they also love each other something fierce. They are truly best of friends.
First up is reindeer food. Cheerios, oats, raisins and of course magic sprinkles (ya know, to help them fly).
All ready for Christmas Eve!
Ash then put together a fun little craft of decorating their own ornaments...Lincoln broke his within the first 2 minutes. Poor child. He struggles. Gentleness isn't really his thing.
Drake just stood there looking cute and eating his own bag of cheerios.
Carson spelled out his name on his ornament and then added an LC to Lincoln's. Carson can never understand why Lincoln doesn't get more interested in the craft. They can be night and day different sometimes.
Next up was pass the parcel. This game was way fun. I wrapped up a big thing of licorice in like 10 different layers. They all sat in a circle and we played Christmas music. You pass the parcel from person to person and when the music stops, whoever is holding the gift gets to unwrap a layer. You keep going until it is completely unwrapped. The kids thought it was hilarious.
Then gifts. Each family buys a dollar gift for each cousin. So each kid gets 2 gifts. They are cheap, silly items but they sure do make the kids happy.
We always ends with some yummy treats. The kids made cute reindeer doughnuts, as I was organizing the pictures I took I realized I failed to get one of the doughnuts. Dang. Oh well. Cupcakes for us moms and Jen made wassail. Oh wassail. Love it.
A few nights later we leave our babies with their dads and just us girls head up to my moms, for our annual Christmas dinner.
Love this night. My moms beautiful home, the table set perfectly, every little holiday light is twinkling, Oakridge boys playing softly, love those kiddos but it sure is nice without them sometimes.
We each bring a course. I always bring the blackberry jalepeno jelly over cream cheese with crackers. We looove this appetizer. Almost ate the whole thing ourselves...just the four of us.
Sparkling cranberry ginger ale.
My mom made a pear/apple/poppy seed dressing salad and nice warm bread. Ash made our favorite soup, chicken dill.
We just talk and talk, and eat as slooow as we want to. Not trying to shove it in as we usually do when our kids are around. My mom them simmered some water for hot chocolate.
Moved into the living room in front of the cozy fireplace. Talk some more. Hot chocolate.
Brought out dessert which Jen had made. Sugar cookie bars topped with peppermint.
We end the night with little gifts. A cute mixing spoon from Jen, some soap from Bath and Body from Ash, and a cute little decoration from my mom. I gave my mom a pretty serving platter and Jen and Ash got some earings and fun socks. Before we know it the night is over and its time to head home, the perfect little evening that rejuvenates me and gives me some "me" time. Love it.
Last up is our party in Malad with my dads side of the family. These are the only pictures I took. This party is my absolute favorite. Best memories from when I was a little girl. We cram about 100 people into this tiny little house. Yummiest food ever. After we eat, we all pile downstairs and await Santa. The adults are practically sitting on top of each other. Its so dang hot, but nobody cares. All you can hear is the kids laughing and talking back and forth. Everytime someone clomps their way down the stairs, every head turns to see if it is Santa. And soon enough, you hear him. His bells jingling down the stairs, yelling out Ho-ho-ho. The kids scream and laugh. The look in their eyes. It seriously kills me. My children faces are just priceless. I love seeing them so happy and so full of life. For me, Christmas starts with that party. It sets the mood. Love it so much.
And that gets us caught up for a bit.
