New Year

Tonight is the end of a year, I don't know if I am excited or sad that this year is over.   Nothing really went the way I hoped it would.  I have made my goals for the New Year, I am working on a  plan so that way it might be easier to keep them.

We are going to be very laid back and boring tonight, no partying for us.  Adam has to work all weekend so we are staying home.  We also want to Emilee to be in bed on time.  We will have very few snacks, watch some movies and relax.  We might even go to bed early, don't tell anyone.  I hope that all of you have a wonderful night celebrating.  

Clean Up

 We have decided to get back to normal life at our house.  The truth is I really want to clean to carpets, and I can't do it with the Christmas tree up.  So last night we took down the tree.  All of us were sad to take it down, Emilee really wanted me to leave it up until next Christmas.  Even though Emilee was sad, I think Dory is going to miss it the most.  It's her favorite hiding/napping spot.

Time to analyze

It's that time of year when we sit back and reflect on our lives, especially the things we want to change.  It's time to make new year resolutions.  Even though  keeping most goals are hard, I think they are a great idea.  I am a person who makes goals every year.  I think it's a wonderful idea to look at ourselves and see what we want to change and find a way to change it.  I totally understand that there are things in our lives that we might not be able to change, but I know that there is a lot that we can.  I find that trying to keep goals is a great way to grow.  It's a wonderful feeling when you realize that you have made a change and completed a goal, even if you make the same goal year after year imagine how great that feeling will be when you complete it.  So off I go to think about the goals I want to make.

Christmas

Christmas was wonderful this year.  On Christmas Eve, we made cookies for Santa, left food for the Reindeer, Emilee opened pajamas and her book, we read her book, had yummy soup, watched some Christmas Movies, watched the Nativity and Mr. Krugers Christmas, and finally went to bed.  We really did have a lot of fun that day.  Emilee was so funny, she told me weeks ago that she wanted to give Santa pie.  She was very specific, he could not have the whole pie, or even a big piece.  He could only have a small piece of pie.

I slept in until 7:45 Christmas Morning, Emilee woke up within minutes of me waking up.  I decided to straighten her hair, it was all in tangles.  When we finished, Emilee went in and woke up Adam.  It was fun to watch her on Christmas morning.  She got a couple of puzzles, 2 Barbie's, and some more little things.  Adam got a fish tank from Santa, a movie from Me, and 2 fish tank decorations from Emilee.  I received a cookbook from Adam, a book from Emilee, and a cricut cartridge from Santa.  Emilee also got a book from her teacher Miss Janae.  Emilee made us a cute gingerbread ornament in school. It was a nice small morning.  We also received a gift from some Christmas Angels (thank you).

 Later that morning we left to visit family.  We went to visit with Adams family first.  We opened our gifts, they spoiled us, and ate breakfast with them.  It was nice to be together with the whole family.  Then we went to visit with my family.  We got there in time to see Christy, Robert, Matthew and Lillian.  Emilee had fun playing with them, and was sad to see them leave.  We opened our gifts from the family, and they also spoiled us.  We ate dinner with my family, we did miss Curtis and Christys family.  We had a great time, and loved spending time with everyone.  That's one of the best parts of Christmas, seeing and talking to family.   Thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful gifts.  We love all of our Family.  We had a great Christmas.

One More Sleep Til' Christmas

Thanks to my younger siblings this song sorta became a tradition at my house on Christmas Eve. We would always watch this movie last just for the song.

I hope everyone enjoys today whether you are busy getting ready, relaxing, or going to parties. I am very thankful that Adam has the holiday weekend off. Today will be a fun, relaxing day (once he finishes his homework). We are going to make cookies, enjoy some soup, and watch movies. Later tonight we will read stories and open pajamas before going to sleep.

I want everyone to have a Merry Christmas. I will enjoy spending time with all of my family that is close by. Everyone that is too far to visit, you will be missed and you will have a special place in my heart.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Getting Ready

Today is going to be a cleaning day.  I am doing laundry, picking up Emilees room, doing dishes, basically making sure everything looks wonderful.  Adam has tomorrow off, it's been at least 4 years since he's had Christmas Eve off.  All I want to do tomorrow is relax and completely enjoy the day.  So today we are cleaning. What's crazy is the fact that  I am looking forward to cleaning.

Yorgason Christmas Party

Sunday was the Yorgason Christmas party, we had fun.  There was a great dinner, we were in charge of bringing the rice.  Adam was the one that made the rice, he did a great job.  We also played a lot of  fun games.  It was nice to talk and to laugh with everyone.

Collins Party

Last night was the Collins Christmas Party, I had a lot of fun.  Emilee seemed to really enjoy playing with her cousins.  We had a nice dinner, and lots of treats to snack on.  Santa Claus came, and gave the kids stockings, Aunt Brittany played a cute elf.  The kids played pin the nose on the reindeer, made reindeer food, and colored some Christmas pages.  While the kids were playing, the grown ups were able to play some games.  It was great to be together as a family, enjoying each others company.

Lillian

Matthew

Emilee

Santas Reindeer

Santa was very kind, he let two of his reindeer leave the North Pole and visit Thanksgiving Point this year.  Don't worry the reindeer are going back to the North Pole before Christmas Eve, so they can help Santa.  Last night after we picked Adam up from work we visited the Reindeer.  Even though it was a colder night, it was fun to see the reindeer and to learn some facts about them, like they have six stomachs.

Christmas Trees....sorta of

Yesterday was a messy, glittery, sticky, and fun day at our house.  It started by Emilee and I painting.  Emilee needed to finish painting her ornament, and I wanted to paint a canvas.  I saw the idea for a Christmas Tree made with hand prints at My Garden of Eden and new I wanted to make one.  I loved the idea, yet knew that I wanted to make it a little different.  Here's what my thought process came up with, I'm not sure if I'm going to add a star at the top.

Made with Emilee cute little hand

Kayloni gave us a cute idea for an activity, Star Trees.  What's a star tree?  It's a Christmas Tree made with Fruity Pebbles treats cut into star shapes.  I was so prepared I had everything......except different sizes of a star cookie cutter.  So I improvised with what I had, snowmen.  Our tree might not look like a tree, but it was a lot of fun making a Snowman Tree.

Building the tree

Our Tree

Snowmen treats

We also made a small gift for Miss Janae.  I saw the idea for Reindeer noses here, and decided that was what we were going to make.  I decided not to use the cute labels she provided, I didn't want to use our ink.  So I decided to use a reindeer stamp that I had.  I also made my label a little bigger, oh well.   I still think it turned out cute.

 All of us might be covered in glitter until the New Year, but we really did have a fun day.

Candy Canes and Snowmen

Life is finally returning to normal around our house.  Adam gets to go back to work tomorrow, I don't think he's too thrilled.  I took advantage yesterday of him being home, we went shopping.  I went shopping with my mom first thing in the morning.  We went to the American Craft outlet sale, so many things to choose from.  I was proud of myself, I only went 5 dollars over my limit.  I came home and showed Adam my purchases, he's such a good audience, then we went shopping.  It was a long day, but.......We Finished Our Christmas Shopping!!  Last night our activity was making candy cane reindeer.  Emilee was in charge of the noses.  I was a little worried after the first 3 that all the reindeer were going to have green noses, she soon realized there were different colors.  I think her reindeer turned out cute.











We had an activity earlier this week where we made a snowman garland.  The garland was an activity where Emilee was able to help with the whole project.  I'm not sure if her favorite part was punching the shapes out of the foam, or putting the hats and scarfs on the snowmen.  The garland is a lot cuter than I thought it would be, based on the package.

More advent activities

A couple of nights ago we made some hot chocolate and went for a drive.  We were looking for Christmas lights, but had more fun being together as a family.  We sang Christmas Carols, talked, and laughed together.

Emilee was able to color a poster of Sleeping Beauty dressed for the Holidays.  She was kind to share, and let her Mommy and Daddy color parts of it.  When she was done we put the poster on her door.

Today she got a small gift, a package of Princess magnets.  

We still have a lot more fun days ahead of us.  Emilee loves all the little things we are doing, but I think she loves opening the doors to the advent calendar just as much.  

Letter to Santa

We are getting ready to write Santa a letter from Emilee.  This year it is going to be a very short and easy letter, she has only been asking for two dolls.  Emilee being so sure that if she is good, Santa will bring her what she wants, reminds me of how innocent she is.  I can't help but have a flashback of another little girls Christmas letter, which it the complete opposite of my sweet Emilee.  As I got older, I always found her letter funny.

Christmas Tree

Our activity last night was to watch movies and eat popcorn.  We bought a tin of popcorn with Santa on the front, Emilee loved most of it.  Emilee does not like caramel, which I think is funny.  We've noticed she doesn't like it in candy or cookies, last night we noticed she won't eat the caramel popcorn.  I have a plan, I am going to make caramel brownies, hopefully before next December, we will see if she likes caramel that way.  We also visited my family last night, it was fun to visit with them.  As we were leaving Brittany showed me her new boots, oh how I wish our feet were the same size.   We ended up coming home at the same time as Erik and Kayloni, it was fun to talk to them for awhile.  Emilee had fun showing them her room all decorated, and everything else in the house.

Our Christmas Tree

Our Bright Christmas Tree 

Decorating

Todays activity was decorating Emilee's room.  She had so much fun, we bought a Christmas tree, lights, window clings and cut out snowflakes.  It was a great activity, we enjoyed every minute of it.  Her room looks very festive.

Cute Window Cling

End of the day

Festival of Trees

For our first activity of the season we went to the Festival of Trees.  We had a lot of fun today, it's always fun to see how much people put into trees.  Emilee told us she wanted to see Santa, so we stood in line and talked to her about not being scared.  She kept watching him and telling us what she was going to say.  The moment arrived and she is still scared of Santa, maybe next time.

Princess tree and toys

Snowball fight