Christmas Eve

Because Christmas was on a Thursday this year, Russ was given the 26th off, rather than the 24th. So he went in to work on Christmas Eve, but the girls had lunch with him at his office, and then his boss let him come home a few hours early.

We decorated our sugar cookies for Santa when Russ got home.
(And can I just say that it was SO nice to be able to do an activity like this without any babies to worry about?
We're really enjoying the stage our family is in right now!)

Here's a sampling of our decorating skills.
Do you know which family decorated each cookie?

A few years ago we started a Christmas Eve dinner tradition -
everyone gets to choose their "favorite" cereal to eat. 

Nativity Play
Russ: Joseph (as usual), Brenna: Mary,
Kaylee: Shepherd, Ashlyn: Angel, McKell: (unwilling) Wiseman

Christmas Pajamas

And here's how we block off the hallway where the girls' rooms are.

These last pictures aren't actually from Christmas Eve, but from the cupcakes Russ brought to work earlier in the week.
The presents on top are made from Starburst candies and Fruit Roll-Ups.

Winter Piano Recital

Here's Kaylee performing two of her three piano pieces from the December recital.

The Most Wonderful (and the busiest) Time of the Year

More fun holiday happenings from December:

"Nutcracker" performance at the public library.

BR&E Christmas Dinner
(pictured with us are the Ropers - Russ recruited Devan from BYU Fall 2013
and they have become good friends of ours since they moved to Bryan last summer).

The next group of pictures are from our ward Christmas party.

There was a nativity dress-up room for the kids to play in.

While Russ was on a business trip in Kansas City the week before Christmas
we bought some new outdoor decorations to surprise him.

Kaylee was "Elf #5" in the 4th Grade musical.

Brenna, McKell and I helped out at Ashlyn's classroom party.

We spent an evening seeing the light displays set up at one of our local parks.

And I just really like these final 2 pictures. :)

Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit the first weekend in December, 

which was WONDERFUL!!!

We shopped for Christmas gifts, watched holiday movies, attended Journey Through Bethlehem, streamed a ballet performance of The Nutcracker, made graham cracker trains, watched The First Presidency's Christmas Devotional, went to Kaylee's piano recital, ate treats, and read LOTS of Christmas books.

"Journey Through Bethlehem" is an annual Christmas event carried out by a number of church groups in Huntsville, TX (which is about an hour from us). I was very impressed and will definitely be returning in future years.

You start out in a big room with Roman soldiers and tax collectors and census takers. You progress through to hear from some shepherds, then out to the shepherd fields, where they angels appear to them. Then one of the shepherds leads you to Bethlehem. The event takes place at the fairgrounds, so there's a huge area set up to resemble the Bethlehem of Jesus's day - animals all over, lots of people in costume, different shops you can visit and experience, food to try, and of course a stable with the Holy Family inside. We stayed for at least 90 minutes and still hadn't done everything offered.

Kaylee lighting a candle on the menorah in the synagogue.

Brenna trying her hand at carpentry.

We were all excited that Grandma and Grandpa's trip happened to coincide with Kaylee's recital.

Thanks for coming, Grandma & Grandpa! We LOVE you!!!

Christmas Tree and Holiday Magic

We always decorate our Christmas tree the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Russ was sick in bed that night, so it got pushed off until Tuesday.

The girls loved putting up all the ornaments, 

and it looked lovely when they finished!

Thursday, December 4th was a community Christmas event 

called "Holiday Magic". 

We went last year and had so much fun 

we made sure to put it on the calendar again this year.

Brenna with Santa Claus.
The older girls were waiting in line for a different activity,
and McKell had ZERO interest in sitting on the bearded stranger's lap.

McKell LOVES snowmen this year.
(But since we live in TX none of the snowmen she knows are actually made of snow.)

Russ and Kaylee "sledding" down the ice hill created in the park.

On the "Polar Express" train ride.
(P.S. I adore this picture of K and A!)

Free hot chocolate and cookies to top off the night!

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

Thanksgiving was approaching and we were feeling a bit melancholy about being all alone. So, we decided to be spontaneous and drive 14.5 hours (one way) to Tennessee to see Russ's aunt and uncle.

We spent Thanksgiving with them each of the 6 years we were living in Delaware and we've missed them!

We left early Wednesday morning, drove and drove and drove and drove, and arrived at their house just before midnight.

McKell was a trooper through the whole trip (the other girls were awesome, as well). Pictured here you can see her "fingerpaint-with-fruit-snacks" artwork. She asked for a tissue to wipe off her sticky hands, which didn't work as well as she would have liked.

Russ's older sister and her family drove down from Chicago, so it was great to see them as well.
Brenna (4 1/2 yrs old) with James (6 1/2 yrs old)

The BEST way to cook a turkey. Seriously.

McKell enjoyed a snack of brownie topped tortilla chips. Her own invention.

These M&Ms were about the only thing McKell ate at the Thanksgiving table.
At least she enjoyed her meal!

We wish we lived closer to Janet and Allen. We adore them.

Waiting in line for a bedtime back massage from Aunt Nikki and her electric massager.

Uncle Allen's trains amaze us every time.

Janet and I always spend a few hours shopping the Black Friday sales,
and she always comes home with presents for the kids.

So Thursday and Friday were heavenly, and then Saturday morning we packed everyone up and headed home. We stayed the night in Mississippi and finished up the drive Sunday. Crazy trip. So much driving. But so worth it.