Christmas 2018

 

 All dressed up for Christmas Sunday. Chris was super excited about pictures.

 Matching Christmas girls

It will be a sad day when they don't want to match any more.

 There was plenty of snow at Uncle Jeremy's house, so we spent Christmas Eve morning sledding with the Hindman cousins. They built a ramp so they could sled right in the front yard. So much fun!

 A little snowball fighting

 Kate slept through her first sledding trip in the Moby wrap.

 We all went back to Jeremy's house for Christmas Eve dinner, followed by a live nativity. Sarah played Mary this year, Chris was an (unwilling) sheep, and Kate was the cutest little baby Jesus that ever was. 

 We went home and got our treats ready for Santa. We decided he was tired of cookies and would probably rather have some of Grandma's Christmas candy and a drink of water.

 Christmas morning!

 Sarah asked Santa for a blue toy umbrella, and he did not disappoint. 

 Santa brought Chris a bunch of Hot Wheels cars and tracks. They were a big hit with everyone.

 Kate's first Christmas morning. 

 I found this stable and Katy re-painted it for Sarah's toy horses. She opened it and said, "look a stable." It was a very underwhelming reaction. 

 That's the reaction I was hoping for on the stable. Giggling about the Yeti in My Spaghetti game.

 Presenting Kate with her quilt

 This is how Kate felt about Christmas. 

I didn't get a picture, but Kelson got me an awesome surprise for Christmas. When we went to Leavenworth in October, I fell in love with a large mirror at an antique shop, but decided against buying it because it was too expensive. Kelson snuck away and managed to purchase it and sneak it home without me knowing. I love it!

 Stocking time!

 Enjoying a tea party with her new tea set while we waited for the cousins to get there.

 Chris is obsessed with pushing number buttons, so he got an adding machine in his stocking. He spent the rest of the day playing with it.

Opening presents with the whole family can get a little crazy. Chris found a good spot to hide out in this box.

 All ready for Christmas dinner

 Kate enjoyed dinner from her swing

 We had such a fun Christmas day with everyone at Grandma & Grandpa's house!

Once we got the stable home, it turned out to be a hit after all. Bonus that it is big enough for kids to climb in, not just the toy horses!

December 2018

With a new baby at our house, this December was a little quieter than usual, but we still had lots of holiday fun.

 Sarah was very excited to make caramels. She was disappointed when we had to wait for the caramel to cool before we could eat it.

 It was really fun to see Sarah get into the joy of creating gifts for her family for the first time. She received a sewing machine for her birthday, and one of her first projects was a quilt for Kate for Christmas. 

 She made mittens for Daddy and did all of the cutting and sewing herself.

Putting up Christmas decorations

 My 3 little loves enjoying The Muppet Christmas Carol in the midst of all of the Christmas wonderfulness. Can life get any better? If you look at the floor, you can see all of the little people who came in boats, planes, carriages, and trains to see baby Jesus at the nativity.

 Kickoff of the light show at the Four Rivers Cultural Center. They do a really fun light show coordinated to music.

 We finally got some snow! The kids were very excited to get out and play in the slushy wetness. 

 We even found a tumble weed to be a Christmas tree.

 Sarah had her hair straightened before her haircut. She looked so weird!

 Chris saw Sarah getting her nails painted and had to get in on the party. This is why we usually paint nails while Chris is napping.

 We had to cancel Sarah's birthday party because I was at the hospital waiting for Kate to be born, so we had a Christmas party with her friends instead. The kids had a great time. We started with a Christmas ornament craft, followed by an indoor "snowball" fight and a candy cane hunt. 

 And a piñata! Kelson accidentally put a drill bit an inch into his hand right before I took this picture. What a trooper. 

 Sarah and I had lots of fun making the royal icing decorations for our wintery cupcakes.

 Everybody dressed in their Christmas outfits, ready to go see Santa Claus at Cabela's and the lights at the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise. It took me two hours to finally get everyone ready, fed, dressed, pottied, and in the car. I will get faster at this 3 kids thing. We picked up Kelson, got our dinner, went to Cabela's, and got our photo with Santa. 30 seconds later, Chris threw up all over the floor and all over Kelson. He threw up 3 more times in the car before we could get home. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the botanical garden. 

 Trying one more time for a visit to Santa at the church Christmas party. He was not excited.

 Acting out the nativity in primary. Sarah was an angel.

 All done with Kate's quilt

 Sarah had her pre-school Christmas program. She started by hiding behind everyone else. Then she started staring at her feet. Eventually, she just laid down on the stage. Silly Sarah. She has suddenly decided that she is shy. She did manage to say her part in the microphone. 

 Kate enjoyed the program with Aunt Katy.

 Back to her happy, silly self once the program was over.

 Sarah & Daddy went to the Nutcracker Jr. She was a little shy again when it was time to go to the tea party afterwards.

 Sarah the ballerina. She dances all the time at home. The Nutcracker and Swan Lake are her favorites. She has watched both of them all the way through online multiple times.

Sarah was so excited to go ice skating with Daddy! They had a great time. I do not ice skate. Putting me on top of something slippery is a terrible idea. I was happy to stay at home with the little ones.

 We spent most of the last week before Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa's house because Kelson had to go to Portland for work. There is always plenty of fun to be had at Grandma's, but it is even better at Christmas.

Grandpa was happy to volunteer to help Chris go down for his nap. 

Gingerbread house making was much more successful this year than last. I constructed all of the houses an hour ahead of time so that they could harden before the kids decorated them. So much better than a bunch of kids with falling down houses!