December, Disaster and Dasher

We had an awesome December this year. Christmas season with little kids is the BEST! We also got a ton of snow this year which doesn't hurt the Christmas spirit. So here's what we did this December.....

 I had been meaning to take this picture for months and decided I needed to do it before somebody grew too much! William and Josh got matching "school" shoes this year. They are totally awesome and super handsome in them.

 These two little buddies play their hearts out when Kate comes home from Kindergarten every day. We're always glad when Kate comes home.

 I tried to get a picture of these kiddos in all their different Christmas hats but someone wasn't cooperating. I won't mention who....

 We did make a trip to temple square to see the lights. It was a gorgeous night and the lights did not disappoint!

 It wasn't even crowded either which was an added bonus.

 We spent a good amount of time catching up on old Christmas shows.

 I love those days when you can just lay around in your jammies all day....

After our plans to go to the cabin failed when the cabin got flooded (Nooooo!) we made the best of our time with my sisters in town. We had a party at the Hardy's. It was a Hardy party. Hah! My sister made all these adorable forest animal hats to take to the cabin. Too bad we couldn't test them out at the cabin yet! But we did get lots of good cousin time while everyone was here.

 Trav and I got to go see the new Star Wars on opening night. It was really good too! On our way home I dropped Trav off with his friends to go see it again! Darth Vader really is tall!

 We also got to go to a Festivus party this year (Seinfeld fans, anyone?) The party was a ton of fun and we all came home with white elephant gifts. This is what we were lucky enough to end up with. I'm pretty sure these are what will be making appearances in my nightmares from now on.

 We also had our annual Gingerbread house making night. We decided to split into 2 teams and make 2 houses. For some strange reason Rach and Josh begged to be on daddy's team. So it was Kate, Will and I. I was going to show them!!

 Here's the architect hard at work.

 We had our house up and the kids were decorating it and we were done when Trav's team was still putting walls up. It looked pretty good too!

 But before I could get a final shot of our gorgeous house....it collapsed.

 It was so awesome while it lasted.

 We had to then wait for the "other" team to finish theirs.

 The good news is, we didn't feel bad when we started eating it!

 Okay, I get it.....I would want to be on daddy-the-architect's team too. But in my defense...he does this for a living. I'm pretty sure they just make gingerbread house models of hospitals at work.

 Team Em's finished product.....

 Team Trav.....

 Wait a minute....I though Will was on my team? Did he switch?

We also had Dasher the elf return to our home. For the most part he would just move from place to place and not cause any trouble. But once in a while he would get creative. Here's some of the more creative ones.....

 A full-blown sledding hill down the stairs....

 Thanks December, you were good to us!

Thanksgiving-ish

One of the souvenirs we brought back for the kids from DC was some corn on the cob you put in the microwave (the whole cob) and the seeds pop off into popcorn. We thought that would be fun to try, so try we did!

 It may not have been the best tasting popcorn in the world but it was fun!

 The day after we got back, Rachel had "Colonial Days" at school and I had signed up to help as the photographer. It actually was a lot of fun and I'm glad I was able to be there. William didn't mind being my helper either.

 This was the exact moment that Rachel, in an attempt to lift William up to get a picture, dropped him and he smacked his chin on the gallows. That was a fun few  minutes after that.

 Not that I'm biased or anything....but Rach was by far the cutest colonial girl there.

On Thanksgiving morning Trav and Josh woke up at the crack of dawn to do their annual fishing trip.

 They caught a "big" one!

Our Thankful Turkey had some fancy feathers this year. I don't know how he managed to grow them like that!

Rachel also started indoor soccer for the first time ever! They struggled for the first few games but by the end of the season they were doing SO much better! I'm so proud of her and how much she improved....and that they kept going back and getting in there despite how much they lost.

Here's cute Will "watching" one of Rach's games.

We didn't hesitate to get the tree up this year right after Thanksgiving. It's good I have so many helpers.

 And daddy too...

 I like the look of confidence Trav has for Kate being able to put the star on the tree.

 Rach has got the cooking bug....or should I say "brownie bug" and will make us some brownies if she feels like it. It's a heavenly thing! Will likes to be her helper too.

 Josh is a sweetheart, I mean....totally manly sweetheart....and will still read to Kate. I love how he just takes care of everyone.

 Even if he doesn't always want to get his picture taken. Don't let him fool you....He's a sweetheart.