Christmas X2

Since Grammy and Pa came to visit the day after Christmas we decided to have Christmas X2!  It was so much FUN and of course the kids were ALL about getting more presents.  Since Justin had 6 days off around Christmas he was beginning a week of LONG hours.  I am so grateful that I had some help during those days.  Not to mention some great adventures.  On Saturday we went to Disney On Ice.  The kids haven't ever been to a big show so they were pretty excited - although they had no idea what to expect.  Our seats were awesome, made even more so since the 3 seats in front of ours were not occupied.  Taija stood watching the ENTIRE time.  Luke had Grammy all to himself and was on the edge of his seat (Grammy's lap) the entire time.  Mika was happy to have Pa and since we informed Pa that as long as he kept her fed she would sit on his lap.  And she did.  I think in total she had her hot dog, 1/2 of Taija's hot dog, 2-3 fruit snacks, fish, popcorn, chex mix, crackers...and that is all within an hour and a half!

CHRISTMAS 2013

On Christmas Eve we drove down to Reiko and Bryan's in Prince Frederick.  It was so much fun to spend the holidays with family.  Their new house is AMAZING!  The kids loved spending time with their cousin Ari and the 'rough rough' Memphis.  Christmas Eve and Christmas for that matter was spent preparing an incredible FEAST.  It was so delicious.  The kids actually slept pretty well considering all of the excitement of Christmas and a different environment.  Luke of course was the first to wake up shortly after 6am.

I love Christmas time and the opportunity we have to be with family and celebrate the birth of our Savior.  I hope we were able to convey the true meaning to our kiddos as to why we celebrate this holiday.  I am not only grateful for the birth of Christ, but for His life and His atoning sacrifice.  Where would we be without such a loving caring Savior?!  I never enjoy how abruptly this holiday ends, but lucky for us we spent a few more days celebrating because the day after Christmas Pa and Grammy came to visit!

Arnold's Family FUN Center

For several months now Justin has been wanting to take Luke (and the other kiddos too) to this amazing Go Kart racing place - Arnold's.  And it did not disappoint.  Mainly because Justin was as excited as Luke to race all of the go karts.  It was pretty awesome - they had some little go karts that 3 yrs and over could drive.  They had  bumper cars too.  Poor Mika didn't have as much fun, but there were a few things she could do - carousel, little train, bounce house.  Grandpa and Taija raced Luke and Justin - not sure who ended up winning, but it was close!

Nana and Grandpa

Just chillin with Nana and Grandpa!

PHILLY

So excited that my parents came to visit!!!  It is not often that my dad will venture out of Utah, but put the grandkids in one part of the country and my mom will get him here for Christmas!!  It was a BLAST! The very first day they were here we dragged them up to Philly.  My dad wanted to see the Liberty Bell and the kids like exploring around.  It is so much FUN to see where so much history has happened.  We went up too late to get a ticket for Independence Hall, but were able to see it from the street.  Washington Square is also a favorite place to explore.

Crafty Times

Every once in awhile I take the time to do crafts with the kids - it is something that I wish I were better at, but I have to say with 3 it makes things that much harder.  First up were Reindeer Puppets.  Our good friend Raegan came over to help, but sadly there are NO pics.  Next we made marshmallow snowman.  This was tricky since Mika liked to put them in the glue and then pull them off to eat.  At least the glue isn't toxic right?!  No harm.

One night for FHE we decided to make gingerbread houses.  Taija saw it somewhere and she kept asking me everyday if we could make them.  I finally pulled everything together so that we could.

Obviously nothing too crazy, but it fulfilled Taija's desire to build one.

We also made sugar cookies, but the only picture I got was of the cookie thief!

HO HO HO

This year the kids had several opportunities to meet 'Good Ol Saint Nicholas' - first up was a trip we took to Bass Pro Shop in Baltimore.  We met up with my cousin Becky and her daughter Kyra.  Reiko and Ari were still with us, but they were going home with the Millers.  It was a lot of fun.  Since it was a Saturday in December the LINE was LONG, but luckily the kiddos and respective adult chaperone were kept entertained by all that was going on while I waited in line.  Tough job for me...I know!  All too soon it was our time.  The kids LOVED him.  All 3 went right up and got their picture taken.  Luke and Taija even told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Such a fun time!

Mika playing in the store

After pictures we decided to head out to the mall food court for lunch.  Of course the kids wanted to ride on those silly merry-go-rounds.

Next was at our Ward Christmas Party.  Once again my kids were the first in line waiting to meet him!

The last time was at the Brandywine Hundred Library.  On Wednesdays I usually take Luke and Mika to the library for their story time/activity.  This particular week they were doing a special Santa Clause activity.  They read a few  books about jolly ol St. Nick and then he arrived.  They were smart and handed out tickets so that you only had to wait in a line of 5 or so.  Since we didn't arrive early we were towards the end which did not make Luke happy.  He kept trying to sneak out to see him.  It would have been cute/funny if there weren't a ton of people there and I wasn't already chasing around a one yr. old!  At last it was our turn...

Let it SNOW!

SNOW!  It has finally snowed enough for there to be some white stuff on the ground.  The kids were so EXCITED.  We weren't quite prepared for it, but we made do.  Justin was working so the kids had to be satisfied with just playing on the porch.  Taija was in heaven!  Justin was able to get off early so the kids were ready when he came home.  Mika and I even joined them.  Luke kept putting his face in the snow and just SMILING.  Love SNOW days!

TOOTH CRISIS

Towards the beginning of December Mika stumbled and fell in the kitchen.  It just so happened she fell onto one of the chairs and hit her bottom front tooth.  Of course it pushed it in - straight back down in the gums.  It bled just a bit, so I didn't even think anything of it until later that morning when she smiled and I had to do a double take.  Poor girl looked like a little hillbilly!  After an emergency trip to our family dentist (and subsequent follow-up visits weekly to check for infection), an appt with a pediatric dentist for a second opinion, our little girl's tooth is starting to come back up.

 This was taken a few weeks later, but you can see where her tooth is missing...