Christmas Stuff

I swear December 1st was yesterday, right? I don't know if there has ever been a faster month than this one. It's almost unbelievable that Christmas is this week. Time to play catch up on the blog I guess!

Our sweet neighbors, Tony and Rachel, invited us to their work Christmas party. She works at a lawyer's office and they go all out with "Waffle Love" waffles, Santa and a music/light show. Miles and Gwen met Santa at other locations this season, but I think this is the only time I managed to get the obligatory Santa pics. Santa told them they were most definitely on the nice list. Miles and Gwen were very specific about what they wanted for Christmas. Miles wanted a book about soccer and Gwen wanted a princess book and a candy cane with candy inside it.


We had our ward Christmas breakfast as some point in December. :) They decided to serve all the food family style on each table instead of having to stand in line and take it back to your seat. BEST IDEA EVER!!! They had Santa there to take pictures with and then emailed them to us later.


Another Party! Richie's family's ward was having their Christmas party and they invited us to tag along. They did a really cool theme this year, "A night in Bethlehem." They went all out! They had costumes for everyone to dress up in and get their picture taken by a nativity backdrop. They decorated it just like "the olden days" and served old style food from the era. When you arrived they gave the kids little burlap sacks with a marbles and things that kids at the time of Jesus would have played with, including golden coins to pay for your dinner. They had game and craft stations set up so you could participate in things Jesus would have as a child. After food, they had the primary act out Luke 2. It was a great night!


Here's the kids helping me decorate the tree. Holy cow, they were SO anxious to get the decorations up this year. When we got back from Thanksgiving and some of our neighbors had their Christmas lights up, the kids were practically in tears that we didn't have any up. They had to be really patient with me getting up the energy to get that stuff done this year. They decorated the tree almost completely by themselves, and they take the liberty to re-decorate it almost on a daily basis. It's extremely bottom heavy and I was worried how that would play out with a mobile baby, but she's been surprisingly non-interested in it. Whew! Also, had to snap a picture of how Miles set up one of our nativities this year. Very fitting I thought. :)


We've been busy making gifts and sending them out. The kids helped me make cinnamon ornaments to take to their friends and they loved it. We also turned them into bookmarks for great-grandparent gifts. They turned out so cute I might have to make more for me!


The kids begged and begged to make gingerbread houses. I didn't want to go to all that work just for my 2 kids (sounds bad doesn't it). So we decided to invite all the people in my visiting teaching "network" and count it for December. :) I put a bunch of little houses together with hot glue the night before and everyone pitched in candy. It was crazy and fun. Mission accomplished.


These last 2 pictures aren't Christmas related in any way, but they sure are cute! Gwen is quite the fashionista. She always comes up with the best outfits. On this particular day I said, "Ok, you can't wear 2 skirts, one is enough." And she said, "It's not 2 skirts mom! One is a skirt and one is a tutu." Her crazy hair cut is growing out quickly and she said she wants it to be long again. But it's at this awkward stage where some of the funky cuts are growing out all weird. I can usually hide it by curling it etc, but along with her fashion sense, she has her own sense about her hair. It's usually a fight and she wants to do it all by herself, which tends to make her look like a really cute homeless child. :) The other picture is just cute cause it's got 2 of my favorite people in it. :)

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksigivng in Nampa this year with Richie's mom's side of the family, the Wheeler side. Miles and Gwen now have a mental picture every time we mention Grandma Linda or where she lives in Nampa, Idaho. They loved it. In their minds, she is the one that always has oreos and the fun play things downstairs. The actual feast was over at Uncle Joe's beautiful house. We were sad that we didn't get a chance to really sit and chat with people. It was lots of small talk, and then off chasing a kid, or something like that. That's where we're at I guess, right? Good holiday.


*Lindy's first Thanksgiving picture. *Turkey veggie platter. *Ross and Amanda's first Thanksgiving! :). *Gwen saying, "Oww, I hurt my patella!" *3 cute little turkeys on the trampoline.


*Another 5 Generation picture! Grandma Ewing, Grandma Linda, Grandma Garner, Richie and Lindy.


We made a stop in Middleton near Boise to visit some of our very best friends from Rexburg. It was so fun to see their new house and catch up. Lauren and I even went off to World Market all by ourselves. It was heavenly. In the picture of all the kiddos, we're just missing 1. So that's 7 kids between the two families! We even caught a picture of Miles-the boy with the broken arm, and Aiden-the boy with the broken nose.

Mid-November

Lindy's funny face
Miles had this hilarious face he would pull when he was about this same age. I was so happy when Lindy started pulling a similar funny face. It only lasted for a few weeks, but man, we loved it.


dinosaur museum
Gwen's joy school went to the dinosaur museum this month for our field trip. Always a treat. Gwen insisted on wearing this dinosaur hat the entire time.


Cement truck
When we got home from the dinosaur museum, a truck was pouring cement at the house down the street from us; so obviously we went and watched. Cheap entertainment folks.



Girl's weekend
One of my best friends is gettin' herself hitched this weekend. I'm so excited for Jenna and Andrew! Instead of throwing her a shower, my friend Sam and I decided on a weekend girl's trip instead. I left the kids with my amazing husband, and the 3 of us headed up to Park City. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, went out to eat, and stayed up ridiculously late talking about everything. It was perfection. I miss that weekend. I pine for it. *sigh* Sam and Jenna and I have been great friends starting in middle school. Even though we are not exactly the same people we were then (thankfully, right?) and our relationships have ebbed and flowed over the years, we always pick up right where we left off. It's so refreshing to be with people who have known me for as long as Mrs. Rominger's Algebra class and the tire through my windshield that one day. :)


Broken Arm
Richie is still cringing every time he sees Miles. He tossed him on the couch the other night right before bed, Miles landed funny, and it resulted in a fractured humerus. He feels so badly about it. We just had our follow up appointment today and it looks like everything is healing quite nicely. The fracture is too high up to cast, so he has to wear this sling for a couple more weeks. Miles is handling it like a champ. Super brave. If he was ever going to break a bone, he did it at a perfect time. We just finished learning about our bones in homeschool, and we went out with a bang I guess! X-rays and the whole shebang.


mustache
In honor of "No Shave November" Richie told his classes that we would grow out his mustache as long as they read their scriptures every day. However if the class fell below a certain percentage, he would shave and they would have to start over. This resulted in a couple of ok mustaches, but not really one full one. Ha! I think he looks good no matter what, but I'll admit I'm glad it's gone. :) Super prickly. The kids thought so too. :)



weight loss
I joined an online weight loss competition to help motivate myself to lose the baby weight. It worked last time, I figured it would go over well this time. I did lose some weight, but not near enough. For some reason, losing the baby weight has been extremely challenging this time around. I'll keep on keepin on, but until then I thought I'd include at least one picture of me here. I was looking through our pictures yesterday and realized, again, how there are hardly any pictures of me. Most of the time, I'm just fine with that. However, I'd like there to be some evidence for my kids that I existed, baby-weight and all.

Lots of Family Pictures

We didn't get family pictures last year because we are 1.lazy and 2.cheap. We probably wouldn't have gotten them this year except for the fact that Ross and Amanda got married. :) So I'd like to thank the happy couple for getting hitched so we had an excuse to take pictures. I'd also like to thank the sweet photographers at the reception in CA who saw me taking a picture of Miles and Gwen and said, "Oh your kids are so cute, can we please take some pictures of them?" I said, "oh, ok you pulled my arm!" And they whisked us away to this beautiful little spot where the light was just perfect and snapped away. THANK YOU! I'd also like to thank Aunt Sheree for taking pictures of us at the Bluffdale reception! It's super handy to have someone in the family who can take and edit great pictures. I almost didn't notice the baby weight still hanging on. Almost. And finally, thank you Photoshop.



Had to include this one because it's just too funny



Ah, that's better.


This picture is awesome because as soon as Ross and Amanda exited the temple, Gwen was the first to run up to them and give them a hug. The first thing out of her mouth? "Now you guys can get a baby!!" Hence the laughter.


These pictures are special because when the dancing started at the reception in CA, Gwen and Richie were standing by watching. Richie got all emotional, like he does sometimes, and he said "Gwen, one day you're going to get married and leave me." She proceeded to bawl like a baby. Then Richie cried. The only way they stopped was after lots and lots of dancing together. These pictures might be my favorite of all time.


And just for good measure, here's a shot of the beautiful couple. Man, they are going to have beautiful kids. :)