Merry Christmas!

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year ! Santa most DEFINITELY came, and we are So glad that he did.  He left many wonderful gifts for us all, and we had a magical time!  It was SO much fun to try and focus on the Savior more this year, and the kids really took to it.  Every time that anyone would ask them what they were asking Santa for for Christmas, they were sure to let whoever it was they were talking to know that the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas is for the birth of our Savior!  So cute! 
    We were able to have some of our friends over for Christmas Eve dinner that just had a baby, so it was GREAT fun to have them with us to celebrate with our fondue dinner. The kids LOVE this dinner- mostly the jell-o, but who's counting anyways?!  It's fun to see them excited about traditions that we have started together!  I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! 

Christmas Eve Jammies ! This is always the LAST thing I put in the "Box" for the year, and the kids love it!  Not pictured are the cute slippers they got too!  So fun. I used to get jammies and slippers when I was a kid, and LOVE giving them to my kids!  Usually I try to make them- that was NOT happenin this year! 

We also read all of the "Christlike things" we did each day and put into one of our Advent Calendars (thanks Mom and Dad!  We absolutely LOVE it!).  The kids thought this was pretty fun to remember back through the month the things that they did that were Christlike!  I LOVE this new tradition!

Cole then read to us the Christmas Story from Luke 2.  The kids were very enthralled.

Woah!  Out of order!  Sorry...here we are with the Hansens just getting ready to start the Fondue Dinner!

Lincoln's coveted Ninja Lego Sets!  This kid is a maniac when it comes to Legos ! He LOVES them!  He put this entire castle together all on his own!  He might have had a LITTLE bit of help, but he pretty much did it all alone ! What a stud!

Payton got lots of ninja stuff as well- just not legos.  He's not much into building with Legos yet.  He likes to destroy them though!  We is REALLY into figurines, and Santa found him the perfect stuff!  Way to go big guy!

Morgan hit the JP with a SWEET kitchen set from Santa!  She even got loads of food as well!  She loves it, and can often be found in her room talking on the little phone that came with it! So cute!

She's also really into Sesame Street, so she got a few little figurines and stuffed animals. She now sleeps with Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster each night!

WE LOVE CHRISTMAS!  A Merry one to One and All!

Christmas Activities

We do LOTS of fun activities around here at Christmas time!  Here is just a sampling of a few of the things that we get to do together!  For those of you that don't know...I LOVE Christmas!  It is for sure my most favorite time of the year!

Playing "Missle Team!!!!"  Don't know what it is except for that they ran around the house for like an HOUR pretending that they were missles!  SO CUTE, and way cute because they let Morgs join in the fun!  She was in HEAVEN!

 

Writing letters to Santa...this was a BIG hit this year! The boys kept their letters up on the fridge (the 2nd ones they wrote!  The first ones- of course- went straight to Santa's workshop!) and referred to them quite often! Santa was most definitely kept on his toes right up until the end this year!

We decorated Gingerbread Cookies- and maybe ate a little frosting!  The kids had a blast!

Morgs really liked to eat them!  She's not much into decorating!

Payton was really getting the hang of it, and loved to put the eyes on each of the Gingerbread Men

THIS kid is a decorator!  I tell you what!

You tell me...HOW am I supposed to resist these cutest little face!

 

 

 

Even Dad got in on the action!  YEAH! He made the best cookie by far (not shown)  It was an Eskimo!  The cookie was all fluffy and white decorated with two beady little red eyes sticking out from underneath the fluff! So clever!

 Had a fun Gingerbread House decorating party with some new friends this year!  It was SUCH a great time, and a LOT of candy was consumed by all!

Sierra and Jenny Leon displaying their beautiful masterpiece!

The  Naandi family getting in on the action!

Two of the Wilson family (Tate- one of Lincolns really great buddies from school, and his Mom Wendi)  The other 3 were somewhere else roaming the house!

I tell you what...that Lincoln is a DECORATOR!  He LOVES it!  Eats it up...literally sometimes! ;)  Waka Waka!

Taking our annual trip to the Spaghetti Factory for some yummy Spaghet and a freaky lady that made us some balloon animals- but that's a different story entirely!

Payton fell asleep on the way there and took a few minutes to warm up to the whole situation! Silly boy.

LOVE the self portraits!  They make for the cutest pics for sure!

Made a quick trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE this place, and I love it too!  Plus, Cole was able to join us- so it was a DOUBLE bonus!  YEAH for outings! 

Sorry for the weird pics. I- of course- forgot my camera, so we had to make due with Cole's phone!  Sometimes though, it takes better pics than my camera!    Do these two look like twins or WHAT!?!

Absolutely serious about flying his space ship.  You know it man.

 Got LOTS of fun things each day in the box!  This day it was rudolph the red nosed reindeer sucker pops!  They thought these were pretty darn funny!

Morgans- of course- was covered in hair the second that she took it out of her mouth!  We spend alot of time washing it off until it finally shattered when she dropped it on my bathroom floor!  Oops...lesson learned. 

 Made the COOLEST snow fort EVER!  Lincoln and Cole (and Payton and Morgan until their hands got too cold to participate any longer) make a mean snow fort!  This one even came complete with crawl through tunnels, turrets to make it look like a castle, and our very own sledding hill!  So cool.

Cole is SOOO great to play in the snow with the kids, and they will spend HOURS out there making all sorts of great creations!  Forget just a plain old snowman (cool as they may be!) We go for the castles and stuff!  I get ambushed quite frequently with snowballs when I come walking around the corner unawares! 

Getting ready for a sled down the hill

There are just a few of our fun things we did this December!  Sorry for the long post.  Cookie for you if you finished!