Preschool Christmas Party & 1st Grade Program

Clara had a cute Christmas program at preschool.  She dressed up as one of the toy bears.

Then the kids had a special visitor!

Santa Claus!  Clara couldn't believe that Santa would visit her preschool!

Friends forever.  These kiddos are so cute!  Clara says she is going to marry Milo but they'll have to have a long distance relationship for now because Milo is moving to Maui this summer. We'll miss him!  And it's so fun having Clara's cousin in AZ.  They are so cute to watch play together.

We'll walking thru the hall to go to Addi's 1st Grade Program I saw Buddy the Elf and Santa again!

Addi is all ready for her performance.

The program was about Christmas around the world. :-)

Reindeers, Santa Claus, and Ears Pierced? What!?

Right now I am an activity days leader for the 8 year olds in our ward (we have 3 groups of girls since theirs over 30 of them).  And for Christmas we thought it would be fun to go caroling at a nearby retirement home during their dinner time.  Ella passed off a Faith In God achievement by helping me make these candy cane reindeer.  It was so neat to see the happiness on the elderly's faces as the girls sang to them.  The spirit was so strong and one woman even came up to the girls in tears afterwards thanking them for their service.  The girls had a great time and could see how they were spreading the Christmas spirit to others.  They even begged to come back next year! :-)

 We have made it a tradition to go get a picture with Santa Claus.

And this year's Christmas miracle...I didn't have to be in it!!! (Every other year Tyler and/or I am in it because we have a kid that is afraid of Santa.  Who can be afraid of Santa!?)

Here the kids are waiting patiently to meet him.

Mae is our first baby to not be afraid of Santa.  She loved his beard! :-)

 Then she thought she was a big girl by sitting on the curb by herself.

As random as random can be we were walking back to the car and totally joking I asked Clara if she wanted to get her ears pierced?  (We don't have a set age, but just when they want them and can take care of them.)  To my HUGE surprise she said YES!  So we walked in and next thing we know she has her ears pierced!  She didn't even cry and was so brave!

 Cooper made this amazing gingerbread house at school

2015 Family Pictures

It was that dreaded but loved time again...family photos.

Preparing and taking family photos is never that much fun but once you get to see the prints and look at them again and again over the years it is totally worth the time, emotional pain, and money. :-)  (I'm just joking)  Actually for the first time over we did not have a single child cry during this photo session.  I'm sure that has everything to do with our amazing photography Amy Fraughton.  She is so great with kids and is so great at catching the real moments.  Here are just a few of our favorites...

Field Trip with Cooper

I got to help chaperone Cooper's field trip to the Halle Heart Museum.  I never get to go on field trips but my parents were in town and so they watched Mae and Clara so I could go.  

It was fun to hang out with Cooper and his friends.  He's such a funny kid!

Gilbert Days Parade, Climbing Wall, Saxophone Recital, Christmas Countdown

We attended the annual Gilbert Day's Parade

We've only missed one year and that was due to rain, but this year the sun was shinning and everyone was in happy spirits!

We've learned where to sit and which side to sit on.  You could call us Gilbert Day Parade Pros. :-)

We also took the kids to our awesome Gilbert Recreation Center where they have a huge climbing wall with 4 levels of difficulty.  The kids love to show their spider skills that they inherited from their dad. (not their mom)

Ella

Cooper

Addi

Cooper had his first band performance and they did a great job!

I love that he loves to play instruments.  He is great on the piano!

G&G Jones surprised us the eve of Dec. 1st with a basketball full of wrapped presents.

It was a Christmas story countdown.  So each night one of the kids unwrapped a book that had something to do with Christmas.  It was so special and truly brought the spirit of Christmas into our home.