Christmas Time

It was another wonderful, magical Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we had a special visitor stop by before dinner.  :)  We had Christmas Eve dinner at Janet and Steve's, then had a quick program.  Trenton played "Carol of the Bells" on his saxophone, and Colson played a couple of Christmas songs on his trumpet.  Trent read the story of Jesus' birth from  Luke 2, and Vivian and Preston told us of the symbols of Christmas.  After all of us sang some carols, the kids got to open their Christmas Eve present.

New pajamas!  As always.  With a book and a movie.  I just noticed how holey Trenton's socks are in this picture.  Yikes!

 On Christmas morning, the kids got us up at about 7:00.  We started the gift opening with the stockings.

 Jillian got some new binkies in her stocking.  She was down to one, and it was missing half the time.  We probably should have just let it get lost and be done with them, but she's not much of a sleeper without it.  If she doesn't sleep, I don't sleep.  And I need my sleep.

 Some new American Girl accessories

 Preston's favorite; fruit snacks.

 Lou, trying on Vivi's new hat.

 Once Jillian found some M&Ms, she she wasn't too interested in anything else.

 The boys got lots of iTunes gift cards this Christmas.  They were in heaven!

 Jillian pushed her baby doll in circles around the island dozens of times.  It kept her busy for quite some time.

 And of course Dustin was a turkey about getting his picture taken.  I had to try!

 We got to enjoy the company of my aunt Sylvia, her husband Dean, and my cousin Jesse during the holidays.  It was wonderful being able to see and visit with them.

 It was another wonderful Christmas.  We enjoyed every moment we were able to spend with our loved ones.

Notes From My Girl

My Viv is so sweet.  She is always writing notes for us and others.  Notes of encouragement, notes of thanks, and notes that lift your spirits.

I am so thankful for my sweet girl.  She brings so much joy to my heart.

Christmas Dresses

Every year my mom makes Christmas dresses for the girls.  Here are the masterpieces she came up with this year.  Thanks mom!  They are absolutely amazing!

Ugly Sweater Party

Bring on the ugly!  

Oh Christmas Tree

It took us a while this year, but we finally got the Christmas tree up.

And it took Jilly no time at all to take all the ornaments she could reach off the bottom of the tree. 

Holiday Concert

Vivi's grade did a Holiday concert this year before Christmas break.  They sang songs from several different holidays that are celebrated during this time of year.  She was so excited for her family to come and watch her dance and sing.

 Vivi was a dancer for one of the musical numbers.

And she was a sign holder for the "12 Days of Christmas".

Basketball

Preston played on a basketball team with is friend Blake this last Fall.

We discovered that Preston is a lefty when it comes to dribbling.  He writes with his right hand (although he used to write with his left hand when he was younger), but when it comes to sports, he's a lefty.  He dribbles a basketball with his left hand, he golfs left handed, and he even kicks a soccer ball with his left foot.  I wonder if he throws a ball left handed?  I'll have to pay better attention and see.

This was Preston's first year playing basketball on a team, and he enjoyed every second of it!

Jilly Girl

Here are a few snap shots of my little Lou:

 In her new coat that grandma and grandpa Stock gave her.

 Laughing hysterically before bedtime.  She was quite slap happy that night.  Delirium had set in for sure.  Ha ha!

 She found some of her big sister's play make up and had a grand old time with it!

Sneaking candy canes off the Christmas tree and hiding from me while snarfing them.  She sat so quietly behind the tree, it took me several minutes to find her.  And in this little 3 bedroom apartment too.  She didn't make a peep the whole time I was frantically searching through the apartment for her, calling her name over and over.  She's one sneaky little chica!

Band Concert

On Dec. 5th, the boys both had their band concert.

 Trenton plays the Alto Sax.  He has gotten quite good over the last few years.

This is Colson's first year in band.  He plays the trumpet.  He has come a long way in just a few short months.  They have quite an amazing band teacher.  He truly has a gift.

The sixth grade band, taking their bow.

And the eighth grade band taking their bow.

The boys both did a fabulous job!  I love that they both can play multiple instruments.

Back in the Swing of Things

The week after Thanksgiving was a crazy one!  My mom had surgery, and each of the kids had at least one dentist/orthodontist/Dr. appointment each, if not more.  We spent a lot of time in waiting rooms that week.

Gotta love orthodontist pictures!  Ha! 

And funny nose pictures at the dentist!

Jilly had a lot of stroller time that week.  I don't think she got one nap in that wasn't in the stroller or her car seat.  Poor baby.

Other happenings for the week:

 Little Lou loves her baths.  And other's baths too!  I was pouring a bath for Preston, and the next thing I knew, here came Jilly running around the corner and she just dove right in!  Clothes and all.  She did it all in the blink of an eye.  She was so proud of herself!

We had some really nice weather that week.  Nice enough to roll the windows down, stick your head out and let your hair get nice and windblown.

Which is exactly what Trenton did on the way to guitar lessons.  :)

It was quite a relief to reach the end of that week.  While it was nice to get all those appointments over with, I think I will try and spread them out a little bit more in the future.

Thanksgiving Week

We took a trip down to Austin, TX for Thanksgiving this year to see Trent's sister and her family.  We left the Monday afternoon before Thanksgiving and drove halfway to Wichita, KS, where we stopped and stayed for the night.  We got up bright and early the next morning and drove the rest of the way.  I found I would much prefer to get all the driving done in one day.  Splitting it up into two days just seemed to prolong the agony.  We got there safe and sound Tuesday evening and went to Steph and Ryan's for a BBQ so the kids could see their cousins.  They were ecstatic to be able to see them!

On Wednesday, we had the wonderful opportunity to drive down to the San Antonio Temple and witness the sealing of Teague to Ryan and Stephanie.  It was such a special day!

Here's Teague getting all dressed in his whites.  He was so happy for the whole sealing.  He just kept looking at his parents, smiling and saying, "Hi.  Hi dad."  He is such a sweet, precious little boy.

What a beautiful family!  Steph, Ryan and their kiddos Tate, Trey, Taryn, Teague and Tristan.

All of the family.

I love Taryn's pose in this one.  That girl is such a ham!

Tristy and Ryan.

Tate, Steve, Trent, and Sean.

Sure love this cute girl!

Janet, Grandma Chapman, Steph, and Tristy.

After the temple and some lunch, we all headed over to a park over by Steph and Ryan's.  Taryn was so nice to push Jilly in the swing.  It is Lou's personal favorite.

Vivi, Peyton, and Taryn.  Vivi was in heaven being with her cousins.



Teague snuck in a few lollipops.  ;)

Jilly and Taryn.

Noelle and Teaguers.

While at the park, we got to see Jeremy take flight with his latest toy.

Watching him suspended in the air like that was enough to give me an anxiety attack!  I am not a fan of heights though.

On Thanksgiving day, we went to the park in the morning and let the kids play for a bit.

 Jilly, chillin' in the barks chips.

 Jilly and Mea.  Cute little friends!

Cousins Vivi, Taryn, Emily, and Ellie.  What a cute bunch of girls!

Vivi and Ellie holding hands while swinging.

After the park, we all went and got ready for Thanksgiving dinner.  Since there were over 50 of us, we ended up having dinner at the church.  It was perfect!  We had tables set up at one end of the gym, and the kids (well, everyone) could play basketball at the other end.  :)  After dinner, there was a gingerbread house decorating contest.





















There is some serious concentration going on here.

Here is each family's house, ready to be judged.

And here are the judges, deliberating.  :D


There were also some turkey crafts for the kids to do afterward.



Teague was totally happy with his box of Reeses Pieces.

On Friday we hung out with all the family some more.  We all went to see the movie "The Rise of the Guardians".  Such a cute movie.

 That night we went out to Ryan and Steph's new property and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs over a huge fire.

The next morning we got up super early and got ready for a 16 hour drive back home.  We had such a fun week visiting our family.  Especially since we don't get to visit them very often.