Christmas Break

We had a pretty quiet Christmas break.  We didn't plan to travel anywhere and then a bunch of us got sick.  It started when we figured out Eli had hand, foot & mouth disease that had been going around the ward.  Then, Elizabeth got it.  She had to miss the last day of school.

The sickies snuggling and watching a show:

The kids didn't get out of school until the 22nd so we didn't have much time before Christmas.  It was mostly full of shopping, wrapping, delivering plates of goodies, and finishing up watching all our Christmas movies.  We did a fun Little People Nativity scavenger hunt with scriptures to read. We also sang songs on Christmas Eve and watched It's a Wonderful Life, as per tradition.  

Christmas morning, since we still had sickies, we decided to stay home from church, sadly.  We were supposed to perform but it worked out that we could stay home.  So, it was a pretty relaxed morning.  The kids got up to open presents at 7.  I forgot to get a before picture, but here is the after:

Yikes.

Poor Lizzy was pretty sick on Christmas.  Then, Joe and I went for a walk and he was struck with some stomach problems, too.  So, they both napped the day away.  While they did that, Natalie gave us one of her presents:

That's right--Christmas the Restaurant!  She took our orders and served us.  It was a lot fun.

That night, we had a nice candlelit meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, grilled asparagus and salad.  My mom gave me some of her Christmas china and it was so fun to use.

It was a great day.

We had a fun break after that, too.

It wasn't all sunshine.  Natalie gave me this nice note after a particularly difficult time with some of my children:

I just like to remember the nice notes they write. :)

I helped Natalie sew a blanket:

The kids and I had our own Chopped competition one night.

Here are some of their creations:

Natalie's:

Lizzy's:

(Eli and I made that soup and it turned out really good.  He loved chopping up vegetables and throwing them in the soup.)

Nate's:

Desserts:

Natalie's:

Lizzy's:

Nate's:

Eli's (mine):

(Turned out pretty gross :)

It was so fun:

Joe and I ended the year with a great anniversary celebration.  I got a babysitter and left the kids early so I could take the BART to the city to meet Joe for dinner.  

We had a delicious dinner at Wayfare Tavern:

We even tried beef tartare.

Sadly, something didn't sit right with me and I got really bad stomach pain.  We ended up canceling our plans to go to the temple (why we were so dressed up!) and hung out for a little bit until I felt better and then went to a movie.  It was still such a fun night.  I sure love this guy and I'm pretty proud of us for making it to 13 years still best friends and as much in love as ever.

Goodbye, 2016!

December Adventures

We had a great December, despite dealing with car stuff.  Some women from the ward posted on facebook that they were planning on hiking Mission Peak early one Saturday morning and I decided to join them.  It was awesome and just what I needed.  It was hard but not too hard and I had fun chatting with the other women.  It was freezing, but the view at the top was gorgeous!

I need to do it again soon.

As I wrote about in the last post, this ginko tree brought me a lot of joy:

Same for these kids:

You can't beat December in the bay area.  T-shirts all around.

We had our ward Christmas party early in the month, which meant a visit from Santa.

This guy got right up on his lap this year:

I led a group of kids in singing, "Shepherd's Carol" and playing it on our handbells.  Elizabeth, Natalie and Nate were in it and they did a great job.

We took a trip up to the temple one Sunday evening with Mary, Andrew and Luke to see the temple lights.

They got these family pictures for us:

The girls and I took the BART into the city to meet Joe and go see The Lion King.  We LOVED it!

Nate was supposed to come but threw a fit right before and didn't really seem to care about not going so he stayed behind with Eli and the babysitter.  But, at least a nice man got to enjoy his spot.  We even got to see Chris and Lisa and their kids there.  It was a really fun, if late, night.

We got to see Santa at my parents' house again.

Eli kept changing his mind but I think he asked for trains that go by themselves and a yo-yo.

This guys was feeling stubborn about talking to Santa but he did it anyway:

Some smiles by the end. :)  He had a lot of expensive things on his list, including a Wii U and a motor scooter) and I don't think he thought he'd get any of them.  He was wrong... (more on that later)

I can't remember what Natalie asked for but she had some things still on her list after her birthday, including walkie-talkies and little animal erasers.

Elizabeth asked for a crochet kit.

Cute cousins:

 All the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa:

Our family:

Eli and I got to go into Nate's classroom to help the kids decorate gingerbread houses.  It was a lot of fun.  His classmates loved Eli and swarmed around him.  The kids were all so well-behaved.  I've been impressed with Nate's teacher.

My boys' houses:

Nate wanted shots of every side of his house:

 Nate also had his Christmas concert. It was really cute and the kids did a great job.

Nate isn't always the most enthusiastic but he always knows all the words and sings them, however quietly. :)

Next up... Christmas Break!