December

December is always such a busy but wonderful month! The boys were reading some Calvin and Hobbes together before they had to turn off the lights for the night.

We enjoyed the lighted parade in Selah one night. It was really cold, but the parade lasted less than 20 minutes so it was perfect.

We went for a drive up into the mountains one day to find some snow to play in. We ended up on a scary, slippery mountain road, and were very grateful to have made it back to safety and to finally be able to play a little before we headed back home.

A couple of cute little Santas in the bath.

The beautiful Christmas lights that Grandpa put up this year.

Making some cinnamon Christmas ornaments with Aunt Heather.

Jared and I had a Christmas party to go to with some work acquaintances one night. I was just trying on April's sequin pants to wear in this picture. I almost wore them, but ended up not at the last minute. I was glad that I didn't. It was pretty awkward at this party, and I was very glad I didn't wear anything to stand out to this one. :)

Before we left that night.

The kindergartners got to invite their families to have lunch with them one day, and they sang us a few songs. Jacob always loves to perform.

We loved getting to join him that day!

Our Rudolph pancakes

Grandma and Caitlin busy at work.

A Christmas tree jello mold for a family dinner. Certainly something to be proud of. :)

We missed getting to see the lights this year at temple square, but enjoyed the next best thing here in Yakima. We saw my Uncle Jim's glorious display of lights at his house! We wanted the full experience so we parked the car, got out, and walked all around his house.

Bradley's grade got to do a Christmas program this year. They sang so many great songs, and Bradley did an awesome job! We loved watching and hearing him perform.

There were a lot of good snow days this month. The two hour delays for the school became our new favorite thing! Here are some pictures of us sledding at a park one afternoon. And by the way, I don't just naturally have this great sense of fashion. I have to work very hard at it.

Getting a ride with Mommy

We all went and spent a night at Chad and Amy's house for some Christmas fun. We had great food and played games. The kids all went to bed way too late. The ladies all happened to wear the same pajamas from several years ago. We were just missing Danielle!

The next morning we tried out their zip line. Some of us were more hesitant to try it than others. Jacob and Jared weren't scared though!

The primary sang a couple of songs at the ward Christmas party. Jacob was very animated and put on quite the show.

And Santa even came!

Jared and Mackayla did a great job in the ward choir at Church.

Another Rudolph pancake

Caitlin was a happy girl, getting to do a little Christmas shopping with her dad and mom one afternoon. She was enjoying her apple and singing along to Johny Cash in Daddy's truck.

I got to join the kids at the fun Jingle bell mileage club. They all dressed Christmasy and wore jingle bells as they ran.

Making a gingerbread house

School got canceled due to the snow on the last day before Christmas vacation. The kids were actually disappointed because they were all missing out on their Christmas parties. We had a great time in the snow though. I helped them work hard on a snow fort, all in preparation  for the 15 minutes that Jared was home and came out for a snowball fight later that morning.

We all had fun working on a Christmas puzzle this month.

A few days before Christmas Mackayla had another oral surgery to hook a chain to her tooth in order to drag it down. She wasn't put to sleep this time and really handled it very well. The poor girl was really swollen and puffy for several days though.

 We had fun taking pictures of ourselves for our Christmas card in November. :)