Christmas Eve

Dec 24.  Christmas Eve was perfect!  The kids had a blast playing games, everyone taking turns holding Hallie, reading books, Spencer and Henry had a blast together, I baked, we hate a delicious dinner...  Seriously the best day!  I was in charge of rolls and pomegranate/persimmon salad.  I also had orange rolls, and made a loaf of sourdough. I love baking haha.  I got in a good workout, and spent some time catching up my blog.  I seem to leave this every year until the last minute, so grateful for some quiet time to get my blog done.

We also got a plate of cookies & milk for Santa, sprinkled some reindeer food outside, and read a book before turning in for the night!  We're so excited for Santa to come!!

Time for Christmas!!

Dec 23.  We made it to Christmas break!!!  I'm so excited for all the things we have planned this week.  I started with two pans of orange rolls- some to share with dad & some to take to Koosharem.

Monday night Callen and I headed down to the Grand Theater in Salt Lake to watch Odyssey's Spectacular Spectacular performance that Syd got to perform in.  She did a beautiful job and the show was pretty fun!

Tuesday morning I met up with friends for our Christmas breakfast/my birthday.  Well it didn't end up being my birthday breakfast because for the second year in a row, I paid for myself.  It shouldn't be that big of a deal and it really isn't about the $15, but the fact that I always pay for their lunches and yet no one thinks to do mine.  I'm kind of over my friends and feeling like this.

We then headed over to B's cast party for Scrooge at the Kaysville Theater.  They showed the production, which was fun, but also I have so much to do and Spencer was a nightmare.  We did each win a raffle prize and got popcorn, so it wasn't a complete loss.  But I was grateful when it was over and we could head home and finish getting ready to go.

We somehow miraculously fit everything in the car to start our journey down to Koosharem.  We normally do Christmas morning at home but this year decided to head down and take all our presents with us. Fortunately no one had anything too big haha.

Our first stop was in South Jordan for the Giving Machine. This is my mom's favorite tradition.  All the grandkids do work to earn $50, then she lets them choose something to donate with their earnings.

We then headed to my parents' for a delicious Christmas dinner, gingerbread houses, and the cousins gift exchange. We had a great time with family!!  And I shouldn't be annoyed but I had offered to my mom to bring some orange rolls down for dad, so pulled some out of what I was taking to leave for him. She then asks me to leave some for Morgan. Sure. She then later asks me to leave more since Kate & Cooper would be coming down later.  What the heck?  It shouldn't bug me so much, but the way she just demands that I do things for others sometimes rubs me the wrong way.  I know I should just be happy to.

We headed down from there straight to Koosharem.  We didn't get there until really late, but it saved some time doing it straight from Pleasant Grove. We're ready for some fun with Bagleys the rest of the week!!

Sunday Painting

Dec 21.  I still paint every Sunday, it's my favorite time of the week.  Today Spencer wanted to paint with me!!  He painted with me for a bit, then watched the snowman drawing/painting video I made for preschool back during Covid. He watched it about 10 times and painted about 5 snowman haha.

Ogden Christmas Village

Dec 20. My favorite Holiday tradition is the Ogden Christmas Village! We tried to get there early enough to avoid a line for Santa. We did not, the line was very long. But he is a great Santa, and free, so it was worth it! Spencer has gotten over (most of) his nerves, so at least talked to Santa and asked for a "centipede robot to freak my mom out".  We enjoyed the rest of the park and even found Spencer's name on the nice list!!

Ruth Theater- Christmas Carol

Dec 19.  The Poor's brought us their delicious dessert- I'm pretty sure it's ooey gooey butter cake. I need to try a recipe and see if that's what it is haha.

Callen and I headed down to Pleasant Grove to meet my parents & Ryan & Megan for dinner at R&R BBQ (mediocre), then over to the Ruth Theater for the Christmas Carol.  It was a great show, so fun!!

Preschool Party & Concerts with B

Dec 18. Our preschool Christmas parties were so fun today!  Though I left exhausted, my kids really are so great this year and I'm so grateful it's going so well.

After school we picked up B and took her down to Salt Lake for a homework assignment. She had to go listen to a couple of concerts. We caught the first one at the Church History Museum, then walked over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for the next one.  Brooklyn's car has some lights that came on that Callen is going to take care of, but it means she can't drive herself right now.  But I was a little worried about her driving to Salt Lake, so was grateful for the excuse to go with her.

Playdate with Lewis

Dec 17.  We have been having playdates with Lewis about every Wednesday.  They play well together and keep each other busy haha.  So grateful for his cute new friend!