Star Wars, Swimming, Snow and Such

A few days after Doug's birthday and before Christmas we went with some of my brothers and their families to the new Star Wars!! Doug has been looking forward to this for MONTHS and was so excited when the day finally came.  It was so fun and so worth it!!

My brother Dylan had the best costume there!

 My niece and nephew looked pretty great as well.

 After the show we stopped for a quick selfie with the reindeer.

 The day after Sophia was going to see it with Doug and had to wear her hair for the occasion.

The last day of school before Christmas break Mabel had a Christmas program at school.  It went great and was so fun to watch her.  She did great!

The week before Christmas we went to a Community choir concert that my oldest brother Jason was in. It was awesome!! They did great and I'm so glad we got to go.

 Bonus picture of what Lilly would pick if she were a gift.  I love it.  It shows her sweet little heart.

The first of Christmas break we went swimming!! It was great and the kids loved it.  Definitely something we need to do more of this winter!!

The next day we did the complete opposite and played in the snow!

 The kids made a pretty great snowman.  I love how it turned out.

 We've had plenty of the white stuff so far this winter and it's been a chore to keep it off the driveway.  This guy loves to help me.  

 One of the other days during Christmas break this little girl got to go with her daddy to Star Wars.  She loved it and was so excited to finally get to see it.  She has a pretty good dad!

Christmas Party Weekend

Last weekend was pretty great and full of parties!! On Saturday we went to the annual Ivins Christmas Party with Doug's family.  

 The theme this year was Christmas around the world and Doug and his cousin who served in Sweden were assigned to talk about Christmas in Sweden.  His cousin's wife and I put together this little display and brought some swedish foods to sample.

The girls enjoyed being angels in the nativity too. It seems like there are more and more kids in it every year!

The party isn't complete without a visit from the big guy.

 One little boy was too afraid to sit in his lap but apparently that didn't stop him from getting a gift.

 He got a Blaze truck! He was pretty excited.

 This boy cracks me up. He would be out shoveling snow all day if I let him.  He loves it.

 On Sunday we had some of my college roommates and their families over for dinner.  It was so fun!! There are 13 (almost 14) kids between us! This was the kid table where I had set up oranges and cloves for the kids to decorate them with.

 And the adult table.

My friend Erin made the best Bouche do Noel with the cutest meringue mushrooms.  It was seriously the best cake I've ever tasted!

 We had a picture from the same gathering a few years ago when these 3 were just newborns. We tried to recreate the picture but 2 year olds are not as cooperative as newborn babies!

Erin gave me this cute star that is apparently made with glass from the Provo Temple.  Pretty cool!! Lauren gave me the cutest IKEA stuff and a christmas cactus! I love it and hope I can keep it alive!

 The next day it snowed like crazy!! We got almost 16"!

 On Tuesday it was Doug's birthday.  Apparently we went with a Star Wars theme this year.  Sophia made this creation...

 He got some yummy treats, a blu ray player to replace ours that died and Darth Vader slippers. It was a good day until I started feeling really sick.  I hope he had a good day despite that!

 Yesterday Mabel said she wanted to make something with fabric.  Here's what she came up with.  I think it's a Nativity scene and I love it!

Lilly's crazy/fun Birthday/Baptism weekend!

Last weekend we hauled out the Christmas decor and got things set up. This little ninja ("inja") was pretty sure this train is the best thing that's ever happened to him. 

 On Friday this girl turned 8!! She was so excited that the day had finally come!

 In the morning she opened presents and got her own real set of scriptures.

 We had the customary birthday cinnamon roll cake (which barely came out of the oven before they had to leave) for breakfast.

While the kids were at school I cleaned like crazy and got ready for her circus party later that night. The popcorn (marhsmallows with yellow food coloring) were fun to make!

 I picked her up from school and someone had given her a giant sucker!

 Later that night it was finally time for her party!! We had homemade rootbeer

 and plenty of carnival treats.  We were able to borrow a popcorn maker from Grandpa and Grandma Wilkins and it was the perfect addition to the party!

 In all there were 12 little girls that came (not including my own kids) so things were crazy but so fun!

 Sophia did some circus/magic tricks too.

 Time to blow out the candles!

 The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed out with some of Doug's family to cut down our Christmas tree.

 After some hunting

 and playing with sticks

 we finally found one!

 Doug used his manly muscles and cut it down and hauled it away for us.

 After that we came back to our house for lunch before the baptism.  I have an amazing friend who's a pastry chef and she made this cake for Lilly.  She loved it!! She thought the glass slipper on top was amazing!

 Sure love these people!

Then we headed to the church for the baptism.  She was all ready to go! Her awesome primary teacher gave her this towel which was perfect!

 The baptism was wonderful and we sure love our Lilly!! She's sweet, kind, considerate and always puts others first.  She's a wonderful example to me! We were lucky to have such wonderful friends and family join us too!! Someone looks pretty excited about being baptized!

After they all left we set up our Christmas tree.  It definitely looked smaller in the forest!!

 My parents took my kids and some cousins to dinner and a movie so Doug and I decorated the tree.  Unfortunately it fell over right before we went to bed but think it's more stable now! At least we hope!

 My friend told me about these color changing lights and I love them!! They can be colored, white or change back and forth.  I love it!