Boxing Day

Todd and I were in the car at 7:00am on Boxing Day to do a few Christmas returns. By 10:00am we were home and ready to have some fun in the snow with the kids.

 The new sled works great!

 The boys love their new air soft guns!

We spent more time doing our new family favorite activity. We received a new game for Christmas -it's called Blokus. I highly recommend it. It's intense! It's a little frustrating because our kids are so good at it. Seriously! When did they get smarter than me?

Christmas 2014

We woke up to the first snow of the season on Christmas morning and it continued to snow the rest of the day. Santa was good to us. Michael and Benjamin were thrilled with their air soft guns. Mary is excited to ride her new bike when the weather gets warmer. Luke will be right by her side with his new long board. Sara loved putting on her new chapstick and dressing her baby in its new clothes.

Grandpa and Grandma Stepan joined us for breakfast on Christmas morning. Grandpa and Grandma Orton joined us later for Christmas dinner. It was wonderful to be at home together!

Christmas Eve '14

Christmas Eve was lovely. For starters, we had a party at our clubhouse with the Child family. The kids had fun decorating cookies, playing balloon tennis and writing letters for Grandma to open on Christmas.

At home, we opened our new pajamas and acted out the Christmas story from the book of Luke. Daddy read the scriptures to us and we talked about how grateful we are that Jesus was born and died for us. 

 We set out cookies and milk for Santa. Luke included 'magical reindeer food' that he made at school.

The kids went off to bed at 8:00. Mom and Dad were in bed by 10:00! The whole day was relaxing and a lot of fun!

Church

I don't blog about church very often but it's a big part of our lives. Recently I've taken a few pictures at church that I want to share. Here's a picture of our crew after church.

Recently Todd peeked through the window of Luke's primary class. This is what he saw. Luke may look bored, but every Sunday at dinner when we talk about what we learned at church, Luke remembers exactly what the lesson was about. 

Sara has loved her nursery class. Starting next Sunday she will go into Primary as a Sunbeam.

For the last few weeks the nursery kids have been joining the Primary for singing time to transition them from nursery. This is Sara mirroring the chorister, leading the music during singing time. I remember doing the same thing when I was little :)

One of the things that I like about our church is that we have congregations all over the world. When we lived overseas, it was comforting to have instant friends in our local congregation that shared our beliefs and helped me become familiar with our new areas. 

I am grateful that we have the opportunity to take our kids to church each week. They learn about the life of Jesus and how to follow his example.

Sitting through church also helps our kids learn to be still. A friend once asked me how our kids managed to sit during our long flights to and from England and Australia. I told her that we practice every week in church :)

Band concert

We went to Michael's middle school for his beginning band concert. He plays the baritone.

 I am so impressed with this beginning band. Most of the kids have only been playing their instruments for 3 months. They sounded great!

 After the concert Michael took the family to see his locker. I am so grateful that he likes middle school. He's a great kid!

Fun filled December weekend

The first weekend in December was unseasonably warm. We took advantage of the warm temperatures and spent some time outdoors. Todd came home from work on Friday afternoon and mowed the lawn! 

 The kids played in the yard.

 Mary and Benjamin played the piano for our ward Christmas breakfast...

 We went to Todd's work party. The kids saw Santa for the first time this year and told him their Christmas wishes...

 except for Sara. She doesn't like Santa any better than she did last year.

 The kids had their faces painted and received balloons.

 We went ice skating at the work party.

 Saturday evening we saw the lights at temple square with our neighbors.

We love this time of year!

Live nativity

Our December started with a family night visit to a live nativity. This is our second year visiting this nativity. A family in our ward has produced this nativity for 17 years. It is a remarkable experience. The lines are long and loud but a hush comes over the crowd as 'Bethlehem' is approached. Our family was touched again by this experience. We hope this is a tradition for many years.

November '14

November started with a yard clean-up. The girls and I were sad to pull the tomato plants. We still have a handful of big tomatoes from our garden ripening in our garage. In December! It has been a very mild autumn.

 Sara makes a great leaf smasher!

 Luke came home from school with this gem. He wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up.

Luke frequently makes little treasures for me at school. This is us holding hands. This first-grader melts my heart.

 A Jazz game with my honey. By the way, I'm forever a Jazz fan no matter how bad their season is going.

 I spent 7 hours at a Scout training one Saturday in November. I actually learned a lot. It was kinda fun to sit though classes again. It took me back to my school days :)

 Besides, I bought this really cool hair clip from a vendor at the scout training. It's my new favorite hairdo!

 While I was at my scout training, Todd and the guys put up our Christmas lights.

Todd and I went to St. George for a few days for a work retreat. He played an insane amount of golf and I went shopping and to lunch. Our kids stayed home with grandpa and grandma. It was a delightful get-away.

Todd and I went to the shooting range with a group from his work whilst in St. George. This was my first time shooting. Not to brag or nothin but I was the top shooter in the women's group! The first shot rattled my teeth and I had a wicked bruise on my shoulder for a few days, but it was worth it. I know now that if my family was starving and I had to shoot a duck, I'd hit at least 1 in 5 :)

My darling niece returned from her mission to Portugal. It was so fun to see her again and hear all about life in Portugal. We're glad you're home Holly!

My grandma celebrated her 89th birthday in November. Michael has been studying WWII in school. We loved listening to her stories about life during the war. I hope my memory is as clear as hers is when I'm her age. We love you grandma!

Michael earned another 8 merit badges. Game design, American Cultures, Indian Lore, Entrepreneurship, Citizenship in the Nation, Geocaching, Reptile Study and Cycling. It was a special night also because Todd received the On my Honor leadership award. 

I have been babysitting my cousin's baby occasionally on Thursdays. Sara asks me EVERY morning if he gets to come that day. Our girls LOVE to have a baby in the house!

Luke wearing his turkey hat that he made at school.

The kids and I made name tags for the Thanksgiving table.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Stepan's that were in town. It was a lovely day. I have so much to be Thankful for. I love this season.

To wrap up this review of November, I'm including some pictures of our kids playing at the park on Thanksgiving weekend.