Christmas Eve at The Ranch

I was so excited for Christmas Eve this year because Mom and Dad are home from their mission and we could do Christmas Eve at the Ranch!  Christmas Eve anytime is my favorite evening of the year, and having it at the Ranch makes it all the more sweet.  We got to enjoy delicious Mexican food for dinner!  Mark cooked up his famous Mexican steak and chicken for the occasion.  I find it funny that one of his signature dishes for family parties happens to be Mexican.  I love how culturally diverse his tastes are.

After dinner we dressed up and headed down to the barn for the Nativity reenactment. Brian got to be Joseph this year and Timmy was a shepherd again.

Back up at the house we finished the reenactment with King Herod and the Three Wise Men.  Uncle Richard was also back from a mission in Canada so we were graced with his rendition of King Herod again!  It's never the same without Uncle Richard.

Since my parent's mission in Mexico we have added the tradition of a pinata on Christmas Eve.  This was Brian and Timmy's favorite part.

It was a glorious night and even more fun with the kid's excitement for the next morning!

Some Christmas Season Moments

Brian's First Primary Talk

This was one of my favorite moments from this Christmas season.  At the end of his first year in Primary, Brian got his chance to give a talk.  He was so excited, and he practiced as hard as he could.  The theme for the month was about Jesus Christ, so he just told the Primary what he knew about the life of Christ using pictures.  Watching him give that talk all by himself in front of the whole Primary was a serious proud mommy moment for me.  Everyone was riveted on his little figure and listened intently to his darling little voice that gets higher when he says his prayers or gives a talk.  It really was a special moment.  At the end it was silent in the room, and every teacher there had tears in their eyes.  This little special soul of ours really brought the spirit into that room as he shared his testimony and love for Jesus Christ with his friends in Primary.  Helping him prepare his talk and then watching him give it really helped us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year. I learned so much from this simple experience and I am so blessed to be this little guy's mom.  The following movie is Brian giving his talk to us later that night.

Playing The Cello With Mandy

Another favorite thing I loved about Christmas this year was the motivation it gave me to pull my cello out of the closet.  This is Mandy's last Christmas here in our basement, and we were asked to play twice in church, once in Relief Society and then again in Sacrament meeting.  Mandy actually played another time in Sacrament with her violin student in our Ward.  It was so fun for me to play probably for the last time with her before they move to their new house!  I love playing with my sisters and I wish it could happen more often.  For the Sacrament meeting number we came up with our own violin/cello/piano arrangement from the Piano Guy's arrangement of O Come Emanuel.  My Mom drove all the way from Oakley to play the piano with us.  Nothing is better that playing with my sisters AND my mom.  I absolutely love the following video and I watched it many times this season.

Decorating The Tree

The boys got as far as the candy canes and their help ended there.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses

Brian did much of this himself.

Visiting With Santa

Decorating and Eating Cookies With Cousins

Painting Part of a DIY Nativity Set

 Yes, Timmy painted his sheep purple and it was actually quiet a good paint job for a two year old.

Enjoying The Snow

Just Reveling in the General Christmas Excitement

Sami Claus Party

The last few Christmases my parents have been on a mission, so we missed a few years of one of my favorite traditions.  Since before I was born, my mom's side of the family celebrated the Swiss-German Sami Claus day on December 6.  I remember those family parties when I was a child and there was always such an air of joy, fun and anticipation each year.  I am grateful my mom is willing to continue the tradition and that Sami Claus is so willing to attend.

Sometime before the party, my mother meticulously made graham cracker gingerbread houses for every grandchild in attendance.  Then she had bowls and bowls of candy and little bags of icing and the kids went to town on decorating their very own little gingerbread houses.  Brian looks at his and talks about it every single day since the party. He is so proud that he decorated it all by himself.  Timmy mostly enjoyed eating the candy.

After a delicious dinner that included cheese and chocolate fondue, we sang carols while waiting for Sami Claus to arrive.

Allison took this beautiful picture of Sami Claus trudging through the snow to visit us all.  Somehow I was so focused on what was happening with the kids inside that I missed taking in the beauty of the Ranch on that day.  I love this picture.

The kids loved visiting with Sami Claus and getting a stocking full of goodies and toys.  I think they may have felt so comfortable because Sami Claus' voice sounded much like Grandpa's voice.

Thank you Mom and Dad so much for all the work and love and time you put into the Sami Claus party this year.  It was unforgettable and I love that my kids get to participate in such a fun and memorable tradition.

Temple Square Visit

Our little trip to see the lights at Temple Square was a smashing success this year.  It was warm (for December), there were not many people there, and the boys loved every minute.

I think we started a tradition last year of taking TRAX downtown.  Our boys will not have it any other way from now on I think.  They love riding the train.  It was Timmy's favorite part for sure.  Brian says he likes everything about the trip.

We ate dinner at City Creek and let the boys get some energy out at the dinosaur play area there.

Then we crossed the street and enjoyed the beauties of Temple Square at Christmas time.

Thankful Turkeys

Before we get any further into December and Christmas celebrations, I want to record our Thanksgiving happenings.  If I were to give one word that summed up our Thanksgiving experience, it would have to be TURKEYS!  My own two little turkeys made more turkeys and learned more about turkeys than I thought possible.  With all of Brian's preschool projects combined with Timmy's gym class projects and their make up home projects we are definitely all turkey crafted out.  It was really fun though and both boys loved all the turkeys.  The few in the picture below are seriously only a few from the piles of turkey crafts.

We did make a simple Thankful Turkey this year and put a feather on every day that listed something we were grateful for.  I am glad we did this because it gave the boys a visual and I think by the end even Timmy understood what being thankful means.  He was coming up with some good ones without any prompting from me.  Here's a few things we are thankful for this year:
Brian - bed, popcorn, Heavenly Father, friends, everything, the whole earth, our furniture, our city and country, our bedrooms, tables, chairs and couches
Timmy - trains, my bed, mommy's car, our house, my mama and baby giraffe, fishy crackers, my owl, oatmeal, tennis, excavator tractors.
Mom - our neighborhood, my parents, my bed, our warm house, Mark's job, my phone, clothes, the gym, my two little boys.
Dad - computers, cars, yummy food, my bed, socks.

We were lucky this year to have TWO Thanksgiving dinners.  We went to the Ranch for Thanksgiving lunch and to the Hsiao house for Thanksgiving dinner.  I got pictures at the Ranch and only one from the Hsiao house.  I must have been tired by the end of the day.  My mom completely outdid herself with the Thanksgiving presentation and the food this year.  It was amazing!

 Brian is seriously beyond happy when he's with his cousins.

Not only did my mom have the whole place decorated and a huge feast of delicious food, but she also had little fun things for the kids to do, like making apple candy turkeys.  My boys were in Heaven.  Timmy ate his (including the apple) too fast for me to get a picture.

We did make it down to the Hsiao house for even more delicious food.  They even ordered duck for the special occasion, which made Mark's Thanksgiving for sure.  Then we had a sleep over there which the boys loved.  The next morning Mark spent hours cutting lots and lots of trees with his dad.  They did so much work!  It was a little nerve wracking watching Mark way up in the tree with his huge chainsaw.  He displayed some more hidden talents of his.  He is really really good with a chainsaw and incredibly spry when it comes to climbing trees.

It was a wonderful, lovely, thankful Thanksgiving full of food, family, fun and turkeys!