December

For the past couple of years I’ve journaled my December as a whole and I kind of like seeing it altogether, so here it goes again – longest blog post ever.

Sunday, December 1st

• We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving week in St. George and Las Vegas and December 1st was our LONG driving home day.

Monday, December 2nd

• Decorating the Tree for FHE.  Chris and Ryan pulled out our fake Christmas tree from the storage room and had it put up and plugged in in minutes.  Oh how I love a good fake tree!  We had a real one in Germany for the past three years – which was wonderful but it took so long to put up, dry out in the Garage, and string lights – not to mention the pine needles and watering.  This was blissfully simple and the ornaments actually stay where you put them.  We listened to Christmas music and then ate donuts and drank Stephens Candy Cane hot chocolate to celebrate.  It was both wonderful and depressing to get our Germany Christmas Market mugs out.  We’ll definitely be missing a German Christmas this year.

One thing I did that was new this year was wrap up all of our Christmas stories.  The kids had fun picking one and unwrapping it to read.  First one of the year… Llama Llama Holiday Drama.

Tuesday, December 3rd

• Got the rest of the Christmas decorating done… mostly.  It’s harder when it’s a new house and you don’t know exactly where to put everything. 

New Christmas Pillow

Two small German Christmas pyramids – Chris and I bought them on a Seiffen Trip earlier this year but this is their first Christmas.

Father Christmas Trio – the two right ones from St. Petersburg.  The left one from Prague.

Our German Schwibbogen with a new ‘little Johnson family’ of Christmas Market figurines.   Mine is the one drinking hot chocolate, of course.

Nutcrackers have overtaken my kitchen.  Here are 5 of 21 throughout the house.

Wednesday, December 4th

• Everyone kept talking about the big snow storm that was going to start on Wednesday so the kids were hoping to wake up to a ‘SNOW DAY’ announcement but didn’t.  It was just starting to snow when they all left for school, and it snowed ALL DAY LONG.  By 3:00 my busy Wednesday evening was completely free.  Ryan, Katie, Emily and Megan’s Piano – Cancelled.  Emily’s All-State Choir Practice – Cancelled.  Ryan’s Soccer practice – Cancelled.   Megan & Emily Basketball Practice – Cancelled.  YM/YW – Cancelled.   It was fabulous.  More Christmas Bedtime Stories…

Thursday, December 5th   SNOW DAY

• Yeah, our first SNOW DAY of the season.  We slept in, stayed at home, got working on some school projects the kids had due soon, watched Little House on the Prairie by the fire and drank hot chocolate.  Soccer practice – Cancelled.  Gymnastics – Cancelled. 
• Matthew sure loves having his big brother home.  He stuck to him like glue.  Here they are watching a movie on Ryan’s iPhone together in Ryan’s room.

Friday, December 6th   SNOW DAY

• The Jackson kids came over wanting to play in the snow so Ryan, Katie, Emily and Megan bundled up and headed out to play.  It was pretty cold so they didn’t last too long
• Ryan and Katie had Piano Lessons
• Furniture delivery for our kitchen table, chairs and benches and piece of furniture under our TV
• Chris took Emily and Megan to a Make up session of Gymnastics
• We had the Pattersons over to play Dominion and eat treats
• Ryan went to a Christmas ELF party with his friends

Saturday, December 7th

• It was –5 degrees today.  Unbelievably cold.  
• We had four kids basketball games throughout the day.
• At 6:00 we headed to our church for the Crèche Exhibit.  The Live Nativity outside was cancelled due to the cold but the Crèche Exhibit in the Cultural Hall was really amazing.  The nativity's were displayed by Area’s of the World and it was fun to walk past all the tables to see them all.  After spending some time in the Children’s Nativity Room we headed back to the chapel and listened to the music of a beautiful choir and watched a video on Christ.  A nice evening. 
• When we got home we watched Santa Claus downstairs with popcorn.

Sunday, December 8th

• We had the Harvey’s over to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with us and then eat Peanut Butter Pie.  Great family. 

Monday, December 9th

• Still cold, cold, cold.  When we woke up the sun was shining and it looked beautiful with all the snow everywhere.  It was –2 degrees that morning.  Unbelievably cold.

• Monday Night for FHE we did the Playmobil Nativity Activity.  It had been three years since I’d done it (see here) and thought my little boys, especially, would love it.  I Got the scriptures all ready for each ‘character’ and one by one we read, opened and put together our nativity.  It always makes me emotional explaining to my little ones where Jesus Christ was born.  Fun to see them understanding it.  After it was all set up, I had Luke tell the whole ‘story’ back to us and he did it perfectly!  I wish I had it recorded.  He has such cute expressions, wide eyes and such a personality.

Tuesday, December 10th

• Chris and I spent the night wrapping presents and watched THE HOLIDAY.  Love that one.

Wednesday, December 11th

• Eagles Indoor Soccer game for Ryan
• Piano Lessons for Ryan Katie, Emily and Megan
• Basketball Practice for Megan
• Katie’s CHOIR CONCERT at the Middle School – Chris and Luke went to watch her.
• YW Christmas Party at our house – I talked about Service and read the ‘Jingle Bell Story’ and gave each of the Young Women a jingle bell so they could remember to serve.  Then we ate Squamish Bars and other treats.  Fun to have all the girls over to the house… too bad that Katie’s Choir performance was on the same night – she made it for some socializing at the end though.

Thursday, December 12th

• Indoor Soccer game for Ryan
• Gymnastics for Emily and Megan
• Matthew and I went to the mall in the afternoon and I was excited for him to visit with Santa.  We peered over the second floor to see Santa’s chair and Matthew was SO excited.  Santa was so cute with his ‘workshop clothes’ on and his fun striped socks.  Matt was a little nervous once he got up to him.  When Santa asked him what he wanted, he said, “A Candy Cane thing with M&M’s in it.”  He gets one in his stocking every year and when he saw them at the grocery store the other day he looked at me with big eyes and said, “Santa gets them from here!!”  He sure didn’t want Santa to forget the most important thing in his stocking.   Santa told Matt that if he’d draw a picture for him, Santa would show it to Rudolf.  He talked to him for a long time and Matt just grinned at him.  Then they hugged.  What fun to have a 4 year old at Christmas time.  So much magical Christmas spirit that it made me teary-eyed.  Fun, fun!

Friday, December 13th

• Cordera Ward Christmas Party.  It was a Breakfast for Dinner Party.  The kids wore their pajamas and the Adults had an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest.  The cultural hall was packed tight with tables all decorated in black and white with red accents.  Wrapped presents everywhere and coloring pages with crayons on each table.  We set up a kids table and then sat with the Jacksons and Cooks.  Santa came at the end.  Fun night.  Watched another Christmas movie as soon as we got home.  Love Christmas time.

Saturday, December 14th

• The last 4 Basketball games of the Fall season for Emily, Megan, Luke and Matt.  Emily and Matt were excited to see it come to an end.  Megan and Luke weren’t.  (More to come in January for these two.)
• We got Rebecca to babysit the little kids and took Ryan and Katie to go see the HOBBIT 2 movie and then had dinner at Kneaders.  Really good movie.  Ryan couldn’t stop talking about it for days… actually he hasn’t stopped talking about it.  It’s, of course, his new favorite movie.  Ben and Emma came with us.

Sunday, December 15th

• Sunday night was one of the highlights of the month.  At 6:00 I took Ryan and Katie to the Stake Center and sat and saved seats for the rest of the family while Ryan and Katie had one last rehearsal.  It was the Stake Christmas Music Program and it was really breathtaking.  The youth filled the front and sang The Manger of Bethlehem – which was beautiful.  There were several beautiful musical numbers.  Megan Gillespie sang in one.  Emma played her cello for the entire evening.  Emily and Megan sang ‘He Sent His Son’ in the Primary Choir.  Even singing in the congregation hymns was emotional.  I loved it.  Can’t wait for next year.

Monday, December 16th

• My friends, Sara, Emma and Kristie took me out to Biaggi’s for a late birthday lunch.  We had to postpone it because Luke wasn’t feeling well.  Fun to get together with them and eat good food.  What nice friends I have.
• At 5:30 we headed down to the kids elementary school for Megan’s Tiger Choir Caroling Party.  It was such a great time.  The choir performed a few fantastic songs for us and then we split up into groups and caroled the neighborhood for a half hour before coming back to the school for Christmas goodies.  We caroled in the same group as the Jacksons and had fun chatting.  Matthew saw the group of carolers approaching the first door and said, “Are we Trick or Treating??”  It was pretty funny.

Tuesday, December 17th

• We met at the Chapel Hills Mall at 5:30 to watch Megan’s Tiger Choir perform.  Their Choir teacher is really so amazing.  So glad to have her.  After the performance we ate Chick fil A at the food court, which actually is quite a treat since we never do that and then went back downstairs to “show the rest of the kids, Santa.”  The line was longer than before but they patiently waited. (Megan and her friend, Sara)

• Meeting Santa – everyone but Katie… too much homework.

Wednesday, December 18th

• Piano Lessons, All State Choir
• YW/YM Combined Activity… Christmas Caroling and back to the church for hot chocolate

Thursday, December 19th

Thursday was an exciting day… we got to see our friends, the Crawfords.  They called earlier in the week telling us that they had a wedding in Denver on Friday and would be in early Thursday.  Chris was able to be home early and Ryan was home early because of finals so we picked up the rest of the kids and headed up to the Castle Rock outlets where we found a cozy part of the Food Court to hang out for hours and catch up.  It was so fun to see them and have the kids all together.  Really fun!!  We couldn’t get over how much the kids have grown.  Jim and Marisa look exactly the same.  LOVE THEM.  Luke was only a baby when we saw them last but he was so excited to meet them because of the Disney Cruise video he watches over and over again.  “I’m going to meet the girl who loved me when I was a baby?”  He was pretty excited to meet Tori, who carted him around on her hip the whole Disney vacation. Cute to get Katie and Sophie back together.  { EFY buddies this summer is the plan. } We ate at Chipotle and then said goodbye.  iPhone snap shots of our couple of hours together…

Friday, December 20th

• We woke up Friday to everything Frosted over.  It was beautiful.

Below is a picture of the kids school but it was so foggy you couldn’t see past the curb.

• Friday night we went to the Pattersons for Dinner, Singing Christmas Carols and a White Elephant Party.  Delicious soups and great desserts.  The White Elephant game was pretty funny.  Lots of scheming, stealing and laughter.  I got a One Direction pen/bracelet.  Everyone 12 and older participated and it was a fun group.
• I left the party about 10:00 to go pick up Mike from the Denver Airport.  So excited to have him for the Holidays.

Saturday, December 21st

• Saturday we slept in (a break from Basketball on Saturday mornings) and then went and did some Christmas shopping/errands with Chris, Mike and Katie.  We ate lunch at On The Border.
• In the afternoon we got word that our good friends, the Astons, were making good time and would arrive in Colorado Springs earlier than expected.  We invited them and the Gillespies over for Pei Wei and had fun catching up.  So good to hang out with great friends!!  LOVE THEM!  The kids were so excited to see their friends again.  iPhone pictures to capture the night…

Melissa, Megan and I

The big guys, the girls and the little guys…  So fun that all the groupings work out perfectly!

Sunday, December 22nd

• We woke up to two pans of fresh cinnamon rolls made by the Jacksons – which we ate for breakfast with smoothies after Choir practice and before Church.  Delicious.
• We enjoyed the Christmas Sacrament Program at Church.  Chris and I were in the Choir and sang some really beautiful songs.  Fun to have Mom, Brian and Mike there to celebrate with us.  Dad had a headache so bad he couldn’t come.   In Beehives we watched LDS Christmas videos and ate more cinnamon rolls.
• Sunday night after dinner we took the kids and sang our favorite ‘Goofy Jingle Bells Song’ and delivered Christmas candles to all our friends.
• At the end we stopped by the Gillespies house to visit with the Astons, Pattersons and Dawsons for a few  minutes to see the Astons one more time. 
• At home we played Charades with Grandma, Grandpa, Brian and Mike.

Ready for church

Monday, December 23rd – Christmas Adam

• Christmas Adam was a fun day.  We had errands to run and a trip to the mall.  We wrapped presents, watched Christmas specials, started working on Christmas Eve dinner, Chris made sugar cookies and we were fortunate enough to be audience for the Katie, Emily, Megan, Luke and Matthew Christmas production.  Very fun.  Luke as Santa was definitely a highlight.  Matt wrapped up in a green blanket as ‘the tree’ was a close second.

Mike joining in on the act.

Tuesday, December 24th – Christmas Eve

• (See photos here)
• Waffles for breakfast.
• Quick trip to the mall with Chris and girls to pick out slippers.
• Make Christmas Eve turkey dinner.  Cooked and decorated sugar cookies.
• Ate Dinner
• Enjoyed a Christmas Eve Program with bells, acting out Luke 2, Christmas jammies or slipper presents and pictures with stockings.
• Present wrapping!

Wednesday, December 25th – Christmas Day

• {See photos here}
• Woke up at 6:50 and went down about 7:15 to see what Santa brought.
• Opened our stockings and then stopped to make Christmas breakfast.
• So much fun giving and getting presents!!  So many great moments.
• Cleaned up living room.  Ryan and Grandpa played with their remote control helicopters.
• Played 7 Wonders while Grandma got the leftovers ready for our big Christmas Day Dinner.
• Watched Hunt for Red October
• Skyped Amy.
• Worked on my talk for Church

Thursday, December 26th – Boxing Day

• Worked out with Mom
• Ate leftover Christmas breakfast
• Went to Garden of the Gods and did three different hikes including Redrock Canyon.  So fun!!  {see photos here}
• Went straight to the movie, Walter Mitty, which we all enjoyed.
• Came back home and had Christmas dinner leftovers while watching Monsters University.
• Played 7 wonders while Grandma, Grandpa and the girls played OH HECK.
• Grandpa and the girls hanging out in the front room having good discussions.

Friday, December 27th

• Worked out with Mom
• Went shopping to Chapel Hills mall with Grandma, Grandpa, Mike, Brian and Ryan.  Did some returns and bought some new clothes for Ryan and me. 
• Made spicy chicken dip and guacamole for dinner while we watched Despicable Me 2.
• Wrapped Emily’s birthday presents and went to Target with my Mom.
• Watched the BYU bowl game which we lost.
• Played 7 Wonders with Chris, Ryan, Brian and Mike until 2 in the morning.

Saturday, December 28th – Emily’s Birthday

• Went to Ryan’s Indoor Soccer Game and then out to Kneaders for lunch with G, G, Mike, Brian, Ryan, Chris and I.
• Celebrated Emily’s Birthday with presents and Chocolate Cake and icing (made by Grandma!) {see photos here}.

Sunday, December 29th

• Muffins and Scrambled Eggs for breakfast
• I spoke about Humility in Sacrament Meeting - – nice to have that over.  Fun that my family could be there.
• 3rd hour about Food Storage – we need to get going on that!
• Dinner of Broccoli/Chicken Casserole or ‘Broccoli Pie’ as Katie called it when she was little.
• Watched the movie EPHRAIM’S RESCUE with popcorn.
• Good bye Pictures with Grandma, Grandpa, Brian and Mike – SO much fun to have them all here!!

• More Pandemic and 7 Wonder Games

Monday, December 30th – OUR 18th ANNIVERSARY

• Chris woke up early and drove my parents and Brian to the Denver airport at 5:30am.  Thank you honey!!
• About 2:00 Chris, Mike and I headed up to outside of Denver and went to a movie: CAPTAIN PHILLIPS with Tom Hanks.  We all really enjoyed it.
• We went to the Denver mall and Chris and Mike test drove the new electric $125,000 Tesla while I shopped around.

           

• After taking Mike to the airport Chris and I went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate our 18th Anniversary.  We had the most delicious avocado egg rolls and Chicken Pasta dish.  Yum.   So lucky to be joined to this man.  He’s pretty amazing and I love him now more than ever.

Tuesday, December 31st – NEW YEAR’S EVE

• New Year’s Eve was the only day we didn’t have company over Christmas break and we took the opportunity to host a party for Ryan.  He invited all his friends over for a big Mexican dinner and games before the Formal Multi-Stake New Year’s Eve Dance from 9:00 – 12:15am. 
• Once we got them to the dance we took the rest of the family over to the Wilhelm’s house for a New Year’s Eve Party.  We rang in the New Year drinking Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Juice, popping poppers, giving kisses and watching Fireworks go off at the top of Pike’s Peak.  It was a fun night.  2014 is going to be GREAT.