Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The lack of blogging is not because of lack of activity! Like most people, we had a busy Holiday season. Let's get started with the recap...

Mom and dad met us at the botanical gardens for a member preview of the holiday lights. It was gorgeous! Inside, there was a fantastic piano player and Santa. Outside there were activities for kids and a jazz band playingmusic. 

This tree was made from ferns and orchids.

The boys made bird feeders from pine cones.

Candy cane lane

Drake was talking big, while we were waiting for Santa. "I'm going to tell him I want a blue robot with a blue remote controller that controls the robot." When we got up to the big guy, all Drake could do was move his chin from side to side. He didn't say a word! Lincoln said, " ok, I just want one thing; minecraft."  

For the 3rd year, we have enjoyed the Belmont Christmas parade. This year we had Jack and met some friends from MOPS. Drake scared me when he would dash out in the road the get candy and Dorothy was precious waving to the parade participants!

The ghostbusters car is always a favorite.

Dad watched Drake one Friday, so I could go on a field trip with Lincoln's class. We went to discovery place and ate at showmars after. I love being with Lincoln's class. The kids are so precious!

Dorothy had fun too! Everyone that is around her for a while notices how easy going she is. It is easy to take her places, because she is happy to just observe.

On St. Nicholas day, my brothers and I would anxiously wait for the doorbell to ring and for our stockings to be by the door. This tradition has continued and the kids were thrilled with their loot!

Dorothy snuggled right up to Santa at the MOPS pancake breakfast. Drake had noting to do with him again and Lincoln had a good 15 minute chat with the jolly old man. I was busy waitressing for our fundraiser.

The youth in our ward met at mcadenville to walk through the lights. I brought the boys to walk through with me. Link thought he was hilarious posing with the pretend carolers.

Lincoln got to wear pajamas the Friday before Christmas break. All the kindergartners had tickets to the polar express, where they watched the movie and ate popcorn. We counted down the days until break, because the kids knew Dave and Rachel were coming to visit. Plus, they were bringing the puppies!

There was a whole lot of chasing while they were here: the boys and puppies slept very well at night.

 

Rachel and I went to Hickory for a great cookie and ornament exchange party. Dave and Dave went to the panthers game and also did some woodworking on the lathe. On Christmas Eve, the group went to Big Hero 6 at the theater (Drake was beside himself excited to go and get popcorn.). The adults watched movies and talked at night. It was just a great visit with our dear friends!!

While all of this was going on, Dave and I were working frantically to remodel our kitchen. We were able to finish the big stuff, so that we had a functioning kitchen. What's Christmas without cookies?!

On Christmas Eve, Lincoln's first tooth fell out. He pulled it out himself! He thought it was pretty special the tooth fairy and Santa would come the same night. He told me they would probably slap hands. Here is his new smile. It won't be like this for long, because the one beside is loose now.

We don't do a ton of gifts for the kids; they got what they asked from Santa and were busy playing with toys the whole day. I would love to say they reflected on the birth of Christ, but they are too young to get it. We read scriptures each night about His birth, we had family home evenings using our nativity sets and we talked a ton about it; but presents just trumps it right now. I always love this time when there are more opportunities to serve and more reflecting on being Christlike. 

We had a few days alone and then we lucky to have Grandma and Papa Shinsel come for a visit.

The kids kept them busy reading, chasing, and playing board games. Dave was supposed to have the week off, but ended up working the entire time, even staying up until 4 in the morning working on projects. 

We were able to venture out a few times. 

The kids still talk about Sky High. It is a huge  indoor  trampoline park. Even the adults get to jump!

We visited the gardens.

The weather was gorgeous, so we spent some time at the park.

On New Years Eve, we watched How to Train a Dragon 2, ate finger foods and drank fancy juice. The kids still had to go to bed at their normal time. They don't know about staying up until midnight yet. I'll try to keep that a secret for a while! 

We celebrated Maxine and Dave's birthdays the day before they had to go. Dave chose a great Mexican restaurant for dinner and after we had dessert at our house. My mom came down for the fun and made dark chocolate brownies for Maxine.

Lincoln had a hard time saying goodbye; he was crying in grandma's arms and talking about how long it would be until he saw them again. Living on the other side of the country is rough, but I'm so thankful we have things like Skype and FaceTime to make it easier.