New Year's Eve

 

Snacks anyone?

Mom works ALL DAY preparing the amazing food we feast on until midnight.

Kyron could feel the excitement in the air as party preparations were being made.

He was cracking us up with his little poses!

But I think the most excited of them all was this little girl!  She talks about the New Year's Eve party all through the year--the snacks, the games, and STAYING UP UNTIL MIDNIGHT!  She LOVES it all!

Lillian snuggling up with her unicorn for a quick power nap before midnight...little did she know her Uncle Jared was following her lead--complete with unicorn snuggles!

I don't know when "Ringing" in the New Year turned into all the crazy noise makers we use now--but there's never a doubt when the clock strikes midnight at this party!

Tired Kyron wondering what all the fuss is about!

Still working on those selfies, but so thankful I have this handsome face and loving  heart to greet me everyday of 2022 and beyond!

Christmas with Family

I love how much fun this clan has together!  Every morning before Dean and Andrea's boys arrived at Grandma's, I would be asked every 5 seconds, "When are the cousins coming?"  So thankful for time with family--it fills my bucket to overflowing to spend time with them.  What a strength family love can be.

The patience all the older cousins showed Kyron was very sweet.

Kyron absolutely loved this little pinball machine--he obviously has his Dad's blood running through him!

Getting so spoiled by Grandparents!

Playing games and spending time with Grandma and Pap Pap was always a highlight of my day.

And I loved Janna's reaction when she tried  her hand massager.  When it turned on, she declared, "WOW!"

 

Christmas Morning

We had the privilege of celebrating Christmas morning at my parents house in Pennsylvania.

And yes, that unicorn is bigger than Lillian

Kyron LOVES his new little Thomas the Train toy.  It's a remake of one of the truck toys my brothers played with and it was just as fun watching it run with Kyron as it was for me as a kid.

Hylie got some 'tattoo pens' and went slightly overboard with her creativity.  Thankful we don't let her do real ink! 😳 However, the ink proved more permanent than advertised and we had to take drastic measures to clean up her skin before attending church that week...after that we made sure Hylie used her pens sparingly. Ha ha!

Lillian melted my heart when she gave me this picture.  How I pray that at Christmas and throughout the year our family will be able to stay focused on the One who made it possible to improve, to renew, to repent, and to return.  

 

Family Gift Exchange

December is such a long month for kids--waiting for the day to finally come where they get to open the presents they've been staring at for what feels like years.  

I enjoy going shopping with all the kids to pick out things for their siblings.  Each year the kids get more and more thoughtful about what their family member would like as opposed to what they personally would like.  Every one seemed pretty tickled with the gifts they received as well as enjoyed watching others open their surprises.

Kyron didn't waste any time to start playing with his Play-Doh Dinosaur!

 

Christmas Cookies

The kiddos were sure to include Christmas cookies on their list of activities for the season!

Kyron enjoying a Thomas the Train book with Dad while the cookies baked and cooled.

Hylie showing off her mad piping skills!

Kyron was all about 'eat while you go'.  It was pretty tricky to keep him from devouring each cookie after he decorated it.  Tears were shed but...

He found joy in decorating/playing with sprinkles and that distracted him from going into a sugar coma for the night.

And after the kids were in bed, I took the time to do some decorating on my own!

Christmas Festivities!

Christmas fun started off with a bang when we got to visit with the merry man himself at our ward Christmas party!

 The party was complete with the always entertaining, unrehearsed children's version of the birth of the Savior!  Hylie was a wise woman, Eliana an angel, and Lillian a sheep.  They thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it, and we all thoroughly enjoyed watching them participate!

This picture cracks me up because it looks like the sheep were having a little 'situation' on stage.  Ha ha!

Guess who was a little excited to decorate the tree?

Tree decorating never stopped with this guy.  Anytime I turned around, he had a collection of ornaments arranged in crazy concoctions!

I'm glad I got this dapper outfit documented because this is the ONLY time Kyron wore it!  Whenever I tried to get him to put the suit coat on, he would look at me like I had two heads and say, "But Mom, I already have a shirt on!"