Christmas Day

The girls were sure glad that Santa made a stop at Grandma and Grandpa's house for them!  We had a sweet, quiet (and white!) Christmas morning.

Hylie was super excited to get her "fridgit" spinner!

Grandpa also helped Lillian realize she had some mad standing skills!  The novelty wore off fast though and anytime she sensed we were setting her up to stand, she'd buckle at the knees!

Later, Grandma hosted a very nice Christmas dinner and afterwards Grandpa orchestrated the little ones in putting on a nativity.  Andrea was able to bring over some costumes used at the church and it was a treat to watch the kids play all the parts.

 Eliana played an inn keeper, angel, and wise man

Lillian stayed on the sidelines as a sheep

 Hylie was excited to play the part of Mary

It seems every year my appreciation, understanding, and love of the Savior grows.  I am so grateful He came to this Earth to show us how to live and that He made it possible for us to progress, repent, and return to our Heavenly Home.

Time with Family

Hylie and Eliana were elated to play all day with cousins.  It was really fun to watch Eliana want to be in all the action--especially after how reserved she was last year.  Lillian, on the other hand, wasn't digging all the attention and activity.  Instead of warming up to everyone during the visit, she became more and more clingy to Mom.  Hopefully next year she'll realize how much fun everyone is and get into all the action.

Our visit was also sprinkled with stomach bugs and fevers and poor Geoff seemed to get the brunt of it!  Thankfully it was a short-lived sickness for everyone, and after illness passes, I know I recognize how blessed we are to have such amazing health 99% of the time!

Lillian wanted to wear glasses just like her sisters!

 This little stinker rarely took naps while we were there.  One time I let her cry herself to sleep and when I went in to peek on her, this is how she was positioned!  Crazy!  (The nap lasted for maybe 20 minutes that day...)

We keep talking to Eliana about becoming a big girl and no longer putting fingers in her mouth.  While in PA, Grandpa would tease her and ask if he could suck on her free fingers.  At first, she'd immediately pull her fingers out of her mouth and go off to play--but then her thinking process changed and she figured if she put ALL her fingers in her mouth, there wouldn't be any left for Grandpa!  Oh my!

Bridger had to find out the hard way that Lillian hasn't quite figured out this sharing thing...

 Lillian definitely became a pro at climbing stairs during our stay!

 I don't think a family gathering can be complete anymore unless you play "Speak Out", right?  Hylie was thrilled when Janna surprised us with our very own edition, complete with little kid mouth pieces!  (Gotta love the static-filled hair, too!)

This cutie is ready to go out and play in the snow!

Amy and Hylie were joined at the hip!  It was fun to see these two have so much fun together.

Eliana making sure she wasn't missing out on any of the fun!

For Christmas, Geoff got a raspberry pi which he programmed so he could play a lot of retro video games.  All the kiddos were pretty excited to try out these oldies but goodies!

Sledding Fun!

Dean and Andrea organized a trip to a near-by park for some ultimate sledding fun!  Geoff took a very excited Hylie and they had a wonderful (and cold!) time.

Family Christmas

This year, we decided to have the majority of gifts exchanged from family and then Santa would fill stockings and bring one gift.  So before we headed to Pennsylvania, we had our family gift exchange.  The girls all seemed to enjoy their new things and Geoff and I were so glad it kept them busy while we tried to prep everything to hit the road the next morning.

Christmas cookies

We took a Saturday to get our baking on and knocked out quite a few Christmas cookies and the girls enjoyed putting together a Christmas train from one of those handy kits!

I was excited to put the train on the table as a center piece, but then Lillian wouldn't eat her dinner because she was too busy pointing to the candy train insisting we feed her that...so our train had to go into hiding!  Ha ha!

This year I decided to give pomegranate seeds as gifts to the teachers.  The girls helped paint the jars and fill them and it turned out pretty cute!

Christmas Time at the Woodhouses

December was full of Christmas happenings all around our home.  We kept busy, but we enjoyed every second of the preparations and celebrations.

At the beginning of the month, we pulled out our little tree and had fun making it festive!

Last year, Dean and Andrea gave us "25 Days of Christ" which gives your family an opportunity to have a daily Christ-centered devotional and make a craft based on what you learned about the Savior.  I love that the kids beg us to do this--but I admit, we haven't been able to squeeze it in every single day.  So for our family, it looks like it's the "3-year-program 25 days of Christ".  We got up to day 18 this year, so I'm hopeful we'll complete all the ornaments next year and then continue to enjoy the devotionals each Christmas season.

All throughout the month of December, I would find drawings like this around the house that Hylie created.  I hope the reason of the season will always resonate with her.