I love living so close to my Grandma!  It was so fun to have her join us for gingerbread houses this year!   Besides being always up for an adventure, extremely interesting, and full of great stories, my grandma is just plain fun.  After the houses were finished, she joined Zach in a pioneer trek…

For FHE the week before Christmas, Emma had us draw names for "secret santa service" for the week.  It was fun to see beds mysteriously made, toys sneakily picked up, laundry magically disappearing, people invited to play their favorite games, and anonymous notes left behind… I still smile every time I see this.  

It's getting close… LOVING that this year the advent calendar is finally (after starting it when I was pregnant with Zach) all the way done!   (don't worry, we used it for several years when it was less than completely finished…)

      Apparently he really got the hang of the self-portrait feature this time…

Carter and Emma work on friend gifts while Zach does homework… Carter had so much fun counting out reindeer noses and chanting "Ho ho ho!"

  I sure love watching this kid in his programs.  I seriously can't stop smiling!  He will never sing the songs for me at home, so this is the only chance I get to hear them… and the actions were completely adorable.  Love him walking in with his hands in his pockets, love his nervous…

Except that it's not actually a Christmas book.  But we found it last Christmastime (it was one of our random picks at the library!) and to me it is the epitomy of what the Christmas season is about.  I actually cry every time I read it… because it's so happy, of course.  The story is…

In case we look back and wonder what we did on the "big day": Carter and I made fudge for his teachers, we took 4 kids to get Zach's hair cut (can you say adventure?!), Emma and Carter played "Elves" (read: drag every blanket they own into the "fort" in the family room), we stitched…

If I am very quiet, maybe no one will notice that I snuck out of my bed to sleep by the little Christmas tree at the top of the stairs… … and then even if they catch me, if I stay really quiet, maybe they'll let me sleep there!  

For no one is that more true than Carter, who is out in it every chance he gets.