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Crazy, but true.  Emma walked him to his first day of primary, and he came home with a crown, a project, and some gumballs.  He loved it!  

If it weren't for our friends living in Japan that told us Meg was born in the year of the rabbit, we would have never thought to wonder what 2011 would be.  Lucky for us, 2012 is the year of the dragon!  Which worked out perfectly with the Lego fire dragon Zach got for Christmas, and gave Emma the chance for a dragon puppet art project (right up her alley).  

We went out to a late dinner at Culver's, played Monopoly Jr., ate muddy buddies, and enjoyed staying up until *midnight* – the kids yelled on the deck, toasted the new year with Sprite, and Zach claims "I fell asleep at 12:03, I was so tired!"  Incredibly, Nate and I still had time afterwards to watch a movie… 

We all agreed it was one of the best new years celebrations we'd ever had.  

Meg hasn't seen that many empty laundry baskets in her lifetime.  Too bad… she really enjoyed it!  

Just some of my favorite moments of Christmas 2011:  (FYI, it started at 5:55, after nearly 2 hours of "Is it 6:00 yet???")

Christmas Eve FHE – check.

Reindeer food – check.

Cookies & milk – check.

Christmas Eve jammies – check.

Check Santa's location on the Santa tracker – check.

Make Mom's one Christmas wish come true (a picture of all 4 kids on Christmas Eve) – check.

We are ready for Christmas… are you???

We finally made our annual gingerbread houses with the correct kind of frosting… and it was so fun not having everything slowly slide down the walls!  

Everyone opted for the flat roofs this year, which held up well.  My favorite parts were the details… the snow shovels, sleds, snowmen, and Emma's "Christmas Village" sign.  

Architects from L to R:  Zach, Carter, Emma.  Would you have guessed?

or, "Let it Snow".  Take your pick, we're hoping for something white on the ground tonight!!

Love that in every picture Emma is looking sideways to check on Meg (who wasn't exactly thrilled with Santa.)  And on the left you can see the cute reindeer that she made to give to Santa…

Also, this year Santa had "nice list" stamps… Emma and Carter were nice-list approved; Zach didn't want one (we'll see if he gets coal.)

We went to do the missionary zone conference lunch today at the church, and Carter couldn't get enough of the missionaries.  While we were cleaning up the kitchen, he disappeared… I found him at the gym door, mesmerized by those cool guys in the nametags.  He also helped me clean up, and as he was pushing the huge garbage can back into the kitchen he looked up and said, "I feel happy, Mom!"  It was one of those great mom moments.  I told him missionaries got to feel that all the time!  He can't wait.