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 Believe it or not, it has been ten years since we got married!  We took advantage of the occasion (and my parents' generosity!) to take a little 2-day trip up to the Cities to celebrate.  It was so much fun to talk uninterrupted, eat at a nice restraunt, go to dinner and a movie without worrying about being too long for whoever was watching the kids, wander the maze of the indoor subway in downtown Minneapolis, do sealings at the temple, sleep in, and hang out!  I was worried I'd have a hard time leaving the kids, but besides the first 15 minutes of the drive I didn't worry at all, and by the time we were done, I would have gone again the next weekend.  :)  The first 10 years have been a wonderful adventure… here's to forever!
 

Remember that song from the Forgotten Carols?  I have always hated that song.  Thank goodness I had been listening to the soundtrack from Les Mis today and had better things running through my head… otherwise, I probably would have cried as I took the tree down all alone.  I thought it would be easier without the kiddos (which it was) but I missed having someone to reminisce as I took down each ornament and packed them away… like the one Zach chose a couple of years ago that he broke before we even made it to the checkout…  

And so I don't forget; this is how Carter would set up the Fisher Price nativity set, saying to himself, "Mary, baby Jesus, Uncle Joe…" , because for some reason Joseph has always been Uncle Joe to him.  

 

And I loved how Zach and Emma had set up my big nativity… I always put it with the shepherds on one side, the wise men trailing outside on the other; but they had made sure everyone, animals and all, were as close to baby Jesus as they could get.  :)  Smart kids.  

 

I think next year I will hold out (till April, if I must) for help – but more importantly, company – to take down the tree.  

 

Welcome to a place where almost EVERY DAY is a birthday.  Emma's baby Ellie has had enough birthdays since Christmas to make her older than Emma!  And Emma sure knows how to throw a party.  Hats, presents (wrapped, of course), cake… the whole nine yards.  This day it was TWO birthdays.  And it's hard to tell who has more fun – the "birthday girl", or Emma.  :)

Emma is no longer a sunbeam, and she is the proud owner of a new CTR ring.  She was SO excited.

 

Carter stayed in nursery THE WHOLE TIME!  Without screaming.  He got some new teachers (guys this time) and somehow that made all the difference in the world.  He was pretty proud of himself, and we were so happy he was happy!  (He is approaching 21 months and it is about time…) 

 

And I got a picture of Zach (which seem to be few and far between lately… he is rarely in a cooperative photo mood and I have to catch him unawares… I'm afraid I ruined him with the family Christmas picture…)

 
 
 

Zach and Emma had to poke and prod and really try hard to wake Carter up at 7… (although at 2am he was demanding cereal, funny kid.)  Luckily, Santa had come, which quickly cheered him up.  Zach spent the morning building Legos with Nate, too busy to eat.  Carter spent the day eating m&m's (mostly off of his racetrack.)  And Emma spent the day feeding her new baby Ellie.  Can you see why I don't cook on Christmas day?  :)  It was a Star Wars, Bitty baby, racetrack Christmas.  And with Nate off for the next week, we've been enjoying it ever since!   Merry Christmas!  

 

 

 
  

We spent Christmas Eve…

Building a snowman (and a snow-elf, can you tell?) in the rain (yes, rain on Christmas eve in MN!) because it was finally warm enough to make the snow packable!  

 

Making cookies for Santa (and setting out bowls of carrots for the reindeer)

 

Wearing our Christmas Eve pajamas practically all day (why not??) 

Tracking Santa with NORAD (Carter called it the "Santa cracker" and the "Santa tractor")

Watching Disney's "Prep and Landing" (which has become a family favorite!)

Having a Christmas Eve concert/program planned and presented by Zach and Emma 

And the kids gave me the best present of all… they sat still and all looked and all smiled so I could take a picture of the 3 of them… and it only took 2 tries.  

 

This year, I FINALLY got our advent calendar done.  And with the idea from an extremely creative friend, I put an activity in each day of something fun to do.  It was so much fun.  Here are some of the things we did:  

take Christmas card pictures (never mind that we didn't end up using them…)

Write (and deliver) letters to Santa

  
 

play Christmas bingo with Grandma and Grandpa Adams

make and decorate sugar cookies with neighbors (boys were too busy playing Star Wars legos, but aren't the girls so cute!)

 

make gingerbread ornaments for the tree (out of applesauce and cinnamon – they smelled so good!)

 

make our annual gingerbread house (done this time with a surprising amount of cooperation!)

 

family fondue night

 

watch the Grinch (perhaps Carter's favorite part of the holiday season… he wanted to watch it every night after.)

It was such a fun way to fit all the things we wanted to do into the busy season.  Next year, we'll take more pictures!

 
 
 

 
 
  
 
 

 

A:  The boxes they came in.  Seriously, they played in them for 2 entire days.  

  

 1:00 church is rough on Carter.  He usually gets a short nap before church that helps a little, but not this day.  He fell asleep in the car on the way home and there was no waking him up.  In a few more weeks (with 9:00 church) this will be all of us after lunch!  Hooray!

 Emma came home from a friends' birthday party with way too much fun stuff to eat and do.  So here she is trying to fit it all in at once.  She will be a great mother.