joy to the world

Tonight, as I sit here hoping that three very excited kiddos are somewhere close to slumbering, I reflect on a near-perfect day spent with my four favorite people in the whole world.

And I declare, LIFE REALLY IS GOOD.

Much, much better than I deserve.

Merry Christmas to all.

And may you be more blessed than you deserve.

some sights

hee,hee.
this is me...

just a couple of the things we've been up to...

santa and rudolph made a stop at our gingerbread house

rockin' the school parties

santa (aka the school janitor) had the nerve to tell austin he had never heard of a husky webkinz
(it was pajama day)


grandma's annual christmas party was a fantastic time
family memories make for a great holiday spirit

cookie decorating at mike and jen's

lots of fun times spent at grandpa and grandma's house playing games, going to the movies, riding go-carts, playing more games, watching tv, making goodies, playing games, and even a personal visit from santa

and our favorite...grandma's cookie jar
carson is caught in the act
again

the packages are wrapped, the baking mostly done, the shopping finished
and we are excited to look at lights tonight
and then tomorrow is christmas eve!!
enjoy!!!!

naughty...or nice?

Christmas must be getting close.
It's definitely in full swing around here.
Our advent activities have been great. Well some days better than others.
I think our favorite day (something new we did this year) was our Random Acts of Kindness Day.
Hopefully we helped spread some Christmas cheer to friends and strangers.

There has also been another Santa sighting.


The older kiddos got the chance to go skiing for the day on Saturday with my sister and her husband. (We swapped kids...and I got to keep my niece, aka the world's most perfect baby.) So I walked with the kids to some local businesses for some holiday fun.

We couldn't believe Santa was nice enough to bring Prancer along.

Fiona liked him much better than Santa.

And also this dude.
Austin thinks all nutcrackers are evil.
And he told him so.


The lady who was letting the kids in to see Santa told Austin to make sure he was all prepared to tell the jolly guy EXACTLY what he wanted for Christmas.
Austin got nervous and started practicing so he would be ready.
"I want a Husky Webkinz for Christmas. PLEASE."
"I want a Husky Webkinz for Christmas. PLEASE."
"I want a Husky Webkinz for Christmas. PLEASE."

You see, months ago, Austin saw a little stuffed husky in Fred Meyer that he thought looked so soft and cuddly and he just wanted it more than he has ever wanted anything. You know the story.
Ever since then, that has been what he has wished for from Santa this year.

Oh, if every child were so easy to please!

However, as it turned out, Santa was all about the posing and not the conversing.
So Austin took matters into his own hands and said, "I need to tell you what I want!"
And Santa, with what I swear was a twinkle in his eye, said,"I already know what you want."
Austin wasn't sure at first until he remembered the letter. A-HA.

A week or two ago, I included an activity to write letters to Santa. It was mostly for the youngest child. But I included the older two kids if they were interested.


Austin's letter said,

Dear Santa,
Thank you!!!!!!!
I am on the nice list.
I want a huske webkinz and legos.
Love, Austin

No big surprises.
Except maybe the nice list part.

Carlie wrote one, too.
She didn't quite want to make any assumptions.
She said she was on the nice list "(or at least close)."

Carson, though, was having one of those nights.
Or maybe one of those weeks.
Definitely not on the nice list.
You know what I'm talking about. We all have them.
But it was bringing me down, man.


After he went to bed, I saw that he had written on his letter at some point.
It was not very kind.
It was a written a little out of spite, I think.
It had something to do with asking Santa to make his family stop being such jerks.

I thought we needed to go have a discussion with him.
Chris thought he needed some space and some sleep.

The next day he came home from school, did his homework, and went up to his room.
I thought he was reading.
But later I found this letter that he had left for me.

Dear Santa,
I am working on getting to the nice list, but I'm not sure I've made it yet. Did you know you are the best guy? Thank you very much for all the presents and gifts you've given me in the past years. :) :) :)
Are all your reindeer behaving for you? (especially Comet! :) I hope you are on track with all the toys this year.
[He lists a few things he would like this year, then says...]
Those are few things I like. Thanks again for all the presents you've given me.
(I'm working on not being such a crusty grump to my family.)
Sincerely,
Carson S.

I think he may have just saved himself from a Christmas morning encounter with a lump of coal.
Merry Christmas.

all aboard!

We took a great trip on...


After Austin got his ticket stamped and saw that it said "Believe," he was thrilled.
And Santa rewarded him with his very own bell.


Carlie thought it was great fun, but wasn't too impressed that Santa called her "Harley" and didn't even want to know what anyone wanted for Christmas.


And this must have been a magical journey that truly brought out the believers.
Cuz I haven't seen this in quite some time.

we are capable of so much more

This video has nothing to do with Christmas.

And yet, it has absolutely EVERYTHING to do with it.

It's only 2.48 minutes.
And it might make you want to do just a bit more today.



We all have 5.5L of blood.

more white stuff

I found some more snowy pictures.
These were taken on the very first day we got snow.
There wasn't very much.
And you couldn't pack it to build anything or even really make a snowball.
But, of course, the first snowfall is always a thrill.
So they got all bundled up.
But it was freezing out there!
The wind was blowing so hard.
Thus, the goggles.

When I saw this picture, I got a little emotional.
I love it.
Something about the cute little smiles.
They look like twins when they are all covered up.
They really are such good kids.

And they seemed to be having a great time out there together.

And then I see there's some hands-free snacking going on.
Yes, they are eating the snow off of the rings.

But when I see this human-ramp activity, I start feeling emotional for other reasons.

I love you, you little freaks.

our thanksgiving

We spent a great Thanksgiving with my in-laws.
I'm sure the peace and quiet was divine once we cleared out, but it was a fun four days.

It was looking more like Christmas than Thanksgiving with all the snow dumping down on us.

So we made the most of it.
The kids loved the sledding...day and night.
Especially once they could pull out the runner-sleds and get going down the hill.
The runner-sled legends will live on! (They can't believe their dad used to hop on these sleds and ride them down the hill to school.)

The rest of our time was spent indoors by the fire playing games, watching football, and watching Christmas movies.
Thank goodness for the Hallmark channel.
It definitely gave us happier endings than the football.

Oh, and of course...the big dinner was delicious.
As Austin came in and observed grandma preparing the turkey, he asked,
"Wow, did you catch that turkey?"
He was impressed.

And we ate more pies than any of us would have thought possible.
A seriously large number of pies.

Oh,and it turns out, the Thanksgiving jello salad also doubles as a nice hair gel.

After we returned home, it felt like we needed a little Christmas around here.
So we got busy putting up our tree.

And because I enjoy helping people out and giving them great holiday advice...
I just want to share this helpful tidbit:

If you decide to do lots of Christmas shopping before going away for Thanksgiving Break and then you come back from shopping in a really big hurry because the kiddos will be walking in the door any second from school and you decide to stash some stuff you picked up for your husband in the garage in an empty spot you see on a shelf and just quickly throw a random blanket over it thinking that you will wrap them up when you get back into town so that he won't ever see them and you can actually surprise him with something this year,
then DO NOT pick the spot that is right on top of the box that holds the Christmas tree and if you DO pick that spot then DON'T start ordering him to go bring in the tree so the family can get started putting it up and decorating it
because you just might find yourself a bit disappointed when he calls, "um, honey..."

Phew.
You're welcome for that.

maybe I am still young at heart

...because I have never enjoyed a snow day more in my whole life.

Maybe I have and it'd just been so long that I couldn't remember what a snow day felt like.

But I loved it.

And maybe it's because I had a million things on my to-do list and I had to toss that aside and enjoy getting none of it done.

We had so much snow.
We always find snow to play in...but we usually have to go somewhere other than our own yard to find it...so it was great just getting out of bed and playing with the neighbors. Chris shoveled the sidewalk and then started a massive snowball fight with all the kids. And then he had to leave. No snow day for the teachers.

But the rest of us played in the gorgeous snow, watched a Christmas movie, played board games in front of the fireplace, baked cookies, and drank tons of marshmallows with some hot cocoa mixed in.

Here's the cookie recipe. Make them, and then thank me.

And it was the first day of December! What a perfect way to start the month. We were all excited to start our advent again. I love focusing on service, time together, and the Savior as we enjoy this amazing season. This little snow day was the most perfect reminder to chill out and enjoy life. What a little blessing.