December has come and gone

Here's a recap of our December activities (at least the ones we took pictures of).

Our ward Christmas party. Who can keep the spoon on their nose the longest? LOL!

Regan's piano recital. She did a great job! (Sorry, no video. It was taking WAY too long to upload).

Grayson's Christmas concert. He wouldn't keep his santa hat on, so you're just going to have to imagine how cute he is in it. (Again, no video. Sorry)

Grayson's "Christmas around the world" party at school. They "visited" Mexico, Germany, America, and Sweden.

Oh, what do you do on the first night of your Christmas/Winter Break from school? Build forts in the living room, of course. Regan, Lisa and Grayson all had a special place of their own to sleep. Good times!!

We spent Christmas Eve with our friends, the Stuckis. We ate a yummy ham dinner, played games, opened new pjs, and enjoyed a special story from the kids. Regan and Caleb read us "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

Tanner LOVED Lydia!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone!

Someone loved the orange and clementine in his stocking. And after eating his, he ate Grayson's and tried to eat everyone else's. Funny boy!

So this is the BEST Lemon Meringue pie ever! Jim made this pie all by himself. The picture makes it look burnt, but it wasn't. It was the perfect brown color and oh, so good. We couldn't wait to eat it after our yummy dinner with the Roberts.

Alan and Linette Roberts (the kids' local grandparents) came over to share Christmas dinner with us and to enjoy the kids. Their girls both live far away, so we were happy to have some "family" with us on this special day.

So many presents to open! This year we had a "homemade" Christmas. It turned out so great, and the kids had a great time coming up with gift ideas for each other. Some of them were: wooden farm set for the boys (cut out by Dad, sanded and painted by the girls), rubberband guns for the boys, lap desks for the girls, crocheted slippers and hair bows for the girls, pj bottoms, bookmarks, and magnets. It was a lot of fun to watch both the giver and the receiver get excited for the present. There's definitely something to be said about gifts from the heart.

2009 comes to an end!

We ended 2009 by having a couple of friends over for games and treats. The plan was to hook the computer to our TV and watch the ball drop (Eastern time...9 p.m. our time) so the kiddos could get to bed, but we got so caught up in the fun, we missed the whole thing. So we said our goodbyes to our friends around 10:30, our time, put the kids to bed (with the exception of Regan) and spent the remainder of 2009 cleaning and getting ready for Regan's birthday. Happy New Year!!!