Christmas 2011

We had such a wonderful Christmas! We went to dinner at a friends house on Christmas Eve, then came home and opened a few gifts. After setting out milk and cookies for Santa the kids went to sleep earlier than any other Christmas Eve ever I believe! Britannia and I woke up early on Christmas morning and talked for a few hours before the others woke up. Around 7:00 we all ventured in to see what Santa brought. The kids were very excited and played with their new toys until church. We had a lovely program that the girls sang in with the primary. David wasn't about to get up there and sing! It was very special to be able to go to church on Christmas and I really enjoyed it. After church we came home and opened gifts from family. Jason and I prepared dinner later while the kids played. It was a very joyful day!

Grandma and Grandpa Hinkins give us all new pajamas each Christmas Eve.

They also put a new Christmas book in with the children's pajamas to read before bed.

This is such a fun tradition that we all look forward too.

How funny is that face? He was so excited to be able to finally open a gift, haha!

Christmas Eve baby dolls that I made for the kiddo's.

Kash and "baby night, night"

Jason and the hot cocoa mug David made for him. We drew names this year and made a gift for the person we drew.

Jason made me a makeup bag. I'm very impressed he even sewed in a zipper!

Britannia checking out what Santa brought.

Mishayla and her Lalaloopsy girls that Santa left.

David digging into his goods.

Kash was thrilled over his ball!

Britannia playing with her Calico Critter House.

Mishayla and her Calico Critter house.

David played with his marble drop all day long!

Kash loved playing his car ramp with daddy.

Christmas Prep

We had a really fun month to prepare for Christmas! Our Elf on the Shelf "Candy Cane" came for the first time this year. The kids loved this along with finding their 24 days of Christmas gifts each day from Great Grandma Elda.

She sat on our "shelf" the first day holding a note that explained how Santa sent her to watch over them during the day then report back to him at the North Pole each night. I remembered to take a few pictures of hr in some of the places she hid.

In the boy's room reading the animals a book.

In the tissue box, feeling a bit sick.

Playing dress up in Britannia's jewelry box.

Moving the advent calendar backwards on the 23. The kids didn't really catch the joke on this one and just moved the candy cane to the correct day.

We did a few fun crafts like making snow globes out of some old toys. The kids loved this!

I made the kids each a clip board to keep them busy at church.

I also made them each a "baby" to snuggle up with on Christmas Eve. Not the cutest babies, but the kids liked them :)

I love this magical time of year! I think it's full of so much joy! My kids asked why Santa doesn't come to adults and I explained to them that while it's nice to get new things and exciting to get gifts, you find joy in other things as you grow older. We find joy in love! Love that comes from our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The purest kind of love! We also feel joy in our children, who we love! Santa could not put anything under the tree that could compare with the joy a parent feels when they hold their new born baby, fresh from heaven for the first time. While we enjoy gifts and giving and all the magic and fun of Christmas, we also talk a lot about baby Jesus coming to earth for us and that being the greatest gift of Christmas.

Gingerbread Houses...Lots of Them!

We made a gingerbread village for FHE one night as a family.

Britannia's was the Toy Store!

Mishayla's was the Candy Shop!

David's was the Bakery.

Kash's was the...?

Mine was the house. Where's Jason's you ask? He decided to not participate this year.

The younger siblings club at the Kindergarten Gingerbread making party.

Mishayla starting her gingerbread house at school.

Mishayla's finished house with her best friend Emma.

Britannia working on her gingerbread house at her school party.

Britannia with her finished house and all three of her younger siblings. As you can imagine I am the only mother who drags along her 3 younger siblings to her third graders activities. I get lots of looks and comments on how many children I have. They have no idea what they're missing out on :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with lots of visitors. My cousin Chandler and his wife Tiffany came Wednesday night and stayed until Saturday morning. I feel so bad I didn't take a single picture while they were here. We had lots of fun though. We had Thanksgiving dinner with some families from the ward, it was a lot of fun. Lots of really great food and even better company. Chandler, Tiffany, and I tried to do some Black Friday shopping. Note to self: Next year get all shopping done before Thanksgiving! New York is my worse nightmare on Black Friday!!! There were lines to get into lines to get into the stores. It was insane! After attempting 2 stores we went home empty handed.
Saturday afternoon some friends from Cleveland came and stayed the night with us. We went to Fire Island to the light house. Then we hung out on the beach for a while before driving home for dinner. The guys watched the kids while us girls went to the new Twilight movie. It was such an amazing weekend! We were so sad to have our visitors leave!