Christmas Eve

We laid low this year and stayed home for Christmas. Christmas Eve was so nice and relaxing besides the little bit of shopping I had to get done in the morning. I have to say I normally love shopping no matter what, however, during the holidays shopping is horrible. I hate having to drive through the parking lot for 5 hours trying to find a parking spot and I really, really hate standing in lines to check out! I guess being pregnant doesn't really help!

After getting back from shopping the girls and I made sugar cookies like we do every year. They LOVE helping me cook, it might be one of their favorite things to do. They take turns putting in the ingredients and I love that they get all ready with their aprons on. Toby enjoyed watching his football games while we cooked. When the sugar cookies were cooling down I made dinner. We had the traditional soup in the bread bowl and a nice little candle light dinner. It was so nice just being us and not having to go from house to house the way we do when we are in Utah. Although we miss family very much it was nice to do it alone for a change.

After dinner we frosted cookies and Brooklyn and Nikell put the cookies on a plate for santa. They also got some carrots and celery for the reindeer. Brooklyn was more excited then I have ever seen her at Christmas time. I remember feeling that way when I was young. The magic of it all was so much fun and I love watching her feel that same way.

After we frosted cookies Toby read the nativity story while the girls acted it out. They both really wanted to be mary though so we had two marry's in our story. They did fight a little over baby Jesus and had a few issues but for the most part it was a fun night. We then opened our christmas jammies and then we headed to bed. Toby scored some sweet yo gabba gabba jammies. He looked pretty hilarious, the girls loved it!

Some of the things I remember from my childhood on Christmas Eve were having candelight dinner with clam chowder and sometimes broccoli cheese soup, Singing Christmas songs together as a family while my dad and later on my brothers would join in on the guitar. These were always things I loved and looked forward too and I hope my kids love the traditions we continue to carry on.

Giving Gifts

The girls have loved giving out gifts this year for Christmas. Brooklyn especially has really been so excited to give and give and give. Even if it's things around the house or pictures she has drawn. She has been more excited to give then receive gifts, which is so awesome and make me really happy! Brittney gave them some really cute things for Christmas and they were excited to give her our gift as well. She is so good to them and they LOVE playing with her. It is so cute to see how excited they get when Brittney comes in the front door. No matter what they are doing they both jump up and run and give her a hug. They love her!

Misty came over with her kids and Dylen and Max and Brooklyn and Nikell exchanged gifts, it was fun to see how excited they were to give each other their gifts. They play so well with them and we always love to get them together to play as much as we can. They miss each other so much when they go a while without seeing each other. Kind of the same way I feel about when I don't get to see Misty. We love our friends so much!!

Christmas at preschool

The girls were really looking forward to their Christmas parties at school. Their teacher Miss Shirley loves celebrating the holidays and they always do fun crafts and sing songs that go with what they are celebrating. They learned a lot of new Christmas songs and have been singing around the house together for weeks. Another fun thing they do at their parties is to work on their counting they count m&ms they get to keep as many as they can count. Nikell can count to 100 and Brooklyn said she counted to 200 (with a little help I'm sure). They love their classes and get so excited to go to school.

Christmas Recital

On the 16th we had a busy night. First the girls had their Christmas piano recital and then we had our ward Christmas party. The trouble was they both started at the same time. Luckily Brooklyn and Nikell were second and third on the list of people to play at the piano recital. We had to leave right after they were finished.
Both Brooklyn and Nikell practiced so hard on their Christmas songs, they both did such a great job and looked so cute up there. Brooklyn played "deck the halls" and "away in a manger". Nikell Played "christmas cookies and "who is coming". Toby and I love the bow they do at the beginning and end of their performance, it is pretty cute. They are having fun with piano and are really learning a lot.

After the recital we hurried out to the car changed the girls out of their dresses and drove straight to the church. We got their just in time to have some yummy funeral potatoes and ham. Nikell was a little tired and was kind of being a mommy's girl. Toby has a little trick to get some attention for Nikell when she is being like this. He sits her on his lap and tells her not to give him any kisses. He say's "don't kiss me, I don't want any kisses". Well of course she loves this and immediately tries to kiss him a million times. It's really cute to see how he can get her to laugh so hard. He is such a good dad and both girls have him wrapped around their finger.
The Christmas party went great. The primary sang a few songs and they invited the nursery kids to come up and sing too because they will soon be sunbeams. Well, because Nikell was so tired she didn't want to go up. She loves to sing but was getting nervous in front of all the people. So, Brooklyn took her by the hand and pretty much hugged her and told her it was going to be ok the whole time. Nikell just buried her head into Brooklyn. It was so cute and I was proud to see how well Brooklyn took care of her sister. They really have the cutest relationship! That night both girls were definitely ready for bed!

Oakland Temple

Last week we drove out to Oakland to see the beautiful Temple lit with all the pretty Christmas lights. We went into the visitors center for a little while and the girls loved it. There was a little Christmas piano concert going on and the music was a lot of fun. The girls were so happy listening to the fun Christmas songs. Both Brooklyn and Nikell love singing Christmas songs and sing pretty much all day long, especially Nikell. She sometimes goes to bed at night singing songs. I love hearing her sing in her bed when I am getting ready for bed myself. Anyways, the Temple was gorgeous and we had a lot of fun walking around and spending time together. I love my family!!