December

The first half of December was warm here in Utah. It was so confusing. The kids had some good outside time:) 

Noel saw one of her Christmas presents that we were hiding in the trunk of the car. Oops. So we had her use her birthday money to buy it off of us and we ended up getting her something else that would be more of a surprise for her for Christmas. This stroller is the gift that we got her and that she bought off of us:)

The kids made Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees. As you can see, the process was very tasty.

 The finished product.

Noel's preschool took a field trip to a local bank to donate money that she and her classmates had raised and brought in, for children who's parents couldn't afford a Christmas.

Morgan and I attended Morgan's company Christmas Dinner in Salt Lake City at the Joseph Smith Building. We were able to see the lights at Temple Square in passing. It was beautiful.

 This was our view from where the company Christmas dinner was. It was a very lovely dinner.

At the beginning of December we watched the Christmas Devotional on TV during our dinner time.

 We had a Ward (Church) Christmas Party that was lots of fun. In the picture below, Noel is on the left on the stage, singing with the other kids in Primary, a few Christmas songs.

Oh, it was a pajama theme. The dinner was breakfast items.

We traveled to California the weekend before Christmas and we first stayed with Morgan's parents. Morgan's brother, Brian, was there as well. We sure loved seeing him and the kids were so excited to see him and loved spending that time with him.

 Noel and Sam had fun with Grandma Young helping in the kitchen and making crafts.

 Here they are all making gingerbread houses.

 Noel with Grandma and Grandpa's dog.

 Snuggles.

 We went out to breakfast the last morning we were with Morgan's family. Everyone was there. It was delicious and a lot of fun!

 Sam and Grandpa were "sw-fork-ord fighting."

 The whole gang.

The second half of our stay in CA we stayed at my parents. Our first day we took a trip to the Institute of Religion where my dad works and played in the game room there.

Here is Noel with her cousin Henry playing the piano and singing.

Sam and his cousin Myles.

My dad and my brother-in-law Ben playing ping pong.

On Christmas Eve we had a program and did a nativity. Noel got to be Mary. Henry is next to her in the picture below, he is Joseph and Ty in the foreground is a shepard.

My buddy and I.

Our family on Christmas morning.

 Kareena and Libby. Libby is totally smiling behind that binky. So cute!

 Charlie and Myles.

 Noel and Henry.

 Forming the line to go into the Livingroom where Santa left all of the presents!

 Look what Santa brought!

 Beautiful Chaos.

 My parents with lil' Libby.

 At some point during our trip, Sam was helping Grandpa in the kitchen. He sure loves to help.

 Grandma helped make s'mores for the kiddos. Sam was having issues with his so he ate it off of the table.

 The whole Watkins Gang.

 We sure had a blast in CA with family and friends and had a wonderful holiday season. We sure look forward to this new year and can't wait for Morgan to graduate in April and possibly get our first house later this year.

It's the most wonderful time of year...

We got our first and second snow a few weeks ago or so, but it didn't snow too much and it didn't stay for too long. Now we are in the 50's, IN DECEMBER! Crazy, but ya know what? We are grateful for more outside time before we are stuck inside for the rest of the winter:)

I made this fun Christmas wreath out of twigs, white spray paint, yarn, ribbon and Dollar Store Ornaments. 

 Grandma and Grandpa Young came for a visit just before Thanksgiving. They came for a few days and we had a blast and are so grateful for the time we had with them. Grandma brought some birdhouses for the kids to paint and decorate. The kids sure love doing crafts with Grandma!

Here is a picture of Grandpa reading to the kiddos.

The birdhouses were finished and we were about to hang them up outside. I love this picture of the kids with their grandparents.

 Noel was jumping for joy she was so excited about the birdhouses.

 We had an early Thanksgiving meal with Morgan's parents. It was delicious! Morgan makes a yummy turkey!

Sam wanted a whole turkey leg. He likes eating off of the bones, just like his daddy:)

We had a blast with Morgan's parents and are so glad we get to see family again in a couple of weeks!

So we had a second Thanksgiving on the actual Thanksgiving day of course and we had a

 Thanksgiving streaker!! (The story to this picture is simple. I believe Sam had just finished trying to pee in the potty like a big boy and I hadn't put his diaper back on yet and the second our front door opened he took off running! It was hilarious! I had to get a picture of his nudy buns.)

 My first real pie that I made from scratch for Morgan. Cherry Pie. I was so proud of myself. I have made French Silk Chocolate Pie many times before, but I feel like this is a real PIE!

 Here's Morgan about to cut his second turkey of the week.

 Our Thanksgiving meal.

 Daddy turns into a horse sometimes.

 My sister Leslie, her husband Jason and their kids stayed with us during Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a couple nights with them eating lots and lots of pie:)

 Noel and her cousin Maddy are just too cute together. They wouldn't stop hugging when it was time for Maddy to go home.

 Morgan went fishing with my brother Chris. They had a great time and brought home some yummy trout!

We got the tree out last Saturday and the kids had fun decorating it.

The kids recently had a dentist appointment and didn't have any cavities!! So they got a "Perfect Patient" coupon from their dentist for a free vanilla cone from Sonic. They sure enjoyed those cones!

 You gotta love the ice cream stache.

 Speaking of Noel and Sam's dentist, there was a Christmas Party at the Plaza that their dentist office is located. They had some yummy cookies, hot chocolate, got some from trinkets, and we enjoyed a train ride and we got a family picture with Santa Clause! 

 On the train.

 Cozy in the train.

 This is a picture of a picture with Santa Clause.

Christmas can't come soon enough. We are excited to spend some good quality time with family and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.