Tuesday, July 17, 2018

December 2017

I brought a chili for our ward Christmas party and this was after putting everything in the crockpot in the morning to cook.

December 1, 2017

I love the sight-reading books that I have for Olivia. I tried another set (Bob) that I didn't like but she loves reading these Lakeshore Sight-word Reader books.

 December 1, 2017

That night at our Christmas party Olivia was able to sit on Santa's lap.

December 1, 2017

They had a picture area and the boys took this picture with their friends. We took one as a family too but I never received a copy of it. I should have had someone take one with my cell phone too.


Matt was invited to go pheasant hunting with one of their attorney's he works with. He had a blast and really wants to go again sometime.

December 2, 2017


He loved hanging out with this dog while they were eating lunch.


The girls love doing crafts with my aunt in her craft room after Sunday dinner.

December 3, 2017

I love pulling out all the Christmas ornaments each year. There were a couple of new ornaments from our trips during 2017 like this stone mayan temple.

 December 4, 2017

I love finding random pictures of Olivia on my phone!

December 5, 2017

This picture is blurry but Matt and Kaleb had a nerf gun war one evening and they were chasing each other and grabbing bullets as fast as they could all over the house. It was pretty hilarious to watch.

December 6, 2017

Ashton got to take home the class pet, Flash, the chinchilla one weekend. I see why the kids named him Flash because he's so fast and is constantly moving around. Ashton said he made a lot of noise during the night and so he didn't sleep much.

December 8, 2017

Austin came over later that day and thought he was pretty funny.


We had a small Christmas tree that Kaleb decorated with Lego ornaments he made. 

 December 8, 2017



This is one of my favorite pictures of Kaleb ever. A selfie with a camel! And I love that the camel seems to be into it too. Kaleb was out playing with a friend when I get this picture from him with a text saying to come over to the church because there's a camel.

December 9, 2017

Someone was having a Christmas party and there were a bunch of live animals outside. The camel didn't seem interested in pictures for us.




Meanwhile Matt was in New Mexico for his grandma's funeral. He sent me this old family picture that was in her house from when I was pregnant with Olivia.

December 9, 2017 

Olivia was playing on the tablet and I look over and she's passing this pencil back and forth between her feet. It was crazy to watch because she would spread her toes like the were hands and she would twist it all around. I took a video of it which lasted a couple seconds until she realized I was watching her.

December 12, 2017

She loves being a helper in the kitchen and sets the table for us.

December 13, 2017

This was one of the many batches of caramel I made. I ended up with about 975 caramels and 150 turtles to give to neighbors and co-workers and I still could have used more. It's a good thing my boys are good caramel wrappers! It's become one of our favorite Christmas traditions even if the boys do whine a little about how many there are but they love delivering them to the neighbors.

December 14, 2017

This was from a birthday party that Kaleb went to for his friend. I love that he has such a great group of friends.

December 15, 2017

This cute girl had her first dance recital. I didn't tell her to pose but as I took pictures she was constantly changing her pose for me. She loves makeup but hated me trying to put mascara on her. I didn't even try with eye liner after how hard it was to put a little mascara on.

December 16, 2017


They danced to Snowglobe. She did a great job remembering the steps and she absolutely loves dancing.



Matt took a picture of Olivia in one of her new dresses after church. I'm not sure why but I never seem to buy very many "red" clothes. So when Olivia saw this red and velvet dress at Wal-mart and fell in love I let her get it even though it wasn't something I would normally pick out for her.

December 17, 2018


Olivia had her preschool program where they sang a couple of Christmas songs. They had the cutest hats on along with their pajama's. I loved her elf ears.

December 18, 2017


I must be obsessed with taking pictures of Olivia sleeping. I'm still amazed at how often there's a picture on my phone of her asleep. :)

December 19, 2017

We didn't get much snow but when we finally had just enough to sled I took Olivia over to the park to play in it. It was cold but we had fun.

December 20, 2017


The last couple of months Olivia's front teeth were starting to get a gap and then I noticed her one tooth was moving forward. I happened to touch it and it was really loose. It seemed kind of early to lose a tooth especially since my boys were both late at losing their first teeth but it was barely hanging on. In anticipation of losing a tooth she picked out fabric to make her own tooth pillow like her brothers. They all have a small pillow that they picked out the fabric and it has a pocket on the front to make it easier for the tooth fairy to find it.

December 21, 2017

The kids at church gathered change to take downtown to use at the vending machines the church put out. They collected over $800 in change from their own piggy banks and change that people in the ward donated. They were all able to purchase a couple of items at the vending machine like glasses or meals for other people.

December 22, 2017

Olivia had picked out a couple small things to give her friends for Christmas and Matt helped her wrap them up and deliver them. He was proud his wrapping job and sent me a picture to show me that he even tied a ribbon on them.

December 22, 2017

Christmas Eve after church in her Christmas dress.

December 24, 2017

We had fun hosting Christmas Eve at our house and even made chocolate houses to decorate.











We did a condensed nativity program and sang a couple of songs.


Then it was on to presents along with wrapping paper everywhere!


Olivia has to be right by any baby that's around.


And proof that I was there, it's the only picture with me in it from Christmas Eve.


A sweet lady from my parents Spanish ward from their mission gave Olivia this baby alive doll for Christmas. Olivia loves playing with it.


Olivia likes to play with this nativity set.


After cleaning up and getting ready for bed we watched a short video the church put out about Christmas before getting ready for bed.


Compared with last years "diet" food that the kids left this year they left Santa a buffet. They wanted him to have our homemade rolls and our homemade coconut bread that is to die for. Then they added plenty of other treats and goodies to the plate too along with carrots for the reindeer.


Thankfully, Santa came early in the night this year. The years when he's prepared ahead of time are always the best. :)


Kaleb wanted to sleep in so he brought his "girlfriend" or fuzzy body pillow he had recently received as a present upstairs with him.




Nothing like a sleepy family selfie on Christmas morning before opening presents.


This girl has been obsessed with hatchimals and Lego's.


Both of the boys asked for airsoft guns and gear for Christmas.



We had a great Christmas morning and had breakfast at our house that morning with my sister and parents. I made some breakfast casseroles the night before which made it easy. We had Christmas dinner at my aunt and uncles house and played our traditional Christmas Bingo.

Matt and I are too practical and don't really do gifts much for each other but we really needed a new couch for the basement and we found one that we both loved shortly after Christmas. Olivia wanted to ride in the truck we borrowed with Matt to bring it home. 

December 30, 2017

New Year's Eve was low key and we spent most of the night putting together this Disney pin puzzle of my sisters. Olivia had fun helping sort the pieces.

December 31, 2017



Crazy to think another year has come and gone. We were able to go on a couple of fun vacations as a family and love making memories together!

SaveSave

No comments: