Christmas Eve...

 We played a little bit of Santa's helper on Christmas Eve. Elder Jensen had transferred from our area, however we had already told his family to send his Christmas packages to us for cheaper and easier delivery. This meant we would be driving down to drop off his box and send some holiday cheer of our own. Luckily for us his new companion is an oldie from here--Elder Mahendran!! We were in the car MUCH longer than anticipated and we thought the day had just about ruined itself, however by the time we got home we were still able to get all those Christmas Eve traditions complete and kids in bed, so we were grateful for the blessing of being able to help these two feel some love at Christmas.

Christmas sugar cookies needed some icing and we have just the brood to see the job done properly.

Cameron helped by sampling the deliciousness. 

Everyone had a great time and we were grateful to spend the evening with our family--the Schmidt's. It's a good thing that I didn't need any of the cookie sprinkles left for later--because the children LOVED sprinkles.

Christmas Eve Pajamas

Cameron's 1st Christmas

Behind Cameron is a little manger that Mike built this year. We decided, to help us stay focused for the Christmas season on what Christmas is all about, we would perform acts of service and each act gave us the chance to put a pinch of straw in the manger. I had heard this idea from a friend years ago and always meant to do it, and am so grateful we did this year. The kids were very pleased to help build a comfortable bed for Jesus! Even after Christmas the kids have been very focused on what they can do for service, in and out of the home!

Mason misses out on this tradition of Christmas because he would attack the plate of goodies if given half a second to do it. However, the others loved setting out a plate and choosing the best of the best cookies for Santa to enjoy! Carter wrote him a note to get the milk from the fridge so it could be nice and cold for his cookies. :)

School Performance

For the primary school performance this year we were lucky to have both Taylor and Brennan in the same performance. It was a pantomime of Jack and the Beanstalk. You might be thinking this is strange, but having a panto during Christmas time in England is tradition. This is the first the school has done it, and it turned out very creative and clever. What a fun time for the kids and for the parents. Taylor was the cow--or the back half of the cow. :) She was pleased that she was able to 'take a poo' on stage and could not stop giggling about it. She also had a very good tail wiggle at the appropriate time, even if I didn't catch it on camera, it happened. :) Brennan and his class were the clouds, and what wonderful clouds they made, Brennan was in the perfect spot for me to get some good shots of the both of them. All through this holiday season I have been hearing more renditions of, "One Fine Cow," instead of Christmas carols.

Parenting&Elders

Eventually there is going to come a time when your children think that it is okay for you to cook, set the table, clear up etc...I for one did not sign up for servant duties when I decided to become a mother. Charts of chores and such have been established. In the background of one of the pictures you can actually see our chart for the assignments when it comes to setting the table. I asked the kids to set the table, and fifteen minutes later it was not done. I was taking food to the table and asked if they were all ready to eat. They said with a resounding, "Yes!" I decided that I would just let this play out and see what happened. I got all the food to the table(as this is my assignment) and asked again before I sat down for the prayer if they were ready for dinner, "all the way" I emphasized. After another round of yes mom, I sat and Mike asked someone to say the prayer on the food. This is when Taylor got up and said, "we don't have plates mom!" I told her it was to late because once the prayer is said if you get down from the table you are done eating. I then scooped up the rigatoni and set it in front of them. Brennan tried to get up for forks, but we reminded him that this should have been done when mom asked about them being ready for dinner. Thus, we had dinner on the table, eating with our hands. We were kind enough to get a fork for Mason because he didn't know what to do without one. :) Mike and I also got forks because I was rewarded for doing my part in getting dinner served. Carter was the only one that had a drink because he already had his cup at the table. All in all it turned out pretty fun, and I thought we had made a mistake when the kids asked if we could do this every night. However, since then when the table has needed setting, they set it.

We were so sad to see Elder Jensen leave JUST before Christmas. We had plans for Christmas partying and everything. His request before leaving was to have a rematch at Celestial Companions, scones, and guacamole. So we had burritos, made scones for dessert, and are back to loosing at the game.

We awarded Elder Jensen the "Least Awkward Greenie" award upon his leaving, because for being fresh on his mission he had a sense of self, a confidence than we normally don't see in these missionaries who are in their first area. 

More oldies but goodies.

Random picture of my child playing with very safe and educational toys. This is one of those pictures you find later on the camera and your child realizes that maybe taking pictures of themselves doing things they shouldn't isn't the best idea.

A fun furry friend we found after school one day.

Brennan, Starry, and Taylor thought he was a very cool caterpillar.

We have decided that Brennan is certainly our most animated child, he is always pulling different faces at teh camera when it is facing him.

Cameron(another post that didn't post)

A fun afternoon will Cameron--he was learning how to pull to standing and getting his first tooth! These were taken Sept 2012.