Merry Christmas!

My parents stayed with us for Christmas and we had a wonderful time with them!

We had a brunch with Grandma & Grandpa Lytle on Christmas Day! Claire wasn't too happy when we took a picture because she wanted to play with her new toy!

Claire's new toy! She was really having a great time with her toy! It was fun to watch her giggle as she hammered the balls down.

We love Christmas!

Malissa and Emma were excited to give my mom their homemade gifts they made for her!

This toy is perfect for Claire because she is so active!

Christmas Eve Pajamas

Getting ready for the Nativity Program

The Nativity Program with cousins.

Christmas Eve dinner with twenty-six people. It's great to be with family!

Bears, a recital,and Baking Day with Grandma

We had a very busy week! The girls had a violin recital that went well. They also had a bear day at their school. Every year all the kids at the school donate a bear to give to homeless kids in Salt Lake City. On the last day of school before Christmas break all the classes line up and hug the bears as they go down the line of kids. It's a fun tradition! I think they said there were 450 bears this year. We also went to Grandma Lytle's for Baking Day. Malissa and Claire were sick so it was only Luke and Emma along with their cousins. They decorated cookies, made candy necklaces and the highlight for them was decorating a gingerbread house. Unfortunately their house fell because of too much frosting. They had such a fun time! Thanks for a wonderful day Grandma!!! (By the way Luke commented to me before Baking Day that he wanted me to let Grandma know that he's not too old for Baking Day.) I'm so grateful that Luke is not too old!

Traditions

Every year we make a CD of the kids singing and playing their instruments. It's a lot of fun but it takes a lot of work to get it together. It has been a fun tradition! The CD is in the works. Stay tuned!

Claire LOVES my nutcrackers! She's been climbing onto a chair to hug them! Very cute!
Claire LOVED the snow! We took her outside on Monday (before it got to be 10 degrees) and she was running around having a great time! She especially loved chasing after our cat (much to Eve's dismay) I didn't have a chance to take pictures of our other kids because they were in school but I'm sure we will be getting another storm soon.

Thanksgiving in California

We went to California for Thanksgiving and had a great time! Our girls went to the best Santa! He actually took his time with them and read them a story. Their cousin and Grandma also went with us to see Santa.

Emma had a great time with her cousins especially doing tumbling and a sleep over.
I've been wanting to take the kids (especially Luke) to Legoland for a long time. What a fun place! Of course it's not Disneyland but it's still very fun! We were so amazed at all the Legos everywhere and the rides. Luke was in Lego heaven! It's really a very creative place.

We also went to a few San Diego beaches. Very beautiful! We love San Diego! After we stayed in San Diego we stayed at my parents house and had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner with them! It was also fun to see the kids' cousins and other family members! We are so thankful for family!