Treasure Island, Florida

This year for Christmas, Rob and I decided to head out with the family to Treasure Island, Florida. Before we left, I did a bunch of research and found a blog of a family that had been there previously. The mom had small children about the same ages of mine and had a wonderful idea to bury a hidden pirate treasure in the sand and have a treasure map magically appear for the kids to dig up a hidden treasure. So- with that being said, I set out to Hobby Lobby in search of how to make a treasure chest. I found a cheap cardboard box that looked like a chest, painted it gold, found colorful beads and gold foil chocolate coins. I filled the box and voila!! Here are the results. I think it turned out perfect! On Christmas Eve, we had arranged to take a Pirate Cruise on Capt. Memo's Pirate Ship and so that morning, I got up and made a little treasure map and dug a hole, put in the chest, and marked it with an X. The kids had to figure out where the treasure was. (Now, Jenna found the chest under the sink at the hotel/condo we stayed at. So, she knew it wasn't really a pirate treasure. Addison was too smart and figured out that real pirate treasure maps would be more crinkled and worn than my plain computer paper that I used. We told the girls not to tell their brother and they didn't. He thought it was a real Pirate Treasure. Yay!! My plan worked... sort of.)

Christmas at Mott and Pa's

We had a mini- Christmas at Mott and Pa's before we left for Florida this year. It was lots of fun. The kids got fun bags from Mott and Pa for traveling consisting of lots of toys, fun books, and even equipped with a neck pillow and personalized blanket for each kid. Also- every year, Pa and Rob have an ongoing tradition. It all started when my dad got Rob a hideous color of "coral" sweatshirt for a REAL Christmas present. Rob decided that it was ugly enough to start a tradition. He embellished the sweatshirt a bit and added my dad's name, Ross, to the sweatshirt and gave it back to him the following year. Each year, whoever has the sweatshirt, has to make it a bit more unique and wrap it so it is even harder to unwrap for the other person. Each year, the family gathers around to open the beloved sweatshirt and each year we are laughing hysterically at the new additions to the sweatshirt. The only other stipulation is that the person who opens the present has to actually wear the sweatshirt and let us take pictures of them in it. This year, Rob and I added a tutu to the bottom of the sweatshirt making it a wonderful addition for any true man to wear. Here is the proof in the photos! Enjoy!!

A Familiar Santa?

We went to my parents' ward for a Christmas dinner party and then back to Mott and Pa's place to do our family Christmas before we left for Florida. While at the party, they had an opportunity for the kids to take pics with Santa. Little did we know that we actually knew this Santa. We were hoping the kids wouldn't notice and then little Jenna said, "Hey I know that guy! He's Mott and Pa's friend!" We kindly told Jenna that she was correct and that he was filling in for Santa that night. We asked her not to tell anyone and she didn't. It was hillarious though!!

The Girls' Holiday Parties

Now, these parties were the ones that I was in charge of. We had lots of fun. Some of the games we played were "Hot Potato" with a present that they had to unwrap a layer if the music stopped on that child. Each of the presents had probably at least 10 layers, so it was quite fun. Also- we played candy cane relays, Holiday Bingo, and Santa, Santa, where's your sleigh. Overall- It was a great experience. Lots of hard work, and I am sure glad it's over, but definitely fun.

Taesun's Holiday Party

At Tae's preschool, they had a holiday party. I guess we can call it like it is on the blog... it was a Christmas Party- fully equipped with the big man himself- Santa!! He made a guest appearance and the kids LOVED it! Tae even got to shake his hand. They made a fun reindeer craft using footprints and handprints, played a "hot potato" pass-the-present game, and made mini-snowmen out of marshmellows and frosting. It was a fun time for Tae and his friends!!

Addison's Baptism

Well, on December 12, Addison was baptized. I can't believe that I'm this old to already have an eight year old...but so it goes. She looked absolutely beautiful that day. I found a unique arrangement of the song, "Baptism" to play during the baptism. She packed in the house!! So many people showed up. I know it made her feel very special. As I looked around at all the familiar faces, I was so thankful for all our many friends. We are truly blessed. The cake was made by a friend, Thu Blackwell, who did an amazing job! My friend (and Addi's piano teacher), Ashley Smith, gave Addison a beautiful "Baptism bracelet", which she got to wear after she got out of the water. Now she can always look at it and remember her special day. The Stanford's and the Waldmann's also came which was so great to have their support and love that day. Chelsie and Bryan had just had a baby less than a week before and still showed up!! Thank you to everyone who made it that day. It was so wonderful to feel the spirit so strong and be amongst some of the best people we know!!

Lego League

This year the girls decided to enroll in "Lego League" at their school. It was a unique experience. Hands-on time building with Legos was only a small part of the competition. They actually had a problem and had to answer how an object gets transported from it's origin to it's landing place. Their team chose natural gas and how it gets from the ground into our homes. It was really neat to learn about and their team got a trophy for having a great model (the lego model). Great job girls!!

Addison's Birthday

We had so much fun this year for Addison's birthday. She decided to go bowling with some friends from school. It definitely made it easier on Mom and Dad for set-up/clean-up this way! She had tons of fun and can't wait until her birthday again next year!

So Excited...

Addison's baptism is rapidly approaching. I am so proud of this daughter of mine. She is an amazing person. She does her own laundry and taught her little sister how to do hers too!! She is always so caring and the first to be by her friend's side when she is needed. One example is when she came home from school and was quite upset. She told me that one of her friends at school fell on the playground and bit through her lip. She had to suck on ice all day at school and Addi was worried about her. I told her that she could call her friend if she wanted to, but she said she didn't want to bother her. A couple minutes later we had to go to an after school activity for Addi and Jenna. After picking her up from the activity, her coach came up to me and told me that Addi was not acting like herself. She was even tearing up. He asked if everything was okay and so I told him about her friend. He couldn't believe how tender she was. She is so caring!!!

This Week...

So, sorry no pictures this time... I am super busy this week and next. It seems like December is always full of fun things going on, but so busy at the same time that I'm hardly able to enjoy all the fun. This week alone, I had the following going on: prepare for Addi's baptism; prepare for Addi's birthday party; pick out birthday cake; design baptism cake; write out Christmas cards; make soup for Relief Society Christmas dinner; get all my dishes out and over to someone's house for R.S.dinner; kids have Lego League practice twice and competition all day Saturday; 2 Christmas parties on Saturday; Playgroup at my house Friday; make cookies for playgroup; clean house for playgroup; watch a friend's child; make a birthday present for Addi; buy the rest of the birthday presents; wrap presents; get out invites; plan 2 Holiday parties for school; send out letter for both parties to parents asking for stuff; do minutes for PTA meeting on Tuesday; etc.etc.etc.... Honestly, how am I able to do all of this stuff AND take care of the house, meals, Tae, and homework? Sometimes I just sit down and try to remember to blink. Life needs to Slllllooooowwwwww Doooowwwwnnnn. Merry Christmas!!!