Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is probably my favorite day of December!  I love the anticipation that comes with that day, and the activities are always so fun!

This was actually our Jensen family party held on the 23rd.  Lee and Lisa graciously hosted everyone, and we enjoyed pizza, pop and a white elephant exchange with 

lots of crazy gifts!

We had a daily countdown on our table...

1 more day!!

On Christmas Eve day we headed to the canyon for some old-fashioned sledding with the Baxter cousins.

Rachel and Ashlyn rode together and crashed together on their sled...:)

Beautiful Alyssa!

Beautiful Ashlyn!

There was a small bump on the run..

kids flying in the air!

After sledding, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's home for a delicious dinner.

Then we acted out the Nativity.

Taylor was a Wiseman!

Grandma and Grandpa had a gift for each grandchild, and the cousins exchanged their gifts with each other. 

And what did Ashlyn get??? Footsie zebra striped PJ's!!

Such a fun night with family!

Christmas Countdown!

There was lots to do to get ready for the big day!

My mom helped me tie a quilt for Ashlyn...the little stinker saw it, so we told her it was for Alyssa..:)

We had a fun snow storm, and the kids made an igloo in our back yard.

We helped Grandma and Grandpa decorate their Christmas tree.

I helped with Ashlyn's class party.  My game was to have the kids decorate each other as Christmas Trees.

We filled each of these bags with a 12 days of Christmas countdown.  Each bag held a fun game, treat, family activity, or service idea.

December Activities

We love spending time as a family, and Christmas time provides lots of 

family fun!

We started out the celebrations with our ward Christmas breakfast.  

They set up a photo booth!

We made gingerbread men...

and decorated houses!

YUM!

Karl and Taylor were partners.

We went to the City Creek Mall, and Temple Square and enjoyed the lights, and of course pizza and hot chocolate at Karl's office across the street.

They're growing up!  

It was 

cold, 

but 

beautiful!

Grandma and Grandpa's PARTAAY!

Grandma and Grandpa held their annual Grandkid Christmas party. 

We had a great time!

We started out looking at the lights in the Shops in the Riverwoods...

we found a friend!

Never too old!

The Cousins!

We painted cute little ornaments and put our pictures in them!

Aren't they darling??

Grandchildren Tree!

Family Pictures!

After some complaining and "how long will this take?" We pulled off some great family pics for our Christmas card.  It's so nice when everyone knows how to smile and hold still!!

I love these people more than anything in the WHOLE WORLD! 

So excited to spend the holidays with them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  We sure did!  We had a nice mixture of Baxter's and Jensen's over. Officially it was an "in-law" Thanksgiving year, so I invited Lee and Lisa and their family.  I also invited my parents and brothers over for dinner so they wouldn't have to cook for just the four of them.   Lisa invited her sister and brother in law, so it was a great group of folks.

All were welcome!

We started out the day with our traditional Thanksgiving Turkey run.  Allyson, Matt (pushing Emma and Isaiah in a stroller), Adrienne, Connor and I ran the 4 mile run, and Ashlyn ran the 1 mile kid's run.  It was a little chilly, but we plan on that.  :)

Ashlyn did AMAZING!  She ran that mile in under 8 mins.  So proud of my little runner!

We ate in our basement, and enjoyed a delicious dinner!

Food always draws a crowd!

Karl's brother Milo and his family joined us for pie, bringing Karl's parents, Eleanor and Reilly.  Eleanor suffers from severe Dementia and struggles to understand the conversations.  My mom took lots of time visiting with her.  

It was a sweet moment.

The boys had a chess tournament...just some "friendly, brotherly" competition..:)

Is there really such a thing???