Christmas

Gingerbread cookies for Santa

Coming down in their new jammies! I forgot to take pictures of them opening them on Christmas Eve.

Bikes for the boys. Grown up art supplies for Kayla. Little People house for Brinley.
Batman Trios for Jack.
vtech laptop for Henry. He was so surprised! Notice Brinley in the background... She was so excited for the candy she got in her stocking she just sat there and tried unsuccessfully to open it and eat it for breakfast! You can't see it Kayla but got an MP3 player and speakers..she was THRILLED!!
Jack and Brinley were with me when I bought some of the Christmas gifts. They were so funny! Jack asked a few days before Christmas, "Do I have a Buzz Lightyear? Didn't we get one?" I played dumb and changed the subject quickly! When he opened Buzz he said, "It's my Buzz!! I come in peace!" Brinley said, "Hey! It my Nemo!!" It was so cute! Henry opened Phineas and said, "Here's what we're going to do today!"


We had a great experience sharing our Christmas Joy this year with a family in our ward. We had fun getting gifts, making goodies and wrapping it all and delivering the loot. The kids were so excited to pick out gifts for the sibling gift exchange too. Kayla gave Henry a black paper rainbow stick thing. Henry gave Brinley a Strawberry Shortcake. Jack gave Kayla a purse with a K on it and an eye mask. Brinley gave Jack a pack of SuperHero Squad go fish cards.

We had a great Christmas dinner! Ham and potatoes, homemade rolls, jello and corn! Delicious!!

Christmas Eve Nativity

The Larsen Family proudly presents their depiction of

The First Christmas

Featuring:

Brinley as a Shepherd (with a crown)

Jack as a Wise Man

Henry as Joseph

Kayla as Mary

Editors Review: The children did a wonderful job of depicting the ancient characters. Their costumes were accurate for the time period. The highlight of the night was when the shepherd stripped down to her onesie and took a baby Jesus figurine from her mother's nativity and put it in her mouth before giving it to the "baby" portraying Baby Jesus in the show. Overall I would give the performances an A+ . It was truely unforgettable to all who viewed it!

Lunch with Daddy

We met Lars at the park by his office for lunch yesterday. The weather was AMAZING!! It was slightly overcast so it made for good picture taking lighting. There were so many trees and fun toys to play on. We had a great time!

Gingerbread Houses and 1 huge OUWEEEE!

The kids had a great time decorating our annual gingerbread house. So much fun that they didn't decorate the back or one of the sides. I finished it up after they went to bed. It brings back great memories of watching my mom making gingerbread houses every year. I think she sold them in her craft shows. I like to share all of her tips with the kids like making icicles with the frosting, making candy cane light posts, making marshmallow snowmen riding on sleighs, making a pretzel fence around the house, using a mirror as a pond in the yard... good times!

In other news, Henry took quite a spill from his bike! From the sounds of his screaming all the way down the street I thought maybe he lost a limb or something. The down side of crazy warm weather during winter break... wearing shorts and skinning your leg and arm while racing your bike up the street. The up side is that you can wear shorts when aforementioned skinned leg is healing! Yes, that is an open window behind Henry's head... it was about 80 degrees. I didn't want to turn on the air conditioner on December 21st but the kids would have sweat all night long!

Christmas FHE

The 1st Monday in December we love doing our Christmas tree for Family Night. Each child can choose an ornament form the bag and we read the Christmas symbol it represents. After the tree I give each child a nativity and let them set it up. It always works out that the Baby Jesus is at the center of the manger scene. Then we talk about how Christ should be the center of our focus for the Holiday Season. Jack was giving the lesson and he finished by bearing the sweetest little testimony. He said, "Jesus loves me. And Jesus loves you too." The Spirit was so strong! Lars was really quick to identify the spirit to the kids and Kayla said, "That's just so awesome!" Yes it is Kayla.

We finish up the night by making snowflakes and drinking hot chocolate with a candy cane stirring stick... yummm!

Kayla was an angel (and is one) for our ward's night in Bethlehem. They sang Away in a Manger.

Jack has been begging me to help him make a ROBOT. Here's the finished project. Pretty good huh? He was slightly disappointed that it couldn't walk on it's own and talk... sorry bud.

Do you believe in MAGIC?

Yes... that's Jack in a "tickle shirt" with Santa. This is Texas folks! Brinley wouldn't get any closer that she was.
We went over to the school a couple of Saturdays ago and got to see Santa. I have a really cute Santa frame and wanted a fun picture of the kids with the Jolly Elf. Henry had other plans. A few days later He was informed that, "Oh yeah, you forgot to tell Santa what you wanted for Christmas... I wonder what you'll get." I was then told that he did in fact tell Santa what he wanted... it was just from quite a distance. So after school one day last week he spent quite a bit of time getting his list exactly perfect to send off to the North Pole. He even skipped playing outside.

Christmas Card

We've never sent out a Christmas card but this year we decided to give it a try. The pictures were fun to take. Very low stress. The kids were great. The biggest problem was deciding which one to use!

We've had this magnetic, musical ice skater thing for years and every year it's "brand new" again. The kids love it! Even the big ones. So far this year we've only had 1 casuality... a lamp post. So far so good.

Thanksgiving... quick before Christmas

This is our annual Grateful Tree. Some of our gratefulness this year included, but are not limited to, Family, Liberty, Primary, Kayla, Jack, Henry, Brinley, Cristi, Lars, Grandparents... both sets, Missionaries, School, Dr. Graber, Life, Holy Ghost, Scriptures, Love, Las Vegas, Spring Ward, God, Sister Reese, Pain Meds, Relief Society, Jesus, Storytime, Bikes, Museum...

I figured since Christmas was in 4 days I should update. We just sent out Christmas cards and Christmas emails and we included our blog address... added pressure! I had surgery 1 week before Thanksgiving and was very grateful that Lars' parents came the celebrate the holiday with us. They were a great help and the kids had a ball with them!

Crafting

Making the traditional Waddell pomegranate salad

Enjoying the warm November weather

Henry saw the turkey as it came out of the oven and said, "There's an egg in it?" (It's an onion)

Early Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. Kayla: barbie clothes and play-do cake maker. Henry: HotWheels put your own car together sets. Jack: Trio blocks. Brinley: vTech pink computer. Family: Hungry Hungry Hippos and Uno Flash.

Lars had a birthday! We went to Olive Garden to celebrate and came home for cake and ice cream and lots of candles.

Henry was trying to slurp his melted ice cream off his plate and his cake slid and the cream cheese frosting stuck to his glasses!