little moments: christmastime festivities

i had hoped to get these pictures posted before christmas (mainly so i wouldn't feel so behind on blogging), but christmas has come and gone. so before i post those pictures i had to share some of the fun things we did leading up to the big day. i love that christmastime is a "season" and we get to celebrate for a whole month!

meeting santa

our kids got to see santa and mrs. claus at our ward party at church. visiting the "big guy" went much better this year (although i love last year's pictures. they're classic and doesn't every kid need a "crying picture with santa?!)

in fact it went so well we decided to do it again. we braved snowy roads and slow traffic to get there, but i thought it was totally worth it. emma wasn't so sure about it the second time around, but logan told santa he wanted toys. specifically cars and trucks (no trains). he was also pumped about the candy cane he got (this kid has been buzzing with all the sugar he's been eating. he is his mother's son)!

annual white elephant party

every year our friends throw a fabulous white elephant christmas party. i look forward to it each year and people go all out (last year there was a mouse and a hermit crab. this year a goldfish). it seems like without fail every year dave ends up with some teeny-bopper item. one year it was a high school musical nightlight, last year he got a twilight poster (which turned out to be a hot item at my young women's white elephant party) and this year he got a twilight and new moon card game. score for him! he was also number one choosing his present (yes, out of a huge pile of presents this is the one he picked. almost like he is drawn to adolescent items). needless to say, no one stole from him so he was stuck with it.

me being the good wife i am used my turn (number 17, a much better position to be in) and stole him this denver PD trauma shooting kit. just so you know, we're now prepared for a gunshot wound (you never can be too prepared).

the nutcracker

a few days before christmas we had a girls night at the nutcracker. i don't know the last time i saw it and it was magical. i am amazed at how the dancer can do such physically demanding things and yet make it look effortless and graceful (it reminded me of a quote from the killer movie, centerstage, "i want to see the movement, not the work behind it." it's something like that). we walked out to find lots of snow falling which made it seem even more like christmas.

snowy day

the snow storm mentioned above resulted in about a foot of snow at our house. this is the beautiful view from our bedroom window. clearly we have some gutter draining issues, but it made for incredible icicles!

and on a snow day like that, if you have to get out of your pajamas, the next best thing to be wearing is a fleece sweatsuit. if only one would look as cute on me as they do on these two!

decorating sugar cookies

dave and i were really excited to decorate sugar cookies. but i must admit by the end of the experience we were feeling a lot less enthusiastic. here's i think why: after making the dough, rolling it out, cutting out the cookies, baking the cookies, making the frosting, dividing the frosting into separate bowls and coloring it, it is FINALLY time to decorate the cookies (note: i did make the dough the day before). logan lost interest shortly after we began to decorate. in fact, he was much more interested in eating the sprinkles and licking the frosting off the knives. and of course there were still TONS of cookies to decorate. i don't have a lot of patience for decorating in the first place (at least making them look cute. i lack the skills and the patience). i just slap on some frosting and a few sprinkles. my brother was the one that made the cookies look like masterpieces growing up and dave is now the one in our family to make them look good. but by the end, even he was done. and then after all that there is a huge mess to clean up. whew! here's what i've decided for next time: we'll break it up and cook the cookies and decorate on separate days. plus, maybe next time we'll do it with friends. a little extra manpower and of course a chance to socialize! after that big rant, i have to admit that i did enjoy the fruits of our labors for days after as i ate a lot of cookies. they may not have been particularly cute, but they sure tasted good!