christmas eve

Kyle had Christmas eve off, which was nice.  We had a couple of errands to run in the morning, and the boys worked on getting our driveway clear of ice.

We Face Timed with Mimi and Papa in Australia, and opened gifts with them.  It was early afternoon for us, and early Christmas morning for them.  We all got new T-shirts, and the boys got winter beanies, a small Australian sign, and these cool hats:

Then, it was off to Ryan and Kerry's to hang out for the rest of the day.  Grandma was there too.  We played, had dinner, and opened some gifts.

The boys were so tired when we got home, that they went right to bed. It was all we could do to open new Christmas jammies before crashing.

gingerbread houses

This year we did miniature gingerbread houses and it was just right.

Goofballs.

on my phone

Sunday night fun:

The boys love being in the snow...  

I do not.

Field trip with Bos to the local grocery store.  The huge freezers and the cardboard baler were his favorites.

He HAD to show me Australia on the project they were working on in class.

"Look Mom, my tummy is big like Santas!"

Every day the boys have been taking turns opening a new Christmas book that we read together.  Favorite new holiday tradition!

The card Kaden made....he made it pretty clear who is favorite is.  Ha!

Freezing rain and new snow made for a rough day.

Bos preschool project:

Kaden's daily lunch note came back with a note for me.

thanksgiving

It's way after the fact, but better late than never. 

Thanksgiving was a little different this year.  We try and do every other year with each family (Sheffields last year, Robbs this year, etc.) but somehow it got messed up. Which, for the record, was totally fine. It just meant it was just the 4 of us. 

Kyle was on call for a couple of hours in the morning. We face timed with my parents and grandparents, and talked to my aunt and Kyle's family. 

It was the first time I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner by myself. 

 Overall it turned out great. 

Later in the afternoon we went to see Frozen. 

We loved it, Kyle thought there was too much singing. 

Kyle even braved Walmart. 

It was crazy, but he was in and out in less than 10 minutes once the plastic came off of the pallets. 

It was a good day. 

decorating cookies

The other day Kaden helped me make sugar cookies.  I rolled the dough, he used the cookie cutters and then got them onto the cookie sheet.  We make a good team.

Once dad got home from work, we got to decorating. 

Funny enough, Kaden wasn't interested AT ALL in eating any. Bosten made sure he got his share. 

temple square

We went to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square on Saturday. We knew it might be crowded, but we decided to take our chances. We thought it would be better to be there in 50 degree weather, instead of the single digits we've had this week for low temperatures. 

We looked at all of the luminaries, hoping to see one from Australia, but since they speak English there we were out of luck. We did see a German one, which was almost as exciting. 

We were glad we went early! As we were leaving, it was PACKED trying to cross the street. 

We stopped to check out the Deseret Book window display. It was pretty cool, and right up the boys' alley. 

our visit with Santa

We went and visited with Santa this weekend. We got there right as he did, so we didn't have to wait. 

The boys had worked on a project together cutting and gluing their lists. Kaden has been really sick for the last week, and he was afraid that Santa wouldn't be able to understand him with his voice gone. This was our solution. 

Luckily for us, the camera wasn't working  and so they said I could take my own picture. That was a nice surprise!

Bosten went first. He didn't hesitate to climb up on his knee. I don't know what they talked about, but I did hear Santa ask if Bosten had been good and listened to Mom and Dad. 

Kaden joined them for a quick picture...

...and then it was his turn. 

Ho. Ho. Ho.

ornaments

We put up our Christmas tree, which means we have new ornaments to add for the year:

Kyle: cupcake (for his milestone birthday)

Shelby: missionary couple (my parents left on their mission)

Kaden:  Army guy with bow & arrow (still loves Army and attended scout camp this summer)

Bosten: Army (this kid is ALL about Army)

We also have these cuties all over the tree:

Thanks Mimi and Papa!

tim tams

We got a box from Mimi and Papa today. 

Most if it has to wait until Christmas, but we did get to open a box of Tim Tams.

Mimi loves these, so we were excited to try them. 

Kaden wasn't a fan. I kind of guessed he wouldn't be, but I was proud of him for trying. 

Bosten, Kyle and I all liked them.
 It was fun getting a treat from Austraila!