Christmas Eve

I love Christmas Eve! The kids anticipation is through the roof and they are so happy. In the morning the kids got to exchange gifts from each other.

Maeley got Grace's dog from Chase. 

Zoe got a Beanie Boo fox from Maeley.

And Chase got a light sabber from Zoe. 

They were all thrilled with what they got. More importantly they have so much fun thinking about what to give and watching the excitement as the gift was opened.

Then we headed to my sisters house from brunch. We did a white elephant gift exchange and Maeley got a selfie stick. She enjoyed taking my phone and Laurel's and taking pictures. If she didn't I wouldn't have any pictures of that morning.

Family brunch according to Maeley.

Christmas Eve brunch is the best. Always so much yummy food.  Thanks Laurel! 

The advent calendar is very important to them. A few years ago Laurel, my mom and I made replicas of the one we had growing up.

For dinner we went to Derek's parents house. It was delicious and we watched a great video. Maeley didn't bring her selfie stick so no pictures were taken.

Our Christmas jammies! The kids love this tradition as much as me!

The girls love having matching jammies with their dolls. 

Chase and I have the same bottoms that I bought in the boy department at Target. They are my favorite. They are so comfy! I think Chase liked matching mom and dad.

After the cookies, milk and carrots were set out the kids were off to bed. 

Zoe's Performance

I completely forgot to post pictures from Zoe's Performance Inc recital which was the beginning of December. She had so much fun and loved performing in front of everyone.

Zoe did so well signing her solo part. The lighting in there wasn't great for picture taking. 

Zoe with her friends from the ward. They are both Chase's age, but Zoe is small for her age.

The Sunday before Christmas

We have been taking a picture of the family for years now the Sunday before Christmas. I'm not sure why, we don't have new clothes on but its become a tradition. This year my birthday fell on that Sunday.

I love that Derek pulled this off the shelf as a prop for the pictures. Derek and I made this after I missed going to the Relief Society Super Saturday. 

I love my little family! 

The kids love that Buddy their elf is in the picture. 

These kids keep growing. I have mixed emotions about that. 

Birthdays on Sunday just aren't the same. So all I wanted to do was watch Christmas movies and put a puzzle together. Derek and I with a little help from Zoe completed this 1,000 piece puzzle in less than 6 hours. Plus me stopped to make dinner and clean up. 

Also we can't forget that Zoe lost the other front tooth on December 19th. She sang "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" practically non stop til Christmas. 

Zoo Lights

I have wanted to do Zoo lights for the last couple years but we don't think about it ahead of time and then our schedule gets full. This year we put it on the calendar. The last time we went Maeley was 1.

It was chilly that night. 

Derek's parents came with us. 

It definitely was way better than the last time we went. So glad we made it a priority this year. 

After Zoo Lights we went to Derek's parents for hot chocolate and cookies. Papa pulled one of Zoe's loose teeth. She wasn't happy at the moment but later she was so excited.  Do you see how ridiculous the other front tooth looks? It was also loose but not quite  ready to be pulled yet.

Family pictures November 2015

I forgot to post the family pictures we had taken. It was pretty last minute when a friend posted on Facebook about having a cancellation for the next day. At 10 o'clock at night we were set for pictures at 11 the next morning. Talk about nerve wracking trying to coordinate 5 peoples clothes. I think they turned out great.

I love my family!