Christmas Wrap-Up (ha, ha)

Josh and I are trying to give the kids an "experience" gift each year, instead of a "thing".  This year we gave Hannah, Brynne, and Logan tickets to a BYU football game!  They'd been totally jealous of their Utah friends going to BYU games.  We happened to be watching a game on TV one night this fall and they advertised that BYU would be participating in a bowl game in San Francisco.  We had to take advantage of the proximity.  We hoped it would be a hit...and it was!

Sadly, BYU lost, but I think they enjoyed themselves anyway.   Josh said that they were in the second row of spectators, so they had great views.

The outing also included a trip to IKEA to pick up new bookshelves for Hannah and Brynne.  They had old bookshelves that Jenny and I used a LONG time ago when we shared a room (remember those Jen?), but a few days before Christmas we heard a scream and a crash...and those shelves were laying in a broken heap on the floor.  So sad.  The girls got to pick out what they wanted on the IKEA website, and then Josh grabbed the new shelves while he was in the bay area.  Talk about a fun store for teen girls to visit.  This was their first trip.  They thought it was pretty neat.   These are the ones they got.

In November I took the little girls with me to the store to choose some gifts to donate to Toys for Tots.  I thought that would be a fun service project for them.  One of the toys we got was a 12-inch or so doll with yellow, yard braids.  Natalie carried that doll SO carefully out of the store.  She was in love.  I was worried that she wouldn't want to part with it at the donation box.  In fact, one grandma stopped her on the way out of the store and asked if she had a new doll.  Natalie said "yes", which really worried me.  She handled the donation okay, but Josh and I decided to get her a doll of her own for Christmas.  She loves her.  She named her doll Grace, and Grace sleeps in a cradle at the foot of Nat's bed.  

Mom and Dad were here for a few days.  We invited Josh's parents up and were able to have both grandparents here for Faith's baby blessing.  Josh gave her a sweet blessing with a lot of promises in it.  I love baby blessings.  While it was fun to spend time with my parents, I felt like maybe I wasn't as entertaining as I could have been.  Newborns don't exactly lend themselves to multiple, crazy outings.  :-)  I spend a good portion of my days sitting on the couch.  We did make a trip to MacKerricher and were rewarded with a bunch of whale sightings.  And Hannah, Brynne, and I escaped for a bit with them to visit Mendocino - saw more whales there.  I don't think I've ever seen so many whales!  AND, Dad read us the funniest thing - I think we all had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.  If he hasn't read the 5th dentist thing to you, you've missed out.  ;-)

Finally - food.  We have several food traditions.  One is stuffed french toast for breakfast on Christmas morning.  We invited our four missionaries over to share it with us.  Yum.

On Christmas Eve, Josh made us delectable reubens from a sandwich kit that a client of his sends us every year.  It's become something we all look forward to.  Best sandwiches I've ever had.

I didn't do the baking that we normally do.  We were blessed with plenty of gifts of treats from friends, though, so I haven't been lacking.  I'll be making peppermint popcorn later this week because it just is the yummiest thing ever and I didn't get around to it before Christmas.    In January I start my 30-day dessert fast, so I'm enjoying myself while I can.  ;-)

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!