Christmas Morning

We are all so spoiled!  Christmas morning is so fun with young kids...sometimes I think I am more excited than they are :) Here is Reese with her doll, small doll house, Don't Break the Ice game & Lucky Charm cereal.  The cereal is a tradition from my childhood.  We always got a box of our favorite cereal to eat on Christmas morning.  Our kids have also loved this tradition, especially since they don't normally get sugar cereal.  I know- I am such a mean mom ;) 

 Here is Averee with her American Girl dollhouse (Santa has been busy!), doll clothes, nite light for reading in bed, & Cocoa Pebbles.

 Here is Owen with his new wii games: a Toy Story pop gun game (just like our favorite ride at California Adventure) and Lego Indiana Jones.  He also got bullets for his Nerf gun, a race track for his match box cars & Cookie Crisp cereal.

 Here is Adee with the American Girl dollhouse, doll clothes, Ant in Pants game, & Reese's Puffs cereal.

 I think Danny was more excited to play the Toy Story game than anyone else :)

Everyone loves a good game of Don't Break the Ice...but I think I am going to get sick of putting all the ice cubes back together, over and over, every day.  Oh well, maybe the excitement of a new game will wear off?  I can hope right?

Taytam at Christmas time

Everyone warns you that the first year after a loved one has passed away is the hardest.  The first of each holiday, their birthday, or any anniversaries, without your loved one can be very hard.  Since we have been prepared for the worst at each holiday, it hasn't been as painful as we expected so far.  But will Christmas be the same?  We can hope.  Luckily this time of year is so busy that it leaves little time to sit & feel sorry for yourself.

We want to do something special for the kids each Christmas to remember Taytam.  This year we are giving them a beautiful picture of the St. George Temple that has their name on it & the saying 'I love to see the temple' for them to hang in their rooms.  Hopefully this will be a meaningful gift that they will enjoy looking at for many years to come. 

Another Taytam tradition that we are starting this year is Taytam's Christmas Jar.  For several years we have collected our change throughout the year then used it for someone less fortunate at Christmas time.  Sometimes we just anonymously give the money to someone who needs it, sometimes we use the money to buy gifts for someone in need, sometimes we just give the money to our bishop to use as he feels right.  Well, starting this year we are going to use the money to buy gifts and clothes for a little girl in need who is the same age that Taytam would be if she were still here with us.  It feels special, & it feels like a good way to remember our sweet Tater-tot at this wonderful time of year.  We miss her so much everyday, but the pain gets less & less as the time passes.  I can now understand the saying 'Time heals all wounds'...the time at least helps to lessen the intensity of the pain.  Thank goodness for our understanding of Heavenly Father's plan and our testimonies of where Taytam is today. Merry Christmas Taytam!

Annual Jones Family Christmas Party

 Each year Santa comes to the annual Jones family Christmas Party, so the kids look forward to this every year.  I had so much fun decorating the tables...they looked so festive!

 What a good looking bunch!  Reese was so cute with Santa this year, and not scared at all.  She just kept wanting to give him hugs.  Thanks again Santa- you are the best!

I had been looking forward to this party for months cuz we were finally going to surprise Dale & Sandy with their home movies that we complied and put on DVDs.  We gave copies to everyone else in the family during Thanksgiving, but Dale & Sandy where on a cruise so we told everyone to keep it a secret till Christmas.  This is a project that Sandy has wanted to do for a couple years, but was overwhelmed by all their movies & didn't know where to begin.  So Danny & I decided to secretly do it for them.  It took a long time, but it was totally worth it.  They were so surprised and excited when they opened their gift and saw all 22 of the DVDs.  Dale & Sandy couldn't wait to watch them & spent most of their Christmas vacation watching & reliving all the memories.  That makes us so happy!  Merry Christmas!!

Salt Lake Trip

 Every other year we try to make the trek up to Salt Lake at Christmas time to see the lights at Temple Square...we are never disappointed!  The lights are always gorgeous & take my breath away.  This year we took my sister Alesha with us too.  She is such a sport to hangout with us and all the craziness we bring with us wherever we go :)

 We also took a tour of the Conference Center-the kids couldn't believe how big it was.  They kept asking the tour guide when we would see President Monson :)

 The next day we went to the 'This is the Place' park.  It was pretty cool, but nothing was open.  So we just took the little train ride around the grounds & went in the only open building: Brigham Young's Farm House.

It was a great trip with decent weather...what more can you ask?!

Ginger Bread Houses

 

 It is that time of year again...Gingerbread houses!  The kids look forward to this mess...I mean activity every year!  For Family Home Evening we invited Ryan & Shannon's family, and Todd & Michelle's family over to enjoy this annual event.  The kids always have more fun doing things with their cousins.  Reese did much better than I thought she would...she actually decorated her house BEFORE she ate most her candy :)

 Adee and her work of art...she is getting better at not just piling all her candy on the graham cracker house

 Owen always surprises me with his artistic attention to detail

Averee is our little perfectionist and always makes a cute house

Christmas Pajamas

During the first Family Home Evening after Thanksgiving, the kids get to open their first gift of the season: Christmas Pj's! They are always so excited to open the presents, even though they know it will be pajamas, they can't wait to see what they will look like this year. Luckily, I can usually find matching pajamas in all their different sizes. But I know that won't last much longer...better enjoy it while I can :)

Pippenstock Merryweather

We had a visitor this year...a Christmas elf named Pippenstock Merryweather. We woke up one morning to a fantastic breakfast and our new visitor with a letter to the kids. The letter explained who he was and why he was here. Pippen said that Santa had sent him to our family for the month of december to watch the kids and make sure they were not being naughty :) He would report back to Santa each nite and then hide in a new place each morning. The kids had a great time looking for him & seeing what tricks he had played during the night. He is quite a character! Pippen also brought gifts for the kids: Santa hats & crazy Christmas socks. What a fun morning!

Kids Christmas Trees

The kids each have Christmas trees in their rooms & each year they just CAN'T wait to put up their trees and get them decorated. Owen's tree is green with blue & red decorations...He is always the first one done decorating. He isn't very picky about the placement of each ornament. Averee and Adee share a room, so they also share a tree. It is pale pink with silver & pink ornaments. They also have some ballet shoe ornaments & those are the last to go on...the placement has to be just right :) This was the first year that Reese got to decorate and have her own tree in her room. She was SO excited! Her tree is dark pink with silver ornaments. The older kids were very 'helpful' and put most of her ornaments on for her. She was a good sport though & too excited about the whole thing to get mad at all the 'help' :)

Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas-the kids are getting old enough to really enjoy Christmas morning. It is so fun to see the excitement on their faces. We are all so spoiled! Merry Christmas!

Santa at Jones Manor

I guess you are never too old to sit on Santa's lap? Each year Santa visits all the grand kids at Grandma Sandy's house during our family Christmas party. It is the highlight of the night! Each person gets to sit on Santa's lap as he hands them their gift from Grandma & Grandpa Jones. Reese wanted her doll, but didn't want anything to do with that bearded stranger! :0) Grandma Sandy gave all her kids their own genealogy binder that she compiled-that's a lot of work! What a great gift!

Ginger Bread Houses

What would the Holiday Season be without decorating some yummy gingerbread houses? We got together with Danny's brother Ryan, his wife Shannon & their family to make a mess-I mean decorate gingerbread houses. :0) We have gotten kinda lazy- I mean smart & started to pre-make the houses using a hot glue gun & graham crackers. So much easier!! Every house starts out looking the same, but it is fun to see how different they are by the end.

Christmas PJ's

During the first Family Home Evening in December the kids get to open their new Christmas Pajamas. This way they get to wear them all month & of course on Christmas Eve. I love finding matching pj's, which gets harder every year with all the variety of sizes we need now. But this is a tradition the kids love & a great way to start the best month of the year!

Lights at Temple Square...

We decided that since none of our kids have seen the lights at Temple Square, we would make a trip to Salt Lake. It has a big hit! The kids loved it & were in awe of all the lights. I still can't imagine all the time and man power it takes to do those lights-amazing! Luckily it wasn't as cold as we expected. Here are the highlights... This was everyone's favorite: a nativity scene out on the reflection pool in front of the temple, complete with floating candles on the water. It was breathtaking! Oh & love that cheesy grin!

Danny was busy trying to keep Reese happy & warm :0)

Yes, I know Averee's coat is unzipped :0{

We made the trip with some great friends of ours-the Krispins. Jenny & I have known each other for about 10 years-we met playing volleyball. Our other volleyball friend-Andie- has moved to Salt Lake & we miss her tons! Luckily-the weekend we went up was her 40th birthday, so we got to celebrate with her. Love you girls so much!

Averee was so cute-she couldn't wait to see baby Jesus in the Nativity program. She kept asking when the lights were going to come on where Jesus was laying. And yes-I tried ALL nite to keep her coat zipped up! UGH! :0)

It was a great but quick weekend. I think the kids liked the hotel room as much as anything-they were bouncing off the walls when we first got there. We stayed right by Thanksgiving Point & did that on saturday morning-the kids had a ball in the dinosaur museum. Then of course we had to hit Cabela's :0) We left saturday afternoon-just as the storm moved in. On the way home we stopped at Cove Fort-which was a bigger hit with the kids than I expected. I think we may have found a new Christmas tradition!

It's already over?

Wow, has Christmas really come & gone already? Crazy! The kids have totally brought the magic back to Christmas. It was so fun to experience it all through their eyes. Owen even started to say "Santa" everytime he saw him, & the girls talked about it non-stop. They were so excited they couldn't stand it! But we did try really hard to talk about the birth of Christ alot. I think Averee got the point, cuz during one family home evening, I asked (for the 100th time) "Why do we celebrate Christmas?". Averee says "I know, I know Mom, it's Jesus' birthday" like DUH mom! Adee keeps saying that she wants to give Jesus kisses-don't they just melt your heart? Well, here are the Christmas details...

Christmas Eve was at the Jones', with our annual visit from Santa. Each grandchild gets to sit on his lap to get their gift from Grandma & Grandpa Jones. The girls were so excited to see him, but Owen-not so much. :0) When he first came in the door Averee asks "How is Mrs. Clause?". That got everyone laughing & he said that she was busy baking cookies. He is the cutest Santa ever! He has been our Santa for several years now & we just love him! The kids had fun playing with all the cousins-even Dannys sister Kim (who lives in Moab) was there with her family. We always have a blast when all the gangs together. Anyway, after Grandma's house, we headed home to open our Christmas jammies & act out the Manger scene. Averee just HAD to be Mary so she could hold baby Jesus, & Adee was the funniest Angel. She is such a ham! Owen wouldn't keep any costumes on, but went back & forth from being a Wiseman & a Shephard. I guess he wanted the best of both worlds! Then we made Santa a plate of cookies & milk, sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn & headed to bed.

Morning didn't come TOO awfully early-Averee had us up around 6:30. The girls were so happy to see that Santa had left them baby dolls & new art stuff, & Owen loved his blocks & fire truck. I was totally spoiled-Danny got me the picture of Christ I wanted for our living room, & the ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid. I have wanted one since I got my KitchenAid last year, but could never find one. I guess Danny thought I had been extra nice this year! :0) Danny got the zero degree sleeping bags he wanted & some new church clothes & shoes. Then my family come over to open presents & eat breakfast. It was great to see them & hang out for awhile. We always keep each other laughing. My parents always spoil us-but we love it! Then of course we had to have the usual Pumpkin Pancakes with Apples Lemon Syrup (our favorite!) Thanks for that recipe Rachelle!

That afternoon the Jones clan got back together for Christmas dinner & it was delicious! We had a great time chatting & just hanging out while all the kids ran around like they were hopped up on goof balls (that was for you Kenny). Thanks Todd & Michelle for letting us all crash the place! :0) Todd & Michelle had made a video of all of us sharing our favorite memories of Grandma & Grandpa Jones & that was great to watch. The kids are hilarious! They say the funniest stuff! One of my nephews, Luke, said "a grandparent is an old parent". How true! It was such a great day spent with family & friends. We are so blessed to be close to soo much of our family, & to be able to spend the holidays with them is awesome! Only 364 days left till next Christmas-I can't wait!