Our White Christmas...

This year we got a lot of snow right on Christmas. It is great. On Dec. 27th we took the kids for a drive up the canyon for lunch and I just have to show off why Utah is so great.

This was not the highest spot for the snow wall on the side of the road, but it was the safest to take the picture.

I love the view from our front window!!!!!!

Christmas at last!

Ok so I am finally getting Christmas up on the blog.

First off is the tree I guess. Which we were very late putting up and late taking down as well. It is eclectic and changing through the years just how I like it.

Below are pictures from the annual sing-a-round at Monticello Academy where our girls go to school. Always very cute, especially since by the time the date of the show comes I already know all of the songs from listening to them sing them in the car. I love that they enjoy singing. And that Aspen learns everything that they sing around her.

Tressa loves this song!!

Don't you love the echoy gym used for an auditorium in schools, and don't forget the extra-echoy intercom announcement during the performance. hehe-I love school, so much to smile about.

Josie is the little one in the middle (no hat). Sorry that she is hard to see.

I had to put this video up to show that girls will still be girls. And I just love Shayden to death. Check out his bows.

And of course, their adoring fans!!!

Then came all of that glorious white stuff which is much funner when you are under 10.


Tressa making good use of both our shovel and the steep snow covered driveway, even if it wasn't in the way Daddy intended.

Aspen throwing her first snow clump

Me-reading (what else would I be doing while the kids are entertained elsewhere?)

The girls favorite thing to do while I am reading....distract me

Jon's playing with the kids. Not quite fare but lots of fun.

Next up was the Hunt Family Christmas Party which is held every year on the 23rd. We had a big dinner at Aunt Toby's ward house, visited with all of Jon's cousins, and watched the children put on a little nativity play.

Tressa and Aspen are far left as Angles, and Josie is on the right as a sheep.


Josie in her beloved sheep costume.

I also figured out the best way to really capture and event is to give the camera to a 7 year old. Tressa got some really cool pictures of everyone without anyone really caring that she was taking them.

And finally we get to Christmas Eve, which since this was our German Christmas year means that this is when we opened all of the presents and had a big dinner. And since all of the pictures for the actual even are on my other camera I will have to add them latter. But here are some pictures of the girls going to bed in home-made PJ's (courtesy of Grandma Verna) and their brand new IKEA down comforters (which worked out well to give them this year when they got to open them at night).

We spent Christmas day doing nothing but relaxing (reading for me and Jon), playing in the snow, and making cookies. We had no one to go see because no one was around to go see. And although I would never want to spend every holiday this way it was really nice to spend one doing nothing but being together with my girls and wonderful hubby. The one down side of the day was that Jon used the last eggs without telling me so when I went to go make Sausage Casserole, our traditional breakfast, there were none to us. So we had to have waffles instead.=(

The only way Jon knows how to make cookies-by eating all the dough

Josie talking to my brother Jesse and becoming and inventor at the same time
Below is a picture of my flour bucket, if you will note the suspicious white powder around the bottom I will explain. I had just refilled the bucket so that we could have flour for the cookies, so it was still open. Aspen meanwhile was going around playing her recorder that we gave her the night before. She came over to the bin stuck her new recorder into the fine white powder and blew. The rest I think should be self explanatory. She looked so shocked and guilty we could only laugh.

And they were dancing yeaaaahhhh.....

Tressa

she is the one in the red and she isn't even the smallest this year

Josie

Josie is the 3rd from the right in black

Jon said I had to post this picture up for his family. While getting Josie ready I couldn't resist curling her bangs in the good old fashioned 80's style (which means up instead or down). And as you can see she really didn't like the end result, but it gave everyone a good laugh. The girls laughed even harder when we showed them a picture of Aunt Angie with her bangs done even higher in her "volcano bangs."

St. Nicolas Day

This year we started a new tradition in our home. We will be picking a different country each year to learn about their Christmas culture and to try some of their traditions in our home. This year we picked Germany because my Sister Dana is from Germany and so we know a bit about their traditions already and simply because Germany is the coolest place for Christmas anyways. I think we made a good choice, it has been fun to teach our kids about where Christmas stockings, Christmas Trees, Advent Calenders, and a lot of our Christmas carols came from (since they all started in Germany).



So since we are celebrating German style that means that this morning we got to celebrate St. Nicolas Day. Last night our girls set their shoes, well snow boots, out by their bedroom doors before they went to bed and this morning when they woke up their boots were filled with small gifts and candy. I didn't get many pictures because they woke before we did and came running into our room very excited to show us what they got. It was very unorganized and chaotic which just made it that much more fun. Every single thing seamed to be the greatest treasure to them, and I had so much fun watching them squeal and giggle through the morning.











It was quite a lesson to me as a mother as well. Everything they got was simple and small but I have never seen them so excited in their lives.

Zoo Lights

For Co-op this week we only had one family so we decided to take advantage of our zoo membership and take all the kids to see the lights at the zoo. And I have to admit that even having 2 more kids is harder to do, but luckily the kids were all well behaved and we got through it with out loosing anyone. Phew.










The lights were actually pretty cool. Most were zoo themed and a lot of them moved, but what I liked most was the colors. Everything was so bright. And of course the kids loved it all. They especially got a kick out of seeing the free roaming turkeys asleep on top of the monkey enclosers. I am not sure why they liked that so much but they did.


The turkeys are the blobs on top of the net



And as usual they spent the longest time looking at all the bugs and snakes in the Reptile and Bird House. I couldn't blame them though since it was WORM inside.

Tressa and Katelynn looking at some big bug

Rattle snake with his dinner




This is Aspen looking through the glass-Jon loves this picture.


A little work but a LOT of fun. Thanks girls for being so good.