Before Christmas!

When Monkey is home life is soooo good. Christmas break this year was so fun. We started off by decorating our cozy cottage for Christmas. We put up our fake tree and danced to "We saw 3 ships a sailing in" which happened to be the kids favorite carol this year for some reason. Then the kids laid under the Christmas tree forever. Monkey was quiet for a bit and out of no where he tells me he is sick of fake trees it's time to go cut himself a real one. So that is what we did....

We went to the coolest tree farm that had trees for 10$, free hot chocolate in a festive cottage, and free tree wrapping. Now picking a tree I didn't think would be so incredibly hard. I found out I am quite picky.... Thanks Mom!!! The tree had to be the perfect shape. If anything was a little off I kept looking. Monkey was just laughing like you have to be kidding me! The kids were loving life... they were running through the whole farm! Dancing, singing, and talking about Santa Claus! Belle made sure to tell Cash over and over, "Remember Cashy Christmas is about Jesus... but Santa is coming!'

We went home and set up our tree and the smell of the pine filled our home! Excitement went from 100 to a zillion! We got in our car and drove to see Santa at the mall. The kids were so amazed that he was just sitting there waiting for them! After seeing Santa we decided to do a family date and go to the temple. Belle and Cash something triggered in them when they saw they manger scene. Belle fell in love with Mary and Cash with Joseph. For the rest of the month they pretended the were Mary and Joseph taking care of their baby. I would call for Cash and he would tell me, "My name is not Cash, it's Jofeth!" I would laugh so hard because for the life of him he could not say Joseph! After the temple we went to the kids favorite Sweet Tomatoes and Paige found a new love in pineapple!

One morning we woke up to snow.... not a lot but still we had snow! First thing without breakfast the kids begged me to go out and play so we all did. We had such a good snow fight and I don't think the kids stopped laughing!

One of our favorite things was just driving down a street by our house was Santa sitting in a yard in a sleigh. He was raising money for a foundation. We pulled over and this Santa was by far the best Santa I have ever seen. He took a lot of time with the kids and got Belle to not be afraid of he anymore! He made the kids laugh and they wanted so badly to see him again Christmas Eve!

The rest of the month we got sick a bit, but recovered quickly! But other than that we played a lot with friends, giving baking soda bowl baths for Paige's diaper rash (which works miracles!!), I went on a date with Cash... which was by far one of my favorite memories, Watched Paige get bigger and bigger... Paige has come to love sitting by Monkey while he studies... she plays with his arms and laughs, and we have had some serious play dough time!

Mary and Jofeth!

December was awesome... and waiting for Christmas to come and teaching my kids the real meaning of Christmas was even better. I saw my kids want to help others without me saying anything. I saw them wrap their toys up in blankets and give it to each other to make the other happy. I over heard Belle and Cash many times talking about the Savior and how special he is- while playing in their room. And I saw my kids just love being with their Dad! I love this time of year....