We survived Christmas and had a ball!

We had a great Christmas. It looks like Santa did a good job at giving the kids some of the things they wanted. Also, the kids had an opportunity to buy some gifts for a neighbor and they loved that. It is so fun for them to receive gifts but more fun for them to give. They said that was their favorite part of Christmas. On our way home from Christmas Eve festivities we saw a car off the side of the road and a guy walking to a gas station with his gas can. He was obviously out of gas and we thought it would be a nice thing to take him back to his car after he got his gas since the car was a very long walk away. The man was so grateful to get a ride back to his car as there were people sitting in the car waiting for him to get back. I am sure they were cold waiting so long. After we dropped the guy off Ellie said..."That felt good!". What a great opportunity for our whole family to help someone out on Christmas Eve! I don't think the kids will forget that we helped someone in need. It made our whole Christmas. If I can get this to work I am going to post a few fun Christmas moments. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Christmastime!

My friend Angela posted this on her blog and I thought it would be fun to do too! Here we go...
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love to wrap presents and make homemade bows to put on. I love old fashioned and Victorian looking paper to wrap with.
2. REAL OR FAKE TREE? Both. We have a really nice fake one that my mom gave us years ago, but it is so fun to have a real one once in a while. A couple of years ago we found one on our doorstep the day after Thanksgiving. It smelled so good and was so beautiful!
3. When do you put up the tree? I usually try to put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving but this year it took us a week or so to put it up.
4. When do you take the tree down? We usually leave it up until after New Year's. I love having the tree up as long as possible.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I have so many favorites that it is hard to decide. Every year after we got home from Grandma and Grandpa's house we would come home to find that the Elves left us a new pair of pj's on our beds. It was always fun to see what kind of Jammie's we would get each year.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I have two. One is a music box from a family that my husband home taught and we have a beautiful 3 piece nativity from my mom. It is a gorgeous set that has the baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I love it!
8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband!
9. Easiest person to buy for? Me!
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I honestly can't think of anything.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Sending your Christmas cards the traditional way is the only way to go. It is so much more personal and I love receiving pictures of friends and family that I haven't seen in a long time.
12. Favorite Christmas movies? I love Rudolph the Reindeer...a classic!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually a month before.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, when we were first married and didn't have much money we would give wedding gifts that we may not have needed or wanted. Hopefully no one got their gift back that they gave to us:)
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Oh my goodness! I love it all. I mostly love to eat crackers with different dips and topping. That is a tradition at my parents. Whenever my Grandma Smith comes we have homemade cocktail sauce and shrimp....so good!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I actually like red, green, and white lights combined.
17. Favorite Christmas Song? I love them all. I do not have a favorite and don't want to choose a favorite. Music is probably one of my favorite things during the holidays. I never get tired of listening to Christmas music. This year I started listening right after Halloween.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? We will always be home for Christmas so that our kids have Christmas memories of home. My husband's family lives in Utah and we usually go for New Years.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? I doubt it.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We usually have a gold star but it broke. For a while we had my daughters pink stocking cap for the topper. That didn't last long. My husband thought it would be spectacular but pink doesn't quite go with traditional red and gold ornaments. No more pink hats on top of the tree!

Merry Christmas

It's been a Monday!

What a busy, crazy day! I went and helped a friend clean her house this morning then took Emma to the Dentist today. The right side of her face is swollen and she has some kind of infection in her gums...no fun! I picked up the kids from school and then went out to my mom's to work on a special project for a brother that is going on a mission. That seemed to take a while and we just got home. There's not a lot on my list of things I did today, it's just that it seemed to take all day and I am pooped! Trying to get these kids to bed is such a hassle...they like to take their sweet time and it drives me crazy!

It snowed today and the snow was so beautiful...so soft and fluffy. It did get really cold and we had to really bundle up today. I love the snow and wintertime. I almost got hit today by a car full of teenage girls. I was slowly going around a corner and this car comes at me from the opposite going really fast and the car was sliding right in my direction in which I had to scoot over and hit the curb really hard. It made me mad because as I passed them they were all laughing and thinking it was funny....was not funny to me.

So, I bought a turkey and can't wait to cook it this week. I borrowed my mom's electric roaster and hope to cook it on Wednesday or Thursday. I guess I didn't get enough at Thanksgiving! I am going to make some mashed red potatoes, make some kind of veggie and also make some homemade rolls (thanks to my new/old bread machine). I love that the bread machine does all the hard work and all I have to do is shape the rolls and put them in the oven...awesome! I made my first batch yesterday and they turned out perfect.

I guess that's all for now. Need to go throw a load of laundry in and maybe pick up some clutter around the house.