December started off with my annual weekend alone. Shaun and I each get one weekend a year where we get to stay at a hotel and be ALONE. No kids, you get to sleep in, and generally relax. I spent mine visiting my Dad, going to the temple, eating Tsunami, and going to a movie. It was just what I needed!
Isaak playing at the Ward Christmas Party
Isaak and his friend Taj made this Soda Machine for a school assignment. They did an awesome job!!
When Lila and Porter decorate with tinsel!!
Waiting to see the "Big Guy", Petersen Farms at Christmas is one of my very favorite traditions!!
Porter is getting so good at writing his name!
Cute notes from Lila I found on the counter.
Porter has low iron. I've been giving him vitamins to help bring it back up for about 6 months now, and in December we also discovered that he has a small hole in his heart!! It's been there since he was born, it's called a "small muscular ventricular septal defect". It causes a small amount of blood to go back to the first lower chamber and circulate through the heart again instead of going out toward his lungs. We need to have him looked at again in a couple years. He might grow out of it, but chances are he'll have it his whole life. He also has Pectus Excavatum. His sternum goes in and he'll need to have surgery on it when he's about 14.
This Christmas I hosted the Woodford Family Christmas and also the Hansen/Hoard Family Christmas. It was busy, but so, so fun. For the Woodford family we had a soup and salad bar at our Ward building.
We had an epic nerf gun war....
Had the kids eat in the nursery....
And had a kid gift exchange and an adult gift exchange.
I'm so glad my Dad was able to come. We kind of planned that he'd come if he could. If he wasn't feeling well, or if the weather was bad he would have missed. I'm so, so glad everything came together. This was my Daddy's last Christmas and I know I'll always remember this last one as the years go by.
Sunday before Christmas. Shaun always comes to church with us on that Sunday. It makes the day just that much sweeter!
Christmas Eve morning. I love our Christmas Jammies tradition!
Christmas Eve dinner. Patsy and Jay moved to Spring City just days before Christmas, and now that they live so far away I'm sure that we'll have most of our family dinners at our house.
Porter waiting so patiently for everyone to be done with their dinner so he can open some presents!
Playing Code Names after presents
Santa came!!
Patsy and Jay slept over at our house Christmas Eve and watched the kids open presents in the morning. We loved having them there!
Lila and her cute friend from school, Story
Uncle Jon sent us a special present!! Pretty Pretty Princess. It's a game he loved playing with Grace when she was little and he HAD to get it for Lila!!
AWWW! Isaak's a pretty pretty princess!
Porter, too!
