It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

                   It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas..... We got our front room done! Our baseboards are on and everything has been painted. WooHoo! One day we will install a corner wood burning fireplace but for now it will hold our Christmas Tree. 

        We decorated our tree for family home evening so that everyone would be home. My days our numbered with these kiddo's of mine. 

I am really trying to capture the small moments in our home this year. The tradition's we do every single year to celebrate our Savior's birth. My teens believe they should be able to go hang out with friends every single night. So having everyone home at once isn't always easy. The younger kids helped me make a paper chain with scripture references we wrote on the inside. Every night we take a chain and read the reference by candle light. 

This young lady talked us into doing the 12 Days of Christmas to a young family in our ward. She decorated an oatmeal container and made homemade chocolate chip cookies to put inside. 

This is my FAVORITE Christmas movie. I just love it! Last year I had tickets to see the play and I took Emily with me. Thanks to Covid this year there were no plays. My older kids think they've seen it to many times and don't want to watch it. So this year I turned it on during a mutual night. My younger kids snuggled up with me and together we laughed, and laughed, and laughed. 

Emily helped me wrap all of Christmas Books. 

My parents gave us these rocking reindeer's when Hunter and Maddie were toddlers. They only come out for the month of December. They are still in great condition. My kids love these! I know my kids are getting bigger and these rocking reindeer's are staying the same size. One day I may pass these on. But for now I love seeing my kids on them. 

Brayden is 11 and Kylie is 8. They look forward to unpacking our Little People Nativity, our wooden train, and paper mache gingerbread house. They play with them together almost every single day during the month. 

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Uncle Rich sends us a new Christmas book every year. The kids look forward to getting it. We love the books he send us. 

Treats!

Our family doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. But during December we do have a few favorites we like to make. Emily learned how to make oreo truffles in young women's. She made some for our family. Very sweet but good. 

A neighbor brought us hot chocolate bombs. So fun and yummy!

We put hot milk in a mug and then drop the bomb. 

You can see the bomb begin to melt and then pop!

Out comes hot chocolate powder and marshmallows. 

These have been so fun to make and then drink. 

I love this time of year. 

It seems we get to spend a little more quality time as a family. This is our last year with kids at home. Hunter will probably be on his mission for the next 2 Christmas's. When he get's home Maddie will be 19 and planning on serving a mission. For the next 3-4 years our family won't be together. I want to make the most out of this year. I will miss them. I will miss this. I will miss our current family dynamics.