We had a wonderful Christmas this year. You really can't ask for more than being with your family creating memories. It was fun to have Juli and her family come for a visit and also Brady and his family.
We have our annual tradition of building gingerbread houses. The kids have come to expect it. Some brought their "A" game where other did the bare minimum. But nonetheless it is always fun.
After building gingerbread houses, Jaxon decided to teach everyone the proper way to eat a Smartie. You must stick in on your chin and retrieve it with your tongue. This is something McKay and Jaxon has picked up from their Spanish teacher at school.
Jeremy was able to escape up to the mountains a couple of times with the boys to go skiing. They went once to Brighton and once up in Idaho to Targee. The Teton mountains were awesome looking (bottom pictures).
We have started a relatively new tradition the last couple of years where we get together and make casseroles to donate to the food and care coalition. After we assemble and deliver the casseroles we went and got some lunch at JCW's. We came back to the house after lunch and played games until it was time to go to Grandma and Grandpa White's house for Christmas Eve dinner and celebration.
This year marks Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary. We had everyone write them a note and then put a bunch of pictures together in a book. Jeremy spent countless hours assembling it online to get it ordered in time. Grandma and Grandpa loved it. Grandma even got a little choked up!
Everyone loved looking at the book with Grandma and Grandpa. It was fun to walk down memory lane.
Above: Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandchildren. We were missing Caleb, Olivia Cameron, Amy and Carson. Below: Grandma and Grandpa with their kids. We were missing Weston and Todd.
Finally Christmas morning arrived! The boys gathered together at the bottom of the stairs in their PJs that Grandma made for them. Oh Jaxon's hair. He was in love with his curly locks.
As the boys came up the stairs I was in for a nice surprise!
It was nice to have McKay join us for Christmas morning.
It was definitely a different kind of Christmas without McKay here. We did love talking to him via Skype for about 45 minutes. It was good to see him and to be able to chat with him for a bit. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of us with McKay. I was too scared to mess everything up!
We had fun opening presents Christmas morning. Even Suki got a new Christmas toy.
Kayden telling us all about what he got for Christmas.
Kayden and all his loot.
Josh explaining all about what he got for Christmas.
Josh with all his Christmas gifts.
Jaxon letting us know about his Christmas. He was pretty excited to receive a trip to San Antonio and tickets to a Spurs game where Manu Ginobili's jersey will be retired. He was brought to tears of joy!
Jaxon with all his Christmas presents, and oh that hair.
We received a mystery package that was in the middle of the floor by the Christmas tree when we got home from Grandma and Grandpa White's house Christmas Eve. The package read: "To The White Family Special Santa Delivery From Elder White" We were puzzled to know how that package got in our house and McKay wouldn't fess up, but we have our suspicions of who McKay's Secret Santa helper may have been. Inside was a Peruvian nativity for the family, some ties for all the boys (see picture), a pencil holder for me, a gift for his Spanish teacher and a backpack for himself.
Grandma Haacke made us a fantastic Christmas dinner. It was so delicious and the perfect thing to wrap up our Christmas night. It was also nice to be with family.
Kayden had lots of help putting together the Harry Potter puzzle he got for Christmas throughout Christmas break.
For New Years we went up to Idaho with all the family. Grandma Haacke made dumplings and sauerkraut. It was delightful and a fun way to kick off the New Years holiday. We also unwrapped presents from cousins and from Grandma and Grandpa Haacke. The boys and Jeremy were able to go skiing (see above). We lost power for the better part of the day when Jeremy and the boys were skiing and it got quite chilly in the house. But we played games in front of the fire wrapped up in blankets and went to town for lunch. It actually made for a really fun day. Here's looking ahead to 2019!
Kayden had karate advancement tonight and it was fun to watch him show off his skills. One thing they did tonight that he hasn't gotten to do at other advancements is board breaking.
I love that he does it with so much confidence!
Kayden had his dad help him with the new belt ceremony and the tying on of his new belt.
The school Christmas Sing In is one of my favorite tradition at the elementary school. I always look forward to going to it. It really brings on the Christmas Spirit. This year did not disappoint. Kayden and the 5th grade sang Hot Cup of Cocoa and Holiday Lights.
I will be sad when Kayden sings in his last Christmas Sing In next year.
We were lucky enough to get some tickets to the Christmas performance of Kristen Chenoweth and the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. I wondered how the boys would like the performance, but the were on board to go. We all really enjoyed the performance very much!
It was a scramble to get to temple square in time. We ran into some traffic on the way there. We were relieved to be inside and in our seats.
After the performance, we walked out onto the roof of the conference center and enjoyed the view of Temple Square all lit up with Christmas lights. The age change of priesthood ordinations had just been announced the day before and Kayden was so excited to go to the temple. As we were looking at the temple he kept saying, "I can't wait to go inside. Can we plan a trip to the Salt Lake Temple soon?" It was neat to be with him looking at the temple so close to the announcement!
Another favorite Christmas tradition is dipping chocolates at Grandma White's house. We love to get together on a Saturday in December with all the cousins and help Grandma dip chocolates and put them in boxes. We also love to eat the chocolates! I guess I was too busy eating chocolate to take more pictures. This is what I got this year:
Jeremy is a good chocolate dipper. He always takes over when his mom gets worn out. The best part about being a chocolate dipper is that you get to lick your fingers when you are done!
All the boys love to help Grandpa break up the giant chocolate bar for melting. Josh was taking his turn and gave me a serious "breaking up the chocolate" pose.
BYU played Utah State up at the Vivint Smart Home Arena so we decided to head up to the game and enjoy the afternoon together.
We started out our afternoon with lunch at Crown Burger. This is a great burger joint just down the street from the arena. A bonus is that they offer free parking with lunch purchase! (Jaxon doesn't take a normal picture anymore. He always has to pull a face.)
BYU played great and we had a lot of fun watching them. After the game Josh wanted to meet up with some friends and stay longer. While we were waiting, we spotted Yoeli Childs in the stands. He is right behind Josh and Kayen. (The look on Josh's face: "Really mom?" The look on Kayden's face: "I'm being stealth.")
Apparently that wasn't good enough for Kayden. Kayden wanted to meet him and have his picture with him. I was hesitant, but obliged. Yoeli was very courteous and was happy to have his picture taken with Kayden. It was the cherry on top of a fun afternoon!
A few years ago we started a family tradition that lands on the same Saturday that our ward hold tithing settlement. After tithing settlement, we take the kids out to breakfast and then the boys go shopping for each other. It has become something that we look forward to every year.
This year we went to Black Bear Diner for breakfast. After a long wait, we had a yummy breakfast.
We enjoyed a yummy breakfast, even though we were missing McKay.
After breakfast, the boys went shopping to Target and Dick's Sporting Goods for each other. They had to be sneaky while shopping around so they wouldn't see what each other had in the cart. Kayden found this funny llama jacket that reminded him of McKay (since McKay lets everyone know he is dead set on seeing a llama while serving his mission in Peru). This was a great start to our holiday season!
