Christmas Day!

Jocelynn singing with Elmo

Carter happy about his Elmo present from Uncle Bill.

My parents were in Utah because Jessica had Zealynn so my Grandma and Uncle Bill spent Christmas evening with us for dinner. I wasn't happy with how the scalloped potatoes and ham came out but it was edible. We had a nice time visiting together and opening presents.

Cousins!

After church, James sister and family came over for brunch. We had eggs, with sausage, peppers and cheese and hash brown, bacon and cinnamon rolls. It was so nice to visit together.

All ready for church!

I love these smiles Carter gives below. He had a fun time with the toys especially this baseball toy.

Christmas Day Jocelynn woke up at 630am. She was so cute and excited. I've never seen her so excited, ever! She said Merry Christmas mom and dad. She walked quickly downstairs and handed me a present. She said open it mom, open it. She then started talking a ton about how she heard and saw santa and the reindeer and she heard them on the roof. She couldn't believe he came, she kept saying I knew it mom, I knew he would come! All month she was so worried that she wasn't good enough and maybe he wouldn't come. I kept telling her not to worry and that I believe she is a good girl and he would come. Carter woke up at 645 and we opened presents. Jocelynn was so excited opening her presents. Each one she yelled out what it was and said she always wanted it!

The Night Before Christmas

The beginning of December came and everyone was getting their trees up and lights up, not us. My parents were moving out the 9th or 10th and our Christmas decoration were still in storage. I could tell Jocelynn was having a hard time. She did not want me to forget that Christmas was coming. Finally on the 12th or 13th we got the decorations us. THe first of December I thought I needed to do something so she knew it was coming. I found something online called an advent book calendar. Every night you read a new Christmas story. I thought it would be expensive buying new books so we went to 3 different libraries and I found all the Christmas books I could find. This got her really excited. I wrapped each one in tissue paper, even Carter looked forward to opening a new story every night. The last book I saved was "The Night Before Christmas." On Christmas Day we read the story of Jesus.

We left cookies out and carrots and green beans for the reindeer.

The night we decorate the house the elves leave pajamas every year on the doorstep. They wear the pjs the month of december. I loved the reindeer feet!

The night before christmas they got to open their ornaments. Carter got a dog paw print ornament that says 2011 and we put his picture in it and Jocie got a Rapunzel ornament because she loves Tangled.

The love each other so much!

James sister and family came to visit from AZ. The kids had a blast playing with Keona! We loved having them here!

Christmas Baking and Jocelynn's Preschool

I love Christmas time, especially because it's a reason to bake all the yummy things you don't all year. We made, magic bars, peanut butter bars, molasses cookies, choc chip and m & m cookies. Next time I want to do toffee. I love these matching aprons we got last year. Jocie loves helping me and especially eating it. We packaged them up and took them to neighbors and some of her friends in Sunbeams. It's a tradition now to carol. It's a little embarrassing but Jocelynn loves it!

Here are a couple of her friends from preschool, Gwen and Zane. They sang some cute Christmas songs and used bells to play songs.

Primary Activity and Sea World

The primary had a little Christmas party. They rotated rooms. One of the rooms was decorated and they got the act out the Nativity. Jocelynn was an angel and looked so cute. She had a great time!

We went to Sea World and had a great time seeing everything decorated in Christmas. My parents moved out the middle of December. We didn't get out tree up till the 16th. Jocie was so concerned that I was forgetting about Christmas. It was nice to go there and get her excited. We loved playing in the snow, and seeing the elf and Mrs. Claus.

Black Friday

So I didn't get any pics of Thanksgiving this year. We had a great time at Jeff and Katrina's house for dinner. I actually couldn't find my camera and then when I got to Jeff and Katrina's house I left it there. In the evening, I got the kids to bed and headed over to Toys R us. THis is my 3rd year and Melinda joined me this time. I have a great time going every year. Usually malls and stores are closed once the kids are in bed. It's nice to have a day to shop all night, with sales going on. We got some great deals and then headed over to the mall. I had such a great time and plan to go again next year!!