Allen Family Christmas Party

 Yesterday was a super busy day for us, but it was also super fun.  We started with our ward party in the morning.  Our ward has been doing a breakfast Christmas party the past few years.  We really like it because it is different than all the other standard ward parties and it is early in the day.    

As soon as we left the our ward party, we headed down to Farmington to my brother's home for the Allen Family Christmas party.  This is the second year of doing a family Christmas party and we really like it.  We had a nice lunch, read some Christmas stories, exchanged white-elephant gifts,   had an ugly sweater contest, and enjoyed everyone's company.  We were going to go look at the lights on Temple Square, but it started to get snowy and cold outside when it got dark so we decided to call it a night.  Here are a few pictures for our adventures today! 

This picture actually wasn't from any of the activities today, but we thought it was super cute that Tanzi was pushing a picture of Jesus around in her baby stroller!

A special visitor came during the ward Christmas party!

Reading Christmas stories, a family favorite.

A cute picture of Aunt Meagan and Kyri.....not sure what their conversation was about, but it looks really entertaining.  

Getting ready for the gift exchange.....the kids had a lot of fun!

Tanzi was wearing Kyler's Perry the Platypus hat and had clear down over her eyes....not sure how she was able to see anything.

A great day filled with Christmas spirit.  

Recent Updates

I have decided I'm going to TRY to update the blog every Sunday. If I do that then it won't take long AND I can keep up a bit better. I really just love looking back on my blog, especially when I update it regularly. So, here's a go at my first Sunday/weekly post

Not much has been going on lately. I mean, outside the regular holiday going-ons, which Gary has already posted about. Thanks to him I'm not as far behind on blogging as I could be :)

We've had one snow storm so far this year and it happened to be on the weekend we were gone. Luckily it was cold enough to keep the snow on the ground for a couple days.

Graysen, Tanzi, and Jadyn having a great time!

Tanzi and her hat....what a crack up!

On Thanksgiving day we were able to celebrate Gary's birthday. His birthday was the following day, but I figured we may as well enjoy cake and ice cream with company. Now, I know my cakes  obviously don't compare in looks to the ones Gary makes, but I do have to say that this one probably tasted better than his :) No offense to him, but this was made from scratch and not from a box. Nothing like pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving dessert and for your birthday, right? YUM!

The kids were quite anxious for him to blow out the candles

Sometimes, when I hear my kids yelling and fighting with each other all day I wonder if I'll be able to make it through the day with my sanity. On this day, however, I was given a true melt-my-mommy's-heart moment. I was vacuuming and when I got into Tanzi's room this is what I saw. No fighting or being mean. True sibling love. Everyone happy. And my heart truly did melt.

I LOVE these kids!!

For some reason she always falls asleep while eating her green smoothie. They just have that effect on her...

The kids LOVE to color while we are making meals. It is now commonplace to scrub crayon and pen marks off my counter....maybe I should start leaving it there....true artwork from a child!

The last time I gave everyone haircuts Tanzi was crying because she wanted one too. So, here's a picture of Tanzi's "first haircut", where I cut practically nothing off. She was quite happy with the situation, nonetheless. And I've been wondering why her hair is growing like crazy in the back, but doesn't seem to be growing at all on top. I have recently learned it's because she pulls her own hair out. While sitting in her highchair Tanzi will pull her hair out! Then she gets mad because her hair is stuck to her messy fingers and I get mad because she gets food all over in her hair... Is it normal for a child to pull their own hair out? It's not in clumps, just a few strands at a time, a few times a day....which apparently adds up

Most people won't appreciate this photo....however, I love it!! I asked Gary to please get Tanzi dressed. And, bless his heart, he did just as I asked. I couldn't stop laughing, though, because I thought she looked like an elf. Only certain tops go good with leggings, and that was not one of them :)

Don't worry, our bed doesn't generally look like that...it's called changing the sheets. Yes, we do that on occasion :)

Christmas is Coming

This is by far my most favorite time of year. I LOVE it!! And I love that I am completely done Christmas shopping too! This means that now I can just enjoy the magical feelings of the season.

Here's a quick look at a few of our Christmas decorations.

This is the tree in our bedroom. I LOVE it! It's the kid's tree, so all their ornaments go on it. Hence, the several ornaments all in one spot. Kyri and Gray get mad when Tanzi takes an ornament off the tree, so they will put it up high. And most of them have found a nice gathering spot....out of Tanzi's reach :)

Our Christmas countdown calendar.Since our decorations were up before December, the kids had to wait patiently before adding any ornaments to the tree. Yesterday was a pretty exciting day around here.

Thanks again for this awesome gift, Tammy!!

Every year I get at least one new Christmas decoration from Gary. Well, this year I picked out a few of my own. :) Thanks, love. This stocking holder was one of them. I am so SO happy to finally have a spot for our stockings instead of just on the couch. And I can't wait until we have our new stockings Gary's mom is making for us! I will definitely have to post pictures of those after Christmas!

Our Christmas village. My friend told me it looks like an accident waiting to happen, with little kids around and such. So far there have been no incidents. Tanzi had to touch everything as I was getting it out, but hasn't touched any of it since.

Our tree!

I got new decorations for our tree this year (and a new tree, too, actually) I really love the new decorations!! Now I just need to find some ribbon or something to add to it to make it complete. But that will have to be part of my next years new decorations...I've spent way too much on them this year :)

I know I've posted this in years past, but I truly LOVE our nativity. It is so simple and SO unique! Thanks for your one Christmas decor contribution, love :)

Lights on the tree

We have a few lights on the house too,but Gary decided not to go out in the rain to take a picture of them. And because of the rain the tree doesn't look as amazing as it normally does. In fact, my neighbor told me her kids are jealous of this tree because it's pretty cool and really bright. All thanks must go to Gary for the outside lights!!

I love looking down the street and seeing so much Christmas spirit. I can NOT wait for that magical day to arrive! 

Merry Christmas to all!!