december 2013- part 1

Here are our December adventures up until we left for California.

Anna and Levi at the Exxon Christmas party

Santa, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, and Frosty all arrived at O.C. Taylor Elementary by helicopter. Thank goodness all that money we've donated is going to good use.

Snarkiness aside, Levi thought it was awesome, and Santa really did wave to him from helicopter.

Sam was able to go to Anna's class Christmas party where they made graham cracker ginger bread houses. Anna was very proud of hers, and also eager to eat it.

Mrs. Poda's kindergarten class 

Anna dressed up as a valentine's bunny on one of the first days of Christmas break. The star necklace she's wearing is a gift from the primary president for learning all 13 Articles of Faith. They handed out cards that you could punch holes in as you learned them, and Anna was the only kid to hand it back in, so the primary president, Calli Stanley (one of my mom heroes) called her to the front and asked her if she worked hard and did she feel the spirit. Anna felt so proud, and later Calli gave her this necklace with 13 stars on it that she'd made. I love Calli for loving my child.

Here are the kids in the shirts we gave them when we told them we were going to have another baby. My visiting teacher, Keri Nielsen, suggested I record their reaction when I told them. I'm so glad I did.

The living room as we left it "Christmas" morning before going to bed. We were in bed before 1 AM this year! We did Christmas a little early because we'd be in California on the actual Christmas day.

Here are the kids holding the gifts they made each other. Anna's idea was to make a Cars shirt for Levi. We printed out pictures of them onto freezer paper that helped us paint outlines and windows and such, but we did a lot of the details ourselves. It was a fun project and Levi still loves it. He made a felt butterfly puppet for Anna.

Of course, Levi got Cars. I think this was his last Christmas with a Cars obsession.

Anna with her new Felicity doll who is wearing the dress she picked out from the American Girl Place. Anna wanted the matching dress, but I wasn't about to spend that kind of money on it. I found the dress she's wearing at H&M for $15 and it looked like it'd match pretty well. Turned out, it matched perfectly, and we were both very happy.