Christmas 2020

Jameson woke up at 6:30 Christmas morning but had to wait for everyone else because the rule is that you have to wait for everyone else to wake up on their own. We also added on that it needed to be light outside. Thankfully the younger kids slept til 8:00. It is so nice starting out the morning at a normal time.

We went around taking turns opening gifts. It was so fun to be there with my parents and aunt Betsy! This was our first year spending Christmas at my parent's house. It was very relaxing.

Everyone wanted Legos from Santa and he delivered. Marshall set up some tables so they could all build their sets and watch movies together in the same room.

 

We took a break that afternoon and visited Grandpa and Grandma Lowry on their porch. I should have taken a picture. After that we went to the flag pole so Marshall could show our kids how much fun it is to swing around. It was too cold so I stayed in the car.

Lynnlee:

Jameson:

Taggart:

Kade:

We had our traditional smorgasbord later that afternoon. Then we watched movies and played Dr. Mario.

Chewie was happy and exhausted every night when we put him in his crate. He did really well there and remembered his potty training. He learned how to go down the stairs while we were there so that was an exciting milestone!

Taggart got this fun hammock thing from my parents for Christmas. Marshall installed it after getting back home.

Lynnlee got this rainbow thing and Marshall put hers up too and made both of their days.

We got to go to church in person with my parents on the 27th. It was very nice and my kids were all reverent which is worth noting. 

We went back home Sunday night. Monday through Wednesday of holiday break was spent playing games, watching movies, and playing roller hockey.

Christmas Eve 2020

We had smaller numbers this year at Holiday Lanes. Instead of taking up half of the bowling alley we only needed two lanes. We made the most of it though. Holiday Lanes has finally updated their tv/computer system. The ball return/rack is still the same. I love how being inside Holiday Lanes is like going back in time 30 years.

Taggart was so cute in helping Sienna with the ramp every time it was her turn.

Marshall was the top bowler with a whopping score of 160!!! My siblings and their families all went bowling around the same time so it was fun to see pictures and scores from everyone else. Ashlyn won out of all of the kids with a score of 118!

We took it easy through the afternoon. Everyone had fun playing, I got a nap and then we had a yummy dinner of hamburger soup, rolls, and salad. Mmm! After dinner we had a Christmas recital/program. Since I teach my kids the piano this was their recital. James was the emcee. We each played a Christmas song including James on his trumpet. Then my dad played his accordion and we sang along to a few songs. It was so enjoyable!

That night everyone got to open their Christmas jammies. I decided to get onesies this year. They were very comfy and warm.

We stayed up til midnight watching Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2. The kids were too excited to sleep. I realized around midnight that I had forgotten a box of presents in Lehi- a 40 min drive. I checked everywhere to be sure and then told Marshall the bad news. He had slept through the movies so with that nap he was willing to go pick up the presents. He left around 12:30am and got back around 2:00am. It ended up being good in that he brought and presents/treats off the porch inside. The only good thing about not having a white Christmas was that he had clear roads. He was a trooper to dig me out of my mom fail! Thankfully everyone slept until 8:00 so he got some sleep after such a late night.

Gingerbread Houses

We got to decorate a big gingerbread house together at the beginning of the month but we still wanted to do individual gingerbread houses. Usually I glue graham crackers together with melted sugar but this year we decided to use Royal icing to glue them together. It worked pretty well. My icing was a little on the runny side so it took a little while to dry. Next year I need to add a little more powdered sugar. Then it will be perfect. I liked doing that a lot better than sugar glue. I usually get burned by the sugar at least once.

Poor Kaden has been getting headaches weekly for the past year. They started happening more frequently in the last few months. Over Christmas break he got one almost everyday. The night we decorated gingerbread houses he got a headache and it was so bad he threw up. I decorated his gingerbread house for him. (the gate in the picture is to keep Chewie in the kitchen)

We took pictures the next morning when Kaden was feeling better.

 

Christmas Hoopla

Last minute we decided to have a little Christmas party with the kids and some friends. Lynnlee made the game Pin the Nose on Rudolph.

Then we played Christmas Charades. We have been playing charades a lot since then because it's so much fun for all of their ages.

Next we played bingo.

The last game we played was called Build a Snowman. Each person got three marshmallows. They had to stack them on top of each other. The trick was that they couldn't use their hands so they had to use their mouths to stack them. This was very entertaining to watch!

We finished off the night watching Earnest Saves Christmas. For being a spur of the moment party we had a lot of fun!

Christmas Craft

My mom gave us a craft kit to make angels out of strips of fabric, styrofoam and ribbon. Lynnlee and her friend Lainey made them one day after school.

 

Sleep Sack Fun

Last year the Minis and Kaden got sleep sacks from Grandpa and Grandma Lowry for Christmas. They have gotten great use. Lynnlee wanted one this year so she saved up and bought one. One Sunday night they wanted to do a photo shoot of them in their sleep sacks.

Silly kiddos!
 

Dance Recital

All moms have fails and when it happens you hope that it's not too big of a deal if it happens. COVID has really thrown me off my game when it comes to remembering when we have events and activities. Sienna's and Lynnlee's dance classes are on Monday. Dance is on our mind for another day or two and then we forget about it until the next week. Well, on the week of their dance recital we remembered Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then by Thursday and Friday I had completely forgotten about the recital on Saturday. We went swimming Saturday morning. Then had lunch and Lynnlee had plans to go to a friend's house. I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost because otherwise I would have had a huge ginormous fail of all mom fails. I was doing Lynnlee's hair and the spirit whispered to look at my calendar at Jameson's futsol game time. At first I ignored it because James was already at his game and Marshall was bringing him home so it wasn't something I really needed to know. Then it whispered again and thankfully I listened. I looked at my calendar and saw that Sienna and Lynnlee had a dance recital in Saratoga Springs at 3:30 and needed to be there at 3:15. At this point it was 2:30. It was tight but thankfully it was enough time to get costumes on, do hair and make up and get them there. Thankfully the hairstyles and make up they needed were really simple. I was breathing a sigh of relief the rest of the day that we made it and it all worked out.

They both did a great job on their dances! Lynnlee danced to the song "Christmas the Whole Year Round" by Sabrina Carpenter. Sienna danced to "A Wonderful Christmas Time" by Demi Lovato.