Here Comes Santa Clause

We love the yearly Jenson tradition of a personal visit from Santa Clause! It's so fun to get together for a special night of Christmas joy. Thank you Grover and DeAnn!

Marissa and Aaron are now pros with the Santa Clause scene. Marissa took the longest to get comfortable - and would not sit on Santa's lap with a smile until she was about 7 years old. Aaron did quite a bit better - and by age 3, was not afraid. Krystal sobbed this year, but ... with the help of Ryan Jr. found the courage to get semi-close and tell him that she wanted a pink baby.

Jeremy was the only person she wanted to be with once Santa came in. She wouldn't even sit with me. Silly girl. Thank heavens for Jeremy (bleherbleherbleh). He kept her happy ... like usual. She started crying when Santa Clause left, because he didn't give her the pink baby. Jeremy convinced her, however, that Santa was going home to make it and would bring it Christmas Eve. Love you Jers!!!

We LOVE being together. It's the best place to be.

Temple Square

Friday night we went to Temple Square with the Miller Fam.

It was very crowded. I lost my camera. Aaron's legs were wobbly from all the walking. I carried Krystal 95% of the time. It was FREEZING cold.

We love being together. Tyler found my camera (due to a 3 mile walk.) The kids were asleep after 2 minutes into the ride home. Krystal sings "I love to see the Temple" 24/7. The lights were beautiful.

We had a great time!!

Houses!

Our house has officially begun!! As of Monday, we own a great hole in the ground. And NOW we own the hole AND the footers! Exciting! The bottom picture really shows our great view of the sugar beet factory (haha)! We don't mind.

So, to celebrate - we put together our own gingerbread house for the 12th day of Christmas. Krystal could not stop looking at the gingerbread house ... I took like 8 pictures from that angle - she's looking at the house in every one of them. :) Only 12 more days 'til Christmas!!! Exciting!

A Glimpse into Marissa's Head

One of Marissa's homework problems yesterday was:

Look for a pattern. Write the missing numbers. Describe the pattern.
15, 26, 37, 48, __, __

Okay - do you all have your answer?

The answer should be 59 and 70 ... the pattern is add 11. Correct?

Here's what Marissa put...

59 and 610 .... the pattern is: The first digit in each number goes up one (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) - the second digit in each number also goes up one (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). So, the pattern goes: 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8, 5-9, 6-10.

How in the world do I tell her that she's wrong? Because, technically - she is correct. Sigh.

A Nutcracker Christmas

On Saturday, we attended BYU's "A Nutcraker Christmas" at the Art Museum. We were pretty skeptical at first (mostly because it was so crowded) - but it turned out to be a blast! We also got very lucky, because we saw Laney (Leisy's twin sister) there, and she just GAVE us tickets (she works there). VERY nice! They had lots of performances and fun activities. We first went to the story telling station - which was quite comical. Here are pics of the kids listening to the stories ...

Then we went to the cookie decorating station ... a little crowded, but we survived -and had no problemo eating the cookies :)!

Definitely the hit of the day was Lance the magician/balloon twister extra-ordinare (yeah - Aaron asked for a balloon machine gun ... I'm surprised he even knew what a machine gun was!) This magician was seriously awesome ... and we were all blown away by his magic tricks. We were sitting on the front row - so got to participate in quite a few things. FUN! Here's Ty trying his hand at pulling things out of a hanky ... the magician was much better.

And here's Aaron - trying not to lose my ring. Needless to say, he was really worried when he was holding it so tightly - and then next thing he knew - he was holding a key instead (the key that eventually led to my ring). Krystal cried when she thought my ring was gone. haha. It somehow ended up in a LOCKED box within a box within a box within a box within a bag .... crazy. Anyway ... we all loved it. We hope to get him for Aaron's birthday party. Wouldn't that be cool?!

More "24 Days of Christmas" Adventures

Making snowflakes has become a much loved Christmas tradition in our home. The kids love to color them even more than cutting them out ... and are so proud of their work. Didn't they turn out great?!

Krystal was especially proud. She obviously needed some assistance in cutting ... but, managed to make little slits all around the edge of her entire snowflake. It took her a long time! Why didn't I get a picture of that? Oh well.

Hahaha ... Aaron's tongue - so hilarious to me. TOTAL focus and concentration.

Here's Krystal singing the "Snowflake Song" that she just made up. Very cute.

Ta-Da! Snowflake flurry! I have NO idea what Krystal's expression means. :)

Tonight, we watched "The Polar Express" and had minty hot-chocolate with Christmas tree cookies. I love, love, LOVE how excited my sweeties are when they see what we're doing for each day of December. It's the best feeling EVER! We had a lot of fun. Again- no clue what is up with Krystal. I think this may have been the first full length movie she has made it through (well-she made it until the last 15 minutes)! She was very worried about the boy on top of the train. What can I say - my kids are ever cautious. You're welcome, Dad! :)

Here's Aaron enjoying his hot chocolate and green cookie.

We sure have fun together! Happy Holidays everyone!

Tuesday Treats #4

So - last week, we went to Baskin Robbins with Kristy and James -n- fam. YUM! James and Kristy each ordered the Peppermint Brownie Sundae ... very good and very Christmas-y. SOOOO .... last night for FHE/3rd Day of Christmas/Tuesday Treat Tradition ... we made our own version. They were way yummy - and possibly a treat to be considered for an annual appearance. What do you think?

Layer from bottom to top in clear cup: Hot fudge, mint chocolate chip icecream, brownie, hot fudge, peppermint icecream, brownie, whipping cream, crushed candy canes.

Messy - but pretty darn good ... and a heck of a lot cheaper than Baskin Robbins! :)

Ethan enjoyed the icecream - but enjoyed M and Kenj putting an empty cup on his head even more! What a funny, cute boy!

December FIRST!!

On the First Day of Christmas ...

This year marks the third year of our newest family tradition ... the 24 days before Christmas. We hang stockings (gloves, slippers - whatever is needed) on the curtain rod as gifts for the kids ... 24 of them ... and inside is a Christmas-y family activity that we do. Today we made a Christmas treat ... corn quickies! We have enjoyed this tradition SO much. The kids have been counting down to December 1st - and we all enjoy structured family time together.

This morning when I got up (EARLY) and left to teach piano out in Springville ... I had to get off the first exit to turn around and come home. The roads were treacherous. I got a picture of 1200 West - but the freeway looked exactly the same. I was scared ... even at 10 mph. Anywho ... made it home safe ... but didn't teach any lessons. Oh well. The kids really enjoyed the snow. I love the picture of Krystal throwing snow at Aaron as he is still trying to pose for a picture ... his smile is just a teeny droopy! haha.

We dropped by Gma Pat's today to say "hi!" - and Melyndee-loo was over. This is what the kids thought when she said she needed to leave. :D We all love her to pieces. "Don't go, M!! Stay FOREVER!!!!" :)

And - we enjoyed yet another BYU game with the Jensons. Don'tcha just love how Grover is (pretend) cheering for the Cougs - and Jers is looking at him like, "that's my dad!" :D I love it!

These Saturday get togethers have been so so SO fun ... what ever will we do when football ends? Grove - you might have to come up with somethin' :)! Anyway - thanks!

What a spectacular "First Day of Christmas!"