the rest of the holiday break

since daddy had to work the entire 2nd half of the break, we continued to chill at home

 we let Evaleigh feed herself a few times--always end up like this!

 we posed with our gingerbread house creations (from the first part of December) before tossing them out

 did a lot of (contained) bouncing

 fell asleep pretending to read books

 created SEVERAL keva plank structures

 learned to climb

 ate our toes, since no one was letting her feed herself feed anymore

Addellyn drew a few very cute pictures (with labels!)

the magic of Christmas

 This was the Sunday before Christmas.  They looked too cute in their matching dresses!

 Enjoying our Christmas Eve feast--crab, bread, artichokes, and avocado pomegranate spread. Evaleigh's not too sure; apparently she was feeling a bit left out by only being fed smashed sweet potatoes and baby puffs.

We spent the evening reading and singing about the birth of our Savior (thanks to Nana's picture book), reading our Beckett book about the Plan of Salvation (thanks to Ben and Lindsey), and filling Beckett's stocking with our goals for the coming year of how we will change to be more like our Savior to be sure that we can be with him and one another forever.

The kids always focus in and calm down remarkably well during this special family time.We really cherish the Spirit that we feel as a family on Christmas Eve, we know that Beckett is definitely a part of our celebration of Jesus Christ's life and Atonement.  Because of our sweet Beckett, Christ's accomplished mission here on the earth has a very powerful influence in our home.  

 The desired "bunny" pet.  It walks and sniffs, but it doesn't eat or poop, it's perfect :).

The remote control helicopter...

 and everyone completely enthralled by the helicopter.

 I love that the kids carefully unwrap each gift and take the time to really enjoy it and figure it out before they even want to move on to the next present.

There really hasn't ever been a huge amount of presents under the tree, but because of their interest in each gift, present opening usually takes all day!

A very Merry Christmas!

Piano Recital

The girls have been doing piano this fall with Cami, yup, she's too good to be true!
we had a neighborhood dinner at our house and then (we held the neighbors hostage) everyone watched their little recital.  Here it is:
Addellyn's first song.
Makinzie's first song.
Addellyn again.
Makinzie again.
ENJOY!

Christmas Gift

Tyler took this pile of wood out into the garage and seemed to disappear with Coleson for hours on end...

So we found ways to stay entertained inside the house...like the slinky

and slobber attacking each other...

...working really had to take some cozy naps...

...and enjoying some freedom from clothing...

Turns out Ty was building me a head and foot board for Christmas.  He put a LOT of his time into it.  (Especially since he kept patiently letting little hands help.)

 I helped him stain it all. And then we stained and wiped off a black stain to make it look aged.

  He is great at coming up with these types of ideas because it turned out pretty perfect!

Then he spent a LONG while making sure it was hooked up perfectly in our bedroom.

And the end result is pretty incredible!  He is quite the carpenter.  Guess if this doctor thing (all 14yrs of time investment) doesn't work out he'll always have a trade to fall back on...

6 months

 And we have loved having her around!  She brings us all so much life and joy!

 She would constantly make this face while I was trying to take pictures (because the kids were running around behind me--yes it was nearly 70* in December); we lovingly refer to this pose as "squirrel?!?"

 And then she was done.

the Christmas Pageant

For the church Christmas party the kids sang a nativity song and the younger kids dressed up to create the nativity scene.

Coleson was a stellar Wiseman.
 Makinzie sang her solo part very well.

 And Addellyn was sure to raise her arms while declaring with the angels the birth of our Savior (and sternly told the other angels to do the same!).

Evaleigh was her usual, lively self and ended up on daddy's shoulders so that she could no longer crawl all over the place and risk being stepped on...