1st Week of December

The first day of December we put up the Christmas tree and decorations. I thought I hadn't taken any pictures, but I guess I did a few, so I'll share those.

The girls picking out ornaments for the tree.

I only put a few ornaments on, and the girls did the rest while I put other decorations up.

We told the kids they needed to get their wish lists made over Thanksgiving weekend. The girls wrote theirs down on paper, so I took pictures of them.

This is Alice's. At first the main things she asked for were the Barbie dream house and a claw machine, but later Charlotte talked her into asking for a trampoline.

Charlotte's list

We have already done the bird thing, so no way was I giving in to that again.

The first Saturday in December was our ward Christmas party and it was a breakfast this year. I signed up to make a French toast bake and wanted to test it out beforehand. I also signed up to make a bunch of 3D snowflakes, and I ended up making 22 of them with the girls' help. We delivered them to the church the Wednesday before so they could decorate the church.

My test bake of the French toast bake. It was good!

Our haul of snowflakes that we delivered to the church. We did not want them to get squished, so we spread them out as much as we could in the back of the van.

That week was busy as the girls and I decided to rearrange their room and get the beds stacked into a bunkbed, like it was meant to be, so they would have more space in their room. Curtis also had his birthday and even though we didn't do a full celebration, we at least had his birthday dinner. He asked for steak and he ended up cooking everything. The very same day, Alice earned a couple of awards at her school assembly. One for Perfect Attendance and one for academic excellence.

We moved beds and the desk and drawers but there's still lots of organizing to do and we needed new stuffed animal nets hung.

The perfect attendance award came with a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream at Baskin Robbins. We used it right away. It was a good way to get her out of the house also because one of her gifts was being delivered. The other kids were able to bring it inside while we were gone.

The steak acted as his cake. No, he did not eat it all himself. We helped!

The girls made him a big yellow dog made out of cardstock paper, and a card. He hung it at work.

Sage likes the high bed. It took her a little time to figure out the best way to get up there, but now she gets up there all of the time.

That Friday morning (the 6th) our neighbor Susie brought over a bag of treats that she baked. She had to get them delivered early since she was getting knee surgery on the 13th. She loves to bake. She is the neighbor that gave us lots of apples, so obviously there were apple goodies in her bag.

Apple butter, macaroons, apple bread, dehydrated apples, and a pastry I'm not sure what type.

Many times we see people park their RVs at the Walmart parking lot. Well, it was a shock to see that this one had caught fire and was a complete loss. I don't know what happened or if anyone was injured, but I hope not. So sad.

When driving by the other side looks like an empty shell.

Like I said, our ward Christmas party was that Saturday, and it was a breakfast themed with the Polar Express. All who wanted could wear their pajamas. I wore pajama bottoms and slippers but had a regular long-sleeved top. Curtis was the only one in our family who did not wear any pajamas. The boys were excited to wear their robes with their pajamas. The French toast bake I made that morning got a little over cooked and a little dark on top. I think it was because I was baking two pans at the same time. We came home with almost a whole pan. It was a fun activity though. Our Elder's Quorum President dressed up like the conductor and the table that had the food on it was decorated like a train. While eating, they read the Polar Express book. The bishop was able to tie everything into the celebration of Christ as well.

They had a separate table set up for hot chocolate and different treats you could add to your chocolate. There was an activity for the kids to make a mini snow globe and a chef's hat. Santa had come but he was there at 8:30 for picture taking and we didn't get there until almost 9:00, which is when the breakfast started. There was other picture opportunities set up in the Relief Society room also, with a train and the nativity.  And the primary room had coloring sheets and a scavenger hunt for the kids. The nice thing is that the three wards that share this building all went with the same theme so we could just leave up the decorations afterwards. Our ward put up the lights and snowflakes, but we didn't have to take them down.

Charlotte and her friend Jane.

Alice and her friend Laila.

Finally got all of us in a picture.

They also had a thing where, depending on the first letter of your name and the month you were born, would determine your elf name. Mine was Star McJingles.

On Sunday the girls decided they wanted to bake some cookies. They chose to make oatmeal (without raisins) and then we delivered some to a couple in our ward, the Bullocks. Sister Bullock is taking care of her husband who has a lot of health issues and is suffering from dementia. She was so happy to have us bring her cookies because she hadn't had one in a while, since her husband is also diabetic. She is a very bubbly person and fun to talk with. Our boys (Curtis and Garrett mostly) regularly take her the sacrament on Sundays as well, so now she has met our whole family (except Nikki). It felt good to be able to serve her.

Some cookie doughs you just have to lick the beater!

Whew! Like I said, it was a busy week!