December 2013 - Part I

With Christmas and two birthdays, December is busy and will likely always be extra busy for us. It's easily my favorite time of year and all the celebrations we get to have only make me like it more. I love the lights, the Spirit of Christmas, the reflections on our Savior, the cookie parties, the traditions, the weather, the magic, the movies, the opportunities to serve, the music, new PJ's(!) and everything in between.

So here we go... Clara's school winter concert|||cookies at Aunt Angela's|||the yard decorated by our Primary Presidency for Clara's birthday|||Clara helping me get neighbor gifts ready (I love that she's getting old enough to help me with so many things, it is so convenient!)|||our house looked like this for a while after Christmas - legos and barbies every where|||annual holiday time dinner with high school friends at Matt & Lindsay's

chocolate face|||advent from Aunt Lilly|||mustache growing results from "Movember" (glad that didn't last long)|||Christmas Relief Society dinner - super fancy this year|||during Hazel's music class, Clara and I went on mini-dates|||she wants to do whatever I do|||new winter coats|||football game projected on the wall (that room has come in useful in ways I never would've imagined)|||Italian indexing projected on the wall - ha!|||Hazel doing my hair|||we went caroling with the bishopric and got invited in to enjoy this slide for a bit|||Hazel thinks she runs so fast in her "camping" shoes

Clara's school gets out a day before the public schools. It's a little silly, but I like it. This year, we went to the zoo with Amy, Ally and Olivia. It was awesome. It was a little overcast and there was hardly anyone there. We fed the giraffes and Clara absolutely loved it while all the other girls were horrified.

Jason got asked to be Santa Clause at our ward Christmas party. So funny! Clara said she knew it was him by his voice and his hands. See that picture on the bottom right? I tried to get a picture of me kissing Santa, but that beard just kept getting in the way.

Matching mustaches.

When Jason and I got married, I had a cheap little Christmas tree from Wal Mart. I kept saying I'd buy one on clearance after Christmas. But everything was always sold after Christmas. Then, I bought one for $5 at a garage sale 7 or so years ago. Again, the plan was to get one on clearance, but that wasn't happening. Our tree was too wide for the room and shed ("shred" according to Clara) as much as a real tree. So this year, after many headaches, stomach aches and looking at lots of trees, Jason talked me into buying a new tree. I was sick after we put it up because in my mind, it looked way too big for the room and was about to hit the ceiling (a few feet away in reality). I even made Melissa come look at it to make sure it didn't look ridiculous. I think I overreacted. :) The girls love that it has colored and white lights. I don't love that I can't set it up myself, but it is a pretty tree and someday when we have furniture that fits in our living room, it'll probably look even better.

Date night with Clara out to Macaroni Grill and then to the Nutcracker. It was so fun! I love this special little girl and having her company during a nice dinner and to enjoy the ballet made for a really fantastic night. I love this tradition.

Hazel found my red lip gloss while I was on a conference call. Oh, Hazel.

Temple lights. We went early again this year and it was so nice. It wasn't too cold and there weren't many people. Year after year, I love how beautiful this light display is.