25 Days of Christmas 2022!

Advent Activity Day 1: Christmas Scavenger Hunt!

The end reward: ROBUX!

Advent Activity Day 2: Kindness Rocks!

Advent Activity Day 3: Christmas at St. Gabriel's!

Someone dressed up in an Olaf suit and had "snowballs" thrown at them for 3 hours. The kids loved it!

Write letters to Santa station, silent disco, a craft station, and pictures with Santa!

Advent Activity Day 4: Main St. Bethlehem!

By complete happenstance, we Wendy's friends from church there as well!

*Day 5: Decorate Doors*

Advent Activity Day 5: Decorate doors! Besides hanging the background, Wendy did everything herself!

I hung the top and Lilly taped up the bottom and drew the Nativity on it. 

Advent Activity Day 6: Deliver cookies to the Firemen!

Lilly and her imagination...

Advent Activity Day 7: Christmas Dance Party! They loved this Grinch dance along video from YouTube. 

Advent Activity Day 8: Make Snowflakes!

Advent Activity Day 9: Ward Christmas Party! The kiddos sang and I played the piano. 

Advent Activity Day 10: How the Grinch Stole Christmas Musical! 

Lilly was a little freaked out by the man in the costume so she took a picture "with" him from afar. 

Then we convinced her to join us in line and the Grinch left! 

So we took our seats and tried to wait patiently for the show to start.

It was fantastic!!

Advent Activity Day 11: Make cookies for Ministering Families. 

Advent Activity Day 12: Christmas Light Show!

Advent Activity Day 13: Write Letters to friends serving Missions. 

Advent Activity Day 14: Look for Christmas Lights

Advent Activity Day 15: Christmas Karaoke! I only got videos and cannot upload them here. It was a hoot!

Advent Activity Day 16: Zilker Lights!  By this point Lilly had lost her tooth so now she looked like a hobo on the bus. 

I got to ride the Ferris wheel with the kiddos! Lilly screamed the whole time. 

Wendy said she was terrified as well. 

But the views were amazing!

It was a fun night- even if it was freezing!

Advent Activity Day 17: Christmas Movie Marathon! We got started a little late so we spread it out over a couple of days. Lilly chose the new Grinch movie, Wendy chose Elf, I chose The Muppet Christmas Carol, and PJ chose Home Alone 2. 

Advent Activity Day 18: Make Cookies for Neighbors!

Advent Activity Day 19: Make Gingerbread Cookies

Advent Activity Day 20: "Heart Attack" Friends' Doors.  The girls and I put pictures and kind words on a piece of wrapping paper for three friends. Once PJ was home, we got in the car and sneaked as best we could to tape them up on our friend's doors. We knocked and ran! 

Advent Activity Day 21: Make cookies for Santa. By this point, I was so cookied out. So, I made an alien gingerbread lady. 

Everyone else made a great effort to decorate cookies for Santa. 

Advent Activity Day 22: Maywald Light Display. It was really cold and windy this night and the lights were turned off :/

Advent Activity Day 23: Ice Skating!

Advent Activity Day 24: Make Birthday (cup) Cakes for Jesus!

Advent Activity Day 25...

Open Presents!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

W&L December 2022

The first weekend in December was a busy one and started with Wendy's dance company performing at an Austin Spurs Basketball game!

All of the kiddos were gifted these stuffed animals... which were actually dog toys. Baxter is so upset he can't play with it!

The girls performed pre-tip off and there were not many people in the stadium. When we went out to leave (another party to get to...), everyone was standing in line to get food. It was still a great opportunity for Wendy!

We finally got the tree out and decorated. Christmas this year felt completely rushed but we got it done!

I also got to sit in on the girls' dance classes to see what they have learned so far this year. 

Apple actually had a Christmas party this year so PJ and I got a babysitter and headed out. There wasn't much going on outside of the food so, once we ate and chatted with the few people PJ knew, we went stocking shopping for the girls.

I threatened to hire someone to put up the lights so PJ got to work the next day. The girls helped!

His favorite part...

Can't you tell!?

Lilly's front tooth was super wiggly forever.  She started pushing it forward over her lip like this making us laugh every time. 

Lilly's school had a Christmas program and each grade performed a song. 

Every song was special and helped put us in the Christmas spirit!

The next day we were off to the gymnastics showcase where the girls got to show off what they have learned so far in gymnastics. 

I'm glad PJ took all the pictures because I was still in the kitchen finishing cookies for Christmas orders. I was really sad to miss it!

PJ and I go to a white elephant party every year where we gift and receive gag gifts. PJ got to take home this "elf buddy" and he has decided to use it in case the girls start fighting in his car. He will blow it up between them so they can't touch/see each other anymore. I think they will be excited to play with it!

On Christmas Day we invited friends over to roast s'mores with us!

Our kids always love playing with Caden and Addy and PJ and I loved holding baby Felicity. Ryder is slightly afraid of anyone who is not his immediate family but I'm determined to make friends with him one day. 

We tried eating the cupcakes we made for Jesus' birthday but PJ said they had absorbed an onion smell from the fridge so we threw the rest into the fire. 

Then he wanted us to dare him to eat them...

Wendy is super excited about her birthday in February and wants to get baptized but we wanted to be extra precautious and have her take the missionary lessons so she can understand what baptism really means. It has been a great experience for us all!