December

We started off December with the ward Christmas party. The Primary sang and Asher got to join in!

 Putting up Christmas lights!

 So little effect for the amount of time.  I need to add to the yard.

 Benton was the only one particularly interested in decorating the tree.  Ethan was more interested in watching The Muppet Christmas Carol.  I love that Lisa and Joe were watching the same movie while decorating their trees.

 Asher and Ethan got more interested at the end.  Asher said, "If I hit them really hard, they fall off!" Thank goodness we switched to plastic ornaments awhile back!

 I didn't do as much decorating as usual, mostly because I didn't want to take all the time, especially taking it down!

 Mike took the little boys to a snow day at the museum while I took Ethan to a birthday party for his friend from his previous school.

 Ethan got to help take care of Beanie again.  He is getting slightly more confident around dogs.

 I made these for the kids' teachers.  They had chocolate, ear plugs, an energy drink, and an inflatable ball game.

 Annual cookie party!  These cuties helped make the dough.

 We did the little kids separately this year.

 Asher's new sunbeam teachers had an ice cream social in December so the first Sunday wouldn't be so hard for the kids.  Asher had a great time.

 70s ride in Cycle to celebrate the weather reaching the 70s!

 Big kid Christmas party.

 Such a sweet Santa letter from Ethan.

 We did a special cardio section 12 Days of Christmas style in bootcamp for December.

 "Amazon is coming to town."

 Ethan got to play a piano solo in his school's Winter Festival.  It was in front of a lot of people and I was really nervous for him, but he did great!  Both boys sang with their grade level as well.

 The PTA put on a really fun event at the school again.

 Christmas cycle class!

 I got Asher and Aden matching watches.

 We went to the grocery store and they kept telling me things like, "my watch says it is time to get cookies and hurry home!"

 Mike took the boys out one afternoon and left me at home where I wrapped presents and enjoyed the questions-Merry Christmas to me!

 On the way home they saw this crazy thing in the sky.  Turns out it was a rocket launch in California, but it definitely freaked out a lot of Arizonans.

 Picking up my favorite local treats.

 Church on Christmas Eve with Nana and Papa.

 We tried to get a family picture too.

 We ate Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. With other family members not stating strong preferences, I decided to plan some things just for me.  One was doing the big meal Christmas Eve so that I could play with the boys on Christmas instead of cooking, but we'd still have the leftovers to eat.  We ate outside, which was really fun.  This will be our new tradition.

 It got a little chilly.

 All ready!

 They're ready!  They love beanie boos right now.  Nana got the ones they are holding for them while we were shopping before Christmas.  I got Ethan and Asher beanie boos for their stockings, but I got Benton a Fiesty Pet.  It is a unicorn.  He was disappointed to not have a beanie boo until I showed him the scary face.  He jumped and then thought it was awesome.

 Of course the tablets from Grandpa and Grandma were a big hit.

 We got out a forgotten toy and rewrapped it for Asher.  It was another favorite.

 I got Ethan a 3D printing pen, which was a bust.  They also got Mario Monopoly and King of Tokyo and other games that they love. Nana and Papa also got them Wet N Wild annual passes.  We wrapped them in box after box, nested inside each other.

 Asher loved this hover soccer set.

 Spinning after getting a goal.

 It was very cute seeing Nana and Papa play this pancake game with Asher.

 Mike got a retro Nintendo game, so he played with his toys for a long time, too.

 I made biscuits and gravy for the first time and they were delicious!!!

 Beanie Boos from the Woodens!  Benton will look at his elephant and say, "I just love this elephant."  They all love their animals.

 We got Benton a coding robot that is a lot of fun and can be dressed up like Groot.  I spent the whole day playing with the boys and their toys.  It was a lot of fun!

 This was my favorite gift.  Ethan was really sneaky to buy this from his book order and write a note for me in it, so so sweet!

 Another "for me" Christmas decision.  This strawberry pretzel dish departs from our traditional jello salads, but I love it!

 We took a trip with Nana and Papa to the train park.

 Taking down the Christmas lights is much faster because I can just pull them down, but of course this top hook stubbornly remained.

 A hand on Asher and Papa put him right to sleep.  One morning Asher woke up early and Papa was sleeping on the couch and Asher went right up to sit and cuddle with him.

 Clue!

 We took a trip to Out of Africa, which ended up being a great time.  We got to feed giraffes.  I put the branch in my mouth and the giraffe ate it from my mouth.

 We also got to see the tigers being fed, including a baby tiger who guzzled down a bottle of milk.

 I loved seeing the water show with the tigers!

 Mom came with me to the gym most days while she was here.  It was fun to have someone come with me and to go to the gym without feeling like I was abandoning guests.

We also got to spend a day at Tumbleweed park with Nana.

 On New Year's Eve we went to the Burningham's and had a fun count down at 9pm.