Gingerbread Castle

It was a little different this year making our gingerbread house without Jeremy.  He was stuck in Colorado, but at least he was opening a new office!  As it turned out it was up to the girls and I, with support from Nana and Dantley, to pull together something fabulous.  The girls requested a castle.  Why am I not surprised?  I found a simple pattern online and we hoped for the best.  Luckily there were no major disasters in construction, and even though the pattern was a little bit off, there can never be too much frosting to hide the imperfections!  The girls were absolute troopers.  They stayed with me until the fine finish work at the end.  I didn't think they would make it as long as they did.  

While we decorated, Kelton snacked on cheese dipped in Ranch dressing (he's a sucker for Ranch).  

He also hung out with Papa Great.  

The girls helped Grandma Great with the Christmas trees.  

And helped themselves to some leftover candy!

The end result was great (especially considering we were missing a very key artist).  The girls are happy with their gummy frogs, fondant people, hedgehogs, and snowman.

I'm happy it made it back to Colorado in one piece!

 While we were busy decorating the castle, Kelton was busy playing with his buddy Kieran.  Kieran is Jeremy's cousin's son, and he is 8 months younger than Kelton.  You would never be able to guess that on size alone since they can wear the exact same clothes.  Kelton and Kieran were a hoot playing together.  They tackled each other, squeezed each other, played peek-a-boo with Leesa, and mimicked whatever the other one was doing.  I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even get a stable video.  I'm glad these guys all had friends to play with while we were out there.  

The Nutcracker

This was McKenzie's first year going to The Nutcracker and she was so excited.  Truthfully she's been excited since last year because she knew her turn was coming soon.  Because of Camille and Jake's wedding it snuck up on us and when the girls found out they were going that night they jumped up and down and started cheering.  After we were all dressed up in our fancy clothes we headed outside to take a picture.  Leesa was able to come with us this year and it was fun having her come.  

McKenzie was most excited about receiving her very own nutcracker.  Cambrie has been telling her that she was going to get one at her first ballet.  McKenzie couldn't believe her luck that not only did they have a girl nutcracker, but it looked a lot like Elsa.  She held it almost the entire night.  

Cambrie was just happy to be there again.  It's one her favorite parts of Christmas.

During intermission we were able to take a picture with more of our theater crew, Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandpa was a special treat, he hasn't come with us before.  

We missed out on a picture with Camille and Hannah too unfortunately, but we snapped a fun one of little Miss McKenzie loving the theater.

  After the ballet we headed to Jake's Over-the-Top for ice-cream!   The girls requested cherries on top.  I love it!  

McKenzie was pretty wiped out on the drive home, and fell asleep on Cambrie's shoulder.  Cambrie let her stay there the entire drive home, what a good big sister.  I had forgotten that I had taken Cambrie to a matinee her first time, so it was pretty late for McKenzie.  

I love this tradition and look forward to it as much as the girls each year.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was in Utah this year.  It varied a little bit from tradition because we feasted at Leesa's house instead of Jeremy's grandparents' house.  Because our prep work was pretty simple, Cambrie was incredibly bored waiting for everyone to show up.  She tried to convince us that it was 5:00 and people should be arriving any minute!  I thought it was pretty clever, but unfortunately she couldn't change everyone's clock.  

The food was incredibly like always.  LaMar raised the turkeys up at his property and I thought they were delicious.  I'm not much of a turkey fan, but I helped myself to seconds...so did Dantley!  

We were able to snag some new family pictures with Jeremy's grandparents.  

We also took a cousin pic of Kieran and Kelton.  I love that Kelton has a little buddy to play with at these parties.  

The best part of the evening was also the worse part of the evening.  Lenesa brought out her pies and I couldn't wait to dig into nearly every one of them; the succulent cherry, the chocolately goodness of Kiss-Me, and the sweet pecan....

but it also signaled the end of the feast which meant that it was time for Jeremy to catch his flight back.  It was a crazy vacation for that poor man.  He flew back and forth twice for just quick day trips.  Hopefully things will settle down and we'll be able to figure out our new travel routines soon.  As it was, I was very Thankful that he was able to be there at all!  We have a lot to be thankful for this year, a new job, three healthy kids, and one happy husband.

Camille + Jake

When my sister fell in love this summer, I was very excited for the wedding I knew would be coming.  It came more quickly than I imagined, but that just means Camille and Jake are happier that much sooner!  I was surprised how difficult the wedding planning was for me.  I wasn't even the bride!  I realized how much I loved my sister and how much I wanted to be out there in Utah with her.  It made me incredibly homesick not being able to be there to help put together centerpieces, look for bridesmaid accessories, and give hugs when the wedding dress search didn't go so well.  I was very happy that I was able to go out to Utah almost a week before the wedding to help with whatever little things needed to be finished, and to spend a little more time with Camille before she became stuck like glue to Jake's side.  That week was filled with showers, 

showers, 

and more showers, 

the bachelorette party (no pictures means no incriminating proof of our awesome night), creating wedding favors,

 spot cleaning her wedding dress, ironing wedding party clothes, painting fingernails, 

making the wedding cake,

playing dress up,

playing with cousins,

 and about a million other super fun things. Smile Kelton!

 The day of the wedding everyone got dressed and headed down to the Ogden temple for these two love birds.

Jeremy and Cambrie met up with us for the first time in a week, and then suddenly it was time for the ceremony.  During the sealing I couldn't help but think what a good pair Camille and Jake make.  I am so happy with Camille's choice.  She chose a really good guy.  It was a beautiful sealing and afterwards Jeremy and I headed downstairs to wait with the rest of the family.  Leesa had been watching our kids while we were upstairs and she asked if I was going to help Camille get dressed in the bride's room.  I hadn't even considered it.  I had a vague memory of only the escorts being allowed in there to help with congestion, but I thought it was at least worth asking about.  I worked my way through the hallways until I came to the bride's room.  The temple workers let me by without question and I was able to help Camille get dressed.  Unfortunately I started crying when I saw her. Normally that wouldn't be too big of an issue, but she was trying to fix her make-up and she started crying too.  I pulled myself together enough to help fix her hair, put in her veil, and get her all buttoned up.  I was so grateful that I was able to be there with her.  It is one of the sweetest memories I have with my sister.  As we walked out of the bride's room, Jake was there to meet her.  From then I knew that she belonged with him.  I walked out to meet my family and warn the rest of the crowd that they would be coming out soon.  They walked out to beautiful sunshine,

 and happy nieces ready to give them huge hugs. 

Pictures always take awhile, but my kids held it together pretty well considering that it was pretty chilly.  I think most of us are going to have pink noses in those pictures.  

The luncheon went well too.  Kelton sat next to Leesa and I was shocked to see him sitting still in his highchair actually eating food!  The luncheon became that much less stressful for me.

 I walked around as people were arriving to take some quick candid table shots.  Cambrie insisted on photo-bombing as many as she could.  

McKenzie was already pooped out from the fun and fell asleep towards the end. 

I thought that Jeremy would be headed straight back to Salt Lake after the luncheon to catch his flight back to Colorado.  I was really glad when he told me he had enough time to come up for at least part of the reception.  And he could help with the crazy flower girls!

The reception was beautiful.  I admit that it was a little stressful getting everything set up, but it came together really well.  Camille chose beautiful decorations, and the pictures hanging up everywhere were gorgeous.  She and Jake are just too darn photogenic!  Meanwhile, I was trying to get a family pic with my kids....and I was feeling less photogenic.  But that's what happens when kids are climbing on you, drooling on you, and tugging at your pretty consistently. 

 During the reception McKenzie and Faye enjoyed dancing together.  It was super cute.  

Eyeing the caramel fountain...

Signing the guest book.  Eventually the kids wore out and we set up a movie in another room for them.

With the kids entertained I realized that no one had said they were going to decorate the newlywed's car!  They said they didn't want a lot of mess to clean up, but I'm sorry, we're going to decorate it anyway!  I sent one of Camille's friends to the store and hoped she'd make it back in time.  About the same time I realized I left one last gift at the house and had to hurry home to grab it before the happy couple left.  I flew through the neighborhood just hoping Jake's police father wasn't watching, and made it back just in time to see the sparklers being lit.  I had a quick chance to say good-bye then the party was suddenly over.  

We were exhausted but it was a fun exhaustion.  I'm glad we were able to be there for it all.  Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to witness Ryan eating an entire pumpkin pie by himself!