Dear Santa

It's been awhile since we've written to Santa Claus at the North Pole.  When Daxton asked I jumped on the opportunity and help him get it in the mail.  I love, love, love kids and Christmas magic.

 

South Jordan Christmas

We won't be traveling back out to Utah for Christmas so we crammed in Christmas celebrations with our Thanksgiving celebrations.  One of those activities was a trip to the Giving Machines.  Bruce and Leesa gave each kid $20 so that they could use that money to buy a gift for an organization in need.  We ended up buying school supplies, diapers, legal help, goats and chickens this year.  We love this tradition and I loved seeing my kids so happy about choosing something for someone else.

The kids had been eyeing the presents under the tree as soon as we arrived.  It was finally time to open them!  I decided to video the event since I hardly have any home videos.  Throughout the videos I would just click the shutter button to capture some still shots.  I couldn't help but laugh at my girls in the background who were having a blast being the most entertaining  backup characters ever.  They were making faces, signing, and just being goofy during all of the present opening.

Bruce and Leesa nailed the gifts this year and the kids were all so happy.  Let the holidays begin!

Breakfast with Santa

We kicked off our holiday season with a very early visit from Santa Claus this year.  I loved having it so early because it just felt like we got in the Christmas spirit so early.  After a delicious breakfast as always, we cleaned up and waited for Santa to arrive.  My absolute favorite part of the day is watching my kids' faces when Santa arrives.  Look at that joy!  

My kids are always so patient waiting for their turn to go up.  

Daxton went first and asked for a Dreamzz Lego set.  

Kelton went next and whispered in Santa's ear so I actually don't know what that sneaky little dude asked for.  

McKenzie said she didn't need anything but after some pressing said she'd like some more make-up.  

Cambrie asked for another puppy, but we all just laughed because Moki is already our Christmas miracle.  

Something new and special this year was that Santa brought his naughty and nice list!  My kids were able to go look through the list to find their name and see how they did this year.  The relief on their faces when they saw they were on the nice list was priceless.

My not-so-little fam.

Candid party pictures.

 

Airborne

On cold, snowy days kids still need to get out their wiggles.  So we went with the Rogers to Airborne Trampoline Park.  The boys laughed and said, "They made this place just for us!"  It's true. Everything my boys like to do was squeezed under one roof.  McKenzie was able to use her strength to conquer every and loved tumbling on the tumble tracks.  Watching my confident kids in places like these makes me smile.

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was celebrated in Utah.  We gathered in Logan for a few days first where we hung out with cousins and then had Thanksgiving dinner round 1.

McKenzie and Ryan loving their Rubiks cubes.

Conga line!

This reminds me of when we first got Moki and he hung out with Cambrie in that same spot.

Group picture before dinner.  We were missing Jeremy but otherwise it's the most complete family picture we've had in awhile.

The kid table.

The teenager corner.

Feasting!

Good morning sleepy heads.

Then we drove down to South Jordan for the actual holiday and our annual turkey trot.  Things were a little hectic because Aly had a health scare, so we weren't able to get a full family photo.  But here are the kids with their championship medals.  

All of them ran the 5k this year.  McKenzie had Jeremy pace her and she finished with a a 28:25.  She was really proud of that.  Kelton and Stockton ran together and crossed with a 33:14.  Daxton was with me and his goal was to run the whole time without walking.  We had one short break up a hill and to get a drink, but he really did run and finished with a 35:26. I was so impressed by him.  Looking at his splits he even negative split it.  

So proud of these kiddos!