Breakfast with Santa

Time for Breakfast with Santa!  The kids have been looking forward to hanging out with their cousins for awhile now.  I never can seem to find them when everyone is running around.  I'm taking that to mean they are out having a blast.

They are also really excited to let Santa know one last time what they want for Christmas!  I was really hoping that with all of the Santa exposure Daxton has had this month that he wouldn't be a screamer when he sat on Santa's lap.  Well, one can hope right?  

The other kids were all rock stars and knew exactly what they wanted to tell Santa.  The hugs that the kids give this magical man are fantastic!  I love seeing the joy on their faces. 

 

I have a dream of one day getting a perfect family picture with Santa, where everyone is smiling, looking at the camera, the set up is perfect, everyone's hair looks great, and magic is in the air.  Maybe that dream will come true one day.  Until then we are grateful for what we can get.

Rogers grandkids

All the great grand-daughters (minus one who was out sick.)

 Proof that Daxton is capable of a smile!  

After all of the kids (and big kids)...

...had a chance to visit with Santa, he made balloon creatures for each of them. 

The girls received a teddy bear and a frog, Kelton ended up with a flower somehow, and Daxton asked for a train.  I was just more impressed by the fact that he stood there willingly while Santa worked on it.  You can tell he's not totally comfortable with the situation, but he's putting up with it.  

All of the kids and their inflatable creations.

Once Santa took off to finish some last-minute Christmas preparations it was time for a reading of the Mismatched Nativity, where each family brought their own piece.  McKenzie made her star for Leesa this year and it was a fun way to show it off.

Then we moved onto cousin presents.  In the interest of time this year all of the grandkids did one huge group opening.  It definitely made things go by quickly, but I have no idea who ended up with what!  The only reason that was tricky was the final sorting/cleaning/ownership issues when everyone was leaving which can be crazy!

Talk about presents!  Look at these guys.

 Trains and a happy toddler

 Let the season continue!

Ice Skating

This is what it looks like to haul a family of six to Utah for Christmas for three weeks and everything that involves.  I felt a little like a traveling circus and I was terrified of the road conditions due to a storm blowing through.  Miraculously we made it without a single mishap!  

Once we made it to Utah it was time to play.  Our first family activity was at the Olympic Oval for some ice skating.  My kids don't go often enough to be naturals as soon as they strap on their skates, but they pick it up quickly enough.  

Daxton participated with the walker once or twice and loved that.  He was really pretty content just watching the rest of us skate by.  

The boys started out holding our hands before they felt like they were in control enough to tackle it on their own.  

Kelton really worked up a sweat he was working so hard.  Layers just kept coming off until he was just in his pants, which were great for keeping him dry.  

McKenzie wanted to branch out and tried to work on her spins with Jeremy.  She also worked on her speed seeing how fast she could get around that oval.  

Cambrie and I took things a little more conservatively because our skates were not super comfortable.  I tried to get her to do some crazy dance moves with me when I saw Bruce with the camera, but she just rolled her eyes and told me that I was so embarrassing.  Ya, she's getting to that stage.  

Brody and Jer showing off their moves.  

This was our first real time hanging out with Dantley's new girlfriend, Cydney.  They seem to be pretty fond of each other so I have a feeling that we'll be seeing her a lot in the future.  

Not for spoil sports

I can't post this anywhere public, because if anyone found out who was super safety conscious (aka a spoil sport), then we wouldn't be able to do this anymore.  (So if you're a spoil sport, then just stop reading here.)

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Jeremy thinks it's awesome to take the kids on tour of the storm drains around our neighborhood.  We have a lot of good access points to enter the tunnels and it's all an adventure from there.  They take headlamps to see when it's dark, and skateboards to cruise along in through the narrow tunnels.  

Some of the tunnels were so narrow that Kelton could barely crawl through them.  

Some were so covered in spiderwebs that as he rode on Jeremy's back, Kelton picked them all up with his face.  

As they went around the maze of tunnels, they stucks sticks up through the manhole covers they found so that they could trace their route up above ground.  They went everywhere!

Spa day for Kit & Caroline

One of the girls' Christmas presents this year was some VIP treatment for Kit and Caroline.  Ever since the girls had their ears pierced, they've been begging to their dolls' ears pierced too.  I finally found some time to take the girls down to the American Girl Doll store and they had their wish granted.  The store was filled with girls and their dolls shopping for Christmas.  The atmosphere was so fun!  Kit and Caroline were seated in their spa chairs and prepared to have their nail painted, ears pierced, and hair done for the holidays.  Cambrie and McKenzie were having so much fun and loved watching their dolls transform.  

Both dolls behaved so well, and look beautiful now.  

Love, love my girls and their enthusiasm.

After they were all dolled up we went shopping in the mall for some gifts for Daxton.  Both dolls had little shopping bags their size and were thrilled to be shopping just like big girls.  Cambrie and McKenzie were having a blast playing with their dolls.  I don't know how much longer I'll be able to have these fun moments with my girls before they grow up, so I am definitely enjoying them now.

Risas Christmas suits

If you've been following our blog, then you'll know that I love the company Jeremy works for.  Risas has always done a such a good job of taking care of their employee.  I look forward to the Christmas party every year.  It was held at Cherry Hill Country Club again, and I love it because then I feel like we're high rollers.  Jeremy was a bit nervous this year because his office had all purchased fun Christmas suits and he wasn't sure if it was ready to wear it in public or not.  Never fear!  Not only had his office ordered funky suits, but a bunch of other docs did too.  It was awesome seeing what everyone had found, and none of them were duplicates!  The suits definitely set the tone for the evening and we all had a blast.  

Matt, Annie and Ben.  Jeremy could not ask for better partners.

Dinner was spectacular, as always, then we were entertained by a magician.  His tricks were very impressive.  I tried not to think too had about how he did what he did, but I really enjoyed it.  Whitney Wright is a natural entertainer so when he was pulled up front as an assistant we knew we were in for a treat.  I don't even think the magician knew what he had done.  Whitney was making faces, cracking jokes, and throwing cards in the air.  It was superb.  

Before calling it a night some friends talked us into some couple pictures in front of the Christmas tree.  

This one is a little more traditional.  What a great night.

Christmas train

With Daxton's love of trains we just had to go ride the Christmas train up in Georgetown again.  The magic of Christmas must have been with us again because after weeks of no moisture, it snowed the night before we drove up so it was beautiful.  

I couldn't help myself and purchased tickets in the Presidential car again.  The decor and warmth of the car make me feel like I am in the Polar Express.  We were the first ones Santa visited.  My kids couldn't wait to tell them what they wanted.  McKenzie said she wanted a stuffed hedgehogs.  Cambrie said she was hoping for a water color set.  Kelton wanted a bath bomb (yes, I know.  But you have to admit that they are really cool).  And Daxton didn't cry or squirm away!  

Santa gave each kid a jingle bell of their own that Kelton shook vigorously for awhile singing his own rendition of Jingle Bells.  

We were also treated to some festive snacks.  Jeremy and I really liked the cheese and cracker plate laid out for us.  The kids, especially McKenzie, thought the little cakes looked just right.  

As we rode we listened to Christmas music, enjoyed the view of the streams, mountain, and trees, and just hung out as a family.  

Santa even came back through and sang some Christmas carols with us. 

 Outside the weather was cold, but it was so pretty I didn't want to leave.  

The kids hung out around the fire long enough for Jeremy to get a back of roasted chestnuts and we munched on those during the drive home. 

 Love this new family tradition!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The kids absolutely love it when I pull out the Christmas decorations.  Frankly, I do too.  The house feels so cozy and warm.  I surprised myself this year and bought a tree from Costco.  I've never been so impressed by a tree!  The price was fantastic, and it looks amazing!  I was going to go the pre-lit route this year but I'm glad I didn't.  I was up late trying to get the lights taken care of so that the kids could put on their keepsake ornaments in the morning, and Daxton decided to sneak out of bed and join me.  This kid loves trains.  I mean loves trains.  He is so enthralled by the Christmas train under the tree...he actually might love to death this year.  

In the morning Kelton realized that we have a couple ornaments that are just right for making silly faces. 

 Our elf, Holly, came and gave us a new challenge this year.  Every day she has a new challenge from the "Light the World" initiative put out by the church.  The kids read the scripture and try their best to achieve the challenge of the day.  On Tuesday the kids went shopping for gifts to donate to Denver North Cares Food Pantry.  As I was trying to explain to Kelton what it was that we were doing, I explained that we were going to take our presents to one of Santa's helpers who would then give the toys to other kids.  When Kelton heard that we were meeting one of Santa's real helpers he had a huge magical grin on his face.  I've been very impressed with how the kids have been doing so far this month.  

Jeremy's Christmas job is hanging up the Christmas lights.  I didn't get a picture of Kelton up there helping him this year, but I like how Jeremy looks like he's scaling our house.

  Our ward Christmas part this year was a lot of fun.  We ate breakfast then the primary kids put on a program for us.  Intermixed with their songs the adults in the audience played the bells.  For future reference, Daxton should not be in charge of a critical bell.  We finished off with another service project.  The ward put together 150 sack lunches for a teen homeless shelter.  We whipped those things out like lightning!  

Kelton's preschool did a big program in the library auditorium.  Each class performed one song, and his class sang one about New Years.  His class did a great job singing the lyrics along with all of the choreography.  He looked like he was having a blast up there performing.  

I tried to get a picture of him afterwards, but he was being a cheeseball and wouldn't give me a proper smile!  

As we were shopping for Christmas gifts we saw that the train was running around the Orchard.  Well, we couldn't disappoint Daxton and the four of us took a ride.  I love how this picture turned out: cheerful, festive, simple, and satisfying.  Here's to a great holiday season!