Did we really do all of that?

Now that Christmas is over and everything is cleaned up, I sit back to look at all we did this holiday season. It's nice to actually sit for a few minutes and take a breath! I had a hard time picking and choosing what to include....and believe it or not, I did leave some things out. This is going to be a big picture dump. Sorry if it is boring to anyone outside our family. These are just some things I wanted to include in our family blog/ journal for us to remember.

Tanner's grade did a tree for the festival of trees. My Mom and I went up to take a look at it and watch his class sing some songs. He was so proud.

Of course, we had to do our traditional gingerbread house. Calla insisted on being involved this year. Mainly by eating whatever candy she could get her hands on. Anika, being in kindergarten, focused on patterns. Nathan was really good to let the younger kids do what they wanted, and Tanner just enjoyed all the left over shredded coconut.

Anika had her Christmas dance recital. She is still a little shy when she is around strangers, or sometimes even people she knows well. But put her up on stage and she becomes a little performer. She gets the biggest smile on her face and just loves performing.

She had a neighbor friend, Holly, in her class with her this year.

Tanner had the idea of taking little things from his room that he thought other people would like, and wrapped them in tissues. We went through lots of tissues. But he put some thought into it. The kids took turns all month long opening up two gifts a day from him (yes, there were that many gifts).

Calla with one of her gifts from Tanner--a toothbrush he had gotten from the dentist.

Temple square was an interesting experience this year. We decided to go on a Saturday, which was probably a bad idea. The lack of parking was a joke. We circled a parking garage for 30 minutes, unable to find a spot, and unable to get out because of the traffic jam. But the kids loved the experience and we came away with good memories.

Calla decided that she just had to walk by herself. No riding in a stroller. No holding hands with anyone. Just going wherever she wanted. In this picture she is upset because she wanted to walk along a 3 foot high ledge by herself, and I wasn't about to give in.

Years ago we tried taking our boys ice skating. They HATED the experience, and we hadn't tried again. This year we decided to give it a try. They absolutely loved it.

Watching the Zamboni was pretty exciting.

All the kids ended up doing better than I expected. Tanner got going pretty quick. He fell down a plethora of times, but was really good at hopping up very quickly and getting back on his way.

Nathan could skate without the walking thingy, but preferred to hold on so he could go really fast.

Anika even got to the point that she didn't need to hold on to anything....for a few seconds.

When we finished, Tanner informed me that ice skating "is the best exercise ever." I guess we'll have to make it a tradition.

Calla wasn't too sure about Santa this year. Actually, she was very sure about him. Sure that there was no way she was going to get anywhere near him.

At least she got a fun train ride after. Thanks Nana!

A couple of days before Christmas I had things under control. The kids were playing with friends. I decided to take a puzzle out of storage. I haven't done a puzzle since before we had kids! I found one that hadn't been opened yet, so I could be sure we had all the pieces. Apparently, my boys are puzzle lovers. We ended up finishing the whole thing that day....well, not technically. We were horrible parents and let them stay up till 1:00am finishing it. We kept thinking we were closer than we really were. They want to make this another tradition.

Christmas Eve. You can feel the anticipation.

Christmas morning. The kids didn't even try to wake us up before 7:45. We had to wake Calla up, but she handled it pretty well, once she saw a big slide waiting for her from Santa. She kept herself entertained with that while gifts were opened.

Merry Christmas! I think it's time for some much needed rest, or just a closet to hide in for a few hours.