Temple Time!

My Mom graciously offered to come down to babysit so Daniel and I could do some temple sealings. We rarely get to go to the temple together so this was a treat. It got me thinking though that since Lizzy was due for her first temple interview, we could take her too and I wanted my Mom to be able to participate in that. Daniel wanted at least one day of the weekend to work on his playhouse so he wanted us to do both trips on the same day. I just could not see that working, so My Mom and I brainstormed and then decided that Daniel and I would go Thursday night after work to do the sealings and then if we could get a babysitter, we'd go Sat. to do the baptisms.  So I got to work looking for a babysitter. Daniel really wanted me to use our ministering brother's daughter. I don't know if it was to guilt them a bit or just to have them help out. Either way, I got a hold of them and they said it would be fine.
    So we braved the traffic to the temple right after Daniel got home and were able to do a ton of sealings. The sealer was ambitious and we probably should have quit earlier, because my legs were hurting the next day from all the kneeling, but it was nice. Then we had a nice dinner together. Poor Daniel hadn't really had time to clean up properly before we went so his hands looked so dirty while he was in the temple. He got dirt on his collar too. Poor thing.
    Friday was a no school day for the kiddos and surprisingly dry. Rain was predicted for the whole weekend, but we had plenty of dry spells so we all helped Daniel with the playhouse. He wants to call it the Mud so he can tell the kids to go play in the Mud.

    Saturday I sent Daniel off to pick up the babysitter while we got ready. He came back much later than I was expecting due to some major miscommunications. Apparently, not everyone knew this was happening and our sitter was still sleeping. After a few convoluted phone calls, they got it figured out and she came. Whew! And we were off! We got to the temple without too much traffic and only had to wait a little bit in order to do the baptisms. I acted as a witness while Lizzy, Mom, and Daniel were baptized. Then we had lunch at a little Thai place nearby and I got Lizzy a recommend holder and a few odds and ends at Deseret Book. It was a wonderful day. 

 Before:

After:

New Year

Daniel has been trying to get us over to Whipple Creek for months now and something has always prevented it. We decided to try again and I and so glad we did. I have a picture overload, but it was so beautiful! It was lightly sprinkling and so Henry got really muddy: he can't resist a puddle, and he fell a few times. We all got walkie talkies for Christmas and had fun trying them out.

 It's Stump Jumping Time!

Dia De Los Reyes

For some time I have wanted to celebrate Dia de los Reyes. It is a cherished holiday in Spain and I had always wanted to implement it in my own home. This year I got caught off guard a bit on the days, but we celebrated and I explained the tradition, and we had a Kings Cake (the kids were very disappointed that I didn't put a baby Jesus in there. Next year!).  It was fun and a sweet experience to share about my mission a little bit, and their heritage.
 As you know, I love a party and am very sentimental so having a reason to celebrate something our ancestors celebrated is my kind of party. I hope my kids come to realize just how connected they are to those who came before them. But I digress....Behold my King Cake!

Everyone loved it! Yay!

The next celebration was New Year's Eve, we made star crowns and had a great time.

Christmas!

We had the privilege of hosting my parents for Christmas. It was so fun, the Martins joined us right after so we had a fun day with them too. Besides having so many treats that we didn't know what to do with them all, it was wonderful. (Seriously, people kept bringing treats over and I had made a bunch too, it was crazy!)

 Decorating cookies is a time-honored Christmas tradition. I tried a new recipe this year and I really liked it. It was a swig copy cat recipe. I had never heard of them, but I guess gourmet cookie places are popping up all over Utah and this one was highly reviewed for good reason!

  https://www.melskitchencafe.com/the-best-swig-sugar-cookies/

 Mom and Dad took us out to dinner on Christmas eve and the restaurant had some fun giant games.

 Treats for Santa and the reindeer.

 On Christmas morning Daniel makes monkey bread. This year he had some helpers.

 Grandma tried out Gator Golf.

 Everyone wanted to watch the Mandalorian so I took the littles to the downtown library for some fun time while the others binged the series.

I hope your Christmas was filled with Fun, Family, and food too!

Grandma Comes to Town

It has been hard having the grandparents so far away, as fate would have it though, my Mom had to come back to Washington, so we had her come visit us for a bit. It was so nice to have her here. We went to the library and made gingerbread houses.

 Then Daniel and I got to go on a date! While Mom watched the kiddos.

 The girls decorated my birthday cake.

 Lizzy got to play in her Christmas concert. She is loving playing the bass.

 We celebrated Santa Lucia Day! I finally finished her dress but broke her crown. So I had to remake that later.

 I made semi-traditional saffron buns. They turned out great. The rest of the goodies are from a bakery called the Bleu Door (I took Mom there for lunch, it's wonderful!)

We celebrated Devon's birthday with Mom taking him out to see Frozen 2 and then we all went to Zoo Lights. He really enjoyed the extra attention.

Mom had to leave, but later that night we had Charles' last pack meeting. I am glad to say goodbye to the scouting program.