Christmas pjs

My parents surprised us and came over to our house this year to deliver the Christmas pajamas.  

They brought the Polar Express to read and bells for everyone.

{we had our cute friends over for a play date)

My mom is a master at storytelling and had the kids hooked.

She got a little emotional at the end of the story and I got choked up too.  

Sheesh.  Like mother like daughter.

Cute Christmas pjs!

I don't know how she does it.

17 grandkids with all matching pjs.....pretty impressive!

We also went to our stake live nativity.

It was AWESOME!

They even had a real camel who was very friendly.

This is such a great tradition and a wonderful way to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

loving the lights

We went downtown to see the lights on Temple Square.  

It was a perfect night...

Owen slept the whole time.

The weather was not too cold.

It was not crowded at all.

The girls were in great moods.

We stopped to see the windows at Macy's. 

They were amazing!

We even went to the Disney store.

(we could have spent all night here)

We topped the night off with dinner at Cafe Rio.

Perfection.

Preschool Performance

 Rylie had a little Christmas program at her school.

She sang well & rang her bell perfectly.

It was so fun for Ryan and I to watch.

She Loves, Loves, Loves her teacher!

Her carpool buddies.

A Dutch Christmas

 This year my mother in law wanted to teach the kids about one of her ancestors
and the way they celebrate Christmas in the country they came from.
Taunya's Grandfather was Dutch!

We learned all about Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet and the fun traditions they have in Holland.
We ate a traditional Dutch dinner and put carrots and straw in their wooden Dutch shoes.
They received special cookies and wafers.
Sinterklaas even made an appearance and delivered chocolate letters to everyone.
(Jim was a good sport)

 A fun and new tradition has begun!

PJ & Pancake Party

 My mom had all the grandkids over for a pj and pancake party.  The started off coloring and then they dove into the pancakes and any topping you can think of.  They were allowed to have as many as they wanted.  I think Max still holds the record of 67!  I hope my kids do NOT beat that record.  :)

I love my mom and how she tries to make the holidays special and a reason to get together.  

girls on the run

Dru participated in an after school program called Girls on the Run.  

They trained for a 5k and learned how to be positive, how to serve others,  to have a good body image, how to create a good self-esteem and other fantastic topics.

Dru LOVED everything about the program and was so motivated!

Here are some pictures from the official 5k in Sugar House park.

She ran with her good friend Ellie.

They each had to choose a running buddy and both girls chose their dad!

They both were excited to get going....

...Their silliness could have come from all the hot chocolate they drank before the race.

It was a blast to watch the girls.

The Butler Elementary crew

A little stretching

Dru's biggest fans!!!

...And they are off.

The finish line.

Their time was 34 min.  

Not too shabby!

The two ladies on the right were the coaches.  

Dru's teacher is the one in the glasses.

She LOVES Miss Shaw!

I was so proud of these two!

It was fun to see Liv, Rylie and Owen cheer Dru on.

(Owen is hiding.)

The cute Robert's family

 WAY TO GO, DRU!

Book Club

Olivia wanted to start a book club like Dru.

So we did just that.

The first book was from the American Girl collection:

Meet Felicity

We had a great discussion about the book.  I was impressed with how much the girls remembered and  enjoyed hearing their great insights.  We played bingo with questions from the book and colored a picture of a horse which was a main character and made a "horse" bookmark.  We ate carrots like Penny the horse did and took home a little bag of muddy buddies because these girls are such great buddies just like Penny and Felicity.

What a cute group of girls!

Can't wait for this month: The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever

It snowed A LOT a few weeks back.  

I forgot I had taken some pictures of the kids playing 

in this beautiful winter wonderland.

They were heaven...