Random December Pictures

1) I stuck my hand in my purse and when I brought it out, I had hearts stuck on my thumb.  The girls told me that they had put them in there.  Cute!
2) Callie was using a fork to eat her sandwich… she must take after her Mom… LOL!  I eat everything with a fork- pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.
3) My friend, Janiel, threw a baby shower for our good friend, Rachel.  The theme that Janiel chose was “What a Cutie-Pie” or something like that.  A few people brought pies.  I made an M&M cookie pie and a Grasshopper Oreo cookie pie.  Janiel made some super cute cupcakes that looked like pies.  They were adorable.

4-6)  I was trying to think of something to do for my Dad for his birthday and then decided that since my Mom was out of town, I would make him a special breakfast/lunch.  We invited my Dad and younger brother Joe over.  I made his favorite Blueberry Breakfast Cake and fried up some eggs.  Then we also had bananas and some juice.  Everything turned out great and he loved it.  My Mom told me that he told her all about it and that he felt loved.  That is what is most important!!  And it sure didn’t hurt that he had the chance to hang out with some of his grandkids.

7-9) Grant left this on my pillow… it was just what I needed—chocolate and eye drops!!  My eyes had been hurting and I always need chocolate.  And this wasn’t just any chocolate, he hand picked a box of See’s Chocolates and paid almost $20 for it.  Then on Sunday, he took one of the girls home sick and had an amazing dinner ready and waiting when we all got home.  Then he got sick but he watched Aurora and Calyssa (one of them was sick) for me so that I wouldn’t have to stay in the car all day at ORLA.  It was all very sweet!!  J

10-12) Calyssa looks so cute in ponytails and bows!  J  Tierra even made some cute little bows for Calyssa’s hair.

13-15) Aurora was lucky to be the “Star” of the Primary.  The Primary Presidency put up pictures of the kids in the shape of a Christmas tree, on the Bishop’s door.  Aurora was so excited to be the top of the tree.  So many people talked to her about it too and told her how special she was, and of course, she loved that!

16) It was the first year that Calyssa really enjoyed the advent calendar.  She was so excited about every little ornament.
17) Callie was so in love with the Christmas lights outside.  She kept looking out the window.  Then she would say, “See pretty house?” or “Pretty light” and point to them.    
18) Our girls made our bed for us and decorated it.  It was cute because they decorated it like they have seen us do for each other.  Very sweet!

19-21) They also put up mistletoe in random places throughout the house.  Maybe we haven’t been kissing enough lately… LOL!!  Oh and as you can imagine, Grant just hated the fact that we had to kiss every single door…   ;)   He pretty much followed me around everywhere, just so he could another kiss.  

22-23) At 12:00 noon, on 12/12/12, I took these pictures and then after school we went out for ice cream to celebrate this special day.  What a fun day!  Too bad it landed on a crazy busy day.

24) I took Tia and Nina to a dance performance at a Retirement Home and then we went out for a fun treat.  We stopped for donuts.  The donuts were super yummy and I think the girls really enjoyed having this special time together with Mommy.

25) The girls decided to make some special Christmas themed cheese sandwiches for lunch.  And then another day, Tia decided to build some little snowmen on crackers.  She really wanted me to take a picture.  How fun!
26) Riana bought these adorable American Girl Ice Skates with her own money.  American Girl has the cutest stuff… too bad it is so expensive.

27) Callie can finally sit up at the counter, on the stools, like her older sisters.  She looks like such a big girl!!
28) Our sweet neighbors brought us some treats for Christmas.  It was really nice! 29) I love the special little presents that my girls make for me.  It is so sweet!!  I especially think it is cute when they draw pictures of me!  It is always fun to see! J

30-32) Grant and I attended our friends, Mike and Julina’s, annual White Elephant Party again this year.  All the men were suppose to wear ugly sweaters and the ladies were suppose to fix their hair like “Cindy-Lou-Who.”  I was actually not feeling very good and decided that I wasn’t going to go.  So Grant went without me and then Jen called and convinced me to come anyway and Grant came back and picked me up.  So my incredibly creative daughter Riana helped me fix my hair in 5 minutes.  She thought of putting a hanger through my hair and then hanging ornaments on it.  It was awesome!  The only problem came halfway through the evening when the ball fell off and shattered… everyone laughed!  It was pretty hilarious!!  We were very happy to see our Star Wars puzzles go to a good home.  Jared and Klaus were fighting over them… I’m pretty sure Jared ended up with them and he has two sons that will love them too.  Grant ended up with some cute ice cream bowls that were the perfect for him because he loves ice cream.

33-36) Grant took the girls to Riana’s Young Women in Excellence night.  I was totally sick and didn’t get to go.  I was so sad to miss it!  Riana brought a display about herself.  I remember always loving that part of Young Women in Excellence.  Riana also gave a talk, which I heard went great!  She spoke about having Faith.  She asked for a volunteer and asked them if they wanted a “chocolate chip.”  She then handed her a potato chip covered in chocolate (they actually tasted super yummy!)  She said that sometimes we don’t get exactly what we expected but if we have Faith and we trust in Heavenly Father, we might just find out that He knows what is best for us and it all turns out pretty good in the end… or something along those lines.  She said that everyone loved her talk and her “chocolate chips.”  I will look forward to going next year when Sariah (can you find her in the picture above... LOL!!) will also be in Young Womens.

 

37) The girls had their Christmas dance performances.  Riana and Aurora decided to take a break from dance, which was just fine with me.  Tierra’s dance class danced at a Retirement home.  They did a great job!  The Christmas song they performed was, “Sleigh Ride.”  But the song I liked the best was, “Just Like a Rockstar,” in which they wore rockstar clothes.  My nephew, Seth, looked awesome in his bright green Mohawk!!  They also danced with “air guitars” aka blowup guitars.  At the end they even “smashed” them on the ground.  Sariah and Karina’s classes were chosen to perform at a high school fundraiser instead.  Grant went and watched them (I’m pretty sure I was sick.)  Unforunately, he wasn’t able to get any pictures… we just have videos.  Sariah’s class performed, “Hot Chocolate” from “Polar Express” and “Ya Got to Go Deep” or something like that… it’s a country song.  I especially liked the Polar Express song.  They had red aprons on and were carrying around trays with cups of “hot chocolate”.  It was super cute!  Karina’s class performed, “The Party Starts Now” and “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree.”  That class does amazingly well for such young girls.  Every single one of them is really doing great all of a sudden.  It is so fun to watch.
38) Callie fell asleep eating chocolate pudding.  Poor girl!  But it was so cute!
39-42) We had my parents over to exchange Christmas presents with them.  My Mom had been out of town helping her Mom and we were going out of town to visit Grant’s family so we wanted the gifts to them when we could.  It was nice to visit with them.  The girls sure love them… and so do we, of course.