"Look what Santa brought us!"
Later we spent Christmas at Grandma's. These pictures were taken on Sunday, December 27.
Grandma and Grandpa with their nine grandchildren.
*I made 100 Christmas cards and sent our annual newsletter out with them. We tried to keep the cards simple this year!
*For friend gifts we gave out children's books about "The First Christmas" and chocolate covered peppermint sticks. I looked all over town for the peppermint sticks and finally just ordered them online this year!
*A tradition we've had for years is to dress the kids in coordinating Christmas outfits. The girls have outgrown the matching dresses, but I still got to match the boys this year (these adorable vests were hand me downs from a good friend).
*Every year the kids look forward to going to "Journey to Bethlehem" at the Grace Community Church in Ceres. This year Grandpa Jay came along. You really have to bundle up because it's quite chilly in the cold December night. I opted to stay home with Conner this year (actually I was truly being a wimp about the cold).
*Every year we attend the Ward Christmas Party. I especially love going now that I'm no longer in charge of it.
The Young Women sang "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at the ward party. The younger kids sat on Santa's lap - Conner didn't love it!
*We love to drive around and look at all the lights around town. This home was featured in the newspaper so we decided to check it out. All the lights are synchronized with Christmas music played on your car radio; it was pretty amazing!
*We always take the kids Christmas shopping for each other and Mom and Dad at the Dollar Tree. The kids love picking out gifts and giving them to each other. I was able to get this picture in the Dollar Tree this year. The girls thought it was pretty embarrassing, but I think it's cute. 
*We always have a block party on Christmas Eve and decorate our street with these luminaries. We call it "Santa's runway."
Courtney performed three different dances at her high school winter dance presentation. The first dance was a warm up that demonstrated various exercises and stretches the dancers do to warm up each day. 
The second dance she performed was to a Grease medley. This was Courtney's favorite. All the girls looked cute with their scarfs and their hair in pony tails.
The final dance Courtney performed was to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." The dancers looked very festive in their Santa hats. We loved watching Courtney perform her dances. She is such a sporty girl, I especially enjoyed seeing her do something a little more "girly." 
Cameron performed a holiday program at his preschool. He was very animated and very proud of himself. We loved seeing his huge smile. 
Cameron LOVED the Polar Express train his class made. His class consists of eight boys and they all loved the train.
Katelyn, Kylie, and Cameron all performed with other Primary children from our stake at the Stake Nativity Festival. The children were wonderful. The power went out in the middle of their performance, but they just kept on singing in the dark. 
