"Wrapping Up" our Holidays

This post is really about Friends and Family. I had one of those holiday seasons where no matter what I tried to do for someone else, it came back to our family 10 times. I really have the most thoughtful friends and family and feel really blessed during this time of year to have been able to experience and teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas.



We had a ward party where we made lots and lots of turkeys. I thought the best way to do that was to borrow a bunch of roaster ovens. Well my friend Becky rounded up 5 for me and made making turkeys a non-issue on stress. Then on my birthday she and Cherida brought this fun plate stand that she made over to me with a huge pile of doughnuts. It was so thoughtful and yummy and cute!



Rook and Alexa were hoping to make a gingerbread house this year. We got a kit last year with the recipe and all the cookie cutters, etc. I ended up buying one at walmart for $9, all we had to do was assemble and stick things to it. They had so much fun. What did they want to do when it was done. Give it to our neighbors.

My friend Angela had a little gingerbread man party and the kids loved squeezing as much candy on there as they could. I let them eat as much as they wanted after lunch, then the men conveniently ran away...

This is our 1 picture from Thanksgiving. It's such a treat though. My kids love to visit Grandmas and cousins...as you will soon see in picture overload below. We had 2 days for Thanksgiving and 2 days for Christmas. So we drove all night and partied all day 1 day with each family and drove home. Was it worth it? OH YES!

These next are Christmas Eve night with my family the Smiths. We started dinner earlier this year and instead of a "program" we did our brother and sister gift exchange ( i gave the table runners--see next post), the grandkids exchange, the pajama fest, and then my parents played an audio clip of Christmas 1979 with each of our voices. It was so fun to hear ourselves at young kids. I was 6. They just played a short part of it but then told us how when they listened to the whole tape they noticed how nobody fought and they kept hearing exclamations like "Oh, is this for me? Oh, Thank you"... We each got 1 or 2 things and we were so grateful. Then for Christmas my parents gave us a DVD of some forgotten slides and audio clips from our childhood. Priceless. We really loved being together and we still do.

My parents give everyone pajamas and band-aids every year and it's such a hit. Then the grandkids have a rotation. This year Alexa got a new dolly from Tyler that she can bathe with...such a hit. Rook got one of those new Tonka Garage trucks that you can take apart and rebuild in different ways from Isaac. They were both in heaven. They gave gifts to Grant and Mary, who couldn't be there so we sent them early. Stickers books, skirt, tie, gloves, and coloring pages for church.

Christmas morning was so exciting for our kids. They both really knew what it meant for the first time and it was so exciting for us too.

Alexa got another new dolly with stroller, bed, highchair, carseat, swing. A purse, some coloring pages, contruction paper, stickers and candy.

Rook got some Star Wars "guys", legos, DVD, construction paper, stickers, and coloring pages too.

Alexa gave rook a soccer goal and Rook gave Alexa a magnet dres up doll set (not pictured). Joe got some socks, a tool, and a movie. I got some pans, tupperware and a cake decorating class...YEA!

Alexa loves her cousin Jessica

And Rook loves his cousin Tom.

Lots of fun playing in the snow...one time each year is about all they get.

So we've really learned to make do with less and it's not hard when that's your way of life. I really hope we keep this mentality when school is over. This year we had a few extra sticker books and my kids wanted to give them to some friends down the street as a surprise. I am always amazed at how much they want to give to others. I explained to them that if they don't know the books are from them, they will just thank Heavenly Father. We gave them to the mom and she was going to surprise them so hopefully that worked out.

Well when it was time to go to Utah we needed new tires really bad so I had to take back some of their presents to Costco so we could afford the tires...I was kinda sad because I had gotten Rook these cool remote control cars that played tag with eachother and some fun books. But of course they would never know or miss them. Right before we left there was a knock on our door and outside were 2 huge boxes. And this was what was inside of them.

Doll house for Alexa

Huge remote control car for Rook.

The first thing the kids wondered was who they were from and when we said we didn't know...they said "well we need to kneel down and thank Heavenly Father then". It was one of those moments where I really wanted to hug my kids and never forget that feeling.

But a few minutes later...another knock...a few more presents for the kids and lots of gift cards for Joe and me. Then on our way to Utah where more spoiling took place. Family just gave us clothes and baby things and money and jam.

What do you say? What do you do? You literally just thank Heavenly Father and pray for the people who are so kind and thought of you. Thank you! It makes us want to be more and do more for others and it showed my kids how fun it is to give and to receive. Happy Holidays!