Christmas clothes and cookie parties

The Sunday before Christmas I like to get a picture of the kids dressed in their Christmas Sunday best.  This year we must have been in too big of a rush because it didn't happen.  I got a few of Ari before church in her cute dress and a couple of the boys afterwards, but forget about getting them all together at once!  Hopefully this isn't how it's always going to be in coming years...

Ari likes to pose like a ballerina anytime I take her picture these days.  She looks a little bit more like a zombie than a ballerina here, but her intentions were purely girly.

 I LOVE this little picture of her because it captures her sweet personality so well. :)

The boys weren't quite so put together, but they still looked handsome.

Owen and his cute sweater.  Not sure why he looks so unsure of things in this picture...

Maybe he just needed a hug from his favorite girl!

 

The Sunday night before Christmas was Grandma's Christmas Cookie Party!  The kids look forward to it every year!

Matthew tends to go a little overboard with things.  Enough sprinkles there, bud?!

Bree definitely won the award for best-decorated cookie!

At one point I'd asked Grandma if she'd like me to host the party this year, but she insisted on doing it at her house saying she thinks the kids "like coming to Grandma's house!"  Yes, yes they do. :)

Owen managed to run around and sneak plenty of candies...

And he thought he was pretty tricky figuring out how to open Grandma's door!

Thankfully Cassity was there to keep him contained and entertained for a bit.

What the men do while the kids are decorating.  Visiting can get pretty tiring in Grandma's warm living room. :)

All in all, it was another fun party!  Each year there are more people - we have to go in shifts now - and it's fun to see how the people change but the treats and traditions don't.  Same cookies, same decorations, same truffles and chocolate-covered pretzels and burnt caramel popcorn. :)  And the Santa hats that I used to wear with my roommates, my kids get to wear now!  May we get to attend Grandma's cookie parties for years to come!

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa in SLC

One of our favorite traditions around Christmas is going to see the lights at Temple Square!  And I figure it's the same for most people who live around here, hence the crazy crowds!  This year we tried to beat the crowds by going on a day in the middle of the week, which also happened to be the day Mom and Dad flew in from PA!  It was a great way to break them in, and the only crowds we ran into were the hundreds of Mutual groups who went the same night. :/  Still, it was beautiful, not TOO cold, and we didn't have to battle too many other strollers.

 Cute, cute!

It was SOO good to be with Grandma and Grandpa again!

Me and my man.

Beautiful grandkid pic!

Silly boys.

Lovely ladies.

We ducked into the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to warm up and find a bite to eat.  Owen was happy to have a chance to look around!

We love to see the temple. :)

A few days later we went back to Salt Lake to do the window scavenger hunt at the Grand America Hotel.  (You can tell I take quite a few pics these days with my phone, and unfortunately it doesn't have the best camera!)

I love how you can see Ari's reflection in this pic.  Cutest cousins.

 Admiring the big gingerbread house.

Checking out the naughty and nice list at the end.  Matt wasn't too happy to see his name on the naughty list. :)  But Bryan thought it was pretty fun!

After that, we headed over to the Church History Museum where they had a great Scouting exhibit.  I love this pic of Dad and Bryan working on knots together. :)  What a perfect exhibit for Dad to see with us!

Ari and Cam practicing their Mexican dancing in the fun children's section.

 Of course, Owen thought the truck was the best part!

Right before we left the kids were able to make little fabric dolls, similar to ones they made in pioneer times.

Who says boys can't play with dolls?

Our little performer

Ari has turned into the cutest little performer, and she got to show off plenty in December with her preschool Christmas program and dance recital!  All the MWF classes performed together, so there was a big group of kids for her preschool program, but each one got a speaking part and they sane about 20 songs!  Ari was a little shy during her part, but she knew all the songs well and looked super cute in her elf outfit.  Here she is afterwards with her celebratory candy cane.

 I love this pic!

 For her dance recital she had to wear makeup!  Doesn't she look WAY too old here?! :)  Of course, she thought it was pretty cool.

 All dolled up and ready to go!

Pretty girl!

She was so happy to see that Uncle Javi had come to see her dance. :)

 Our little ballerina!  She did an amazing job!  I was afraid she'd get shy at the last minute, but she did all the right moves at all the right times and pointed her little toes like no other!  I was one proud dance mama!

 Taking a group shot afterwards.  She wasn't too interested in smiling...  :)

Christmas pictures

I hadn't intended on having pictures taken this year, but at the last minute I decided we needed something to use for Christmas cards.  So I decided to cash in on a groupon I'd gotten for JC Penney, not expecting a whole lot, but the pictures turned out so much cuter than I'd anticipated!  Unfortunately, they only let us put 3 on a CD, but we had several others printed as well.  It's always a little miraculous when family pics turn out well!

My favorite. :)