More Christmas Fun!

On December 12th we had our Ward Christmas party.  It's always fun to be with people from church who we love :)

The girls loved the craft table!

After a yummy breakfast, the primary children sang a couple of songs we've been working on at church.  They're so cute and sweet.  I love serving in the primary :)
Rori with a couple of her friends, Emma and Tara.

Our primary crew at the party

Then after the primary children sang, we got a visit from a couple of special visitors!  Again, Rori asked for a Barbie dream house.

Savannah was still scared of the jolly guy and his Mrs., but she let me hold her for a picture :)


A couple of days later, we got our first big snowfall of the year.  The girls couldn't wait to go out and play in the snow!  As soon as Daddy got home from work, we got them all bundled up and they played outside in the snow for a while.

Our cute little snow-eater :)

They didn't get to play in the snow for very long because we had to get ready to go to Aurora's first preschool performance!  It was held at a charming, cozy barn in Mapleton and was such a fun atmosphere for the Christmas season, especially with all the snow outside!
Aurora got to sit by her favorite preschool friend, Maggie, sitting to Rori's right.

Holding a "jingle bell" in her hand so it wouldn't make noise :)

Looking up high for Santa and his reindeer

Driving Santa's sleigh

Being so silly with red Rudolph noses :)

She's a cutie!  I'm glad she has so much fun at preschool!

She's such a great little singer!

Aurora's preschool performance was another great way to bring the Christmas spirit to our lives this season.  It's fun to see her learning new things and loving going to school too!

Story Time with Santa

For FHE on Monday we took the opportunity to spend some time as a family at Story Time with Santa at the mall.  I made both girls take a nap that day so they'd be able to enjoy the evening.  It's nice when they both take naps! I enjoy the quiet time. :)  I love that Aurora was so snuggly with "Big Minnie" a.k.a "Mother". :)

Not only was it story time, but there were other fun activities for the kiddos.  Both girls got their faces painted, which they love doing!


The got to eat a yummy dinner from Chick-fil-A.


As they were eating dinner, we heard the sound of jingle bells coming from the hall way!  The kids were told where Santa would be sitting and they gathered around on the floor while they waited for Santa and Mrs. Claus to come in.

The special guests were so happy to see all the kids there!

Look at those cute curly-haired girls!  Mrs. Claus asked the children if they knew the song "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer".  Our girls definitely know it!

They sang a few carols with Santa and Mrs. Claus and then they read a couple of Christmas stories to the kids.

 Savannah got a little bored with the stories and decided to decorate a sugar cookie in the meantime.

Our little cutie with her masterpiece :)
She didn't even eat the cookie.  She just ate all the toppings!

Aurora soon realized her sister had left her side and wanted to decorate a sugar cookie too!

 Miss Aurora's cookie creation looked just as delicious!
And, just like her sister, she only ate the toppings :)

Then it was time to sit on Santa's lap.  Savannah wasn't at all interested and downright refused to sit on his lap.  We weren't going to force her to sit on his lap.  It was fine with us!
Aurora, on the other hand, was very much looking forward to seeing Santa this year.  She asked him for a Barbie dream house.

The only way Savannah was okay taking a picture with Santa was if Mommy held her instead.  Luckily both girls got a candy cane after talking to Santa :)

Before leaving to go home, Daddy and Aurora colored some Christmas ornaments.

They turned out beautiful!

It definitely turned to be a fun evening together!  We may just do it again next year!

Alpine Living Nativity

A friend in our ward told me about a living nativity that is done locally every year. I had actually never heard about it (although Darwin had been once, before we were married) and it was practically free so we decided to check it out and give our family a good kick-start to the true spirit of the Christmas season.  I'm so glad we went!  It was really a neat thing to go see!  The weather wasn't too cold and the lines weren't too bad either (we were warned to be prepared to stand in the long lines in the cold for a several hours because it's so popular).  We'll totally be doing it again!

One of the first things we got to see were real, live camels!  Savannah was thrilled, but Aurora was a little hesitant. Savy immediately wanted to pet one but Aurora decided to pass on that opportunity :)

I'm not entirely sure what this little place was meant to be (a depiction of a home or something, maybe?) but we took a pictures of us inside of it anyway :)
**Little side note--I could barely squeeze into my nice winter coat because of my expanding belly.  You would think that with this being my 3rd pregnancy in the winter time that I would have a maternity coat by now. Haha!**

There were all kinds of animals around for the kids to touch and pet.  Aurora was okay to pet a goat, and the bunnies even though she passed on touching the camel. Savannah, on the other hand, is usually up for petting any animal around when she gets the chance.


They got to try lots of different activities too.  The whole thing was really family friendly and the girls loved it!  They took turns stamping designs in leather.


Shaving bark off a piece of wood.


Measuring beans for dinner, the old fashion way.


And lots more animals to look at too!  Savannah thought it was pretty silly that the turkeys were sitting on top of the wall :)  I don't think I've ever seen a white turkey like that before!

Pretty peacocks!
(Or poo-cocks as Savy calls them. LOL!)

After visiting for a minute with the three wise men (our girls were afraid of them and didn't want to get a picture), we made our way to the stable where we found "baby Jesus".  Aurora knew right off the bat that it wasn't really baby Jesus.

At the very end of the tour we got yummy hot chocolate and marshmallows.  And of course we had to take a picture of the 4 of us to prove we were all there together :)

Thanks again for the tip, Alycia!  I'm so glad we went to the nativity this year.  I hope to make it an annual tradition for our family!

November Misc.

The day after Thanksgiving was my great aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary.  Our girls lovingly call them Nanny Sharon and Poppy.  We love that we live so close to them!  They are fantastic people and always make us feel at home when we're with them.  It was great to celebrate two wonderful people with my family and spend time with them two days in a row!

Happy Anniversary, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob
(he's my grandpa's brother)

Look how cute they are dancing together :)

The kids all had fun dancing too--we couldn't keep them off the stage!

The celebration was a just before bedtime.  Can you tell? ;)

Just as we were leaving, Aurora sneaked her way in for one more dance :)

And she fell asleep in the car on our 10 minute drive home.  We thought it was funny that she fell asleep with her blanket in her mouth :)  Silly kid!
 

Randoms from November
Aurora's preschool class had a little Thanksgiving feast the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Each kid got to bring a treat to share with the other kids.  Aurora brought the Pilgrim hats we like to make for Thanksgiving and cute little acorn candies (we didn't get a picture of the goodies this year).  I thought this pretzel turkey was cute that she got from one of her classmates and took a picture so we can try to replicate it at some point down the road :)

Aurora was "reading her magazines" one day while I was working and asked me to take a picture of her with a couple of them.  She's pretty adorable, I must say!


Savannah being silly.

A picture she took herself of her BFF, "Bop"

Savannah selfie! Love it!

I've posted some similar pictures of Savannah in the past and can't help but do it some more because I think my kids are cute.  Sleeping pictures are some of my fav's!

And her Nutella breakfast face.  I love it!

Happy November!