Christmas in Idaho Falls!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

We finally made it home safe and sound from our 5 day trip to Idaho Falls for the holidays. It was so much fun and I think it will take us a week to recoup from all the late nights we had. I do not believe Zack and I made it to bed anytime before 2:00 a.m. the whole time we were down there. We stayed up late playing games every night because we were having so much fun! On Christmas Eve, our familes came together and we had a sock party, ate fondue, played games, had a gift exchange, let the kids break a pinata, and had Mackee and Keely act out the nativity.

Mackee and Keely baked cupcakes and sprinkled reindeer food all over the front yard for Santa's crew. It was so cute to see them experience the magic of Christmas. When we tucked the girls in bed that night, Mackee said, "Mommy, can we check to see if Santa ate the cupcakes before we look to see if he brought us any presents? I think she was more worried about Santa getting enough to eat then anything because when she woke-up she said, "Mommy, Santa must have been thirsty because he took the cup of water we left out with him." Opps! She insisted on water not milk... The girls got just about everything one could imagine. I am still trying to figure out where I am going to put it all. Then, to top it off, while we were visiting family, we got do a bunch of activities. We got to go out to Grandma Rae's and go snowmobiling and sledding. They had so much snow pilled up from plowing the driveway that we actually got to sled down a hill that was probably close to 15 feet tall. We also got to go bowling with Zack's side of the family for an afternoon. Grandpa just about fell down every time it was his turn to bowl. We discovered that all of us bowl much better on the Wii then we do in real life. The highlight of the trip for me was my girls' night out when me and my family went to see TWILIGHT again! Yes, I am still addicted. No need to worry though, my heart belongs to my husband. I keep telling Zack I want a poster to put on the back of my bedroom door so Edward can watch me sleep at night. LOL Zack took my cousin Lindsay fly fishing at a nearby pond. Even though they froze their butts off in their float tubes, they still had a lot of fun. I think they decided to give up when the eyelits to their rods kept freezing, making it near impossible to cast.

I wish I could share more but that would take forever, so please enjoy the slideshow that I put together. Thank you to all of our family for your help with our girls and to Farren and Melissa for your hospitality! I think Zack and I gained about 5 pounds from all the yummy food, but it was worth it! "Do not worry Sherise, if you are reading this, I will be hitting the gym this week."

Christmas Blessings

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This year Grandma Rae sent our gifts home with us early. The plan was for her to go to Palm Springs for the holiday so she wanted us to have our presents. Well, even though her plans fell through, we decided as families to go ahead and open up our gifts early this year. There was no sense in Zack and I hauling all the gifts (enough for a toy store) all the way back to Idaho Falls. It was kind of nice for a change because we got to unwrap some gifts under our tree for a change.

Thank you Grandma ~ We all love you very much!

The Best Present of All Came Early!

We also found out that my sister Raegan is going to be having TWINS... We are so excited for her and her growing family! I cannot wait to see my niece and nephew, which are due to arrive sometime in late May. The best part about being an aunt is that I get to enjoy two babies at once, but not have to be the one who gets up in the middle of the night with them.

Congrats, Sis ~ We are so happy for you!

The Reason for the Season

Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem!

This week we had the opportunity as a family to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. We got to go visit The Little Town of Bethlehem (inside Boise). It was a really neat experience and we manage to survive in the freezing cold. We also got the opportunity to go Christmas Caroling with Clyde the camel.

The Innkeeper

Hark the Harold Angels Sing

Away In A Manger

Joseph & Mary's Donkey

Preschool Fun!

Special Preschool Visitors

This week for Preschool, I had a Santa Claus come and visit my class during our Christmas party. All of my students loved him and I even let Mackee stay home from kindergarten for the party. It was just too much fun, and she loved it!

A big thank you to our good friend, Glenn. We could not have done it without him. He made the perfect Santa... (SHHH!)

Another fun visitor we had at preschool this week was Fireman Mick! He came to teach all the preschool kids about fire safety. He even let all of the kids try on his gear for fun!

Our snack of the day was a S'more on top of firewood. I am sharing this because it might help remind those reading this post to talk to their kids about fire safety. It would also make for a great FHE lesson. Sadly, my grandparents house burned down so it is something that I worry about. After discussing fire safety with your kids, you could make the yummy treat below together.

Here are some tips that Fireman Mick shared... *talk to your kids about the emergency phone number 911 *practice setting off the smoke detector and teach them to crawl out on their hands and knees (below the smoke) *stop drop & roll *assign a special meeting place (ours is the mialbox). Whenever your kids see a fireman, have them hold up two fingers - this tells the fireman that they know you know to replace the batteries in your smoke detector two times a year.

S'more Cupcake on Firewood

Firewood = pretzel sticks, S'more = cupcake, frosting, sprinkled graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, hershey bar chunks.

A FATHER'S LOVE

This week while mom got to go out and do some Christmas shopping, dad took over and had a daddy daughter night! Dad helped the girls make gingerbread houses. To mom's suprise when she got home, the adorable houses were neatly set out and there was no mess to clean-up.

The other day, Mackee turned on some music and asked dad if he would dance with her. Being the greatest dad out there, Zack could not refuse. Mom thought it was too cute so she snatched a quick picture and dad did not even complain about being on camera.

Not only did Zack take good care of his girls this week, but he took good care of mom as well. He hates hanging the outside Christmas lights but he knows mom enjoys them so he did it anyway.

THANK YOU SWEETIE!

Our good friends had a Christmas Party and Santa Claus showed up. The girls were so excited they gave him their Christmas list and told him what they wanted. It was pretty cute until Izzie took one look at him

and then started screaming...

I had to post this picture of Izzie because it makes me realize how fast she is growing. She is now eating solids and seems to be doing well with them. Her favorite foods of course are the baby finger foods that make a huge soggy mess. Mom keeps trying to convince herself that if it makes Izzie Arlene happy, then it is worth the clean-up.

Sesame Street Live!

Three months ago we told Keely that if she would learn to go potty in the potty, like a big girl, then, we would take her to see Elmo! Well, it totally worked, so over the weekend we got to go see "Elmo Makes Music". The girls absolutely loved it! Keely was fascinated with the characters and her eyes were glued on them for the entire show. My good friend Chantele and her husband were able to come down from Idaho Falls to watch the show with us. We had so much fun, and it was totally worth bribing Keely with it because she did an awesome job when it came to potty training!

Check out our slide show!

"Elmo Makes Music"

Behold Your Little Ones

This week for Family Home Evening (FHE) we spent time with the girls talking about the real reason why we celebrate Christmas. The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We took a couple pieces of our nativity set and showed them to the girls while we talked about the special events that happened the night baby Jesus came into the world. It was heart warming to see their faces light up and get so excited about all of it. Moments like this remind you as parents why it is essential that you take the time to teach your children the gospel.

After our FHE lesson, we let the girls write letters to Santa and make a Christmas countdown chain. The number one items wanted from the girls is a doll house (Mackee) and a tinker bell doll (Keely). Mackee keeps telling us that if we are not good, then we are going to get one of those "big black hard things". What is it?

A LUMP OF COAL!

I love the feeling of Christmas in our home. It often brings tears to my eyes when I see the tree all lit up, the nativity set up, the stockings hung, and Christmas music playing in the background.

Christmas is so much more fun when you have little ones because they are what make the season so magical.

The best gifts that I have be given this year are my three beautiful little girls, my wonderful husband, and my Savior and friend, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!