This post is a photo journal of our holiday activities from Dec 2 to Dec 23, 2017.
I took the boys on an adventure to Rochester. We first enjoyed Wonder of the Nativity at our church building there. As always, the boys were fascinated by nearly every nativity on display. It was such a treat to watch them commenting on each nativity. “Oh this one has gold!!!” “Look over there how tiny that baby Jesus is!” “Whoa mom, did someone carve that out of wood?”
Dallin did a really great job at just pointing at everything instead of touching, but I know it was tempting. Even I had to hold back the urge to touch!
They loved the treat.
Children’s activity room at the Wonder of the Nativity. They colored ornaments!
Next, we got on board the jolly trolly for a ride around Rochester to see Christmas lights! We talked that evening in the car about how Christmas lights are a symbol of Jesus.
We saw a lot of cool lights, but it ran a little long and the boys were giving up on me. They were really glad to get off the tolly and run around.
We got our first snowfall (yes not until December), and Dallin wanted to eat the snow right away! Little Goof.
We finished decorating the tree!
My view after an exhausting day of work.
We decided to have family home evening every night (as much as possible) during the month of December. It worked out really well! The boys liked knowing that there would be family time and a lesson every night after dinner. They got really involved with helping choose topics and songs and we were able to just have more peace in our home as a result. This picture is fuzzy, but Dallin is standing on a stool conducting the music.
The boys love doing crafts.
I turned the family room into a lava pit with rocks for the boys to jump on.
Making up music during family home evening.
This year, BOTH Tanner and Dallin got to see the Nutcracker Ballet in Rochester. Dallin was so excited that he was finally old enough to go. I was going to take the boys, but ended up getting strep throat. Luckily, Jeremy was willing to take them! He said the boys sat very politely, watched wide eyed. They really liked all the parts with Godfather Drosselmeir and his magic tricks. They also really liked the battle and the falling snow. Talking about it at home, Dallin said he heard the jumping music (Russian Dance) and that there was a big lady (Mother Ginger) that had a bunch of kids come out of her! Tanner was able to follow the story really well, but Dallin seemed to misunderstand the part about the Nutcracker transforming into the prince. Jeremy said the audience was just a bunch of little girls and old people. I wish more parents would take their sons to this amazing performance. It’s a Christmas tradition!!
(above, in the ballet lobby; below, outside of the theatre)
Tanner made another cool design with the couisinar rods.
Dallin did a super job at his Christmas preschool performance! He didn’t have any jitters leading up to the concert or when we were there. He did all the actions on beat and knew most of the words to the songs. I was in the back row and could hear his voice (mostly because he was one of the few kids singing in tune). He is the little boy in green! The only bummer of the night Jeremy wasn’t able to come because he was in LA.
Tanner had his big school Holiday Sing where all 400 kindergarteners stood on the High School stage and sang some cute songs that their amazing principal taught them. He was not nervous this time! I got to lead the children in the Hannakah Latkes song! I didn’t get any pictures of us because I was backstage or onstage. But we had a fun time together! Jeremy and Dallin could not come because they were sick, which we were all very bummed about.
Pajama day and out to eat.
This is what our house looked like from the road with our lights and tree visible from the window.
The Primary presidency was in charge of planning the church Christmas party. (I have been the primary president since Feb 2017). With a bunch of help, this is what we ended up with! Our theme was Savior of All Nations, and the party was on Sat, Dec 15. It turned out really great. We focused on the Savior and his love for ALL chidlren, no matter their nationilty. We also made a point not to include Santa at the event, and we heard absolutely no complaints about it!
(Note to self, I will not be planning a Christmas party for many years to come, unless I can do things a little differently with budget money next time.)
The craft table was really fun, but not many kids did the actual suggested craft.
The Nativity Play area was a big hit. I am so glad I threw this together at the last minute.
Book Nook was also a big success, with lots of stories about the Nativity.
The center pieces turned out to be awesome. Here are some of my favorites. I designed the little logo thing inside the vases.
This service tree was a fun way to celebrate all the good that everyone was already doing during the season. Each person writes on an ornament something that they did to light the world during the month of December.
Me and Angie!
Jeremy was really excited to bring out the Christmas trains that he played with as a kid.
We also did a recording project for a gift we made for the grandparents. It took more than just one night.
Enough snow to shovel! Tanner was very excited to get out there to work on the driveway and has been eager to shovel almost every time it has snowed this winter!
We hosted our 5th annual wassail party on Dec 22. Yes, the FIFTH one. Which means this was our 5th Christmas in Austin, MN. Jeremy and I were in shock about that for a few days. This time, we invited everyone to come in their jammies, which meant that I was the only adult in pj’s. Jeremy did a fabulous job making the wassail, and we all enjoyed my new triangles and guiro shakers to several different songs! This year we also used a whiteboard to write down song requests so that everyone could contribute at least one song idea and so that the children would know when their song was coming up.
On Sat, Dec 23, Auntie Desha arrived in town! She got here just in time to go ice skating with us!
Both boys struggled at first, but they got the hang of it pretty quick. Seems that each year, we all have a bit of a learning curve to experience. Tanner did a super job and skated around without assistance for at least half of the time we were there!
At first Dallin loved skating. He enjoyed falling and slipping around and couldn’t stop laughing. But he got tuckered out pretty quick and tried sitting down in the middle of the rink. We took him around for some spins on the chari, and then we gave it another shot. It was obvious he could skate, but he just wasn’t interested. He wanted to go home and watch TV. I told him we can go home to watch TV once he skates to the end of the rink. That little guy suddenly became very determined, and was skating! Well scoot skating, but still, he did it without anyone helping him! He fell hard a couple times and cried with defeat. But after I comforted him, he mustered up the energy to make it all the way to the end. I was so proud of both Tanner and Dallin for all their hard work at skating.
