December Happenings

Karate.  It all started with Andrew's friend, Gavin, inviting Andrew to a karate class and I agreed to let him go.  Rachel freaked out when she found out and BEGGED to go with him.  Fine, go.  Bad idea!  The obsession with karate officially began.  

Through that karate studio, they had a complimentary two sessions plus a free uniform to help the kids earn their white belts and get a break a board.  That was all a ploy to lure us in ... then they told me the price $99/month with a 12 month contract - that price is per kid.  It is for 2-30 minute classes a week.  No way!!

So then we tried karate at all the local recreation centers to find a better fit for our budget.  Rachel finally lost a tiny bit of interest and decided to stick with gymnastics (phew!).  Andrew has held on strong and wore his karate uniform for two weeks straight, begging to do karate.  We finally found something that will work, and got him signed up for January.  These little ninjago fans think karate will help them become real ninjago guys.  

Date night with Kyle & Annie to the Jazz game - it was a last minute offer for Jazz box tickets.  Yes, please!  That is my kind of sporting event!!

My cousin Ryan married Jordan in December too!  My kids loves Ryan and call him Uncle Ryan because it doesn't make much sense to them that he's my cousin.

I took Kendall on a date to a BYU basketball game!  She was so fun, but did require constant snacks. When the snacks were all gone, she was ready to go home.  I did get a very special robot dance during on the breaks that I had never seen before and it was pretty amazing!  

Also, Grandpa was interviewed on the news!  The kids enjoyed watching him, and Rachel was even featured in one of the pictures they showed with some other cousins.  She was thrilled to be on TV!

I am collecting pictures of Andrew on the toilet - he likes to take books or toys with him to keep him entertained.  Ha ha!

Happy New Year from this crew!!!

Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning

We spent Christmas Eve at the Hale's with Pookie and Papa and then headed over to the extended Hale Christmas party.  We did a nativity, exchanged cousin gifts, and got some special Santa figurines from Pookie & Papa.  My parents stopped by right before the kids went to bed to read them "The Night Before Christmas" but 3/4 the way through the book, Papa was interrupted by Santa's sleigh bells right outside, so the kids bolted straight to their beds.  Rachel was actually scared because she thought if she was still awake, she might not get anything, so she got a little teary.  We didn't hear one more peep from Andrew!  Kendall has been so enthusiastic about everything having to do with Santa, so it has been super fun!

Christmas Eve night consisted of Andrew waking me up almost ever hour out of sheer excitement.  He completely disregarded the sheet we hung in the hall which was supposed to keep him in his room.  He was up for the day at 5am, so we handed him the iPad and told him to wait in his room until 7am.  Rachel was up around 6:30a and found Andrew (she had slept upstairs with the kids).  We had to wake up Kendall to open presents at 7:15a.

Santa brought Rachel an American Girl doll, Andrew got some volcano scientist lego sets, and Kendall got a doll-size play ice cream truck.  We had a magical morning opening gifts and then headed to church at 9am (Brandon was so kind and had woken up at 5:30a to set up chairs for his teachers quorum so they didn't have to).  We spent time at both grandma's house, so we didn't get much time at home.  The day after Christmas, they pretty much entertained themselves with their new toys the whole day while Brandon and I got some projects done.

Dad's Christmas loot!

Mom's loot + a brand new desk for the downstairs office

Christmastime

The Christmas festivities were wonderful this year! We participated in the Light the World initiative with the kids and tried to keep the Savior in mind all month.

We decided to do a hotel night in SLC to enjoy the temple lights, Macy's windows, Grand America gingerbread house, Santa at City Creek, etc.  We stayed at the Radisson and the kids enjoyed swimming (too cold for me!), and getting matching pajamas (we actually thought Rachel would be ticked because she hates matching with the little kids, but she was a great sport), and sleeping in the same bed (Kendall slept sideways at the foot of the bed and the other two slept up top).

We saw Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theater with Val & Nancy.  They treated us to Chuck-a-Rama afterwards, since the kids just love buffets!  Brandon & Rachel loved the show.  Andrew, Kendall and I were a little restless.  We'll probably alternate that and the Nutcracker show.

Brandon took Rachel skiing for the first time this season, and it finally clicked for her!  Brandon said she did great!  I was thrilled for her, because all the other times they have gone, she has wanted Brandon to hold onto her, and hasn't felt confident enough to do it on her own.

There are two December countdowns in our house - one is to Christmas, and the other countdown is for the Grandma/Grandpa sleepover with cousins.  It is so greatly anticipated, and always lives up the hype.  Us adults went to Tsunami for dinner and then watched "Masterminds" together, while Gma & Gpa put 11 kids to sleep for us!

We had an early Christmas Eve celebration with the Parker's since we are with the Hale's this year for that night.  We decorated gingerbread houses with Nana and had fun being all together!  We also had the annual Thompson/Parker Talent Show.  It is always hilarious!  This year, I convinced Sheena & Shalauna to come as a big surprise and we lip synced to Destiny Child's, "Independent Women" in Christmas aprons and spatulas/wisks as our microphones.  We even had choreography and matching outfits.  Everyone in my family knows Sheena & Shalauna, since we all grew up together on the same street, so it was a special treat!  They stayed to watch my mom, Rachel & Cindy do their baton routine, and my dad and brothers sing a Christmas song acapella.  Brandon also re-wrote the words to the song, "My Grown Up Christmas List" to include things we really wanted for Christmas.

Christmas Cards