SNOW day

We drove up to Payson the week after Christmas to play in the snow.  It's only an hour and a half drive and so beautiful.  We had high hopes for a fun filled day with all the girls playing so nicely in the snow.  It didn't turn out quite like that, but it was still fun.  After spending a solid hour getting everyone dressed in warm snow gear, we all piled out and headed up the hill with our sleds.  After about thirty seconds, Emery and Ivy were both screaming.  So Sage, Charlotte and Clint spent the next hour or so sledding while I sat in the van with Em and Ivy.  They were too cold to enjoy it I guess.  They watched movies and had snacks with the heater on.  After an hour or so, Clint came and swapped places with me, but by that time Sage and Charlotte were both done, so we just packed it in and headed home. 

 

CHRISTmas afternoon

 After our morning at home, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Overton's for an early Christmas dinner and gifts.  Uncle Monte and Aunt Kasey were there, along with Kasey's parents.  You girls were spoiled with plasma cars and little goodies.

 Emery got a stuffed monkey from Uncle Monte-because she has had a hard time with his name and calls him Uncle Monkey.

 

After a few hours of playing, we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Young's to play with cousins, eat more junk, and open gifts.  It gets a little crazy when you have eight kids, six in-laws, and 15 grandkids to wrap for.  You each opened your own little doll and have loved on those dolls every second since.

 

the aftermath:

CHRISTmas morning

CHRISTmas morning!  We had the girls wait in bed till we got them up.  They slept till about 7:30 and at 7:31 I was jumping on their beds.  I was a little excited.  I have always LOVED stockings.  They were my favorite part of Christmas morning growing up.  So I always love shopping for random things for stockings that I  know the girls will love.  Poor Ivy got jipped, just a book.  And we still need an initial ornament for her!  The other girls got a few books, some chapstick, crayon rolls, and nail polish.

Checking out the note Santa left

  stockings!

We took turns opening gifts so we could watch it all and not miss anything.  I'm so glad we did it this way!  The girls were all so excited to see what each other got.

Sage's goodies:

Elsa doll

Fijit

Hello Kitty makeup kid

new shoes

Charlotte's goodies:

Strawberry Shortcake dolls

Ariel doll

new shoes and outfit

makeup kit

Emery's goodies:

Belle doll

Doc McStuffins doll and doctor kit

new shirt

Disney figurines

Ivy's goodies:

the "Tickle Monster" book, to be used by everyone!  

(side note: this is the best book, EVER.  It's perfect for families.)

ha.  

that's it. 

 She was very happy playing with everyone else's toys, boxes and wrapping paper.

The girls showing off their "favorite" gift

This baby.  I could eat her.

CHRISTmas Eve

I love love love Christmas with this crew!!!!  Their excitement over everything makes it so fun and magical.  I was way more excited than they were I think. Thanks to their school teachers, we are now adding "feeding the reindeer" to our list of traditions.  Woooo.

 yes.  I made these.  

or not.  Amber supplied these bad boys from her Sweet Tooth Fairy store. 

Santa REALLY enjoyed them.

 Their sweet little note to Santa reads,

"dear Santa, we hope you like your cookies.  Thank you for the presents.  Love Sage, Charlotte, Emery and Ivy"

along with a little Christmas tree drawing from Sage.

 These little chicks decided to open the gifts they picked out for each other on Christmas Eve.  They each picked out a little piece of jewelry from Charming Charlies and we probably could have ended Christmas right there-they were THAT excited.  I think I have said it before, but I LOVE these ladies!

 And after they were all in bed and asleep, I went to work.  Yes, I.  Daddy was snoring right along with the girls.  What's new?  It's ok though, because I love setting things up and soaking it all in.

{Pre-CHRISTmas}

 I'm so happy, and so so sad--that December is over.  I LOVE Christmas.  I love the traditions.  I love the down time from school and work.  I love the colder weather.  I love the season of giving.  I love that we focus so much on our Savior.  

But maaannn.  

It can get a little crazy.  

Here's a quick run down of the weeks leading up to Christmas.

These two in their hand-me-down Christmas dresses from when Sage and Charlotte wore them a few short years ago.  HOW did this happen???

Also, these pictures make me laugh.

 As per usual, putting on a dance show for Grandma and Grandpa.

 Horse back riding and lots of playing at cousin Kate's house

 Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house with lots of cousins

 One of my most favorite traditions is re-enacting the Nativity.  It never goes over that well though.  The kids are all unsure of what they are doing and it usually is a little crazy.  But I love it anyway.