'Tis the season!

This year, the Christmas hustle and bustle has been particularly fun for me, I'm not sure why! Maybe it's the realization that life will have to be slowing down a LOT in a few months when we have a new baby in the house or maybe it's just the ages of our kids and the fact that they are both soooo into all things Christmas this year. I don't know, but it has just been such a fun time this year! No less busy or crazy, but really fun! And I'm realizing I need to be better about taking more pictures -- I seem to have missed a lot of these really fun moments lately!

I have been busy with these... (we opted for this cute idea to hang Christmas cards instead of the usual sweets and treats that you get way too much of during the holidays -- although, let's be honest, I would never complain about getting too many treats!). I didn't get a picture of them all packaged up for the neighbors, but I did between 150-200 of them and it was quite a job, but I had a lot of fun being creative with them! I kept a set for myself too and they are doing a cute job hanging up our cards! And when Christmas is over, they can be used as fridge magnets too!

And planning and throwing (what will continue to be) our annual Christmas party for the first time... all I can say is hot chocolate bar...YUM! The whole party was a lot less work than I thought it was going to be, since everyone else brought all the yummy appetizers and desserts! All I had to worry about was getting my house cleaned and playing hostess -- pretty darn easy! We had a really good turn-out and love the neighborhood we have moved into this year and the friends we have made! We thought it was a great success and hopefully everyone had as much fun as we did -- I think they did! The white elephant gifts were seriously some of the best I've seen and we laughed pretty good! You kind-of can't beat having an adults only party with good food and good friends and good laughs! We look forward to it again next year!

And the snow...oh the snow! I usually hate this stuff. And I'm sure I will be hating it come January. But it has been soooo fun lately to have had a couple of really big storms come through and watch everything outside fill up with all the white powdery goodness! Kaiya loves to eat it. Taylor loves to kick her feet around in it. Chase has been going NUTS every time he gets to run around in it (it covers his chest, it is so deep!). Chris has been loving plowing it -- no, not at all. And I have been loving watching it from the warmth of the house as it creates a beautiful winter wonderland. I mean, as much as it is cold and sometimes miserable, there is still something so magical about it, ya know?!

And of course, then there is the decorating! How I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE filling up the house with all things Christmas! This year, we opted to decorate after Taylor went to bed. Kaiya still got to stay up and help us for a little while, but Taylor is a bit too young to be much help! My favorite thing was the next morning, though, when she and Kaiya woke up and walked out into the front of the house where everything was shining and the lights sparkling and the house dripping in Christmas! They both were in sensory overload! There were "wow's" and "ooh's" and clapping and giggles! I loved it! And they both have been surprisingly good about not pulling everything off the tree! Chris has been calling me Martha lately, as I have had the crafty bug hit me this year and have been making all sorts of fun new decorations for the house. My favorite thing about this is whenever Kaiya sees me working on something, she will run over and say, "Mom, are you making Christmas?!" Too cute! I love to turn out the lights at night and sit by the glow of the Christmas lights with Chris, drinking some hot chocolate! It is truly one of my very favorite things about this time of year! Again, isn't it all just magical?!

Then there was the annual gingerbread house night! Always fun, always very messy, and always enough candy and frosting to make everyone sick! Luckily dad is the master at putting the houses together and we just get to enjoy eating, I mean decorating the rest of it with yummy candy! Needless to say, baths were definitely needed after our fun night this time! Chris and I took our annual trip to Hale Center Theater last night to see "A Christmas Carol". It is one of our favorite traditions and we have been going to this play at Christmas since we got married. This year, we had the special treat of having my parents join us, as part of our Christmas present to them, and we had the best night spending this time together! The play never, ever disappoints, and we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Brick Oven afterward. Most important, though, was the great company and the chance to spend a night out with my honey and my wonderful parents!

And of course the reason for the season...we have been really enjoying sharing the story of Christ's birth with the kids this year. Kaiya really gets it now and that is such an amazing thing to witness! Last night for FHE, we talked about how Christ was adopted just like Kaiya was, by a loving earthly father, Joseph, who loved Jesus as his own and raised him and taught him. That is one of my favorite parts of the miraculous story of Christ's birth! Kaiya loves to kiss our baby Jesus from our nativity and Taylor is just starting to recognize and say His name every time she sees a picture of Jesus. It warms my heart to see how both of them are coming to know the Savior and that Christmas is starting to mean more to them than just the lights and presents, although those things are quite important to them too!

And since Christmas is literally just around the corner, we've got some more fun things planned for next week! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!