A Christmas Mix of Pics

Dress up, Santa at the Mall, and our Christmas tree.....

Every year at the "Nativities Around the World" event thrown by our church, they have a children's area where they get to color, play with toy nativities, and dress up. Eli wanted the sheep costume, Kambria the angel, and Audriana one of the wise men costumes. Too cute eh?! :)


A beautiful Angel standing over the baby Jesus. :)




One afternoon after picking Kambria up from school, we decided to take the kids to the mall to play in the play area. But before we did, Kambria wanted to take a detour to see Santa. :)




Daddy boosting Kambria up to help her get the Angel on top of our tree. That has become tradition, but I think within the next year or two Eli will want a turn to do it too. :)



Kambria wanted to hug the tree! :)

A little blurry, but our pretty tree all decorated! :) We usually put red and gold beaded garland around it, but we knew that wouldn't last very long with Eli around!

Breakfast with Santa

Kambria and Eli's Grandma Pooh and their Auntie Adie volunteered at a local church's annual "Breakfast with Santa". It was a yummy breakfast and the kids had a blast! :)

Adrianna (Auntie Adie) with Santa! :)




Kambria showing off her candy cane Rudolf the rednose reindeer.



Uncle George, Auntie Roo, and Madeleine were there too! :) I didn't have my camera out yet when Santa had come over to the table to say hi to my kids....sad. George and Rhiannon got there a little later, so I captured a pic of Santa saying hi to Madeleine. :)






Audriana was with us too. :)

A family picture with Santa.....come on Daddy....why don't you sit on Santa's lap???? LOL! :)

Madeleine telling Santa that she wants a barbie for Christmas. :)

"Running" errands with Kambria

After picking up Kambria from school I took her with me to run a few errands, which included going downtown. When we were by the Bloomsday statues she requested I take a picture of her with them. I just thought it was cute and wanted to share! I love this cute girl! :)

An attempt at our own family pictures.....

Since we couldn't afford to get new family pics taken by my very talented cousin, we, along with our best friends decided to go to Finch Arboretum and try and take our own of eachother. Well....they didn't turn out too well and neither one of us decided to include them in our Christmas cards this year. :) By the time we got there on a blistery cold Sunday afternoon, it was getting dark fast. Niether of our families had a fancy camera so the pics turned out pretty dark even though it was just barely dusk. Also to add to the fun, the kids were miserable! So we tried......... (at least both of our Christmas cards turned out cute without our family pics). :)

Ahhhh.......the only one I love! :)

I didn't include very many of the attemps in the post, just the better ones. :)

Going back.....day after thanksgiving....

After a little shopping with my best friend and a little nap after having only 2 1/2 hours of sleep the night before, we headed to Coeur'd Alene for the night time parade and the Christmas lighting ceremony at the resort. We have made it a tradition with some of Jon's family and always have a good time despite the very cold temps! :)





After the lighting ceremony and a dinner usually consisting of sandwiches and stuff brought from home, we head into the resort hotel to see all the fun decorated Christmas trees and check out that year's entertainment.

Kambria wanted a picture by this tree since it was full of and surrounded by one of her favorite things.....STUFFIES! (stuffed animals)




Eli got to play in the jumping castle since there weren't a bunch of other kids in there at the time. He loved it!!! :)



Our niece Audriana coming down the slide in the castle.

Kambria and Eli decided to go down together :)

We decided to take a break and sit down and watch the entertainment. But the girls and Eli had a different idea......why sit when you can get up and dance! :)

Jon and Grandma Watson decided to join in too. I was busy taking pics of all the cute fun! :)

Some of the lights on the boardwalk....

Has it really been a month already???!!!! + Christmas card

Wow! It has been a month since my last post! This month has flown by!.....of course it is the month of Christmas.....always busy! I know I have at least 3 or 4 post to catch up on since my last and there will only be more before I actually have a chance to do them, pics and all. So stay tuned.....probably won't happen until after Christmas. :)

Have a Merry Christmas everyone! :)

.....since I couldn't send everyone our Christmas card this year here it is for you all to see~ (you can click on it to see it bigger)

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town"

While on the paper route yesterday morning, we heard on the radio about Santa arriving at Riverpark Square for the first time this year and that there were a bunch of events going on in honor of him arriving! We thought it would be a fun family activity and we also thought it would be fun to invite Rhiannon and Madeleine to come along too!

When we got there there was a table set up where the kids were given there first candy cane and they got to sign up to try to be the first child to see Santa and receive the first gift of the season. (just like on the Polar Express) They were also given special tickets too!

While waiting for Mrs. Clause to start reading the book "The Polar Express" there were elves passing out little bells; not only for the kids but also for the adults who "still believe" and who have been "good this year". :) Rhiannon, Jon, and I all received one! :) I guess we have been good this year.......and of course we "still believe"! :)

Santa's big arrival down the grand escalator. :)

I Love Riverpark Square's Christmas tree!

Eli loved the huge Christmas tree too!

"oooohhhhhh" "yay"

Madeleine showing me her bell and her ticket. :)

We got in line and waited a little over 45 minutes to see Santa! That is the longest I have been willing to stand in line to see him, but of course the kids would be heartbroken if they didn't get to sit on Santa's lap the first time they got to see him this year.

By the front entrance they have a couple gigantic presents, so we decided to take a few pics of the kids on them.

And finally we got to see Santa! :) The workers didn't like it very much that we were just taking pics from our camera's and not purchasing packages. They did say though that they couldn't tell us no. The packages are way to expensive for what you get!!! Riverpark Square's Santa is Great! :) He didn't make us or the kids feel rushed. He actually took a couple minutes with them. That is probably why it took longer in the line, but it is so worth it for the kids not to be rushed off his lap! :) I love the Santa's that have their own "whiskers"! :) He was very sweet!

I caught this pic when he was talking to Eli.

Eli was pretty good with him for about 10 seconds, and then he wanted Mommy or Daddy. He loved that he gave him another candy cane though!!!

Madeleine did a lot better this year than last! :) She even brought her Walmart toy add to show Santa the barbie or baby that she wants! :)

It was a great night with the kids and with good friends! I love Christmas time!!!! Although it isn't quite Thanksgiving yet, because of last night I really am into the Christmas spirit already and might even start listening to the music a week early! :) George met up with us a little later and the kids were so excited to show him the pictures of Santa! :)

It really is... "beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

"I Love To See The Temple"

Our ward's primary had an activity last Saturday to visit the temple. Kambria was so excited! Because Jon helped clean the church in the morning and we only have one vehicle we were late getting there. We figured we would at least take our kids even if we missed the rest of the primary. We walked around the temple and also went inside the front lobby and the waiting room. Kambria didn't want to leave. :) We couldn't be in the lobby for too long though because Eli just wanting to get down and run around. Kambria didn't like being outside much though because it was so cold!

"I love to see the temple. I'm going there someday. To feel the Holy Spirit, To listen and to pray. For the temple is a house of God. A place of love and beauty. I'll prepare myself when I am young; This is my sacred duty."

"I love to see the temple. I'll go inside some day. I'll covenant with my Father; I'll promise to obey. For the temple is a holy place, where we are sealed together. As a child of God, I've learned this truth; A family is forever."