December was full of lots of fun and holiday cheer. We decorated our tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. We have a manger that we put in front of our tree every year to help us remember the baby Jesus. During the month the girls get to add hay to it when they do kind things for others. We try to fill it with lots of hay so it will be supper soft for baby Jesus when appears on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition that I remember doing in my own home as a child. The girls really enjoy it as well as mom and dad.
The weather has been surprisingly warm for December so we have been spending 
some extra time outside. One of the projects that the girls enjoyed doing was making a “rock garden.” I can honestly say it is thriving. It is actually doing much better than our other garden did and they did it all on there own.
We got to see Santa twice this month 
before Christmas. The first was the ward party. This year our ward had a breakfast instead of dinner like we usual do. I had never had a 
breakfast ward party before. It was kind of fun. They had a really good breakfast and a program put on by the primary children. They also had a 
brass ensemble playing Christmas music while we all gathered and ate.
The second time was breakfast with Santa at the Manor House. The breakfast was 
super simple just cereal, fruit and muffins but the kids enjoyed it and most importantly they got to see Santa. An added bonus was that is was free.
A fun thing I learned from Kelsi this month was about double rainbows. She told me one morning that she learned at school that when there is a double rainbow one is opposite the other. At first I thought she was mistaken or was thinking of something else. I have seen tons of double rainbows and had never noticed that. Well, that same day it rained and there was a beautiful double rainbow out behind 
our house. Guess what, she was right. It is amazing what we miss when we aren’t really paying attention.
On Christmas Eve day we made some 
sugar cookies. The girls had a blast cutting out the Christmas shapes. They also discovered by accident that you can 
make fun shapes on you face with a cookie cutter and flour when Courtney accidently put a star on her face. (She bumped it a little before we could get the camera.) The other two had to try it also.
That night we had our traditional Christmas Eve fiesta. Both Jeremy and my families have a tradition of Mexican food for Christmas Eve so we have decided to continue it. We try to keep it simple with just the five of us so we pick one or two things that are our favorite.
We, like so many others, have a tradition of getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve. 
These are the ones we got the girls this year. They came in a set that had a matching nightgown for their doll or stuffed animal. I thought they were supper cute.
Jeremy and I got a wonderful treat that night. The girls decided to put on a program for us. They sang songs and danced to Christmas 
music. They planned it out all by themselves. They even made programs for us to follow.
After their program we went to look at Christmas lights for a little while. When we got back we did one of our favorite Christmas Eve traditions. Jeremy read from Luke chapter 2 about the birth of Jesus Christ and then we followed the star. We take the star off the tree and turn off all of the lights except the Christmas tree. We take a flashlight and shine it on the star and follow it around the house as Jeremy holds it up high and walks around. Meanwhile I try to sneak a doll wrapped in a blanket into the manger under the tree. (This year was the first year I got caught.) We follow the star until we end up back at the manger under the tree where the baby Jesus is now at. The girls always talk about this and want a turn to hold the star as we follow.
Christmas morning was really good but busy. We opened the presents from Santa 
first. Then we had breakfast and got ready for Church. The girls were so good to be willing to hold off opening up all of their presents before 9:00 am church. They did get a few minutes of playtime in with there new toys from Santa before we had to get ready.
Courtney’s main thing she got was a wooden
train set. The older two got Legos and a a few other things. Put this all together and you have instant Christmas mess. I guess it wouldn’t be 
Christmas without it.
Over all we had a wonderful Christmas and were blessed to not have too many of us get sick until after Christmas. 
Courtney had the stomach flu a couple days before Christmas but the rest of us waited until after. No fun, but we survived.
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday time. Tomorrow it is back to the grind. The kids head back to school. That means no more lazy mornings for mommy.
