Our (Itty Bitty) Gingerbread Village

One of my kids favorite things to do before Christmas is decorate gingerbread houses. We usually buy the pre-made house from Costco that includes frosting and candy. This year, deciding to be adventurous, we bought a kit from...I don't remember where. But, this kit came in a bigger box and had five houses - one for each of us. I thought, "This will be great! No fighting, each of the kids can have their own house and we will made a cute little village." I didn't realize that little was the key word there.
When we opened the box, Greg started laughing and the kids were saying things like, "What!!?? They are so small!" Don't you love it when the box is about four times as big as the actual product inside. And so much for not fighting - all the kids wanted the church. Fast forward through some whining, fighting and yelling, and we finally finished our village. The kids really did have a fun time decorating despite the rocky start.

Greg's house (notice he got the church because he didn't whine about it!)

Tresa's house (so boring and traditional)

Gavin's house (still standing after the candy blizzard)

Enoch's house (he was so proud of his chimney and I'm pretty sure he already ate it)

Kate's house (most colorful use of leftover candy, with Mom's help)

Our village.

2010 Christmas Card

Gavin's 7th Grade Christmas Band Concert

Tonight as we attended Gavin's Beginning 7th Grade Band Concert, I got a bit teary. It was so good to see him on stage, doing something he enjoys, being part of a great group, growing up and discovering his talents. Gavin plays the alto saxophone (just like his dad). He has really enjoyed learning how to play and practicing. He takes private lessons from his band teacher, Mr. Swiderski. Practicing is sometimes a challenge, but he usually does it anyway. His practicing sounds great - especially when he does it down in his room! Upstairs, it's a bit too loud for me.
At the concert tonight, Mr. Swiderski joked that he was down to a few Tylenol a day from a few bottles at the beginning of the year. Bless those junior high band teachers! Most of the kids had never picked up their instruments until school started. From September to now, I think they sound great. The band played five songs: African Pat-A-Pan, Feliz Navidad, Up on the Rooftops, Winter Wonderland and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.



Doesn't Gavin look handsome! All the saxophone players wore purple ties for the concert (Gavin's idea).

Enoch's Fort

I finally realized that for as many forts as Enoch builds, I didn't have pictures of any of them. Last night during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, Enoch was a bit bored and decided to build a simple fort. He did it himself. He carpeted the fort floor with blankets. He sat in it for about two minutes before he moved on to something else. He rebuilt it this morning into something a bit more fun (sorry, no pictures of that).

Enoch loves building forts, spaceships, pirate ships, kitty houses, whatever strikes his fancy that day. He is such a creative little boy.

Trimming the Tree (with crazy kids)

After a few nights of delays, we finally trimmed our tree. Greg put on the lights and the kids had a great time adding the ornaments. It's a bit bottom heavy (where Enoch and Kate could reach), but the tree looks great.
Sorry - all my pictures are from behind.

What crazy kids!

Sweet Kate

A few things Kate said today.

1. We were practicing saying her birthday, February 19, which is a mouthful for a 2 year old. I asked her how old she would be on her next birthday. She answered, "Twelve". I laughed and said, "How about three?" Kate shook her head and said, "No, mommy. Me be 12. Three is for babies." Two going on 12!

2. This afternoon, Kate was wandering around the house. She asked where Enoch was (she is never her happy self when Enoch is gone). I told her he was playing with Jimmy. She wanted to play with Enoch and Jimmy. I told just the boys were playing. She was upset. I asked if Enoch was her best friend. She said, "No. Mommy, you are my best friend!" Then she gave me a big hug. I got teary! And when Kate is 15 and hates me, I will always have this precious memory.

St. George

After an amazingly yummy Thanksgiving lunch with the Fowlers, our family took off for St. George. The drive down seemed long, but the kids were entertained with their TVs. We arrived at the condo about 8pm and my parents soon followed.
The next morning was lazy. I wanted to hit the outlet stores, but didn't care too much about getting there early with all the crazy Black Friday shoppers. We ate breakfast, watched TV and got ready to go. We hit Gymboree and the Levi store. We scored big! Kate got the better part of a fall wardrobe for next year at 85% off and Gavin and Greg picked up some Levis for super cheap. I'm quite happy we made the effort to go, especially since Kate had to wear her too big coat since Mom didn't pack one for her.
We hit Wendy's for lunch and then headed to a movie. Megamind wasn't the funniest movie I've seen, but it did have it's moments. The boys enjoyed it and Kate spent the whole movie on Grandpa's lap.
After dinner we bundled up and drove to the St. George Temple. It was cold! Okay, not as cold as it was at home, but still very cold for St. George.


The lights were beautiful. We walked around for a bit before we were all cold and ready to go. Gavin got some great shots of the Temple.


My favorite part of the trip took place the next morning. We took advantage of the sunny weather and explored Snow Canyon. Our family has been there before and really enjoy this place. We hiked to Jenny's Canyon,





scrambled on the rocks at Upper Galoot



and tried to find the pioneer names on the Pioneer Hike but we were unsuccessful.







The kids all had a great time. Gavin was climbing everywhere - I couldn't keep track of him. Enoch was fascinated by all the lava rocks (remember he loves volcanoes). I was feeling really bad that both Gavin and Kate had gotten new clothes the previous day and Enoch didn't get anything. Enoch could care less about clothes but was beyond excited to be able to bring home a volcano rock (I love how he is cradling his rock!). It was a great morning!

We stopped off at the condo, threw a frozen lasagna in the oven for lunch and drove to a nearby park. This park is incredible. There is such unique playground equipment and the kids can't get enough of it. We're trying to talk Grandpa Dee into building us one of those swings for our backyard!



After lunch, we watched the BYU-Utah football game. It was a decent game until the last four seconds! What a disappointment! Oh well. Grandma and Grandpa left for home after the game Our family watched TV, relaxed and ate dinner.
The cleaning began early the next morning. For some reason, the dryer at the condo takes forever long to dry anything, but especially towels (I'm talking 2 hours for a small load of towels), so we have to start laundry early. We cleaned up, washed sheets and towels, ate lunch, packed the car and left about 12:30. We failed to watch the weather our entire vacation, so we were unprepared for the winter storm that hit. Only about 15 minutes out of St. George, traffic slowed down. We were booking it at 10 mph for quite a while. The weather was snowy, the roads wet and icy and the kids were restless, but we finally made it home after 7 1/2 hours on the road. Despite the ride home, it was a great trip!