December 2016

As I mentioned in the previous post Devin and I were called to put on the ward Christmas party.  Luckily, for the sake of my sanity during this season, it fell on December 1st.  We spent so much time in November creating all the decorations, writing the program, planning and preparing food that when the day came it all fell into place and it was magical.  

We decided on the theme, "How the Grinch Found "CHRIST"mas" based on the idea of taking the story of the Grinch one step further.  At the end of the story, the Grinch figures out that Christmas isn't just about packages, boxes, and bags but that its really about love.  So taking it a step further... the Grinch starts questioning where this love comes from and why he can feel it.  The ward sang songs to teach the Grinch of the baby Jesus and then the primary sang Gethsemane to teach him why Jesus' birth was so important.  Devin wrote the whole program and we were so happy with how it  turned out.  

As for the rest... we decorated the gym in a Whoville theme and it was so fun to see how many people came dressed up in their best Who outfits.  Our menu consisted of Roast Beast and Ham, Who-Hash, Cindy Lou Salads, and WH2O.  It was so much work but totally worth it to see the smiles on everyones faces.  We also received some of the nicest compliments from many people in the ward.  

I spent MANY late nights creating this Whoville.  I drew each one up on cardboard boxes and hand painted each one.  It was really fun to create and I loved how it turned out.  

 Jasmine Sagum and her husband were the other couple called to put on this party and we had so much fun working together on this overwhelmingly massive project.

Chase Sagum was really the best Grinch!  He did such a great job with the program and dealing with all the crazy kids that basically attacked him. 

Addie sang "Where are You Christmas" during the program and she did such a great job!

Even Quincy had a part in the program that she nailed.

The primary singing Gethsemane was amazing and brought such a great spirit to the party. 

Once the craziness of the ward party was finally over we had a chance to get our own house decorated for Christmas.  

And decorate some gingerbread houses...

Thorupaynielsinke skating Christmas party and it was "Classic!"  The Thorup's planned and hosted this party and we all had such a great time!  Love this group of people!

This Christmas Season we experienced one of the sweetest, most Christlike acts of service from our 8 year old Adalyn.  In November she wrote a letter to Santa telling him that she didn't want any presents this year but that she just wanted to help others.  We started having conversations with her about what that meant and she told us that she wanted Santa to give her presents to others who needed it more.  After having "the talk" about Santa, we told her that if she wanted to use the money that we would have spent on her for Christmas to buy things for others that need it more that she could.  She got really excited and we began to call shelters and other facilities to find out what was needed.  We contacted The Women and Children In Crisis Center and they told us of families who would be coming into the program and not have anything for Christmas.  So Addie went to work.  She decided to get others involved and created a flyer asking for help.  She then went out and distributed those flyers to our family, neighbors, and friends.  Then we went shopping.  She was so excited to buy toys for kids knowing that they would have a better Christmas.  She received the most amazing support and with so many people's help she was able to raise over $1000 in toys and gift cards that she then donated to these families.  At 8 years old she is such an amazing example of the love of Christ.  

Ogden Christmas Lights for Mom's Birthday.  I love that this has become a tradition for my mom's birthday.  It's fun to watch all the cousins in the magic of the Christmas lights!

Took the older girls to see Star Wars: Rogue One with Grandma and Grandpa Payne.  

The annual Payne Christmas Party is always full of the spirit and a lot of fun.  It's great getting this large family all together. 

Driving around to see Christmas lights is always a fun family activity. 

Sego Lily Christmas Sing. Always fun watching the girls sing...

I volunteered to bring a game for Quincy's class party and after being sick the week whole week before I had to throw together this snowman bean bag toss the morning of.  Turned out pretty cute and it was fun to watch the kids play.  

Painting Christmas Nails...

We had an unusually warm December this year... I loved it!

Christmas Eve

In the morning we opened our Christmas Jammies...

Then we headed up to the annual Wayment Christmas Eve party which is always so much fun.  It's so fun to be with everyone and Mom and Dad spoil us all. 

And then home to set up for Christmas morning...

Christmas Day

It was such a fun morning watching how excited the girls all got to open their presents. The best part was watching how happy they were to give each other the presents that they bought or made for them.  

Christmas fell on Sunday this year and we loved going to church to learn of Christ and feel His spirit. 

Christmas dinner with the Paynes...

When you are with the Payne's you know that anything can happen.  And it's always a good time! A little post dinner karaoke made for a very entertaining night.

Yankee Swap:  this annual party is thrown by our good friends the Jensens and it is always a riot.  With a new theme every year and a crazy game of white elephant this party is always a great event.  Hillbillies all around this year...

We are always so excited when our friends The Villamizars come into town.  We had so much fun going to lunch and spending some time with them while they visited from California.  

Addie got braces this month!  I had no idea that this phase of her life would come so soon but here we are at round 1 of brace life.  

On New Year's Eve we got to have a lunch date with our awesome friends the Thorups.  We love hanging out with these guys and sometimes it's even better without kids to worry about. 

Then we celebrated the New Year with the girls over an appetizer dinner, a countdown at 8:00, a silly string fight, and then watching Miracles From Heaven with the older two until almost 11.  Great way to bring in the New Year!

 And 2016 is gone!  We had a great year, accomplishing many goals, learning many new things, and creating lots of new memories.  We look forward to what 2017 will bring!