December

 We went to the Christmas in Color drive through. They made it way longer this year and added more music and lights. It was so good. We all squeezed in and got a blurry picture:

Sean and I had a birthday! Instead of getting gifts for each other this year, we bought tickets to see Beauty and the Beast at Hale Center Theater. It was a fantastic production and all the kids really enjoyed it! 

My friend Trish gave me this beautiful sweater and necklace! 

We had a our annual gingerbread house party. The Jones family came and we made some awesome houses:

Here is Alana's

Jennie's:

Alana's:

Lizzie's:

The PTA throws a huge Christmas party for us each year. They get donations from local businesses to get us all a really nice gift. You get your number called and get to pick in that order. I got some protein powder and a new water jug. 

I just love Shulamith! She is the absolute best coworker and friend. I can't imagine sharing a classroom with anyone else! 

Brett had his band concert!

Lizzie had her choir concert:

Sean and I went to Trisha's Christmas concert at the Tabernacle. It was an awesome concert and it was so nice to be on Temple Square. The spirit there is just so cool! 

Sean is starting some side work with a Hospice company. When he went for his interview they gave us free tickets to the Luminaria! It was beautiful! 

Alana had her orchestra concert:

Alana became an official Elf this year and helped me with some Christmas shopping one morning. I just took her to school late so we could also go to Old Navy to spend her birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa. She is looking so so grown up and I am blown away with how far she has come in her ability to wear different clothes! 

Alana and Lizzie both earned rewards for their participation in the Reflections contest. 

Brett's gingerbread house:

Sean's gingerbread ship:

The faucets in two of our bathrooms needed to be replaced and Alana and Sean worked hard to get them switched out!

Brett got this cool picture of the Orian Nebula:

The Sunday before Christmas we had our annual Christmas dinner and Nativity. Rebecca hosted a lovely ham dinner and we had a nice time visiting and eating and then dressing up. Brett was Joseph and Alana was Mary and Lizzie was the angel. It was super sweet to watch them do the nativity as always. 

I liked how sweet Brett was with holding the doll! 

We had a fun time playing the hand bells!

One of our gifts to Mimi was to take her to Top Golf. We kidnapped her on the day before Christmas Eve and went to golf and eat yummy food. 

Mimi won the first game!

Christmas Eve we hosted family here to eat snacks and play games. We went to visit Grandpa Zaelit at the bank he works at and then went to the Smiths Marketplace to buy candy for a white elephant exchange game. We had a lot of fun and it was fun to see who stole what from who. After everyone left we got our annual family picture in front of the tree and then the kids got to bed. Santa came! He left all kinds of goodies! 

Oreo couldn't stay awake to see Santa =) 

Our white elephant game:

Christmas Eve crew:

Lizzie was saying Ho Ho Ho. 

Christmas morning was fun. Sean and I both woke up and showered before the kids got up. Sean even did a run on the treadmill. When the kids got up they had eight balls and notes from Santa. 

Oreo was pleased with his loot!

We had a lovely day relaxing, opening gifts, and visiting with Mimi and Grandma and Grandpa. 

We went to a trampoline park with Kaden and Lexi and they had some pretty epic new slides! 

Lizzie gave Alana a pedicure =) 

The kids went to costco with me to get some things and mostly to get the pizza! 

I spoke in church.

Alana likes some new bows I got for Christmas:

We went to help Grandma and Grandpa take down their outdoor Christmas things and put together some new sewing desks. 

Here are those crazy slides!

Oreo is just so cute! 

Santa brought these fun fort building cushions and they have been really fun! 

We ended the year doing laundry, cleaning, and packing for our New Years trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Brett did go to a party with a friend, but I picked him up early since we were leaving early the next morning. 2024 was fantastic for us! We grew closer as a family and read the Book of Mormon cover to cover. We saw many miracles and instances of God's hand in our lives! We are excited to start 2025!