Jaidyn and her Easy Bake Oven!

After what felt like forever for a 6 year old, Jaidyn was finally able to heat up the lightbulb and bake a cake. She could hardly contain her excitement as she anxiously waited 12 mins for it to bake. After the first taste she new her creation was successful. All it needed was some chocolate icing and some colorful sprinkles and it was finally complete!

SWEET success for a super SWEET Girl!

Mary and Joseph

Holton and Jaidyn were playing in the basement when they called me to come see them. This is what I found. It was so cute, though I'm not sure who was Mary and who was Joseph!

Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was so fun to see the excitement in the kids faces as they opened their gifts. Holton was amazed with all the new things and once he opened one present, he didn't care about the rest. All Jaidyn asked for this year was an Easy Bake oven and the look on her face was priceless when she opened it up. She was so excited...too funny! Mateya loved her new Rollerblades but was disappointed she has to wait so many months to use them. Holton spent most of the morning riding his new scooter around the house and shooting everyone with his new Star Wars blaster (daddy's idea). It was a fun morning and we all felt very blessed!

After breakfast and playing with our new gifts for a bit we had to rush off to mom's house for dinner. We always have it early afternoon so all those who have other family to visit can spend the evening with them. It works out pretty well. Cyril's parents were away again this year, visiting his brother, so we didn't have to rush off again. We are so grateful for the Christmas season to be able to spend time with family and friends and focus our thoughts on our Savior. It is my favorite time of year!

Christmas Eve!

This year we spent Christmas Eve at Rachelle at Matt's house. We had a yummy dinner, the kids played, the adults chatted and we opened gifts. We received a great gift. Rachelle, Matt and Tyler got tickets to take Cyril, Mateya, Jaidyn and I to STOMP in January. How fun!

After all the fun we had to rush off to make it to the Nativity Pageant at Heritage Park. I have been going every year since I was a kid and have only missed it a few times. The kids also look forward to it as it is a wonderful family tradition. It was extremely cold (too cold to take pictures) even though we were bundled up. Holton loved it so much he cried when it was over, so I had to sit out in the cold with the kids for another 15 mins to see it again. Luckily we were parked really close so Cyril sat in the van and watched. It is such a great way to remember the true meaning of Christmas!

Once we got home we had treats and each opened up a gift which was our new pajamas... another tradition. We all got into our new jammies, read some Christmas stories, put out the milk and cookies for Santa, and went to bed.

December!

I know it's almost the end of January and I haven't even blogged about Christmas yet, so I thought it's about time! Here is a summary of Dec:

First, was the School Christmas Concerts. They had to split it up into 2 nights to accommodate everyone so we (unfortunately) had to go twice. Jaidyn was the first night and Mateya the second. It was fun to see the girls perform with their class.
Next we had Cyril's office family Christmas party at Lynnwood Ranch. It was very cold that day so we weren't able to do the skating and sleigh rides but we all had a great time. The kids ate lunch, made crafts, played with friends, decorated cookies, visited with Santa, played games, and got unlimited amounts of balloon animals(since we were one of the last families to leave and the clowns were bored). I think we went home with about 20 in total! What a fun day for the kids!

The girls both had the opportunity to do carolling at Southcentre mall with their school grade on separate days. They each sang for a half hour. It was nice to hear them sing many songs in Spanish and to see how much they have learned.
Mateya also had the special honor of singing live on the Breakfast show with most of the grade 4's and 2's on Dec 17. She was very excited and had lots of fun despite the early morning. We recorded it on the TV but I don't have any pictures!

My best friend Jacinda and I had our annual baking day. The girls were at school so Holton was our big helper. She came over and we spent the whole day up to our elbows in flour! We made ginger cookies, sugar cookies, caramel squares, toffee candy, and some shortbread cookies. It was great to be able to spend the whole day with her since we don't get to see each other nearly enough. We always have such a fun time together!

the disaster zone!

On December 12, Annaliesse Ella Moxley was born! She is my brother Justin's second baby girl and she is beautiful. Justin and Heather came up for the weekend before Christmas to show her off. She was so small and perfect! Congrats Justin, Heather and Kalia on your new bundle of joy!