Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning we went to Ihop for some yummy breakfast. I had green grinch pancakes and they were so good. Ihop has flavored syrups and I really love the pecan one, it is so good and I really wish I could find it to buy or at least learn how to make it.

We invited the Ricks family over for Christmas Eve dinner and it was so much fun. We had ham, funeral potatoes, rolls and Angela brought pretzel jello salad veggies and dip and cheesecake and chocolate cake for dessert. So much good food. The Ricks have a tradition that on Christmas Eve they do plate presents. It is a small present that gets put on their dinner plates and they get to open them before dinner. They surprised us and included us in this fun tradition, Kenedy and I got soft socks, Ryker got flavored milk straws, Kefford got a pez dispenser and Avy and Rylee got nail polish.  

After dinner we visited while the kids put together a nativity. It was fun to have extra kids and they did a good job, it was a bit chaotic and badly put together but they tried. If we do this again in the future I think I will find a small script of the nativity online for the kids to use.

Cutler, Danny, Avery, Angela, Kalli, Rylee, Avynlea, Coulson, Ryker, Kenedy, Lily, Kefford and Elizabeth

After they left the kids got to open their new pajamas and ornaments. Kenedy got a BYU Idaho ornament, Ryker got a drivers license, Avynlea got a cheerleader and Rylee got a violin. 

After everyone was ready for bed we finished watching the Lord of the Rings which we had been watching throughout the day. It was a good day.

Gingerbread House

The Sunday before Christmas I let Avynlea wear her new dress and shoes and she was pretty excited to see that her dress matched her Dad's socks. Pretty fancy

After church that day we finally built the gingerbread house Rylee has been dying to put together. I wanted to wait to build it until Kenedy was home so that she could be a part of the fun. Everyone had something that they did and we all contributed to making it look pretty amazing. I made my traditional gingerbread house palm tree. I did not have my normal things to use so I scavenged around and made the trunk with chocolate miniatures i found and then cut up one of the green gummys that came with the kit for the fronds. It turned  out interesting but I was happy with it.

Rylee decorated a gingerbread girl she named Caroline and Avynlea and Kenedy collaborated on a gingerbread boy they named Thomas and called their son. Sometimes these kids are weird.

We decided to do neighbor treats this year and I bought 20 bottles of cherry 7-up and attached a cute saying to it. I thought they turned out pretty great. They were cheap and easy and that is all I wanted. 

Dance Recital

Rylee and Kenedy have matching Slytherin shirts and one morning Rylee decided to wear hers to school and she wanted Kenedy to wear hers also. I took this picture of Rylee and sent it along with a message to Kenedy from Rylee to please wear her shirt. 

I was watching Mikell's kids one day while she went to the Temple and they really enjoyed looking at all of the ornaments on our tree. They noticed some homemade ones that they thought were pretty fun and while they were admiring them I realized I had all of the materials to make them and so I pulled out some fun crafting supplies and let the kids have their creativity take over. The older girls helped the younger ones figure out their designs and all I did was the Hot Glue Gun. We had so much fun and they made some really cute ornaments for their tree. They even helped clean up without me asking which was pretty awesome. 

On another night Whitney brought her girls over to play while she and Dustin went to the Temple. I had so much success doing the ornament crafts with Mikell's kids that when they got here I asked the girls if they wanted to do a craft and they were super excited about it so I got all my crafting stuff out again and this time with Avynlea and Rylee's help they created some really cute ornaments.

The winter dance show was about a week before Christmas and I was ready for it. I have 4 classes this year and really love all of my little dancers. I had this great idea of taking pictures of all of my classes before they went out on stage but my first 3 classes were within the first 12 numbers and I had no time to stop for a picture. I was getting dancers on stage to perform and then rushing them back to the waiting room where i would leave them with Rylee to be collected by their Moms so I could gather my next group to get them to the stage. It was a lot of rushing around and I did not have a break until after the third class of mine was finished then I had a long wait before my fourth and final class, they were close to the end of the program. I was really pleased with how well all of my little kiddos did. I had some nervous before the lights and music turned on because of the dark but once the stage was brightened they got over their fears fast. I was worried about one little dancer, Raegen, who is 2 1/2. She has been struggling in dance class wanting her Mom and crying a lot so I was not sure how she was going to do. I had her Mom stay with her until it was one performance before her number and then I took her and all of the other dancers in her group backstage to watch the dance and wait for their turn. She was starting to get upset and I just kept reassuring her and promising candy canes after they danced. When I put this group on stage she was full out crying and I thought "oh no", but i left her on her sticker and went down to wait for the music. Once the music started Raegen started looking at the other girls dancing and then suddenly something clicked, the tears dried up and she started dancing her little heart out, it was the cutest thing and made me so happy. At the end of our dance she was clapping and enjoying the applause and then she started bowing, I was dying it was so great!
While I was waiting in the back room for my last class to perform my Boss's sister came back to find me to tell me how impressed she was with my dance numbers and how well I handle managing the little ones. She said I do a really amazing job and it made me feel so good that she would search me out to tell me such complimentary things. She said watching me with the littles she could really tell how much I love what I do and she was not wrong, I love all of my little dancers and I love teaching dance. I really appreciated her kind words.
I did manage to get one picture that I wanted and that was of my little bears. They tap danced to a song called "Stompy the Bear" and were wearing the bear ears and tails Emily helped me make over thanksgiving. They were so cute! I only had 5 of my dancers from this class with 3 not being able to make it to the show that night. They did such a good job and were a crowd pleaser with their little tails.

Lennox, Roen, Guenivere, Eden and Eleanor 

Rylee was really happy to come and help me out backstage with my kiddos and I was so grateful for her help, I would have been a hot mess without her. At some point while I was busy rushing around she took some selfies on my phone and drew on a picture of Avynlea, silly girl

Eagle Scout

Ryker had a goal to get his Eagle Scout rank before the end of the year and with his Dad's help we are happy to say he accomplished his goal. Kefford wanted him to have his Eagle Court of Honor before the end of the year as well and trying to find a time to fit that in was pretty difficult. We talked about it on Sunday and the Court of Honor was then scheduled for Thursday night, it really was the only time we all had available before the new year. Kefford put me in charge of the food and the decor and since I am not a party planner by any means I kept it super simple. I gathered pictures I had from his first day of Cub Scouts to his last days of Boy Scouts and put them on a poster board. And that was it for decorating, really we are simple people and none of us have need to go overboard. All you need for this type of event are some pictures to look at. Kefford and I ordered a cake from Costco on Monday and when I went to pick it up on Wednesday they did not have any record of receiving my order. I know it happened because Kefford was there with me when I did it. The bakery people said if I gave them 20 minutes they would be able to have a cake ready for me. I told them what I wanted on it which was...

Congratulations Ryker

Eagle Scout!

I told her what I wanted on it and asked her if she would like me to write it down and she said no. She should have had it written down because when I got it back it said...

Congratulations Riker

Eagle Scouts

Off center and misspelled. I told her the name was spelled wrong and she went back and scraped the i off and replaced it with a y but a little remnant of the i was still on the cake. Oh well, good enough.

I also had water with strawberries and blueberries in it to go with the Eagle Scout colors. The kids brought Kefford's Eagle to put on display and Brother Chidester brought the Eagle plaque which he gave to Ryker at the end of the night.

Brother Chidester conducted and Brother Claiborne, our wards scoutmaster, was there to say some nice things about Ryker. He is a really good guy and was super supportive in helping Ryker with the Eagle Project and getting things done.

For it being a last minute night Ryker had a lot of family and friends show up to give support and watch him earn his Rank. We had friends from the Linder Ward, Verona Ward and Oak Creek Ward come as well as a lot of Kefford's family.

After watching a short video on what it means to become an Eagle Scout it was time to get to the presentation of the award.

First Ryker pinned Kefford and I with the Eagle Mom and Eagle Dad pins. 

And then Ryker was given the mentor pin to give to the person he felt helped him and mentored him the most on his road to Eagle. Ryker chose to give this pin to his Dad and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. Kefford was there the whole way helping and encouraging Ryker through the scouting program. If it were not for him Ryker never would have earned this rank.

Then I got to pin Ryker's Eagle Badge on and Kefford put on his new scarf.

Ryker was asked to say a few words and even though Ryker did not know he was going to have to do this he did a good job. He thanked everyone for coming and mentioned a little what it meant for him to have earned this Eagle award.

Eagle's Nest

After the ceremony Alison felt that Ryker's scarf needed adjusting so she helped him out with that.

And Trevor had to goof around a little bit with our new Eagle Scout.

Grandma Alison and Grandpa Bob

Ellis and Grandma June

I made Ryker hold Garrett so I could get a picture of the birthday twins and then I had to have a picture with me in it since I share their same birthday also.

After we got home Kefford pulled out a knife that he got from his Grandpa Max and an Eagle keychain he got from his Grandpa Farrell, he told Ryker how he got them and how much both items meant to him and then he gave them to Ryker. 

Ryker is now a part of a great Eagle Legacy

This was a really great night and I think we are all glad to have this journey to the Eagle rank finally be done. 

Live Nativity

Every year our Stake helps the Seventh-Day Advent church, whose building is located right next to our Stake center, with their Live Nativity. They do it every year and set up begins at least a month in advance. They were running it one weekend only and we decided to go Sunday evening. 

There was a camel outside of the church that we got to pet and take pictures with. Avynlea and Rylee especially loved seeing the camel and even comeback outside to pet him while we were waiting for our turn to go. 

And the camel pictures were the only ones I took but it was a really great interactive activity. We were put into groups and those groups were our "families" and we were going through it like we were actually going to Bethlehem to pay our taxes. It was a really great experience and after it was done we got to go back inside for hot cocoa, which was greatly appreciated because it was cold, and buttered toast. 

We had a snowfall one Sunday morning and Rylee and I were the only ones who wanted to take pictures outside with the snow. Rylee got herself a cup of snow and enjoyed eating it.

The first Saturday of ht month Rylee and Avynlea went with me to The Home Depot to look for some Christmas presents for Kefford. While we were there we saw that they were doing their kids crafts and Avynlea and Rylee decided to do it while I looked around a little bit. They made a reindeer and sleigh and they turned out really cute. They had paint available so the kids could paint their crafts but we thought they looked better wooden with only the stickers on them.

I had Kefford come to the church with me on Wednesday night to help set up tables and chairs for our Mutual activity. It did not take as long as I thought it would and so while we were waiting around Kefford and Ryker played a quick game of basketball with Danny Ricks and Peyton Lamm from the Verona Ward and Sam Kropf and Benson Laing from the Oak Creek Ward. 

Monday after dance class I drove to Rexburg to get Kenedy and all her stuff home for winter break. I met Alyssa at their apartment and we walked up to campus where Kenedy was and then we walked around the campus for a bit. They showed me where they took their ballroom class and then they took me to the call center where they both worked. After that I took them to Applebees for dinner where I took their picture. 

Rylee is taking beginning violin this year and since the kids are new at learning the instrument they are not quite ready for a performance. Her orchestra teacher wanted to give the kids a chance to show their parents what they were doing so we were invited to come to their class on a Tuesday afternoon. Since I was in Rexburg picking up Kenedy I was not sure I was going to make it to her performance but I told Rylee I would really try. Kenedy and I left at 6:00 Tuesday morning so that we could make it to her class. Rylee was the lucky one who got to have her Mom, Dad and big Sister come and watch her perform. She acted a little embarrassed but I know she loved every minute of us being there. The teacher had them go through all that they do in a typical class time and then she had the students try to teach us visitors how to play Hot Cross Buns on their instruments. Rylee did a good job teaching but I did not do a very good job performing the song. I will leave the playing to her.

After class Rylee's friend Tayci came to walk with Rylee to their next class. That day was twin day at school and Rylee and Tayci dressed up the same so I took their twin picture. They sure are cute girls

December is the month for parties. One of the Christmas parties I was invited to and went to was Angela Wrightson's ugly Christmas sweater/favorite things party. I did not have an ugly chrisoms sweater so I did not wear one but I brought wet brushes. and my favorite hair elastics as my favorite things. When it was our turn we explained our three things and then drew three names and those were the girls that got to take home our particular items. Everyone brought three favorite things and everyone left with three different favorite items. It was a really fun night and I am glad I went.