Rylee Orchestra Concert and Avy Ugly Sweater Cheer

Rylee had her Orchestra Concert Wednesday night. Her teacher told them they had to dress in all black but could accessorize with Holiday items. Rylee wanted to wear one of Kenedy's cheer christmas bows and so I pulled a couple out of Kenedy's box so that she could choose. Rylee looked super cute and she did a really good job. It was fun to hear her perform and I love that she is learning how to play the Violin, she is getting to be very musical!

Avynlea had to cheer at the boys basketball game Saturday night and for this last game before Christmas the cheerleaders wore Ugly Christmas Sweaters. I have an Ugly Sweater that I "won" in a White elephant exchange but Avynlea did not want to wear that. I told her I do not buy Ugly Sweaters, I think they are a waste of time so she was able to borrow one from another cheerleader. She actually looked cute in her sweater and it was not a bad one. Avynlea performed great as usual and I love seeing her at the top of the pyramid, she is a natural!

Hailey, Natalie, Dreya, Avynlea and Hannah
Avynlea's Cheer Besties

Avynlea Cheer Party and Church Happenings

Saturday night was Avynlea's JV cheer party. I made sugar cookies and sent them with her for all of the cheerleaders to decorate and they had Hot Chocolate and played the saran wrap game. Avynlea said they had a really fun time and she came home happy and with lots of candy and a movie pass gift card from the game.

L-R: Dreya, Avynlea, Hailey, Maryn, Olivia, Maddie, Mariena, Delaney, Alexia, Tessa, Emma and Alyssa

On Facebook my friend posted about a Santa Naughty and Nice list that some newspaper or College or business (I can't remember what) puts out every year. I checked it out and Avynlea and Kefford were not to be found on the list, Kenedy had an extra N in her name but she is on the nice list along with Rylee and I, and Ryker has some damage control to do in the next couple of days because he was on the naughty list.

Rylee is on a mission to get Kenedy married and having babies, she is more then anxious to be an Aunt. On Sunday she mapped out Kenedy's life for her and while it seems a little inaccurate, it is a good try.

Matthew sat by us on Sunday because his parents were out of town. Towards the end of the meeting we were singing the closing Hymn and I thought Matthew and Ryker sharing a Hymn book looked cute so I snapped a picture. I would like to say that Ryker's grumpy expression was the camera angle or bad picture taking timing but he looks pretty much how he always looks. He needs to work on cheering up his resting face a bit.

I posted on Instagram about the Ward Christmas Breakfast and how we were missing Kenedy, well she took matters into her own hands and photoshopped her picture into our family picture. She is missing no longer Ha Ha Ha!

Ward Christmas Breakfast and Rylee's Piano Concert

While scrolling though Pinterest I saw this gif and thought it to be so funny and something I wanted to share with Kefford. He was still sleeping when I sent it but when he woke up and saw it he LOL'd  

Saturday morning was our Ward Christmas Breakfast. Rachel Pace is one of my dancers who is also in our Ward and when she saw me she came over and sat at our table right by me and stayed there for the rest of the Breakfast. She was cute and I had fun conversing with her throughout the Breakfast.

The Activities Committee set up a little photo op area and once the Program was over we took the opportunity to get out photo taken. It is a little sad that we don't have Kenedy with us in the picture but that is what happens when kids leave the nest and go off to Adult at College.

I love Avynlea's silliness in the first two photos below, she makes me laugh!

While getting in the car in the garage I saw the sun shining on the footboard that is sitting in there in the most perfect way.

 After the Breakfast we had to leave to go to Rylee's Piano Concert which is held at one of the retirement homes in Boise. Ryker was really sweet to help this resident maneuver her wheelchair into a spot where she could hear the music and see the performers.

 Rylee did such a great job, she played "Away in a Manger" and "Jingle Bells" and she played them to perfection!

Getting Christmas Ready

I have wanted a cute Christmas Sweater for some time now. Not an Ugly Christmas Sweater, a cute sweater, something traditional and that looks maybe a little old school. When I went Black Friday shopping with Emily I saw a really cute Penguin sweater that I loved and wanted but it was at a plus size shop and wouldn't fit. I decided to look on Amazon and Amazon delivered! I found the best most perfect sweater that was exactly what I was looking for! This sweater will be getting a lot of use this Holiday season as well as Christmas's to come!

 I went to my friend Angela Kashyap's this week so she could touch up the color on my hair and give me a little trim. I thought to take a picture of my hair under the heat lamp so I could post it on my Instagram Hair page. I am trying to be a little more active on that page, nothing too crazy and overbearing but making my presence known just a little bit more :)

 Rylee thought it would be fun to practice playing the piano in a new way. She used the yardstick to play chopsticks and it made me laugh, she is a crazy kid!

 Ryker shared a Spiritual Experience that he had a couple of days ago with Kefford and I. He told us about it and then let us read what he wrote about it in his Journal. I love that he had this experience and that he had the thought to write it down so he will remember. I am also really grateful that he wanted to share with us about it. He mentioned that he was listening to one of his favorite Hymns during this experience and how much it meant to him and I had the idea to turn it into some wall art for his room. He mentioned a little while ago that he wanted more things to put on his walls and I thought this would be great, he could have some wall art meanwhile having the song displayed in his room would help remind him of his experience. I sent a message to my friend Lana to see if she could help me out and she gave me two different designs.I loved them both but decided to go with the one with Christ.  I am so excited to give this to Ryker Christmas morning, he will love it!

I also want to mention how grateful I am for my Savior and for His love for us. I love seeing the Tender Mercies and daily reminders that His hand is in our lives. 

Mallory sent me a picture message today and it warmed my heart. I love this little boy so much and love that coming to visit us was so memorable to him! He has my heart!

The Perfect Gift!

On Sunday we got to hold Gwen Hansen during Sacrament meeting. I got her from her big Sister Allie and then handed her over to Avynlea. Avynlea put her to sleep by stroking down her forehead and nose and she was quite pleased with herself. I told her she should make putting babies to sleep her career, she would make a killing!

 Ashleigh sent me my Birthday present and I was so excited when I opened it and saw what it was. A Little Mermaid Wet Brush. I am in love with Wet Brushes and only exclusively use them. This was the perfect gift that combined my love of Ariel with my favorite brush!

 Monday night Avynlea had her Christmas Choir Concert. The concert started at 7 and she also had cheer practice from 7-9. She sent a text to her coach about it and her coach replied that she would normally get a demerit for missing part of practice but since Avynlea volunteered to cheer at a last minute girls basketball game last week that would count for working off her demerit. It was a nice concert filled with Christmas music and Avynlea did a great job. At the very end they turned on the lights so everyone could sing along to a medley of Christmas music. When that happened I made my way down from the back to sit closer to the exit right next to Camille Culbertson, Avynlea's Young Women Leader who came to support her and Addi Bjorn, another YW in the concert. While I was sitting next to her I tried finding Avynlea on the stage but there were so many people I couldn't see her. Camille tried explaining to me where she was and I was just not getting it. She kept telling me how to locate her and would say that she is there waving and ask if I see her and I never could. She even pulled me closer to her a couple of times so I could see from her perspective to no avail. Finally she figured out a different way to tell me where she is and it clicked and I spotted her. After Avynlea came down to us she said she watched that entire exchange go down and she was laughing. We had to leave really quick but Avynlea was able to get a hug from her leader and I took a picture of the two of them before we exited. 

Kenedy sent me a picture of a date she went on with her friend Jesse to a disco skate night. She said she had a lot of fun and she fell twice, once when she tried to stop and she pulled Jesse down with her and then later when Jesse fell and he drug her down with him! Hahaha!

She loved it and had a super fun time!

Home Depot Craft

Rylee and Avynlea wanted to do the Home Depot craft for the month of December which was a countdown to Christmas Calendar. I told them I would take them after Avynlea was done with tumbling but it meant Rylee had to go with us to the gym because I was not going to go all the way home just to pick her up. She agreed but when it came time to wake her up in the morning to go she just wanted to stay in bed and said she didn't want to go. I knew she would regret her decision so I made her get up and go with us despite her protests. Honestly it wasn't that hard to get her to go.

She sat and listened to all the "juicy gossip" between us cheer moms while Avynlea was tumbling and only asked how much longer about 5 million times. 

OK it was actually only about 3-5 times, to give her credit she was pretty patient for most of the hour.

After tumbling we headed out, Hailey came along with us, Avynlea told her about it and she wanted to make the craft also.

The girls all had a good time. Rylee got done with hers pretty quick because she didn't want to paint, she liked the look of the wood. Avynlea didn't like the tree sticker that came with it so she painted her own and Hailey made a unique Christmas Countdown with her choice of colors. They all turned out great and the girls really enjoyed creating a fun Decoration for their rooms.

After we dropped Hailey off we went to the Dollar store so Rylee could do her Christmas shopping. Carrie, Haileys Mom, told me about a fun white elephant gift they like to use and since I was going to need one that night I used her idea and bought a toilet plunger. When I got home I spent a couple of hours hot glueing gems onto the handle of the plunger and when I was done I had a pretty fancy toilet plunger.

We ended up not going to the party and so now I have a white elephant gift ready to go for when we need it. We decided not to go for many reasons. Last year it was fun but it got pretty irreverent and awkward. Also we are supposed to take a good gift and a bad gift and they all get thrown into the pot and you could end up with two bad gifts, one good one bad or both good. Last year we got a good and a bad but the entire game stressed me out and wasn't a lot of fun. I don't like the idea of spending money on a good gift and maybe ending up with all bad. It just isn't that fun to me. So Kefford and I  opted out and stayed home with Subway and to watch a movie.

Christmas Tree is Up!

Kefford was asked to teach a primary class on Sunday and he didn't have anyone to teach with him. My Sunday School partner didn't make it back in time to teach our class on Sunday so I had a last minute lesson to plan and no other adult with me. Kefford and I decided to team up and make it work. He was in Singing Time the first half hour so during that time I cracked my door open and visited with my class and then I showed them a video from the lesson and talked a little bit about how they can Redeem the Dead by doing Family History and Baptisms for the Dead. I then bore my testimony about being in the Temple and promised them that if they would commit to go to the Temple every week that they would be blessed for their service. 

We then headed over to meet Kefford and his primary class in their classroom. Kefford gave a great lesson and my kids were happy to be a part of it. 

Kenedy snapped this picture of Kefford teaching an object lesson, he was really proud of that key he made last minute, and sent it to me. 

Kefford put up our Christmas Tree on Monday and Rylee put up her ornaments while I was out running errands with Kefford.

Tuesday night Ryker and Avynlea put up their ornaments while Rylee read us all a Christmas story. It was actually quite comical watching all of this go down. Ryker was in a bit of a mood and seemed to be annoyed with Rylee's story reading. He would make snarky comments and occasionally tell her to stop reading but she continued on and read acting oblivious to the commotion going on around her. It was pretty cute and made me happy to see her so into her story. She loves Christmas and is all about bringing the magic into our home.

It's crazy how much smaller our tree looks each year as our kids grow.

Kefford put up our Star and the Tinkerbell topper and he did a good job. Yay for the Holidays!