The Morning

 Lined up waiting for Dad to check if Santa showed.

 I think Paige liked her gifts.

 All three little girls got new American Girl Dolls.

 Henry looks like he has been up all night.

 Traditional new toothbrush from Santa.

 Hannah loves peace signs.

A delicious breakfast followed by a relaxing Christmas day.

Christmas Eve

Brad and I were able to sneak out of town for a few days before Christmas. Our babysitter and the girls spent an evening decorating the kitchen with the most beautiful snowflakes. When we got home, it looked like a wonderland. I was so happy to have the kitchen decorated for Christmas Eve dinner. We had my parents and both my brothers and their families over for the festivities.

Kiley and Hannah at the adults' table.

The wildly excited kids' table.

My brother and his wife have two boys. Dallin's birthday is on Christmas day, and Zachary's birthday is on Christmas Eve. Tawnie, my sister-in-law, started a tradition of having the kids decorate train car cakes to celebrate their birthdays. The kids had a blast and were so proud of their creations.

After everyone left, the girls opened their new Christmas pj's and we watched Luke 2 and Mr. Krueger's Christmas. Then it was off to bed to dream about Christmas morning.

Angel

This year Kerrie was the angel in my preschool Christmas program. She is such a good performer. She is confident and cute.

This is one of my favorite things about teaching preschool. I love being able to work with this age group.

Gingerbread House

I love the excitement at the elementary school during the month of December. Our second graders always come home with a very elaborate gingerbread house. This was Lizzie's offering this year before pieces mysteriously started to disappear.

Snow Day

On December 1 we were blessed with a snow day. If we have a day with a lot of snowfall, the kids have some ritual (sleeping with your pillowcase inside out or something) that will bring a day off from school the next day.

It worked! We got a ton of snow.

Kiley and a couple of her friends played out in the backyard with the three little girls for longer than I think my kids have ever played in the snow.

I think an unscheduled day off every once in a while is good for the soul.

Thanksgiving Day

We spent Thanksgiving day at the Hotel Del Cornado.

We took our family Christmas card picture by the incredible tree in the lobby.

We had our best weather day on Thanksgiving. It was absolutely beautiful.

The hotel had set up an ice skating rink near the beach.

The five older girls and dad all gave it a try. Susanna was a lot like Bambi on ice at first. She kept at it though, and was doing pretty well by the end.

Oops!

This is how Kerrie spent the ice skating portion of the day.

We had our dinner in the Grand Ballroom overlooking the ocean.

We had a delicious dinner in a beautiful setting. This was a family vacation we will never forget. We are so thankful for all the great experiences we have together as a family.

Mormon Battalion, Phil's BBQ and Mission Beach

The first stop on our itinerary for the day before Thanksgiving was the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center. They had a really cool presentation inside and then we went out into the courtyard to pan for gold.

One of our family's favorite shows is Man Vs. Food. Brad and the girls got online and found one of the restaurants in San Diego that Adam (the host) had visited. Phil's BBQ was a big hit! These girls and their dad love ribs.

Hannah tried a yummy burger.

That is one popular restaurant. The place was packed.

Susanna and Kerrie leave NO meat on the bone.

Lucky for us they provided a lot of paper towels.

After our late lunch we paid a visit to Mission Beach.

Can't you just hear the Chariots of Fire music?

It wasn't warm enough to play in the water, but they had fun getting their feet wet and running from the waves. Of course the little ones ended up soaking wet and covered in sand.

We love the beach!