Christmas Cheer

We maxed out the Christmas festivities this year! We went on a horse drawn carriage and enjoyed some hot chocolate and cookies. The girls requested decorating a gingerbread house for FHE. Addison took the decorating very seriously and Avery just enjoyed picking everything off and eating it. The evening ended with Dave and the girls seeing who could put more frosting in their mouths...gross! Addison wanted to put together treat bags for her preschool class. She sorted and counted everything and then I tied a ribbon on. I loved watching her get really excited about giving to her little school friends. We met Grammie at the Festival of Lights on a warm evening. We stood in line to see the ice queen herself. Addison and Avery were both too shy to go and say hello. We had to put them in the stroller and wheel them over to see her. Elsa and Anna started to sing and talk to them and they warmed up a little bit for a smile. We ended our festivities with a trip to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop. The girls each wrote letters and handed them to Santa. No one wanted to go sit on his lap so it was a whole family affair to take a picture. Earlier in the month I talked Dave into putting out some lights. This was the first time we have ever joined in on the outside lights display. It was small, but Addison loved plugging them in everyday. I love the month of December and all of the special opportunities that we get to talk about the birth of our Savior. We had a candy countdown and a spiritual one. Each morning they got an M&M and then they pulled out what activity we would do. Most of them included reading a scripture or doing an act of kindness. We focused our FHE on the birth of Jesus and his coming into the world. The girls LOVED the play nativity set that we kept out in the playroom. I thought that the favorite piece was going to be baby Jesus, but it was the camels. Avery toted around two of them ALL month long. This was a great month of holiday celebrations and I love that both girls got into the magic!