A wonderful Christmas with many blessings!

We are so blessed to have G-Ma with us again this Christmas! It is always a day full of wonderful memories and laughs. We started last night by playing the Saran Wrap ball game. Claire's expressions when she unwrapped a gift she really wanted were priceless!

 She loved this squishy that goes over a pencil and cannot wait to use it in school!

 Today we opened gifts while the food was cooking. Claire was so grateful and thankful for each gift this year, it really warmed my heart! She loved her sequin key chain.

 Claire was super excited to have her Dad open his gifts from her. She picked out this cell phone holder. Since Jeff likes to watch movies on his phone while laying in bed before going to sleep, she thought this device would come in extremely handy. Now he no longer has to hold his phone to watch the movie!

 This might have been the best gift opening of all! We got G-Ma a prank gift, an Earwax candle making kit complete with a helmet with hose that helps you get your earwax collected! She opened it and was very puzzled before she realized what it was and was then grossed out! We told her to open it and inside it tells her it is a prank box! We laughed so hard! We are pretty sure we are getting some sort of candle from her next year for Christmas!

 I love Claire's expressions! She asked Santa for a skeeball game and when she saw that he had gotten it for her, she was so excited!

 It is an ongoing joke in our family that for every holiday, Claire gets Jeff Zebra Cakes. We couldn't let Christmas go by without the classic gift for Dad!

 G-Ma got Claire a science kit so they will be plenty busy over Christmas break developing secret formulas!

 I love this picture! Claire asked Santa for a hamster this year when she met with him. He told her he would leave an extra special gift in her stocking if she left him chocolate chip cookies and carrots. This stuffed hamster was in her stocking and Claire couldn't have been more happy! She loved it!

 Then Claire opened up tickets to see Toby Mac in concert. She was so shocked and it took her a moment to realize what the tickets were for. I think she almost got teary eyed when she figured it out! The reaction was priceless. Thankful for all the blessings in our lives this year! Looking forward to what 2019 has in store.

Family photos

We got dressed up for Christmas Eve service last night so we had to get some fun pictures before we left home.

 I love this picture! Jeff and I planned to be all silly without Claire knowing. She has such a pretty smile and has no idea what is going on behind her!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

 

Happy Birthday Jesus!

One of our family traditions is to bake a birthday cake for Jesus for His birthday. Claire has taken to doing this all independently for the past few years. She likes to make a double layer cake with lots of frosting! 

 Then she writes Happy Birthday Jesus on the cake...

 and of course the cake has to be covered in sprinkles!

 Her final product!

 Then on Christmas day we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and then eat some of the delicious cake!

 We are so very blessed to have the gift of our Savior! God bless!

Claire's 4th grade Holiday party

We had a good time at Claire's holiday party yesterday at school. We played two games. The first one each student got large marshmallows to toss into a bowl on top of one student's head! The kids had fun trying to make a basket.

 Then they got divided up into 4 groups and had a competition to see who could make the best "snowman" by wrapping one student in toilet paper! Claire's friend Allison got to be the snowman!

 Their teacher voted on the best snowman and Claire's group won!

 Claire's 4th grade class.

 Ms. Pena, Allison, Claire, and Alexis. These three girls are Ms. Pena's helpers and she tells us often that she doesn't know how she would make it through the year without these three to help her!

 Claire and Allison working on some stunts!

Making Christmas Cookies

Making Christmas cookies always reminds me of Dad. He loved to bake and spent many hours baking with Claire. The one requirement was that you had to have flour on your nose when baking. We love carrying on this tradition along with his creation of adding mint extract to the cookies for a wonderful flavor. We miss you Daddy but we know you are smiling down on us as we bake!

Church Children's Choir

 Claire has been working for a few weeks on learning two new songs to sing in the church children's choir today. This is one of the rare times she dressed up and she allows me to curl her hair!

                                     

 Claire and her G-Ma!

 Claire and Dad!

Quick family photo before Jeff and Claire headed to church.

 Claire's friend Karsen also sang today in church. They look like a lovely pair!

                                                       

Had to get a few cute photos by the displays they have out at church.

                                                       

Serious meeting with Santa

What a fun Sunday God has blessed us with! We started the day getting ready for church. Claire was planning on meeting Santa after church so she was willing to wear a dress! I loved watching her get all dressed up and observing how good she felt about herself once she was all set to go. I wish she would dress up more often but I will take what I can get.

 Church is all decked out for Christmas and outside they had this fun snow globe that you can go into and have your picture taken! So fun!

Then inside church they have a huge train station and have one area set up to look like the inside of someone's home. Such a fun winter picture!

After church we went to visit with Santa. Claire jumped right onto his lap and let him know that she wants a hamster for Christmas! We have already told Claire that we wrote Santa a letter telling him that he cannot get her a hamster but she wanted to try anyway! He told her if she leaves him some chocolate chip cookies and some carrots for his reindeer, he will leave her a special gift in her stocking! She is all set to make some awesome chocolate chip cookies on Christmas Eve!

I love this picture! Claire looks like she just told Santa something pretty surprising and Santa is looking up with a shocked look on his face!

                                                       

These two both have little rosy cheeks!

After our visit with Santa, we had to stop at the store. Claire found these huge hats and of course had to have a picture! Love this kid more than words can say!