Christmas

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The kids woke up at a decent time this year. They came down the stairs one at a time, so I could get a good picture of them with their Santa gift.

Alexis got an iPod Touch. The only song on it was - "All I Want For Christmas Is You". She had been singing that about her iPod all month. Santa is pretty funny!


Camryn got a new bike. She was getting too big for her old one - which we had given to DI that week. Good thing Santa pulled through, or she wouldn't have a bike at all. Notice she is still wearing her hat.


Seth got the art set he really wanted. He wants to be a baseball player and an artist. It is a really nice wooden box that holds supplies and the top props up into an easel.


We went to Ryan's for our traditional Christmas breakfast of waffles, then had our present exchange.


Dave got the Innocentes present this year (a joke gift from Ryan). He asked for a collapsible fishing pole and got this!


Grandma & Grandpa Jenkins sent us all Christmas money this year. Our family used it to go see TinTin and have lunch at BJ's. Grandma had also made scarves and hats for the kids - here they are sporting them.


We all went to Ryan's ward together, where he was giving a talk about Christmas and family traditions. Then our next stop was to visit Grandma Hein. After a good nap, we got back together for treats and our ping pong tournament - Lee won!


The kids played Wii games...


and the adults played Sequence and Disc Driver (a game on my iPod we passed around while playing the other game.)


It was a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Saturday, December 24, 2011

We started out our Christmas Eve by delivering presents for a Sub for Santa Program our ward does each year. The families we visit are always so sweet and it feels so good to be able to help. We also dropped off a few things to the family of one of Camryn's school friends. We knocked and ran, but the girl knew it was us.


Grandma Hill came for a nice Christmas Eve dinner - Chicken Kiev, mashed potatoes, rolls, and raspberry salad. The kids just wanted to hurry and get to the presents. Donna got a Kindle, earrings, and calendar pages. Dave got shoes, gift cards, a baseball glove, movies, and his wedding ring resized. I got a bluetooth, a watch, movies and gift cards.


Alexis got clothes, gift cards, games, shoes, and a DVD player


Camryn was so excited about everything. She got this hat, a Harry Potter DVD, a ticket to see the Titanic Exhibit, skates, and stuff to redecorate her room.


Seth got a skateboard, a rip rider, a Stinky truck, a baseball glove and a bat bag.


After playing with their new things for a little while, then it was time to get out cookies for Santa and go to sleep. The kids had set up a bed in the loft and they all slept there together.

Light 'Em Up!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Aunt Jo and Uncle Pablo wanted to take the kids to see the Christmas lights at Quiver Point.


Dave and I were tired and opted to stay home, but Aunt Chris joined them and took pictures.


Apparently, Camryn was a camera hog, but all the kids hammed it up a little.



I am thankful that my kids have wonderful aunts and uncles!

Play Ball!

Fall 2011

Seth played another season of coach pitch baseball. His hitting continues to improve and he only used the tee once or twice the whole season. He has been playing with the same kids for a few seasons and has had the same great coach, Mike.


The team was called The Sharks and they had a good season.

Here We Come A Carolling

December 2011

This year both girls had Holiday Choir Concerts.

Camryn is in the Fong ES Honor Choir. Their concert was short and sweet. They did such a great job, for being so young. Mrs. Wharton has worked so hard with these kids. They meet every Tuesday for an hour before school to rehearse.


Alexis is in the Schofield MS Madrigal Singers. They wear these goofy green dresses, that never fit quite right. There are 5 different choir groups that sing at their concert, so it gets a little long. The last song, Alexis and her group performed, was a rainforest song, with lots of animal sounds. It was kinda cool.

Oh Tannenbaum!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

We went to Home Depot to pick out a tree after the Live Nativity. It was ready for us to decorate by Sunday.


It is always fun to go through the ornaments and remember when we got them and even making some of them. Then we have a big debate over who gets to put up the star. I have to check through photos to see who gets to do it. It was Alexis' turn. Seth started crying and Cam wanted Alexis to stand on her back to put it up. I insisted they use the piano bench.


Alexis put it up, but it took a few tries to gets it balanced.


Our 2011 Christmas Tree!

O, Holy Night

Friday, December 9, 2011

My favorite part of the Christmas Season is going to see the Live Nativity. In recent years, they have moved it to Opportunity Village, but it is put on by one of the LDS Stakes in Las Vegas. We invited the Peery's to come with us.

The kids are always excited to pet the animals.


Seth loved having his best buddy, Mason, along. I needed to sit on the bottom row, due to the broken foot, but the boys went up the bleachers and sat by themselves.


Alexis helped with the littler kids. Avery loves her.


We finally settled in to watch the show.


I love going to see the Live Nativity. It is so easy to get caught up in the fun and busyness of the holidays. It is good to stop and remember the reason we celebrate, and this is a lovely depiction of that.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Sunday, December 4, 2011

The first Sunday of December is a big night for my family.

We get together to watch the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional. I love to hear our Church leaders speak. I especially love to hear from President Uchtdorf. I must admit I have a little crush on him - he's got the whole accent, hair, an pilot thing going for him. A few weeks ago my mom took him on a tour of Cove Fort - I was a little jealous!

We also celebrate Ryan's birthday. I made one of his favorite dinners, we call it Noodle Mac. It is just macaroni noodles with hamburger meat and and tomato sauce. We ate then finished watching the devotional.


Next it was time to make gingerbread houses. My mom always made it from scratch, but with her gone this year, we decided on buying kits. Each family worked on theirs. There was't a lot of candy in the kits, but it still turned out pretty cute. Our neighbors, Danny and Garrick were over and they helped out.


Somehow, the kids started an arm wresting contest. It was highly encouraged by the dads. I'm so glad the kids can look to them as examples of maturity.



Later, we went to Ryan's to watch Amazing Race and have treats, like we do every week. Good times, noodle salad.

A Magical Night

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hollywood Kids had a Christmas performance at the Opportunity Village's Magical Forest. When we got there, Camryn took off to prepare with her group and Seth and I went to see all the trees.

I liked the giant Polar Bears put up by Coke World.

Seth's favorite was this big castle.

Seeing the trees was fun, but way too much hobbling around for me! I was ready to sit and watch Cam sing.

Camryn sang "Nuttin For Christmas". She missed a line, but picked it right back up. She did great considering she had only 2 days to prepare. Her whole class also did a dance to "Jingle Bell Rock". We stayed and watched to older kids perform. They all did great.