December 28 - Nora Jane Turns One

It is Nora's birthday!  But I couldn't leave the rousing karaoke session that we had this morning out of the post.  Andlie sang, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?," and it really did bring her to tears.  When it got to the part where the parents' boat sinks, she started rubbing her eyes & ran off the stage.  Tender little heart.

Me & Mandy sang, "For the First Time," and we nailed it.  Totally nailed it.

Now, back to the sweetest birthday girl!  Happy birthday, Nora!

Woke up balloons & decorations!

Opened presents!

Went to church and then zonked while Mommy was feeding/snuggling her.

Ate some delicious lunch/dinner.

Cake time at Granny's!

She brings light wherever she goes. She is always wearing a smile. (It's super duper contagious.) She fills our hearts to their very brims with happiness and love. She's one of our biggest blessings. She is pure joy. And today she turned 1. Happy birthday, sweetest Nora. We love you more than words.

And then we snapped a few pics.  First, Granny, Shennie, & Mindy with the grandkids.

Then the Goodwin family - Christmas 2014

(We were all missing Brycie.)

December 27 - Par-Tay Time

Spent the morning just hanging out & relaxing & playing with new toys.

Then we headed to Grandma 'Rene's house to visit the Goodwin family.  The chair has been in Grandma's house since I can remember.  I even remember sitting in the chair.  Nora loved the chair.

After we played at Grandma 'Rene's for a while, we went back to Grama's where the Mindy & Grama tended the kids while Mom, Dad, Grampa, Tim & Mandy really did go see the movie this time.  Haze wasn't pleased, but he had Mindy to snuggle so it turned out just fine.

Then we had a birthday party for Andlie!  (Pictures below.)  We finished the night with a performance by Mommy & Andlie singing, "Rudolph" with actions.  (It's the song she sang in her school Christmas sing-along.)

Finally, I had to take a million pictures of sleeping Nora since it was her last night as a baby.  Tomorrow she turns 1!

Andlie's 6th Birthday Party

Andlie asked for a "Frozen" watch.  Grampa used his witty little personality to buy an actual watch (just black), put it in a cup filled with water, and freeze it.  Wala!  A frozen watch!  Not exactly what Andlie had in mind.  Cue the giggles & eye rolls.

Mommy made cookie bars (and bought Neapolitan ice cream) at Andlie's request. Home girl doesn't like cake, but she loves cookies & ice cream.

December 26: Christmas Vacation Begins

Nora was a super helpful packing assistant.  Her hobbies for the morning included: unpacking suitcases, hiding things that I needed to pack, and smiling & giggling.

Her new hobbies (once we reached Grama's house) were: taking ornaments off the Christmas tree and playing with everyone else's new toys.

Christmas Vacation Day 1

Opened presents from Grama & Grampa and had them open ours.

Go to Grama's work & ride bikes and scooters around the indoor track.  (And run around a few times for good measure.)

Eat delicious spaghetti dinner.

Kids get tended by Grama, Emmy, Shennie, Dallin, and Emmy while Mom, Dad, Grampa, Mandy, & Tim attempt to go to "Mockingjay: Part 1."  Movie is sold out.  Mom & Dad take the chance to leisurely stroll around WalMart.

Bedtime!

 

December 25 - Christmas Day

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and we are better throughout the year because we became children again during Christmas time." - Laura Wilder

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." - Unknown

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." - Burton Hills

Wake up to SNOW!  6-8 inches by day’s end.  Snowed off & on all day.  Big, fluffy flakes.

Chandi up at 7.  Kids up at 8:15.

Wake Nora up.

Skype with Goodwins.

Tear open presents! 

Nora really enjoyed opening & LOVED her baby.  Said, “Ohhhhh,” & snuggled her by her face.

Nora eats leftover Santa cookies while Dad & Haze are playing cars & Mom & Andlie are playing with her loom set.

Play, play, play.

Bryce over for breakfast.

Play, play, play.

Nora naps.

Kids play independently for a bit.

Chandi & Andlie play in snow.  Make snow angles & knock & run with snowballs on porch.  Try to make a snowman.  Try to sled.  Snow is too powdery.

All except Nora (sleeping) outside to play in snow.  Haze crawl in it & laugh. Kids make snowballs, throw at Mom & Dad, and laugh.  Haze look at Mommy in snow & say, “Mom, it’s snowing so….MERRY CHRISTMAS!”  Built sledding hill.  Sort of.  Haze & Mom inside.  Andlie & Daddy play outside.  Daddy pull Andlie on sled.  Andlie says, “Run like a bird!!!”

All inside.

Watch David Archuleta/MoTab concert on YouTube.

Skype w/Goodwins & Mind & Shen.

Kids play, play, play.

Nora up.

All play.  Kids play pretty well together.  Share pretty nicely.

Bubble machine – Nora love!

Eat dinner while watching the real Grinch on TV.

Nora destroys everything – Andlie’s chalk, Andlie’s stomp rocket, Haze’s cars, trash, food, you name it.

Bry & Chand clean up.

Prayers.  Ask what gifts are everyone’s fave.  Andlie: special rocks, Haze: track & cars.  Nora has loved her rocking horse.

Kids to bed.  Chandi put Andlie & Haze to bed.  Sing “Away in a Manger” to Andlie & then “Picture a Christmas” WITH her.  Sing “Child of God” WITH Haze & then “Silent Night” to him.  Tell them both Merry Christmas.

B & C take trash out in still, soft snow.

Bed!!

What a magical day it was.  Filled with wonder & happiness, joy & thankful hearts.  Merry Christmas!

December 24 - Christmas Eve

Day 24: Make cookies for Santa!  You can tell by the blur of Haze's hands that he was totally in to making sprinkle piles on each cookie.  Andlie was more in to picking the right colors for the right shape & making sure they didn't have excess frosting or sprinkles.  Nora was mostly in to eating the cookies before they got frosted.

Andlie & Hazey spent a lot of their day checking the Santa App on Daddy's phone and the computer to see where Santa was.  It was really cute.  If we couldn't find them through the day, chances were that they were downstairs staring at the computer screen while singing Christmas songs and getting excited with each other.

 

For dinner, I made a delicious ham dinner.

This is how Andlie & Haze felt about it.  (Andlie eventually tried some ham.  And liked it.)

Something pretty neat happened after dinner!  Andlie bit on a roll & started crying because her loose tooth hurt.  Guess what happened next?  Daddy pulled her tooth out!!  She was so excited that Santa AND the Tooth Fairy were coming on the same night!

After we all calmed ourselves down after Andlie lost her tooth, we opened Christmas jammies!

 

(Also Day 24:) And then we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and watched a short Nativity clip on the TV (while Nora somehow managed to get stuck in the box of Christmas books).  Next we went for a little ride to look at lights and then to bed!  Andlie was pretty adamant that we get right in bed when we got home so that Santa could come! 

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve full of fun, happiness, and excitement!  We could definitely feel the special spirit of Christmas in our home today.  We are truly blessed.

December 23 - Pizza Picnic

Day 23: Eat dinner by the Christmas tree!  The kids were LOVING this activity.  We had pizza by the Christmas tree on a little blankie.  We turned the lights off & ate by the light of the tree.  It was a fun night for everyone.

December 22 - Movie Night

Day 22: Watch a Christmas movie together.  We watched "the real Grinch" (AKA the Jim Carrey version).  Haze made sure to watch from the side of the couch so he could quickly hide behind the couch when the Grinch came on.  (Don't worry.  About half hour in, he realized the Grinch was mostly funny, not mean.) Nora just happily got in to mischief and Andlie watched the entire thing.   Her & Haze quoted Grinch lines for the rest of the night.

No night would be complete without a Daddy smush.  They love him.