December is one of my favorite months of the year. I love everything about the Christmas season. I especially love Christmas with little children. They make everything magical. This year was no different!
This cute girl loved everything about the Christmas tree. Her favorites were the ornaments with pictures in them. Isn't this the cutest sight you've ever seen?!
A "kindness elf" came to our house this year! Every day "Noel" (the boys named her) left little notes with suggestions for service that the boys could do. Some days it was bringing treats to people, sometimes it was complimenting someone, making a new friend, etc. They got so excited every morning to find Noel and complete their task. Brody was hilarious. Every day when he came home from school he would tell Noel all about his day and all of the things that he did. He loved Noel!
Just a cute picture Brody made for his teacher. He's becoming such a cute little artist.
Capri's hair has been getting so long. This is everyone in our family's new favorite photo. My boys laugh so hard every time they see it. Haha!
Capri thinks she is such a big kid now. She always climbs up on the couch with the boys, tucks them in, tries to sit at the big table with everyone, etc. The boys are so sweet to her. They love her so much and are always willing to help her be a big girl!
One night we got to go to the Gaylord Texan for a Christmas party with Jared's work. They had two parties this year and this one included the families. The Gaylord is a beautiful resort and at Christmas they really go all out. They have an "ICE" show, snow sleds, Santa's workshop, etc. This day was so incredibly busy, though. It really made it hard to enjoy, but we tried to make the best of it!
This just cracks me up. Parker trying to control Capri. A dose of his own medicine and she thinks it's hilarious!
The sledding was by far the best part. It was an hour and a half wait in between each set of turns. Brody waited the first time with us, but he was done after that so Jared, Brody, and Capri went off to explore. Parker, on the other hand, waited with me again and was so upset when it was time to go. He loved every minute of it!
Just some pictures of the inside of the Gaylord. It was really amazing!
Parker loves to pull out the baby bouncer and use it as a recliner. haha!
We are so blessed here to have wonderful friends. Capri has lots of little friends her same age. It's been so fun to watch them all grow up and get bigger. All of these cute babies were in the same ward when they were born (except Emmy, but she had barely been moved out because of a ward change). I'm writing this in February 2015, and by now our ward has been split 3 times into 4 wards. Only Capri and Tate (baby on the far left in top picture) are in our ward anymore. That makes me incredibly sad! I'm grateful their moms are still my friends so we can keep getting these babies together. Look how different a year makes!
The boys both did gymnastics for several months. They both absolutely loved it. These are just a couple of pictures of Brody at gymnastics:
Frisco Square is one of my favorite parts of December. In downtown Frisco they have lights synchronized to music, yummy restaurants, a Christmas tree farm, ice skating rink, etc. There were a few weeks where Jared worked really late every night. I decided to take the kids out for dessert and for a walk around Frisco Square. They all loved it. Look at Capri's new "ohh" face! She kept saying it over and over.
One of our Family Home Evenings was making gingerbread cookies. None of us love gingerbread, but we all enjoyed the frosting and treats it took to decorate our cookies! Parker and Brody both really like art. They are very creative and love to make art. I thought Parker did a really nice job on his patterns with his candies. His face cracks me up!
Brody has also become quite a little artist!
Bet you can't tell which one is Jared's and which one is mine? Little lady just liked taste testing.
Finished products!
Jared and I also got to dress up fancy to go to KPMG's adult Christmas party. It was at the Perot museum again this year, but this year we weren't sick and actually got to go! It was so fun to dress up and have a night out. It was also great to be able to go to the Perot and look at the exhibits. I'm usually making sure no children are getting lost. We had a lovely time!
This little lady has been so cute in all of her Christmas dresses. The Sunday before Christmas we had our Christmas choir concert. I sang in the choir and it was so fun to watch my little family from in front of the congregation. I took this picture so I could remember a special little sight. I don't know if it was this new puffy dress or the music but during the last number, this cute girl went out into the aisle and started twirling. It made my mom heart so happy. I'm so grateful I get to experience having a little girl. I sure love her.
Just my little buddy and I:
Capri is such a great mix of the boys. She's adventurous and crazy like Parker, but is also particular like Brody. She likes to clean! haha! I find her frequently getting wipes from the container and cleaning up the food she has just thrown from the high chair.
Parker's pre-school had a little Christmas party and performance. He was so cute. He had been excited for weeks to sing songs for me and have treats. He was absolutely adorable. He sang out and was his normal animated Parker self. This is Parker and his buddy Mallory (Mallory's little brother Mason is one of the babies in the picture with Capri). Mallory's grandma is Brody's piano teacher. We love the Warners!
My mini me:
Capri has also discovered drawing. It amazes me how well she holds her crayons. Pretty sure the boys didn't do this until they were 4 or so! She loves to color! Notice the bow in her hair with her PJs? She always has to pick one out before she leaves her room. She gets quite picky about it!
Capri also loves music. She picks up the hymnal and reads through it all of the time. She also loves to climb up to the keyboard to play. We may have a little musician on our hands.
We are now heading to Idaho for Christmas! Shh....it's a surprise!
