Friday, December 30, 2016

Christmas Eve and Day

Christmas was on a Sunday this year! Santa still found us! We had breakfast with the missionaries, (Elder Ales,Hill, Vega, Mckell) Aunt Roxanne, and grandma Lucy. Then we opened gifts from Santa before church. We then came home to open the rest. We had to wait a few minutes because Larry and Ethan took the sacrament to a sister who was ill. A few high light gifts were Ethan built an amazing barn for his sisters American girl doll horses, Santa brought Ruth a flipeze hat and Woodsies animals, Hayden got an ipod, Ethan got a gopro camera, Brock and Amelia both got legos,and clothes, they all were very happy! We also few a few games and other toys but those were the highlights. It was a wonderful day remembering our savior and spending time with family. I forgot to take pictures in the afternoon when we were with the whole Workman group but it was a lot of fun! Emily got a ticket to the New Kids on the Block concert so we can go together! So did Johnnie. It really was just a peaceful wonderful Christmas season. As I look back on how hard the beginning of the month was and how I'm not ready for Christmas to be over now I realize that even though we miss Nadine we filled this month literally with light because of the light the world campaign from the church. We had our morning devotional every morning and focused on the Savior, served in so many ways, spent so much quality time together, played, laughed, cuddled, and just filled our home and life with love. I'm not sure in ready to get back to regular life. ... Christmas 2016 was amazing and not because of the gifts under the tree (although Larry did spoil me I got a Vitamix!) But it was amazing because we focused on the real gift! Jesus Christ!

Oregon Garden

My sister Emily works at the Oregon Garden and has gotten us tickets 2 years in a row now. It's so much fun! This year was even more awesome with all the snow!

Snow Days!

The kids got 3 extra days off of school for Christmas break because of the snow storm. It was the best snow we'd had in years! Too bad it was gone before Christmas! I was so proud of Brock's huge snowman!

Light the world

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints put on a light the world campaign for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. It was amazing! It helped our home focus on trying to follow our Savior's example, serve others, and love each other more. We participated in many ways but this was one. We dropped off clothes to donate to those in need.

Traditions

We filled the month with all our traditional activities, built gingerbread houses, visited Santa, rode on the carousel.

O Christmas Tree

We had to go to 3 Christmas tree farms to find our Christmas trees. I'll be honest. ..it was a rough day. .. mostly because of grouchy. .. but I came to understand we were struggling really with knowing this was our first Christmas with it Larry's mom. Once we addressed the real problem we were able to do our home with love and service and had a wonderful Christmas season.

Winter hawks

On black Friday we spent the evening with Sunny and his kids at a winter hawks game. The kids had a great time! Grandma and grandpa came too! They won and they scored 4 points which means we all got free hamburgers!

Hayden's birthday

Hayden turned 10 on November 10th! I took her and 6 friends ice skating the next week. (Due to the bazaar being the week of. ..) she had a wonderful day! We also on her birthday went out to dinner, and she got a repunzel barbie, a mattress, and a puppy. That's what she asked for! (The puppy wasn't real!)