3rd Annual Gingerbread House FHE

Our 3rd Annual Gingerbread House FHE happened Dec. 14th. We had the Lynes family and the Ross family over and we had so much fun! Thanks for coming guys!

The Polar Express

Grace's big Dance Performance for Christmas was on Dec 12. Her studio put on a performance of the Polar Express. The night before they had a dress rehearsal and our little Snowflake had so much fun practicing up on the big stage.

She was full of energy and showing off all her dance moves! My favorite part was after the dance she took a bow. It was so cute because it was totally spontaneous!
The day of the actual performance however she was not so happy. A few hours before we were supposed to leave she got sick. She put herself down for a nap and didn't even want to go. I finally convinced her that she would be sad if she missed it. We got her dressed and headed over. You can tell that she did NOT feel good. Poor Girl! I stayed with her backstage until she was ready to go on.
What a brave Girl! She went out and did her dance perfectly.

She even let me take some pictures of her afterwards with her rose from Miss Rachel (the best teacher ever!).

The whole performance turned out wonderfully and we were really happy to have my Dad and Deb come to support Grace.

Playing in the Snow

We finally made it out to play in the snow on Dec 12th. We all bundled up and went outside to enjoy the fresh clean snow.

Ben and Grace rolled around in it.
Garett mostly just sat since his walking skills weren't that great yet.
We buried Daddy in the snow!

Then he broke out.

We attempted a Snowman, but the snow wouldn't pack. We did get a snow mound.

The next day the snow was more packable so Ben and Grace went out and finished the Snowman.

The Live Nativity

On Dec 7th we went to an amazing Live Nativity (their info is at thelivingnativity.blogspot.com). This was my absolute favorite thing we did during the Christmas Season! The spirit there was amazing and the wonder on the kids faces was pure joy to me. One of our favorite things there were the Camels.

Really, I never thought I would kiss a Camel, but this Camel was the cutest one I had EVER seen! He was furry and sweet and was so cute.

It was pretty cold and we came a little under dressed. We should have bundled up a lot more!

They had it set up like Bethlehem with little shops and tradesmen. Grace got to scoop corn.

The most magical part was seeing Baby Jesus in his manger. Grace stood there is awe for like 5 minutes, she wouldn't move. I love how real to her it was. The most important part of Christmas is our Savior and I'm grateful we had this chance to visit him in the midst of Santa and all the presents!

Santa....

Santa made a visit to our Ward Christmas Party. Grace was beyond excited and couldn't wait to tell him what she wanted. "Baby stuff and a pink car". She had her heart set on a Car (the power wheel kind) since about September. She wanted baby stuff like a crib and bouncer for her babies.

Garett was not thrilled to be sitting on Santa's lap, but did permit one picture.

Grace Loves Santa!

Festival of Trees 2009

Grace danced at the Festival of Trees on Dec. 3. We were sooo excited to see you in her costume and see her dance. She was excited to get up on the big stage. We got there just in time to get her to her teacher and get our seats. Garett loved all the music and would dance to every song.

When it was her class's turn to dance she went right out there and started to dance. Most of the other girls weren't sure what was going on. (she's the one on the left with her arms up. It's part of the dance.)


When I dropped her off I told her I would be out in the audience watching for her. After the dance was done she stood there for like 30 seconds looking for me. (notice all the other girls running off stage) We waved frantically but she never found us and ran off stage. She was so cute and so proud of herself!

After the dance we spent some time looking around at the Trees. This was a favorite display of Ben's. It all Star Wars action figures set up in a battle scene.

I liked this Grince. Grace loved it too, she LOVED watching the cartoon of the Grinch over the Christmas season.

Garett was drawn to these huge Teddy Bears.

Grace's favorite was the Fancy Nancy Tree!

Afterward we went out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes. Way to go Grace on your first Dance Performance!

Our Thanksgiving Vacation

We went up to Vancouver, WA for Thanksgiving to visit Ben's Granparents. We went for a whole week, had a wondeful time, relaxed, shopped, and played! It was a perfect Vacation. The kids struggled a little bit in the car on the way there, but Ben's mom was with us and we were grateful for her help. We got there late Saturday night and put the kids right down to bed. Sunday morning we woke up and attempted to do some Family Pictures in our Christmas outfits. This was the best we got. We went to Church and enjoyed a Sunday dinner with Ben's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Craig and their whole family.

On Tuesday we picked the perfect day to drive to the Oregon Coast. It was a beautiful drive- so green! We got to a little town on the coast and had to stop and buy some Salt Water Taffy. There was over 100 flavors and we came away with a load of Candy. Grace was so funny, if it wasn't soft she didn't want it. I told her if she sat on it for a few minutes it would soften up so we found lots of candy on her bum.... she would do it after she took it out of the wrappers.
We had to do a little shopping. Ben mad a stop at The Man Store.



Grace loved riding the Carosel.



Garett loved seeing Santa on top of a Cherry Picker setting up the Christmas Tree!

After a yummy Seafood Lunch (for Ben) we headed out to the Beach. We LOVE the Beach!!!!!

Playing in the Sand is the best!

Collecting Seashells is fun too!

The most fun of all is running out into the freezing cold water with Daddy,

and getting all wet!

Garett kept making a run...or crawl...or I don't know what you call it... to the water too.

I love pictures at the beach, it is just so beautiful with the ocean and the sun. I love my family most of all though!

Garett LOVED the sand. He could not get enough! He crawled over to play with someone else's sand toys when we weren't looking.

Here he is sending a special shout out to the teenage guy who save our coats from being washed away by the tide. Thank you!!!

What a cute picture.

My favorite Boys in the world!

Wednesday we decided to go to the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, I think). They had this great children's area with lots of things to explore.

Mommy and Gracie's thermal image.

Grace doing the weather.

Garett was so happy to get out of the stroller and explore.

Before I knew it Grace had dashed off to the water works area. She was soaked, socks and all, by the time she was done playing.

The boys had to have a little play time too! (Grandpa Harper, Uncle Corey & Garett)

They had a Fear Exhibit. Here they strap you in and slowly lower you until WHAM you fall back fast.

They took video of your expressions that you can watch after. I think I was trying to keep my face from not moving at all. I had to prove I was brave or something. I definatly shrieked a little in the end.

We did a little craft at the end and had such a wondeful time!

Grace learned the joy of Puzzles on Thanksgiving.

Ben has turned into the family's Official Turkey Carver. He did a great Job! (I really like his job because I can stand by him unguiltily and sneak the Turkey while he's cutting it. Ben's Grandma is a stickler about pickers.)

Garett was so excited to have lots of people to give him attention.

He also took great steps in learning to walk. He would stand up and start walking before he caught his balance and would fall almost immediately. He did that over and over for about a 1/2 hour. By the time we left he would take 5-6 steps in a row. It was sooo exciting! Grace was thrilled to have girl cousins to play with!

I enjoyed talking to all the aunts and Grandma. I sure love Ben's family! They are so much fun and could not have asked for a better family to marry into!

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up super early to hit the shopping. Grandma Harper stayed behind and slept in with the kids. Grandpa Harper, Corey, Ben and I hit the stores and came home with much more than we needed of course. We had a fun time! When we got back Grandpa Neal was setting up the Christmas tree with a little helper.

Grace had to dance around in the tree skirt for a while.

On Satureday we were able to attend the Portland Temple with most of the extended family that was there. Aunt Michelle and her girls stayed behind to watch our kids. We had a wonderful session and ate lunch in the cafeteria afterwards. We then headed to a Christmas Bazaar that was really fun! Saturday night we headed over to some cousins for games. Grace was pretty wiped out by all the fun we had, I just had to take a picture of her sleeping. It's when she's the sweetest. :)

We headed home Sunday and had a beautiful drive with the Sun rising over the Columbia River. What a nice week away, and the perfect way to get into the Christmas Spirit.