Holidays Activities

Once December 1st hit we were all about celebrating Christmas. We got out a few of our decorations to put up around the house. Doug was rather upset with me that I refused to put up the Christmas tree. I just can't bring myself to go through all that work to only enjoy it for 2 weeks. And then taking it down after a long trip? No thanks. You can call me scrooge if you'd like. I don't mind it one bit. :) 

One day during quiet time Gavin wanted to make a Christmas craft. I had to quickly pull some things together as I am seriously slacking in the crafts on hand department. But I was pleased with what I came up with. As was he.

We took green tongue compressors & formed them into a tree. He used buttons & pompom strands to decorate the tree. He was SOOO excited when it was all done. We had to hang it up on the fridge so he could show dad when he got home.

December 1 was our Ward Holiday Party & I had signed up to bring a dessert. I was excited to make my chocolate cupcakes with peppermint frosting! I only make these this time of year & they are so delicious!

The party was a lot of fun. They had the cultural hall decorated so cute & the tables were set so nicely. We had a Christmas feast followed by singing carols & dessert. Each auxiliary was in charge of decorating a tree. We had a vote for the best one & the Primary kids tree won! Wahoo! (I'm in the pres so that's why I gave a wahoo)

The Primary kids sang a bunch of songs & I'm so glad I got Gavin on tape. He just LOVES Christmas songs & gets really into them. And by into them, I mean loud! Too cute.

Sundays are long days so we always like to crash & take naps after church.

This doesn't happen very often. I sure am glad Doug snapped a pic as about .24 seconds later he woke up. :)

After naps we decided to put together & decorate a gingerbread house.

Gavin had so much fun & did just about all the decorating himself. He also did a lot of the eating too.

It was a fun Mommy & Gavin activity!

Aunt Laura wanted some help putting up her little tree & of course Gavin was first to offer his helping hands. 

All decorated & ready for Christmas! Seeing him get so excited about all this makes me so giddy to see him on Christmas Eve & Day.

The mall has a family fun day twice a month that we love to go to. Gavin's favorite part is making a craft & getting his face painted. This activity was the Christmas one & we got a special visitor...Santa!

 I tried to get Gavin to go up to him to give him a hug or a high five, but he kept his distance & would not let go of my leg. All he talks about is Santa Claus & then the minute he sees him, he gets SOOO nervous. It's hard not to laugh about it, but I think it was kinda cute. That's his blond head in the lower left corner of the pic.

 He has also been obsessed with Rudolph the red nose reindeer & sings that song non stop. So of course that it was he chose to get painted on his face.

 Hands down the cutest Rudolph I've ever laid eyes on! He loved it & couldn't stop looking at himself. When we left, he would stop in front of store windows to check himself out. Haha!

We went with our friends Derek & Ceri Steele to check out some neighborhood lights. This was just one house worth of lights. I seriously felt like I was at a festival or something. So cool!
 {disclaimer: these pictures are horrible. I sometimes really hate using the phone camera.}

 Gavin & Madelyn

 Gotta love the fact that we are looking at Christmas lights wearing shorts & flip flops!

A few nights later Ceri told me about another home that had a light show to music that blew the above house out of the water. So for date night after Doug & I attended our Stake's production of Savior of the World we went to check it out. It was the perfect holiday date that put us first in a spiritual uplifting mood with the true meaning of Christmas & then finished off with a fun upbeat light show.Check out these videos: