Unwrapping Christmas

We had a nice lunch with everyone on Christmas Eve.  The girls helped me make our traditional birthday cake to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

After which we did the adult present exchange.  Before starting we let the girls open their present from Jake & Marcee, Tinkerbell and Periwinkle dolls.  Lila found a picture of these dolls a few days earlier and really really wanted them she came to me insisting we call Santa. She explained that she didn't know what she wanted until now (which is true she didn't put anything on her list earlier when we did our letters to Santa). Jake told Lila that Santa Claus and he were good friends since our Polar Express trip last year and he told Jake what to get the girls.  Just look at her face. She says her favorite present is the fairy sisters.

This little one just wanted to eat the wrapping paper.

We do a group exchange where everyone buys a present and then you pick from the pile and presents can be stolen or trades negotiated. Steve scored this awesome popcorn popper which is pretty awesome since I've been in the market for a popcorn popper (I have popcorn, and a kernel separator just not a popper). I scored gift cards to movies and dinner.  It was fun, but the real excitement came when I noticed a letter sitting in the tree and asked what it was. Jake retrieved the letter and read that Marcee was given temple clearance for them to be sealed so they are going to call the temple as soon as it opens on Wednesday and set a date and time. We are so excited for them, but my Dad . . . the picture says it all.
 
























The girls shared Ellie's bed on Christmas Eve, but Lila got up and snuck in to snuggle with Marcee. Then when we went to wake-up Ellie she pulled the sheets over her head until she realized it was Christmas morning (it was 7:30 too not super early--guess she has adjusted to sleeping in on school vacation).

Here they are checking out what Santa left. Ellie got a shrinky dink maker and kits. Lila got her own Leapster with case and game. They each got new art supplies in their stocking and the family got Monopoly Jr and the movie Brave.

Here's the crew as everyone opened presents.

  















A few funny stories: Mom got a new cell phone that started ringing under the tree; Marcee got an Ipad and you can tell how excited she is--it never left her view; Dad got a watch heart rate monitor and Jake told Mom that she needs to get one so when they start agitating each other they can tell who is winning by the elevated heart rate; when Dad went to setup the heart rate monitor for some reason it was registering his heart rate incorrectly it was down in the 40s so Jake ambushed him a couple of times really getting his heart rate up.

And as tradition we sent the girls on a scavenger hunt. They opened a big tub of legos together and then were given their first clue and at each station there was another set of legos to open.  They ended up in the playroom with the lego table we built.

Towards the end of summer I happened to notice that Walmart was clearancing all their Lego Friends so I bought several kits knowing the girls love these.  Then I found this idea online to build a lego table so I found this old end table at DI (which I love because they can store the legos inside) and we ordered some baseplates and Steve cut and glued the thing together.  Even though I have had all the pieces for a couple of months it didn't get completed until Christmas Eve.

Jake gave Steve a surprise for his garage. He saved a part from the Datsun when we were moving from Tucson and made a frame to match.

Ellie said her favorite part "was seeing Mimi, Grandpa, Jake, Marcee, Nate, Venessa, Izzy, and Siena." Her favorite present was the dream lite from Mimi & Grandpa (which she may or may not have seen me wrapping the week before--oops).  Life is good and we feel very blessed this Christmas.

A Rudolph Christmas

This is just a quick explanation of why we have red noses and a box of kleenexes close in all of our Christmas pictures. We have had all kinds of crazy illnesses here, starting with Ellie throwing-up then having a nasty cough, Lila got a mild fever and cold the following week, then that Saturday Ellie started a fever and still with the cough so I took her to Urgent care and they gave her amoxicillan for bronchitis, then Sunday Lila got a fever and started wheezing on Monday so took her to the doctor and he gave her an antibiotic, steriod, and prescription for nebulizer, we had a few really rough nights then, Thursday before Christmas I started to get it so I went to the doctor got an antibiotic and I'm so glad I did because I was miserable Friday and Lila was still needy, then just as I thought we turned a corner Ellie broke out in hives and her face got all red and itchy--we went back to the doctor on Christmas Eve and turns out she is allergic to amoxicillan which I find ironic because I know she has had it before.  Meanwhile Steve was slammed at work and working longer hours. I was planning on everyone arriving the Friday before Christmas to start the festivities, but plans changed and my parents went down to Orem to help Jake and his fiance with some moving and wedding plans, then they spent Sat/Sun with my Sister and everyone came here Christmas Eve--so glad the festivities didn't really start until then because I was not feeling well and I was/am still really tired from the illness.  That is the long and short of it.  A benefit was I didn't feel well enough to do too much so we enjoyed lots of relaxing moments one of which was working on Grandpa's train set and building this family of snowmen.

Joy to the World

What a joyous year we have had.  We have really enjoyed getting settled into our home, getting to know our wonderful neighbors, starting new hobbies, traveling with family, watching our girls grow, and much much more.  Here is our top 12 for 2012:

* Steve starting a new hobby.  He picked up a road bicycle and did the cycling portion of 2 triathlons this summer.  His team which consisted of Steve, my Dad (Stan), and Jake's fiance (Marcee) placed 1st in their division in the Spudman and got a very unique potato trophy. :)

* Steve completing 2 National Instrument certifications and 1 training course for work.  He enjoys his job and the guys that he works with.

* Steve buying a new car.  We finally sold his 1990 Honda Accord and bought him an Audi A4, which brings him joy.

* Ellie learning to ride a bike this summer.  She loves having her friends come knock on the door and ask if she can come play.  I enjoy watching her ride her bike or scooter down to their house and all I have to do is call and have them tell her to bike or scooter home when it's time.

* Lila and I participating in a joy school with some wonderful neighbors.  Lila has truly blossomed and is learning a lot.  I love to hear her call her friends names when she sees them around the neighborhood--she even recognizes all of the Moms who are participating.

* Ellie reading like crazy.  She loves reading and for a family activity one night I got each of the girls a mini copy of the Book of Mormon and we showed them how to use them.  She loves having us tell her scriptures to look up and then reading them to us.

* Ellie starting piano lessons and loving it!  She memorized 4 Christmas songs and started teaching herself another Christmas song this week.  Lila also loves to play the piano and sings non-stop much to the annoyance of Ellie who is always saying, "Be quiet Lila, you're annoying me."

* Having family and friends visit us in our new home (we love that we are in a location that provides us the opportunity to see family so much more and a convenient spot for friends to stop off.)

* Britney leaving the girls with Steve for her first girls' weekend.  She met up with dear friends from Tucson in Phoenix to attend Time Out for Women.

* Traveling to this beautiful remote location in northern California to celebrate Carole and Russ's 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a wonderful trip, full of lots of memories.

* Flying to Seattle for UEA weekend to be there when Jake proposed to Marcee.  We are so excited for the two of them and love the dynamic they bring to the family.

* Going on a Disney Cruise with Carole and Russ.  Our girls loved every minute on the boat with Mickey and friends and the special time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Nothing brings us more joy than sharing the message of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I can testify that He lives and that this is a wonderful time of year to celebrate His birth and life.  "Joy to the world, the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King!  Let every heart prepare him room."  May your heart be touched by His love and may you have joy this Christmas season and throughout the new year.

Love,
Steve, Britney, Ellie, & Lila

Lights, Camera, Action

We have been busy over the last few days doing some fun Christmas activities.  First we took the girls down to Temple Square Friday night to see the lights.  We parked at the City Creek Center and grabbed some dinner and then walked around and saw all of the beautiful lights and the great nativities on display.  We even saw President Uchtdorf.  There was a group in front of us taking some pictures and I didn't really pay attention until I heard his voice and then I quickly pointed him out to my girls.

Then on Sunday we got together with some friends to put together our gingerbread kits.  It was fun to visit while we did this.  The kids loved decorating and eating all of the candy--it went something like this, one for decorating, one for me, one for decorating, one for me.

Monday night we went to see the Layton city lights with some other friends who invited us back for donuts and hot cocoa afterwards.

The girls loved all of the light animals. Ellie loves unicorns and Lila loved the mermaid by where we parked.

The girls loved all of these adventures and we are so blessed to have wonderful friends and family to share special moments with.

Christmas Excitement

The girls helped me decorate the tree Saturday night.  Here is what it looked like when they were done (nothing on the top--Lila kept grouping the ornaments in families two big ornaments and two small ornaments really close together if you look you'll find a couple of ornament families :).

I have been searching every where for a new star for the top of the tree because we took my old one and placed it outside on our decorative pine with some lights--the girls love it.

Here is the finished product.

I love having the train as a border around the tree and the girls love playing with it.  It also provides a designated area for our kid friendly nativities (notice the Magi are riding in style in the train with a lot of food for their journey :).

Ellie finally completed her letter to Santa:

  

Ellie :)

Ellie had her first piano recital on Saturday, Dec. 1st.  She started taking lessons at the beginning of September and has quickly caught on.  She loves it and after the first couple of weeks asked if she could have go to lessons twice a week.  I told her she could practice and play as much as she wants at home, but we can only do lessons once a week.  Her teacher did something this year called, "Playing for Presents."  The students were asked how many Christmas songs they could memorize in a 6 week period and then get sponsors to donate money based on that number.  The money then went to help local families in need.  Ellie memorized 4 pieces earning $45 and played We Three Kings of Orient Are for the recital (that song is a full two pages and I'm so proud of her).  I had to reduce the quality of the video to post on the blog so hopefully you can hear it. :)

Last night our neighborhood did a "Gift of Giving Night" where in lieu of giving gifts to each other we donate money for a local charity and gather to socialize with each other while enjoying hot chocolate and cookies.  We explained to the girls that we were going to this neighborhood party and instead of us giving or receiving gifts from our neighbors we would donate money to families in need.  Ellie, bless her little heart, has been saving her money to buy a school shirt she wants really bad.  She has $6 and I recently told her I would give her extra chores so she could earn the other $3 she needs.  After we explained the nature of the party she said, "I would like to donate $3 of my dollars." I was suprised because I know how badly she wants the shirt and said, "Are you sure?"  I immediately felt guilty for my shock and doubt and said, "That is a wonderful idea and your donation will help another person who has nothing."  She carried her money all the way to the party and I let her put hers and our money in the donation box.  She hasn't even asked about the shirt since then.  LOVE HER!!

Steve and the Crockpot

Steve has really stepped up his game. He even offered to put dinner in the crockpot today since I was running late for ward council. I stepped him through what to do as I was getting ready. He said he would turn it on before they left since we didn't want to over cook it and my meeting is a couple of hours before church. We came home from church and I thought, 'I can't smell the roast' so I went to check on it. The crockpot wasn't plugged in--oops. We plugged it in turned it on high. It tasted delicious at 7:30pm. I could tell Steve was a little disappointed that it wasn't ready when we had hoped, but it all turned out fine. I told him that he is probably the reason why I have this calling because he loves and supports me so much! :)

Free Zoo Day

My sister called me at about 11am and said the zoo is having a free admission day would you and Lila like to go. I pondered it for a bit--life has been super crazy with Primary and Christmas decorations and house cleaning and canning and then I paused and thought where are my priorities, "we're in". I made some lunches, Nessa came down we strapped her kids in the van, we picked Lila up from joy school, and headed down to the zoo. Lila sat in between Izzy and Siena and would hold Izzy's hand and talk to Siena and then she fell asleep with her head rested on Izzy's car seat.  I packed a stroller realizing that all of the other kids would be in strollers so Lila would probably want to also--she did.  We had a wonderful time.  The elephants put on a show for us, the new baby elephant was doing tricks and even did a head stand (I was too slow with my camera to catch it). We went to the new exhibit and had the polar bear swim right next to us.  The weather was beautiful and we had a wonderful time.  I'm so glad I took time to go.

I forgot to ask Lila if she needed to use the restroom before leaving the zoo and as soon as we got on the road she said, "I need to go potty." She held it for a long time. We finally got off at the exit where In-N-Out was and decided to grab a quick hamburger while we were there.  Ellie was patient waiting for us after school since we were a few minutes late, but the half of cheeseburger helped win her over. :)

Birthday-Thanksgiving

I decided this year since my birthday was on a Sunday that we would take the girls to Disney On Ice on Saturday.  So I ordered the tickets 6 weeks ago and made a big announcement the week before my birthday.  The girls were so excited.  Lila sang and danced the whole way through.  I think Ellie enjoyed it, but didn't really get into it like Lila.

We went to the new City Creek center mall and had lunch.  I told Steve he could buy me a present from Tiffany's :) Seriously I don't know what I would do with jewelry that cost more than my car.



Then on Wednesday we loaded up and went to Idaho for Thanksgiving.  I don't take a lot of pictures at Thanksgiving--maybe because the idea of having pictures of me stuffing my face doesn't seem flattering . . . whatever the reason we had a wonderful time and I want to document a few things in writing.  We had a wonderful time hanging out with family and Mimi was nice and did the girls hair really fancy for Thanksgiving and then permed Lila's again on Friday.  Dad, Nessa, Steve and I braved the Walmart Black Friday crowd for a ripping good deal on some movies.  Ellie worked on calendars for Mimi.   

We had a stash of Hostess cupcakes and donuts we indulged on one day (now that they are out of business and you can no longer find their products).  At lunch one day, I told the girls they could each have one powdered donut before lunch.  Ellie gobbled hers up knowing it was a very rare occasion I let them have dessert first.  Lila got distracted and then a few minutes later asked me where her donut was.  I said, "You must have ate it."  She told me she didn't and didn't know where it was.  I said, "Well I'm sorry you can't have another one."  Then she said, "Look at my face. Do you see any white on my face?  I didn't have one."  It took me a minute to process that she was pointing out that powdered donuts usually make a mess and her face was clean.  She got a donut--good logic and using big girl words!  She also very politely asked Uncle Nate to switch seats one morning when he sat in front of her blocking her view to the TV--love that we are using words and problem solving.   

Santa was visiting the neighbors and was nice enough to stop by and say HI.  Although Ellie didn't know what to tell him so now every day she reminds me we need to write a letter so he knows what she wants and Lila was super tired and wanted nothing to do with him (she did promise next year she won't be afraid).

On Saturday before we left we helped my Mom go through her holiday decorations in the storage room.  We made her designate a DI box and had a garbage can close.  We each took a few things and the girls got new Barbies that they just love.  Now I just need to get my decorations switched to Christmas.  :)


Side note: We try to do a prayer rotation because Lila always want to say the prayer so we thought an order would help--she would know who she came after etc. Well it worked for a while and then in turned back into her wanting to pray every time and crying if she didn't get to.  Ellie all on her own created us a prayer jar.  She taped a piece of construction paper together in a cylindrical shape and cute and taped a bottom on and then made us each two bookmark size slips of paper with our names on them, Dad Kendall Moore, Mom Ann Moore, Ellie Nicole Moore, and Lila Jane Moore.  We draw every time we say a prayer seems to work well.  What a creative problem solver, Ellie is.

Fire Station Field Trip

Lila's joy school was organized by a wonderful group of ladies and they scheduled each Mom to host a party or field trip once during the year.  Dayna and Luke coordinated a tour of a fire station and it happened to be on day the rest of the kids were out of school so they got to join us.

The kids enjoyed seeing where the firemen eat, sleep, and study. They got to walk through the firetruck and look into the ambulance (did you know that 80% of the calls to the station are medical related--they are all at least EMTs). Then one of the fireman got dressed in his gear and gave all the kids high-fives (it was a good idea so that kids aren't scared of fire fighters if they see them in their gear during an emergency). They also reviewed stop, drop, and roll and encouraged families to have a plan in case of a fire. 

After our tour we went next door to the park and played for an hour.  It was a lovely day (weather included)!

Trick-or-Treating Party Style

Once again the weekend before Halloween was a big long party.  On Friday (Oct. 26), Ellie wore her costume to piano lessons and played her Halloween song so she could earn a candy bar. Ellie also had a birthday party so my sister, Nessa took Lila to the gym Halloween party with Izzy. Then we went to their trunk-or-treat that night.  Saturday Ellie had another birthday party at "Scary Hill" (Cherry Hill).  My parents took Steve and the rest of us out to lunch for his birthday.  Then Lila helped me make Rice Krispie treats for Izzy's birthday party.
 

We had to leave her party a bit early because our ward was having a Halloween Carnival and Trunk-or-Treat that I coordinated.  So off we went.  It was a huge success and I had so much fun running the Primary cupcake walk and meeting so many people and their families.

Then on Sunday, Nessa and Nate blessed Siena.  It turned out to be a bit of a crazy day because they lost power due to a car accident so they had to come down to our house to get ready while we went to our church.  Then we went to their sacrament meeting where Siena was blessed. We had a nice luncheon at the Durbanos and then home to relax after a crazy week.

Jake and Marcee chilling with the girls while everyone scrambles to get ready.

 I helped with Ellie's class party and we made cookie spiders.

Then Nate, Nessa, and Izzy came down to go trick-or-treating.  We made mummy dogs (pigs in a blanket but wrapped to look like mummies) and baked potatoes for dinner.

This is the only picture I have of the girls' costumes this year. Really life is crazy right now!

Then we celebrated Steve's birthday on Nov. 1.  Honestly, when we were newly weds I never realized how close his birthday is to Halloween, but now that we have kids--it makes it interesting.  I also happened to be going out of town that day to spend some time with my friends from Tucson at Time Out for Women in Phoenix.  So I got up early and went and got Krispy Kreme donuts so we could sing Happy Birthday.  I also left him a candy graham and an ice cream gift card for him to take the girls out.  (He also got a bike trainer a month ago and recently purchased a snow blower so he got some good presents!).

Today we had Nessa and her family and Stephanie and her family over for his birthday dinner of ribs, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and of course Miami Beach birthday cake (which Stephanie didn't set on fire this time ;).  

We LOVE you Steve!!  He truly is amazing and has really stepped up his game to support me and assist our girls more since I have recently been tasked with some new responsibilities.  I cannot imagine life without him.  He is genuinely concerned for our family's happiness and it shows in his actions.



Here are the girls I got to spend the weekend with.  I love each of them so much!!  I'm so grateful I could spend an uplifting weekend with them.

Here we are eating at the Cheesecake Factory way past our bedtime.  So nice to be able to visit and laugh together!