December 1-
^We went with some neighbor friends to The Live Nativity in Riverton this year. Madison rode the donkey. After we were invited for hot chocolate and doughnuts. Yum! Wonderful evening!
^Such a great way to remind us of the Savior's birth and life. Humbling. Peaceful. Quiet.
^These videos show Madison so well.
^This age is so cute! I could eat her up!
December 2-
^My sis traded with me. She did my hair, and I made her sugar cookie gifts for her clients for Christmas. Long process. Lots of cookies. Tired hands after piping cookies. :)
^I got to sing with these lovelies at a Relief Sociaty activity.
December 3-
^The first time I have ever turned someone's hair blue!!!! Blonde, porous hair is tricky! Glad it was Lish. We fixed it. :) Love doing hair!
December 4-
^Sarah had a dance recital at Festival of Trees. She loves to dance and did a great job.
December 5-
^Grandma Johnson came and hung out for a while. Since I had to give the first batches of cookies to my sis, we made more and let the kids decorate some.
December 6-
^Sarah started to play Junior Jazz this year. She was a little discouraged at the beginning of the game, but Ed went and sat with her for a minute and she was okay. She is loving it.
Later that night we put up the tree in the front room. The kids love it, and love the train around it.
^Our neighborhood has a "cookies with Santa" activity every year. The kids spend a lot of time at the tree watching the train go round and round.
December 7-
^Madison can climb out of her crib now. She gets all her books and puts them in her crib during her nap time. Sometimes she falls asleep on top of them. Silly designs on her body when she wakes. :) We will be converting her bed in the next couple months. Holding on to this last baby of mine! :(
December 8-
^Ed did a great job with the lights this year. The kids love it so much! This year he made a manger to add to the collection. Turned out awesome! Good job babe!
December 11-
^Sarah had another recital at the Dickens Festival. Cutie!
^Our neighborhood book club got together for dinner and a book exchange for December. Love these ladies! They helped me reach my goal of reading at least one book a month this year. :)
^Documenting the norm at our house every night. Nimbus sleeping on the top of the couch. Cute kitty.
December 12-
^We were invited to an ugly sweater and white elephant party. I think Ed should have won. Who makes these sweaters?! Ha! :) After, Ed and Rob tried to fit themselves into one of the white elephants. 2 men in one pair of BIG pants!
^Lists to Santa this year.
December 13-
^The Johnson family has a tradition of going to see the play Scrooge in an Ogden Playhouse every year. We have grown to love the music and characters. I love live production and the kids love this tradition more and more the older they get and the better they understand the story.
December 14-
^Kai and Madison snuggling on the couch. I love it when they get along. And a Christmas-y meal. :)
December 15-
^I started coaching with Beachbody! New beginnings. I got my pack and I'm ready to start helping people and achieving some of my own goals. Excited/nervous for the journey.
^A healthier lifestyle is beginning. I started a healthy eating group. Crazy, I know! 10 days before Christmas. Truth is, the timing will never be right to get healthy. So I'm starting now. Me and some girlfriends brought Mindi dinner and met her cute baby girl.
December 17-
^My sis needed more cookies!! I'm cookied out! More healthy meals.
^I am in charge of 8 year olds for Activity Days. Cute girls! We went and got some gifts for Angel Tree, wrapped them and then decorated cookies. :)
December 18-
^Kai and karate again! I love the progress he makes and how attentive he is with his Hanshi.
December 19-
^Caramel Corn for neighbors this year. Mmmm!
^My cute, hilarious friend Talitha does improv at Quick Wits. Had to go see and support her!
^These kids! Love them! Nighttime routines.
December 20-
^Gingerbread Houses with graham crackers. Maybe next year I'll make real gingerbread. :)
^We have a friend in Lower Lights. We have gone to see them every Christmas. Wonderful evening and music! We went with the Harman Family this year. (Had to sneak in our pic of Mitt- not sure why it's so neat to see presidential candidates, but it was)
^Neon Trees opened up the show. So cool! Love them.
^Lower Lights in all their glory. So talented!
December 21-
^Madison loves singing nursery rhymes! Especially with daddy. ;)
^Our Christmas-y Sunday outfits at church. :) Then the kids finished their gingerbread houses.
December 22-
^Ed went up the mountain and did some back country touring with his brother Stewart.
Kai had a preschool Christmas party with Santa. He asked for a rocket. :)
December 23-
^Christmas puzzle. Homemade pizza. Sarah lost her 5th tooth. :)
December 24- Christmas Eve
^We had the kids go through their toys and pick some things to get rid of. Then we went to the road home and donated them. The line was long for drop off. That's a good thing. Trying to teach the kids about giving.
^ We went and saw Mor Mor and Grandpa. They are in their mid 90's so we don't make them leave much anymore. Pic with the great grandkids.
^My cute friend Corinne came over and gave me a personal lesson on bread/roll making. So happy to know how to make homemade rolls now. A step towards progress. Homemade food instead of store bought.
^Aunt Melissa brought a fun music game with whistles for the kids. They tooted Christmas carols. Only a few before our ears couldn't deal. :)
^Handsom Ed. Then we did our gift exchange.
^Harman Family 2014. Just missing Audrey. Merry Christmas Eve!
^We got our new ornaments and jammies tonight! Christmas Eve tradition.
December 25- Christmas
^The kids came and got us up, not super early, and we opened gifts. They seemed happy...:)
^Their big gift this year was a trip to Disneyland. Here's the hints. :)
^We woke up to snow on Christmas! Such a nice surprise! Of course the kids wanted to go play in it.
^We had a late lunch with the Johnson family. Typical Christmas dinn. Ham, holiday potatoes, rolls, salad and jello. Then mom made fruit bars and sofa.
^Our tree got replenished with cousin gifts. :) Good times and another gift exchange.
^Johnson Family 2014
^If we failed to get you a card this year, we still hope your Christmas was merry!!! :)
December 26-
^The kids were dying to go swimming. We ventured out to a new rec center and they had a blast. Madison was even willing to swim on her own with a lifejacket. Mommy watched from the side.
December 27-
^These views Ed got! Utah is beautiful!
^Ed, Stewart and Bri went up the Mountain again.
^Stewart got a sweet shot of Ed. The fluffy trees look so neat!
^Touring views
The kids went to the neighbors and made a snowman.
December 28-
^ Madison randomly went up on the stand to see one of our friends, Jason, who is in the bishopric. Maybe because he is in our band and she is used to seeing him. She noticed her boogers in this pic. Gross! Somewhat embarrassing. He even wiped her nose for her. Ha!
After sacrament we drove to Vegas for the first leg of our trip.
^While Ed was checking in at the Vdara hotel he was being nice and chatty. It paid off! The desk clerk asked if he could upgrade us to the penthouse sweet.
^It was 2 bed/ 2 bathrooms. Then a kitchen/TV/sitting area. Obviously this was a first for us. Possibly once in a lifetime, so we enjoyed it! TV's in bathrooms, amazing views, big tubs, 2nd floor from the top on the corner of the hotel, so 2 walls of windows/views. Kids had their own room.
^Sitting area and kitchen hallway
^Views
^We walked over to the Aria for a yummy crepe before bed.
December 29-
^ We slept in and went to breakfast at Egg & I with the kids. Yum!
^The kids chillin'.
^One more pic in the penthouse before check out. :) Off to LA...
^Kristen is always a wonderful host! We got to LA for a late lunch. Kristen made us sandwiches, the kids embraced and played, we hung out, Madison had a nap, Kristen made a delicious dinner (as usual) and then we did hair. Kristen got a haircut/color and so did Sydney. Turned out great! Kristen is a beauty inside and out. So nice to let us stay for a night!
December 30-
^Kristen got up before it was light out to make this delicious breakfast for us before we headed out to drive straight to Disney. Kneaders french toast. This picture makes me hungry! :)
^Day 1 was spent at California Adventure. We got a cool membership with Ridemax that helped us with our itinerary so we didn't have to wait much. Plus the weather was kind of blustery, so it was probably a little less crowded.
^Much colder than we were thinking it would be, but still fun. :) Toy story is always a hit!
^Dad took Sarah on CA screaming' (which she did), while I took Mads and Kai a few times on the fish carousel next to it.
^We felt like we kept on getting special treatment. While watching a parade and talking to a staff member, she gave us a few passes to walk onto any ride of our choice without a wait. She also let us be VIP for the clubhouse show. :) Madison we looking sleepy right before we went in and fell asleep on daddy's shoulder. She slept through the whole show. Kai and Sarah got front row. Fun!
^We came across a Frozen sing-a-long that we thought the kids would like, and they did. :)
^Mozy bug world train.
^Bumper cars
^Tower of terror (kids hated it!), and more bugs world and cotton candy.
^First time on CARS. LOVED it! Probably my new favorite ride! Kids loved it too. Started to rain and get cold about then.
^After Cars, we headed out of the park for dinner at Pizza Press. Suggested to us and it was delicious and affordable. We decided to dodge the rain and the crazy, stormy, windy conditions and call it a night. :)
December 31- New Year's Eve
^These shirts were their Disney trip reveal on Christmas. :) Headed to Disney Day 2.
^We used Ridemax again. Worked out great. Disney was definitely more crowded, and it was New Years Eve! My kids are actually pretty scared of most of the rides. :( At least the indoor ones that are dark. Which is a lot of them. :) Oh well. They loved Dumbo. :)
Tea Cups. My cute little family in a cup.
^We used one of our special passes on Peter Pan. Walked right in the exit and missed the hour+ long wait. Yes! A kid favorite.
^Madison had another nap. I kept tabs on the other kids with ribbons on the stroller. :) Weather was NOT WARM. :( Boo!
^The kids always love the carousel. Lookin' good Ed! Cute daddy!
^Jungle adventure, Poohbeer, healthy snacks. I packed in lunches and fruit and veggies to offset the junk. We had snacks while we waited in lines. We had a lot of hot chocolate! Our longest wait was for Pirates. We just ate lunch while we were in line.
^Typical Disney pic MUST!
^Once we had covered most of the rides it was about 7:30pm. Kai and Madison had had it, and it was COLD!!! So Ed took the younger kids home and Sarah and I stayed for the 9pm fireworks. It was NYE after all! We hit a couple more rides, watched fireworks and went back to the hotel. :) Great trip!! Just a little too cold! We should have brought coats, not jackets, and definitely gloves. Not sure we'll ever visit during that season again. Crap shoot though. The week before and after were in the 80's! :) Can't stop this family from having fun! We were together. :)
