Christmas Eve

Christmas is our favorite time of the year.  It might have been grey, cloudy, cold and wet outside, but we always enjoy the extra family time we share inside.  On Christmas Eve we enjoyed reading the Christmas story in the scriptures, singing hymns from our family book and, of course, opening up one gift each.

The kids were pretty excited (almost as much as we were!) to be opening a gift before Christmas morning. 

It didn't take them long either!  So once the entire family was clad in our new jammies, we had to gather in front of the Christmas tree and take some pictures.  I love to see my children smile!  You can almost feel the anticipation and glee for Christmas on their faces!

The most special part was being able to snuggle up together - all 5 of them! - and watch a movie before heading to sleep.  Porter was especially thrilled to climb in with the "his girls".  They didn't even make it through the whole show, knowing that Santa wouldn't come when even one person was still awake. 

Christmas Cookies

What do you give your kids' teachers each year for Christmas?  I usually have a plan, at least.  This year was an exception.  With Larry and all of his health issues, the holidays were rushing in with no gift ideas in sight, no time to shop for said gifts and only one day left before Christmas break.  So Porter and I took it upon ourselves to make some Christmas cookies. 

All of you who know us, know that I don't do the baking.  Larry makes the cookies at our house.  Unfortunately the drug-induced coma he seemed to be in most days prevented that from happening.

I think Porter and I did a pretty good job.  Peanut butter M&M cookies are some of my very favorites.  I like to use the Holiday colored candy.  And, yes, I make sure that I have even numbers of each color on every pan.  Porter was a great help and loved wearing his apron like Mommy. 

So we made it through another Christmas gift-giving season. 

 Luckily Larry is all better now that Easter is just around the corner!

Grandkids Christmas Party

ReNae said, "I don't know why I haven't been doing this all along."  And now we know.  Was it an opportunity to share in the Christmas spirit with all the cousins gathered in?  Or was it the new locations for the WWE?  Well, Porter did learn a few moves under the tutelage of his big boy cousins.  But only AFTER dinner was eaten and the gingerbread houses were complete.  So thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for opening their home and sharing an evening with all the grandkids.  I, for one, hope that is becomes a Jensen family tradition!

Our little weatherman...

Riley: "Hurry, come and look outside!  It's totally foggy."
Porter: "What?"
Payton:  "Check it out!"
Porter:  "What?"
Maisyn:  "Come on!  Let's go see the fog."
Porter:  "The frog?"
Maisyn:  "The fog."
Porter (looking out the open door):  "Huh?  Where's the froggy?"
Maisyn:  "Not froggy.  FOGGY."
Porter:  "Froggy?"
Door shut.

Oma's Early Christmas

Oma came to visit in early December.  We couldn't get her here for the actual day but she was able to see several choir concerts, a Christmas play, a volleyball game and a handful of basketball games.  So the trade off was worth it.  She was also here to help out when Larry ended up in the emergency room on her 4th day here.  Not quite what we had planned but it was good that Payton had her help at home.  Larry was laid up that week for the most part and we just relaxed and enjoyed a quiet week.  Her last night in town was a Monday.  So we had our Christmas Family Home Evening and then the kids and Oma got to open presents early.  They all enjoyed that!

She had a red-eye flight and so we said our goodbyes before the kids went to sleep. 

Merry Christmas, Oma!

Christmas Carolers

The ward's Activity Day girls came a-caroling to our house last month.  It was very sweet to hear them sing and to have them all crowded on our porch.  A big plate of cookies to the Bishop was sweet, too! 

Thanks girls!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Our ward Christmas party this year was a little different.  Several of the youth performed "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in it's entirety.  Sydney tried out and got the part of Patty.  It was a lot of fun to watch, especially after all their hard work and preparation.  Oma was spending the week prior with us so she was able to see the show, too.  They served a potluck dinner and then had some carols with the primary kids afterwards.  The "special guest" arrived an hour before the party started so that us parents could bring in our little ones to meet him.  Porter wasn't so sure about that!  The youth helped out with some fun crafts and projects for the young kids to make and take as well.  It was a fun night.  Larry wasn't feeling quite up to par, but we enjoyed a good night out with the ward to really start the holidays.

Happy, happy birthday, Carson!

Our nephew, Carson, celebrated his birthday in style this year.  He invited all the cousins to a big jumper place one Saturday morning and they all had a blast.  It was freezing inside but they all warmed up nicely after several rounds of hide-and-go-seek, sliding, climbing, jumping, and running.  It's always nice to see the cousins together!  Happy birthday, Carson!

A leak in the faucet.

So the leak in the faucet had been going on for some time.  Larry finally got tired of it (and tired of laying around on his pain meds doing nothing) and sent me out to purchase a new one.  My mom was in town and went to the Home Depot with me to pick it out.  It did take two trips, but we got one we liked and had in installed by the resident professional.  Real cheap, too.  -Note the tool set:  Daddy's little helper, indeed!