~We are LOVING Buddy~

We are having so much fun taking care of Buddy for Santa.  He is the cutest little puppy and loves to snuggle.  The kids still fight over who gets to hold him in the car, whose room he gets to sleep in, and he is the first one they run to when they get home.  There is no doubt, he is being loved.  It's going to be sad when he has to leave with Santa in a few weeks.

~Garrett's Preschool Pictures~

We just got back Garrett's preschool pictures this year.  He LOVES Smarty Pants Preschool!

Garrett's cute little preschool class.

~Lights at Layton Park~

Mckell was babysitting Easton and Grayson for the night while Cassie was with Paisley at her Nutcracker performance.  So we thought it would be fun to take them to the lights at Layton Park, since you could drive through in your cars.  That is really my way to look at the Christmas lights.  We decided after we drove through that we would walk through to get a better look.

We even took Buddy along.

~The Festival of Trees~

Mckell's dance group was given the opportunity to perform at the Festival of Trees.  We have never been to this event before and were excited to go see what it was all about.

Mckell's Group, Senior Elect.  They danced to the song "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag". 

Three groups from Dazzle Dance were chosen to perform.  Senior Elite, Senior Elect, and Junior Elite.  This is a picture of all of them together.

It was fun to go see all the fun tree ideas, the fun gingerbread houses, and wreaths.  I can't believe this is the first time we've been to this.

Garrett LOVED the Gingerbread Deathstar, he said that he wanted to go home and make one of his own, lol.  Not sure if I'll be much help on this, lol.

He also loved the Millennial Falcon and insisted I get a picture of him with it.

While we were at the festival, Dave was home playing outside with Buddy.  It was his first time exploring our yard.  I guess he can do this because there is no snow yet, and the temperatures are fairly warm.  At least for now.

~Special Assignment From Santa~

We were surprised with a letter from Santa brought to our family by our elf Fred.

The letter told our family that Santa had a special job for us to help him out with a gift for a special little boy and girl for Christmas.  He told us that he would have an elf drop the assignment off later that evening.  The kids wondered if the assignment was going to be making something for someone (like necklaces or something), or buying Christmas gifts for them.  They couldn't wait until later that night to find out what it was.
That evening right before bed, we heard the doorbell ring.  There sitting on our porch was this cute little puppy with a bag full of things he would need, and a letter from Santa that read:  

Lexi, Mckell, Garrett, and Hunter,

Ok, Here’s the special job I have for you.  I need you guys to take care of this little fella for me since we are so busy here at the North Pole now a days.  I am busy making my list and checking it twice, the elves are working non-stop to make sure we have plenty of toys for Christmas, and the reindeer are in flight school making sure they are ready to pull my sleigh.  We just don’t have time to take care of this little guy.  We don’t have time to play catch with him, snuggle him to sleep, and feed him his favorite jerky treats.  I’ve watched how great you guys took care of Rhino and I knew you would be perfect for the job.  There is a little boy and girl who have been asking for a puppy and I need to make sure he is well taken care of until I’m ready to bring him to them on Christmas night.  He doesn’t have a name yet so you can call him whatever you’d like.  He is a sweet little guy and I know you’ll take good care of him until he is ready to go to his new home.  Make sure he is fed, gets lots of exercise, and uses the potty pad when he need to go to the bathroom.  He loves to snuggle.  If you help me out with this job, I will bring you something really great on Christmas morning.  I’ll call you in a week or so and check in on how he is doing.

                                  Merry Christmas!

                                Santa Claus

Mckell was so excited that she cried.

Meet Buddy

The kids are thrilled that Santa would trust them with such a special job.

~Journey to Bethlehem~

For our ward Christmas party this year, the theme was Journey to Bethlehem.  Families were asked to dress up in Bethlehem attire and bring taxes to be paid.  We were all given coins for our dinner in the marketplace where we bought our food and found a spot on the floor to eat.

For the entertainment, the primary put on a slideshow/video of the Savior with the primary children dressed up as shephards, angels, and wisemen.  Lexi and Garrett were the cutest wisemen around.

I love these two!

~Temple Square Lights~

We went with our youth to temple square to look at the Christmas lights.  I figured since I was already going down, I might as well take Lexi and Garrett with me. (kill two birds with one stone)

The temple looked beautiful with all the Christmas lights.  I'm glad I took these two along with me.