December

December was a really busy month for us.  At the beginning of the month we went to the Christkindlemarkt at This is The Place.  It was really cold, but lots of fun.  Aunt Allie met us there and we just walked around and looked at the little shops, ate good german food, and watched the lantern parade.

 We got to meet St. Nickolas. Maya was a sport and agreed to be in a picture.

 Mom and Dad also got a picture.

 Sophia graduated from NOVA.  NOVA is a program at school that is similar to DARE.  A police officer comes in every week for several months and teaches the kids about drugs, alcohol, internet safety, bullying, and other things like that.  Sophie really enjoyed participating in the program.

 Another thing that took up a lot of our time was dance.  Sophie and Ellie each had a small Christmas recital at their dance class.  We were so busy that week that Kyle went to Sophie's and I want to Ellie's, we had other things at the same time as well.  On top of regular dance class, Ellie had the Nutcracker rehearsal's and performances.  She was able to perform 4 times.  I  volunteered back stage once so I could get pictures of her in her mouse costume.  It was such a good show and Ellie was amazing.  There was even one part that she was on stage all by herself.

 We also had school performances.  Maya had orchestra, and Sophie had choir.  They were both very good performances and our girls did great.

 Kyle's parent's got Ellie roses for her final performance.  It was so sweet of them to do, since they weren't able to be there.  Some ladies from our ward and their daughters also came to a show and brought her a rose.  It made Ellie feel so special.

 Christmas Eve was fun as always.  We went to Dan and Janet's and had a great dinner.  After dinner the kids put on the nativity, which is always entertaining.

 Bingo was fun this year, but Aunt Nancy wasn't there so it was a little less competitive.  There wasn't as much trading as there usually is.

 The kids in their new  PJ's.  They all have moose on them and are super cute.

 Christmas morning was pretty good, however Liam, Ellie, and I woke up not feeling very well, so we stayed home from church while Kyle took the other 2.

 For New Year's we went to the cabin again.  The kids had a ton of fun sledding.  We made a great track that they spent hours on. New Years Eve it was just our family and my Dad. We went out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant, set off fire works, had a dance  party, and when we got tired just relaxed by the fire listening to music.

We had a lot of fun at the cabin.  We haven't been up since, but are excited to go up when we have a free weekend.