My Once Upon a Time...

I already posted plenty of pictures of December, but here are some other snapshots I took that month! We usually only decorate the inside of the house, but did the outside for the first time in years. Fox and I spent many hours in the car waiting for Finn's bus to arrive (there is an hour in between pick ups, and our house is too far away to make it worth it to drive home in between). Both of them chose rubber duck advent calendars this year. Finn got sick right before our cruise, but our friend Allison came by to sweeten their day with some early Christmas gifts. The elf returned for a few days, until the boys completely lost interest in looking for him each morning...HALLELUJAH! We spotted the giant elf on the shelf on a building in Scottsdale. Quick doctor's visit before vacation, luckily he just had a cold. Fox made rice krispie treats for the first time and did a great job. I visited Finn's school for their annual "Jingle Jog", where parents and kids join to ...

Christmas came way too fast this year, we all weren't ready for it! I went to Christmas Eve service by myself, it's one of my favorite things all year, and it didn't disappoint. As always, we went to Grandma's house for Christmas Eve dinner to meet up with the rest of the family. I had the boys for Christmas Day this year, so I was able to take them home after dinner, and get ready for Santa! Christmas morning went by in a flash, but the boys enjoyed their gifts and I loved watching them opening them. We met up with Katie's other side of the family in the afternoon at Katie's sister's house. Both boys were exhausted on the way home and used me as a pillow (Katie was driving)...haha. We had a great Christmas!

The boys' great-grandparents invite them every year to decorate cookies, and I love this little tradition of theirs. GG and I made the cookies, and while the shapes didn't turn out too well, everyone still enjoyed decorating them. Finn would decorate one cookie, then eat it, then decorate another, eat it again, rinse and repeat. The sugar high is kicking in... We had such a great morning with them, and I hope the boys will have the opportunity for memories like these with them for years to come.