Joy

I love the whole spirit of December. 

I love the music, the smells, the excitement. 

I feel it when I look at these pictures....

Oh, he LOVES cookies!



Bry and I got to help at the Festival of Trees again this year.  We love doing this and hope to be able to do it more.  Unfortunately, shortly after we got to the Festival, the flu hit me!  Seriously.  Thankfully I was still able to help out a little and barely made it home in time.  Thanks to our friend Ryan who drove as fast as he could to get us home.....so I didn't have to puke in their nice car!!!



They're going to be best buddies one day.....they just don't know it yet.

Lots of nights chillaxin on the couch.  Our fav.

And why not?  More sickness raging through the house...

Oh boy.  I wonder who the culprit is.  Notice anyone that looks...guilty?



Believe it or not, this is all he did.  This one time.  The rest of the month he left the tree alone.  Sweet!  I'm sure next year will be a different story.  It probably helped that he still isn't walking.  Little stinker.



Date night.  Love this goofball.  Yes, that's what you are.  A Major GOOFBALL!!



Okay, fine.  So now I'm one too.  See what you've done to me?!?!?!?!

I let the kids pull out some of my old decorative trees to use in their rooms this year.  I had some old decorations plus the ornaments I've started collecting for them.  They loved it.  Rett's cracked me up.

My fridge cheered me up this month....  So grateful for that mess.  Bry's running schedule, tumbling schedule, drawings, reading charts......  It's beautiful, isn't it?

A great date day.  He took the day off and went Christmas shopping with me all day.  Even though our furnace was out for 2 days and he had to come home that night and fix it.  The day was good - minus a minor meltdown for Bryan over the style of clothes for Brynlee at Target.  Wow.  That's all I have to say.  You will NEVER live that down Larsen.  Never.

While shopping, we of course had to stop at the Columbia Outlet.  Love that place. 
Even found a little inspiration while trying on clothes.

Enjoyed a few of these.....Mmmm - Caramel Apple Spice.

And this happened once again to my kitchen.....

And then again after this.  Although, we didn't get pictures.  That wall has now been painted 5 times.  It's tan now, and will never be painted again.  I've been warned....

Bry's creation during sacrament meeting one Sunday.  You should've seen his turtle.  The man's got skillz.  Glad I bring toys for the "kids".

He is the master of messes.

Chess games with my boys.  I beat them both.

He's in desperate need for a haircut.  But I just love those curls.

Taught this beauty how to sew.

Bry shot his first geese!  I got a text with this picture.  He was pretty dang excited.  We now have a dead frozen goose in our freezer waiting to be stuffed.....  Anyone hungry?

My kitchen became Santa's workshop.

Sometimes being a brother is better than being a superhero. 
How can you not love that?

One night, I took the kids to the Layton Park lights. 

They completely loved them.  Brody slept through the whole thing...

Made homemade cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls in one day. 
I was "baked out" by the end.

I got to help out at Bryn's class Christmas party.  I love that I get to do those things.

And a great night with this guy.  It had been a crazy week.  I had a few more last minute gifts to sew and I had to teach Relief Society the next day.  He stayed up, sewed for me and helped me with my lesson.  And when we were finished, he sat on the couch and listened to me play the piano until midnight. 
It was a very productive night.



I stood inside and watched him work his tail off shoveling the endless fall of snow.  He even went out back and shoveled a big ol' pile for the kids.  They were excited when they found it the next day.