Christmas Eve!

It was still stupid cold outside and we needed some way to get the kids out of the house and off screens. Thankfully we have awesome friends and we all arranged a Christmas Eve fun fest at the church that afternoon. There were Nerf bow & arrows, a full on Nerf war using tables as covers, and there was Montano's graduation celebration! Did I use leftover wedding cake to make her celebratory cake? Possibly.  

Yay for finishing Dead People School! (aka anthropology)

This year I got smart and did the Christmas Eve gifts right after dinner.

Way better than waiting until after all the evening festivities are done and kids are exhausted:

Cute jammies from Grandma Cathy

Elijah investigating his train book (huge hit):

Catherine with her favorite genre of book: the book full of random facts:

And then on to the Nativity!

Joseph (Catherine), Elise (Mary), and donkey (Timmy) heading to Bethlehem

Angel Katie appears to the shepherds

Shepherd Elijah appears to Angel Katie

The Wisest of Seths, Aarons, and Jasons

Singing carols

A collection of Christmas Eve Bloods

Joseph, Mary & Jesus

Baby Jesus with his gifts bears a stunning resemblance to Baby Elsa.

I love getting to have family here for Christmas. It was so fun to have a house full! 

Kalahari with the Bloods

Because we are crazy and don't know how to take a day off, the day after the wedding we loaded up all the family and headed to Kalahari indoor waterpark. We've done this before with the Bloods and had a blast, so everyone was excited to get a chance to go again. This time we opted for two nights instead of one so we had a bit more time to enjoy everything. 

In true Kalahari tradition, I was up with Elise in the hallway at 6 am since she was sniffling and waking people up. Not my favorite way to start the day, but I've come to accept my fate by now.  

I didn't take any pictures inside the park since I never have my phone with me, but we all had so much fun. I even did all the high thrill slides this time, which was my goal. Mornings we'd spend with the littles at the park (occasionally swapping out so parents could go on big slides). But after dinner the adults would all go to the park while the kids played on screens. Even standing in line was so much fun because we could chat. 

And, of course, the "feed the masses while in hotel rooms" was extra fun as well! 

Tiny hotel room with no table for eating + lots of Bloods = basically this

Timmy still really, really loves photos.

Normally we'd spend our last morning in the park, but the weather looked scary for the drive home. Winter storm Elliott was coming in with crazy cold temperatures and wind. Thankfully the drive was fine, but Elizabeth's flight was cancelled. She didn't make it home until late Christmas Eve. We also ended up getting to keep Joanna and Rayne through Christmas, which was extra fun for us! 

Sleepy Elijah driving home.

Still not sure how we got the small car and 

Aaron & Ashley ended up with the van (and two of our kids).

Good thing they like us.

Hopefully we'll get the chance to do this again with the Bloods one day!

Jacob & Natalie's Wedding

Jacob and Natalie decided to get married in the DC Temple, which meant we ALL got to go! We also got to host a lot of Bloods, which was also the best. What's the point in having this stupid big house if we don't get to fill it with people?

Aaron & Ashley & Mom were our first arrivals (after some insanity involving stupid DC airport traffic and having to go straight to the ward party). Aaron was thrilled to have his bestest buddy Elliot around. Elliot was apparently not thrilled to have a temporary big brother named Seth: 

Their sealing wasn't until later in the evening, so we did all the wedding stuff first. Step one was the official pictures (which I don't have). Jacob and Natalie asked Elise to be a flower girl, so she got to be in many of the pictures. What we didn't count on was how bitterly cold it would be! She technically had long sleeves, but they were just lace. Poor kid was freezing (as were the rest of us). After pictures some people headed to the reception hall to help set up, while the rest of us played games in the Visitors Center:

Skyjo and Sleeping Queens happening here

Then it was reception time!

The (Jonny) Blood kids all fancied up

Flower girl Elise with her flower crown.

Did I save the dress and crown for her baptism in 14 months?

Absolutely.

The full Elise

Timmy was starving and the only food available was Katie.

Handsome Jonny Blood with photobombing Catherine.

Me & The Stink (who was amazingly cooperative for the whole ordeal)

Elise was extremely nervous about her role as one of the flower girls.

I promised her that everyone would just think she was perfect no matter what.

But she still didn't make eye contact as she tossed rose petals:

Did get a bit of a smile, though!

The ceremony was beautiful and included a really fun slideshow of both sets of twins growing up (Natalie is also a twin). We also got to hear Natalie (in full wedding dress) play saxophone in a jazz band, which raised her stats considerably in Catherine's eyes. 

Triple Trouble: Elise, Annie, Katie

Timmy, the official Blood Family Wedding Orator

Then it was back to the temple for the sealing!

Catherine loved the beautiful lights:

(despite what it looks like, she asked me to take this)

We might have been a little late since we left coats at the reception and had to go back, but we made it! Attending sealings is one of the most beautiful experiences. Jacob and Natalie are a beautiful match and we are so lucky to have them in our family. 

We didn't actually stick around to do the whole "greet them as they leave the temple" thing because it was really late and we still had to drive back home and put kids to bed. But I did steal this picture from someone else who did stay!

It was such a lovely day and we are so happy to have a Natalie in the Blood clan!

Aaron's Handiwork

 

Apparently being in school makes Aaron think of sad Norwegian sharks.

This was the point that I started to think maybe public school wasn't going to work out for Aaron:

Yep. 50% on his math essay.

MATH. ESSAY.

Literally the stupidest assignment I've ever seen, and I've seen many.

Thankfully he didn't care at all.

More Aaron art:

I call this piece "One of these things is not the like the other things."

It's like a puzzle!

Which one doesn't belong and why?

Defend your answer!

(Alex, Andrew, Paul, Luke, Kamaha'o, Aaron, Kili'ohu)

Aaron has the BEST Primary leaders. 

Bro. and Sis. DeFord took them to a trampoline park and it was amazing. Aaron got a bit overwhelmed by the noise in the van driving home. Sis. DeFord noticed his discomfort and handed him her headphones. She's wonderful, and she thinks Aaron is just the best. I agree wholeheartedly. 

Elijah's December

 

Elijah living his best life with the Knoxes' cat Zara

(Sister McClure and Hermana Robles helping Elijah make crafts)

Elijah is frequently the only one in nursery.

He doesn't mind because it just means he get all the construction vehicles.

He is very not looking forward to Sunbeams and zero toys in January.

My friend Tessa is the best and she ADORES Elijah. She homeschools her two girls and we've been able to have them come play a couple of times while she had appointments. One Friday Emma Knox asked me to come visit her, but Jon was working and Elijah was too young. I asked Tessa if she could watch Elijah that day. Despite the fact that she had a work party for her husband and and ice skating party after, she INSISTED on taking Elijah and swore she was thrilled to have him. I thought she was totally insane, but Paul, her husband, promised me that she was actually really looking forward to it. And so Elijah got to be a Hendrickson for an afternoon:

At Paul's work party

Playing catch with Faith

Tiny dolls with Faith

At the skate rink

I am so grateful for wonderful friends who love my kids like their own. Elijah had a blast, plus he now loves Tessa (which was her goal all along). He's pretty attached to me and kind of hesitant around other people, so she's very excited that he will now willingly hang out with her. 

An Elijah story:

We had a cardboard box hanging around the house and Catherine was pushing Elijah around in it. After a few rounds, Catherine said it was her turn in the box. Elijah obligingly hopped out and tried to push her. After a few moments he gave up in frustration and yelled, "I can't do it! I'm too medium!" (He doesn't want to be little anymore, but he knows he isn't big. So 'I'm a medium guy' is his compromise). 

My baby is not much of a baby anymore...

Holiday Fun

Starting December off right: with two babies in my lap!

(Elise wasn't feeling well and Elijah doesn't share well)

Elise and her neighbor friend Greyson at his birthday party.

She really likes Greyson and he seems to feel the same.

Aaron and Talia playing games at Faith Hendrickson's birthday party.

I hate Chuck E. Cheese but the kids thought it was pretty awesome!

Fun mix of church and co-op friends at Faith's party!

For Christmas this year we took the YW to a singing Christmas tree at a local church.

We had heard amazing things about it and were very excited:

Catherine, Jenny, Brie & me waiting for it to start

The tree full of singers!

It really was so cool!

But...it just. kept. going. 

30-45 minutes would have been perfect.

By an hour we were here:

Dying of boredom.

It was NINETY MINUTES LONG.

God bless all those people who brought their little ones.

The YW barely survived.

More Christmas fun: decorating cookies at the elementary school!

Seth and Catherine came to volunteer, but there were so many helpers that they weren't needed.

So they just roamed awkwardly around the halls. 

And, of course, the ward party!

Faith, Rachel, Talia, Elise, Luke, Noelle

December is always crazy, but so many good times with friends and family.

Catherine Growing Up

 

I asked Catherine to help make the gift certificate for my parents' Christmas gift.

Please note the "some cooking classes. Idk." 

Classic Catherine.

Andrew, Alex, Sarah, Catherine, Talia

At the "you're coming into YM/YW" meeting after church.

She's SOO excited to be done with Primary!

Catherine's first middle school band concert!

She did such a great job!

Catherine with her clarinet 

(used to be Grandma Cathy's clarinet)

Catherine has been diligent with her schoolwork and earned straight As!

I'm especially proud since she is in the highest math class (pre-algebra).

She is thriving at middle school.

Apparently this was the PERFECT chocolate covered pretzel she made.

It had to be documented.

Catherine's shelf of treasures.

The place of honor is given to the Iserts' spoon from England.

Catherine with a kazoo.

And a handbell.

And probably some other way to make noise in the other hand.

Sigh.

Last day of Primary!

Sarah, Sis. Hendrickson, Catherine, Talia, Andrew.

Catherine's current favorite activity is a form of Elijah torture. She discovered the trick where you tuck your thumb under and it looks like you're pulling your thumb apart. She showed it to Elijah and he freaked out. So now, of course, she tries to do it whenever she can. Stinker. 

I'm excited for Catherine to get to move up into teenage world. She's been ready for a long time. I'm a bit concerned about her being able to find peers at church, but I think she'll be content even if she doesn't have a best friend at church.