The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the First Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  Red Hair for the Holiday!

I decided it was time for a change and so I slapped on a bit of hair dye.  Sometimes it is a surprise what color will appear when I rinse it off.  This time, my hair happened to be quite red.  Not exactly what I wanted, but festive none the less...

On the Second Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  A Double Date!

We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Tabernacle Choir Concert in Salt Lake City.  Lorna watched our kids while we had a night out with Dax and Monica.  It was fun to chat in the car and the spirit of the program was incredible.  It was one of my favorite productions yet.  All of us had tears in our eyes at one point in time.  It was a great way to get into the spirit of the season.

On the Third Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  A See, Sip, and Sing Party!

Our triple whammy traditional Christmas Party with the Belnap crew was a hit as usual.  We stoped to see the Ogden City Christmas Village first.  It was freezing and we almost lost Gage (terrifying!!!) so we didn't stay long.  But, it was still fun to see all of the colors and, of course, Santa!  Lorna had hot soup and homemade hot cocoa ready for us upon our arrival to their house.  We ate and then sang carols around the piano.  The kids danced and rang jingle bells and sang Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer at the top of their lungs.  I even go to slow dance with a very handsome two year old.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  Four Handy Helpers!

For some reason I was feeling particularly overwhelmed on Sunday.  I think I was too tired from staying up so late and the added prego hormones and discomforts didn't help one bit!  Cord and the kids got busy!  They cleaned the house, made a yummy dinner and set the table so pretty for me while I was away doing Relief Society visits.  The kids were so excited to show me everything they had done when I got back!  I felt so loved.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, the Season Gave to Me:  A Five Person Hug!

We were lucky to have Cord's parents come out to our house for a holiday visit. They scheduled a stop at all of the siblings houses over the holiday for some one-on-one time and to see everyone's decorations.  The kids were very excited to have Granny B and Grandpa come play.  We had a yummy dinner - Cord grilled steaks - and then we did a craft and opened some early presents.  Cord's parents are very good at making the kids feel loved!  It was a great night.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  Six Book Club Buddies!

I am not very good at making friends, so I feel very lucky to have my book club buddies that I get together with once a month.  I so enjoy talking and laughing with friends.  It is a night I look forward to for sure.  Cindee and I made a whole slew of headbands to give to our friends as gifts for Christmas.  We figured they were cute and had zero calories!  I took the evening to visit my friends briefly and to deliver their small little gift. How lucky we are to live in such a great neighborhood.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me: My Seventh UPS Delivery!

I pretty much made Amazon.com my homepage on the computer this month.  Thank heavens for Free Super Saver Shipping!  I love online shopping and it totally saved me from fighting the crowds and sneaking around trying to shop with kids.  I am sure the UPS man was cursing me after making his seventh and eighth delivery to my house.  :)  But, I was sure happy to get brown boxes on my porch almost daily!  So fun.

On the Eight Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  Eight more Baby Appointments!

I always love going to see the Baby Doc to hear our little man's heart beat.  He is growing like a weed and my belly is feeling like it can "shake when I laugh like a bowl full of jelly!"  I am getting so excited to meet him in just a few more weeks.  I have eight more scheduled appointments before his big debut (unless he comes early, which wouldn't be too bad...hint, hint.)  Can't believe I am going to have a tiny baby to hold and rock and kiss and love.  What better gift could there be?

On the Ninth Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  A Nine Person Family!

Well...I don't know if you can call Build-A-Bear's people, but we did add three animals to our family on Friday.  My parents decided that instead of doing traditional gifts on Christmas Morning that they would instead have an "experience day" with each of our families to create a memory and have some one-on-one time with their grand kids.  We got to go to Build-A-Bear at the Gateway.  The kids had fun picking out their bear and slipping in it's tiny heart.  Natalie could not decide on what beautiful sparkly outfit to pick for her Hello Kitty.  I think she changed her mind every five minutes!  After our adventure in the city, we went back to my parents house and had dinner and then the kids made cookies and decorated them.  I am lucky enough to spend a lot of time each week with my mom and dad, and feel so blessed that my kids know their Grandma and Grandpa so well.  They love going to visit and always have so much fun.  I love my mom and dad to bits and pieces!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  Ten High School Buddies!

We had a shindig with Cord's buddies from High School on Saturday night.  It was fun to catch up with old friends.  We did a white elephant exchange and had some goodies.  Rachelle was nice to watch our kids so Cord and I could have a night out together!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  Eleven Family Parties!

Well...that is what the words were to our Dennis Family traditional "make up new words to the Twelve Days of Christmas song game."  (Try to say that sentence five times fast!)  We had our Dennis Family party up at Ryan and Eva's place on Sunday.  We stuffed ourselves on delicious food and got a nice surprise when my little bro Jake walked in the door!  We didn't think he was going to be in town until Monday night, but he sneaked in on an early flight to surprise us all and to participate in the fun.  It is always nice to have Jakey around.  The kids got a kick out of decorating gingerbread boys and my mom even made some GIRL gingerbreads  this year.  We attempted to sing some carols and the kids got silly walking like ducks!  Sweet little Natty got sick with a fever, so we had to sneak out a bit early.  But, it is easy to say that a good time was had by all.

On the Twelth Day of Christmas the Season Gave to Me:  Libby's List for our Christmas Eve Party!

We were going to go to Cindee's house for Christmas Eve, but since Natty was still sick, we thought it best to say home and let her get better.  So, Libby made a fantastic list of things for use to do at our own Christmas Eve Party.  We pretty much did them all!  We decorated gingerbread houses, ate pizza, listened for bells, watched our outdoor Christmas lights turn on at dusk, made cookies for Santa and fed his Reindeer, had a puppet show for our cute neighbor Linda,  watched for the Grinch, made paper airplanes, drove through the neighborhood to see the lights, and read a Christmas story.  Not too shabby!  It was fun to have some down time with the people I love very most in the whole wide world.  The kids fell asleep by about 8:45 so Cord and were able to get things looking festive for the morning and hopped into bed at a pretty decent hour.  Setting up the gifts has got to be one of a parent's most exciting and special tasks.  I had a hard time sleeping because I was so excited to see the magic of Christmas morning! 

And what a magic day it was...