Always an Adventure

Our car broke down not once but twice on our way to Vegas.  The second time we broke down it was in a spot with no cell phone service.  Luckily we didn't have the kids with us, and luckily a sweet couple saw us walking down the interstate, pulled over and gave us a ride into town.  We had the car towed to a shop in Mesquite.  Hopefully someone will be able to fix it tomorrow.

Jenny came to the rescue and drove us the rest of the way to Vegas.  We made it for the 2nd half of the 2nd half of the Whitman game.  Grateful for good people who were willing to help.

Day 2:  waiting for it to get fixed so we can get on with life.

Hours later:  they installed a defective alternator so they had to go get another one and try again.  We got cozy on the sidewalk.  They don't have any kind of waiting area. 

My Handsome Little Date

Lego Ninjago movie 

Free Zoo Day

Q loves the gorillas

Reyn loves being in pictures

Shopping, Star Wars and Sewing

Star Wars in style 

Santa brought a sewing machine 

He Did It!

Ben came home from the gym this morning and recited the final paragraph of The Living Christ.  He did it, he memorized the whole thing!  Love him!

Snow Fort

The girls spent hours working on this sweet snow fort...

Merry Christmas

Before we went to bed we placed our "baby Jesus" in the spotlight so that the first thing the kids would see in the morning was Him.  We knew He would be forgotten as soon as we started opening gifts.  

The kids woke up sometime in the 5am hour to see what Santa had brought.  They let Ben and I sleep until 7:30, thank you kids!  The next several hours were filled with gift giving, cinnamon rolls, lots of treats, and every kid needing help setting up something they received.  Then it was time to clean up and get everything ready for Christmas dinner.  3 dinners here in 3 days, exhausting.   

At the end of the night sweet Qyntn brought me a present.  He had been working on it for days and had forgotten to give it to me.  He has the sweetest little heart.  Holly delivered me a thoughtful little note too.   It was a great way to end Christmas.

Christmas Eve

I loved having Christmas Eve on Sunday.  It was such a beautiful thing for Ben and I to sing with the choir at church.  Our rendition of Joy to the World was awesome.  It set the perfect mood for a celebration of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In the evening we were joined by Nick and Tiffany and Sam and Anne.  We enjoyed a lovely prime rib dinner followed by games, singing, Mickey's Christmas Carol, a "strong" redition of the nativity, an invitation for our kids to come unto Christ through reading and possibly memorizing "The Living Christ," Christmas pjs, some boom whacking and dominoes.  For me, it was a perfect Christmas Eve.

The Present Game

Every year we have the Julien family Christmas party on the 23rd because it is my mom's birthday.  And every year we do another family holiday favorite...the present game.  I think we all came home with something we liked this year.

P.S.  it was a rough birthday for my mom.  She fractured her spine early in the week and couldn't really join us for the party. 

HOT Dang

We hit up Crystal Hot Springs again today.  It's pretty incredible that we can go swimming outside in 30° weather.  It was so nice and relaxing to lay around in the hot hot water. 

The Best Christmas Present!

It makes me so happy that the girls are taking piano lessons again.  We went to their recital today and they did great!  It was about the best Christmas present they could give me.

Christmas Tradition

Every year we give the kids 5 bucks to spend on christmas presents for a sibling.  We have them draw names to see who they will get.  Then we head to the dollar store and turn them loose to buy gifts for the person they picked.  For some reason they love this tradition.  It's super simple and it gets them thinking about others for a few minutes each Christmas.

Christmas Card

School Stuff

This month Alyssa and Holly participated in the 6th grade musical, "Dig it."  They each had to make a life size sarcophagus as part of the decorations.

Alyssa has been enjoying student council.  She has fun selling popcorn.

The girls (and I) have been reading a ton for Battle of the Books.  They are not on the same team this year.  Boo!  One of the best books we've read is "Boys in the Boat."  It was excellent!

And today was the science fair!  We've been working on their projects for weeks and I thought they both did a very good job.  Holly's project will be moving on to be judged at district.

Christmas Elves

We asked the kids what they would like to do to #LighttheWorld this year.  They said they wanted to make plates of goodies to secretly leave at the doors of random people.  So, this morning we made orange cream fudge, cookies and chocolate dipped pretzels to distribute.  Dressed as Christmas elves we had fun making the deliveries.

Boomwhacking Holiday Cheer

A few weeks ago Tara asked if our family would put together a little act for a variety show she was involved with.  I wanted to be helpful, but with limited opportunities to get everyone together to practice, I didn't know if there was any way we would be able to pull it off.  Being the good sister that I am, I said yes anyways.  I'm not gonna lie, it was stressful.  We had to threaten, bribe, and otherwise coerce the kids to do it.  Somehow though, it turned out pretty fantastic, a true Christmas miracle.  Our performance was the best we had ever done.  The kids even said it was fun.  We performed "The Lion Sleeps on Christmas Eve" and boomwhacked some holiday cheer into the hearts of our audience.

Brace Face #2

Alyssa is on her way to an even more beautiful smile! 

Family Date Night

We splurged a little and took the family to see the Piano Guys, something I had been wanting to do for years.  The concert was inspiring, uplifting and fun.  We smiled for hours.  I feel so blessed that we had the opportunity to go.  Maybe we will be able to do it again next year!

The Lights at Temple Square

#LighttheWorld 

Ben just had to get a photo all tangled
Up in the orange lights

#Freely Give

Tis the season to #LighttheWorld.  Day 1 invited us to give freely.  The video showed two vending machines set up in Time Square in New York City.  One was a regular vending machine labeled "get".  The other was a special vending machine labeled "give."  Inside there were multiple choices of items to help those in need.  You could pick socks, or medicine, eye glasses, clean water, chickens or a goat that gives milk or many other things.  Instead of getting from the machine, you could pay into the machine and the money would go to the cause you selected.  So awesome!
Well, they shipped that very vending machine back from New York and placed it in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We took the family to see the lights at Temple Square, but went mostly to take the opportunity to visit the "giving machine."  We decided to donate 100 meals for those in need in our local community.  It was another joyous occasion for the entire family as we freely gave. 

Decorations are Up!

We blasted some Christmas Carols, lit a cinnamon/vanilla candle, and spent a lovely evening decorating my parent's house.

Santa

At the ward Christmas breakfast only Qyntn wanted to visit with Santa.  The kids are all getting too grown up.

Taking Shape

Now this is exciting!