Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...

Christmas Eve morning we woke up and made a breakfast casserole. We than all got ready and did a little wrapping of some of the gifts we were giving that night to family. We than decided we better mail Cole's letter to Santa so we took him to Gardner Village and while the girls were asleep in the car with Dad. Cole and I walked around and looked at the Elfs and mailed the letter that they take to Santa that night. (we were a little late on getting that letter, but lucky for us that one drop mailbox at Gardner Village gets it to Santa Express).

We than went and got some In and Out for lunch and than headed to our church to set up chairs for church the next day. From there we went straight to The Bush family Christmas Eve Party. Where we ate first with our appliances of Christmas pasts. Than we read from Luke 2 and dressed and acted it out. Than it was on to opening pajamas and the gift exchange! We came home and Cole and Dailey left some oreo cookies out for Santa and Cole spread some reindeer food out ( he got it from a little girl in his class) than we tucked the kids into bed. Dailey and Lucy did not sleep well that night. It wasn't because of the sugar plums dancing in their head either. They have had some bad coughs. Lucky for us we got rid of the fevers a week before but those darn coughs like to linger.

Kevin was so cute he surprised me by renting the Help DVD to watch later that night as we got the last minute stuff done.  

Christmas Morning we woke and opened the Santa gifts and our Stockings. Than we all got ready for church. We had sacrament at 9:00 so we rushed over. We only made it half way through the meeting before we headed home due to the fact that all the kids were coughing on the people right in front of us and I just could not take it any longer. Which is too bad because I really was excited to be at church on Christmas. 

So we came home and opened the rest of our gifts.  We than went to the Grandma and Grandpa Dearden's where we had dinner at 2:00 and than did our gift exchange after. It was really nice!

Than we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Bush's for another dinner and presents.

I really enjoyed Christmas this year. I loved having it on a Sunday. It was fun to play on Friday night we even made homemade peppermint ice cream. Than have Saturday to spend all day together and than Sunday. It was a constant Celebration. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. What a great time to celebrate!

Cousin party with Uncle Jim and Brittany...

On Friday December 23rd Jimmy and his girlfriend Brittany decided to have all the nieces and nephews over to Jim's apartment so the adults could get some last minute things done for Christmas.
It was really cute of them both. Cole and Dailey were way excited. We dropped them off and they had gotten them Pizza, drinks, Chips, and cookies. They played games and watched a movie and even decorated Uncle Jimmy as a Christmas tree. Boy do I need to get a picture of that one.
I thought it was really cute of them to do that!

White Elephant Dinner Party...

We decided this year to do a true white elephant exchange for all the adults in the Bush family. We took our kids to Brian and Janell's house and they watched them for us while we went to dinner at Joy Luck.
Everyone brought fun wrapped presents and after dinner we all got to pick a present. You could steal one or pick one and unwrapped it.
Some of the gifts were:
purse hanger clip
Monkey Butt Powder
Rosy Doll
Gingerbread House
licence plate cover
used gift cards
"jingle"
Oh man I wish I could remember the others they were all so funny. The little "Jingle" gift is a fun one and keeps getting passed around. I will have to see if I can add the video later!

Owen was born...

Amber and Jeff had there 3rd baby. Little Owen was born on December 19th. He is such a cute little baby. He has lots of hair. I am not sure why I don't have a picture of him. It may be because I have had my kids around who have all had coughs. So we have tried to stay away from the cute little guy. But we are so happy for them. Way to go A& J.

ELFEE...

Our Elf, Elfee has been so funny and a little mischievous this Christmas season.
 Here are a few of the places we have found him.
He even made messes in our bathroom with toilet paper. We have had lots of early mornings. The month of December has been one where Cole has been waking up around 6:30am to run out and find where Elfee is, than see what little treat he has left in our stocking, and than get the star.

It has been such a fun thing for us each morning!!

Little Baby Nathan...

Creig and Mindy went in to do an ultrasound to find out the gender of their new baby. They were told that they had miscarried. Since Mindy was 20 weeks pregnant she had to delivery her baby. On Thursday December 8th we went to a graveside burial for little baby Nathan. I got to hold him at the hospital. He was so small and perfect. This was such a sad time. I know they have been wanting another baby for awhile. They are such strong people. I am so grateful for there good examples to me. Miscarriages are hard. I think having to delivery the baby would be Extremely Hard. They have handled it so well even though I am sure that it will continue to be hard for them.
I know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us. I also know that maybe that was his plan for little baby Nathan to come and receive a body and than go back. I also know we go through hard times and than we are able to have empathy for others as they go through their own challenges too. Mindy was so understanding when I went through a miscarriage awhile back.
C& M, We sure love you guys.

Progressive Dinner 2011...

We had our progressive dinner on Sunday December 11th. It was a busy Sunday. We went to Ian Falkner's homecoming at Kev's parents church than visited with them for a little bit than came home and got our food ready for dinner and than took Kevin to the airport for training.
Our first house was Ben and Rachel's for Appetizer where we had little smokies and chips and dip.
Than Our house for Spiral Ham and Scalloped Potatoes.
We than went to Jimmy's apartment and had soup and/or Salad.
Than back to Lizzy's for Peppermint Brownies and Hot Chocolate. Than Our special visitor showed up. Cole was able to be Rudolf for the song and help Santa and Mrs. Clause.
Cole sat on there lap really good and asked for a BB Gun for Christmas. When it was Dailey's turn to sit on Santa's lap she just screamed and would not sit on his lap. When it was Lucy's turn she had fallen asleep and I put her in her car seat to sleep. It was a fun night!