Pre-Christmas Moments

For the first time in 17 years, our ward didn't put on a live outdoor nativity, and instead had a traditional Christmas party.  The boys were excited when they got picked to be in the children's nativity for that night.  Wesley was THE CUTEST innkeeper in the world.   I was mad I didn't video his acting job as he shook his head that there was no room, but then guided Mary and Joseph to the stable. Priceless.

 Dillon played a pretty good wise man as well.  They were both so excited to be involved.

 All the kids did such a great job!

 Aaron and I also got to sing some traditional Austrian Christmas folk songs with an Austrian sister in our ward. I kind of butchered the German, but still had a lot of fun pretending to know what I was singing about :)

 I helped with Dillon's Holiday party at school. Fun to get to know the kids better and see Dillon interact with his classmates.

 A little elf found our house this year. The kids named him Eddy.

 A few days before we left for Idaho, he brought this note, letting us know one present would be arriving early.

The next day, this was waiting for the boys.

They were pretty excited to get downstairs to see what Eddy brought.

 Inside the packages they found the book "Polar Express" and a model train to go around the tree.

 Dillon was so excited!  This is actually what he asked Santa for, but it'll be a present the whole family will enjoy every holiday season.

  I have lots of catching up to do, so bear with me as I work to get up to date.  Happy New Year to everyone!

Brittany and Luke: Part 4

I'm going to try to squeeze the rest of their visit into one last post.

The day after Thanksgiving was the annual Holly Days Parade in our little village. Both boys rode on floats. I snapped a quick shot of Dillon on the Cub Scout float...

 ...and then hopped on the Santa float with Wesley.  It was really cold, so we ran home to warm up with caramel apple cider!

 The next day, we made one last outing with Brittany and Luke -- Garfield Conservatory.

 It may be my new favorite free indoor spot in Chicago.  Such a great place to go on a chilly day.  It's nice and toasty inside and everything is alive -- unlike the world around it.

 LOVE these two together!

 The boys could have watched these fish forever.

 Luke really does get the uncle of the year award!

 The whole place was lush with everything green.

 Afterward we went to Portillos so Britt and Luke could experience a real Chicago Dog!

 Then back to the house to start setting up the tree!

 Children really do make Christmas magical.  I love it.

The last highlight of the visit from our sibs was being able to sing with them in church.  It's so fun to be doubley related.  It really helps with the blend.  We sang an arrangement of "For the Beauty of the Earth"  and had so much fun putting it together.  Thanks for coming you two.  And thanks for singing with us.  What a great week!!  We love you!

Brittany and Luke: Part 3 - Thanksgiving

I always enjoy hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  The night before Brittany helped me make pies.

 I was pretty proud of my first homemade apple pie!

 We got going early the next morning, working on the rolls.  We had some great little helpers.

 While the rolls were rising, the boys headed out for a bike ride to the park.

 It was 60 degrees!

 I discovered we had too many things in the oven so my sweet neighbor came to the rescue. Brittany and I ran back and forth between her house baking our rolls in her oven.  What an awesome friend!!

 Here's the head Chef checking on Tom Turkey.

 And here's another little chef who helped out.

 We put together a pretty good spread.

 The double brother sisters!

 Aaron sure makes a cute carver.

 Our friends joined us to make it a real party.

 I love these two together.

 And these two!

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving day filled with family and friends.  I'm so grateful for both of those.  We had a little Thanksgiving devotional and read about the 10 lepers being healed and the one that returned to give thanks. 

Afterward we each of us shared something for which we are grateful.  I said I was grateful for Aaron, so much so, that I had an early present for him.   I gave him an envelope with his itinerary and tickets to fly to Salt Lake to see Alfie Boe with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Aaron LOVES Alfie, ever since we heard him sing with the 25th Anniversary of Les Mis.  He is such a talented tenor and will be an incredible guest with the MoTab!  Aaron has even jokingly referred to him as his "boyfriend!"  I think Aaron liked his early Christmas gift.  He kind of choked up.

    The concert is this weekend, so I'll be flying solo while he enjoys some time with his family and his boyfriend!  I love you Aaron! Have a great weekend!  Merry Christmas Darling!

Brittany and Luke: Part 2 - Day in the City

We were blessed with super warm temps for November so we headed to the city to see it on foot.

 The train ride is always a highlight when we go into the city.

(Sorry I didn't crop some of these)

 Caleb LOVES Luke.  So fun to watch them together throughout the week.

 Brothers

 After a stop at Aaron's office, and Naf Naf Grill for some Mediterranean food, we headed to the Christkindlmarket a.k.a. The German Christmas Market.

 I love browsing all the little shops.  I got a cute little rocking horse ornament to add to our collection.

 The line to get into Santa's House wasn't so bad, so we did it.  I was looking forward to hearing what the boys really want for Christmas, so I was disappointed when Wesley's response was, " I haven't decided yet."  How is Santa supposed to start working on his present if he doesn't know what he wants?!

 Dillon wants an expensive Polar Express train set.  Ummm, Santa might have a hard time with that one too!

 From the market, we continued our walking tour of the city, passing the awesome decorations at Macey's.

 The window displays are always so fun.

 Then onto The Bean at Millennium Park.  Obviously Brittany is used to posing with her husband....ha!

 My boys LOVED having their aunt and uncle here!

 Wesley was too busy jumping around doing Karate moves to get in this picture!

 We walked up Michigan Ave to my favorite spot in the city and then the lovebirds headed out to Navy Pier and I headed to the water Taxi with the boys so we could get back to the train and head home.  My crew wasn't up for another 3 miles of walking :)

 Bummed this pic didn't turn out better.  You get the idea!

 Not real sanitary, but kind of cute.

Great day in the city.  Thankfully Aaron was able to join me on the train ride home with three crazy, I mean awesome, boys.  We love CHICAGO!!!!