Whew! It's been a busy past few weeks. Lydia and Allie put on a puppet show about the birth of Jesus for FHE. It was pretty cute!
Loren and his dad hung up our cute little hobbit door. It's been so nice! I can already tell a temperature difference downstairs now that the crawl space is sealed off. We're so grateful to Dad for all his help!
Loren's favorite Christmas tradition is watching the Muppets Christmas Carol in Avon with all the family. Lydia was sick so I stayed home with her. I think Allie loved all the attention she got from Uncle Chris.
Loren and I were able to drive down to Farmington with Mom and Dad Peck to go to Aaron Thatcher's funeral. I have never been to a funeral that was so inspiring and testimony building. It had me contemplating all day about my life, my priorities, those people around me I should be serving and what I want my legacy to be. Aaron was a complete saint and made friends with everyone he met. It was truly inspiring to hear and I couldn't help the waterfall of tears fall as I tried to imagine what his sweet family was going through and the hard days ahead they'd have to traverse. It was truly a blessing and privilege to be there.
The Griffiths/Swan Christmas party was on the 23rd. It's one of my favorite traditions. It starts at 3 pm and goes all day. First is a delicious meal of cheesy potatoes, meat, salads and desserts galore. Then it's time for the program. Allie, Lydia and I were going to sing Peace in Christ, but Lydia wasn't feeling the best so we'll have to save it for next year. Mom and Kim played "Sleighride".
After the program it was Nativity time! Allie was big enough to participate this year and loved being up with all the kids. She wanted to be a cow, it was pretty cute!
Lydia made a beautiful angel.
Sarah caught this classic Lydia face. Thanks to her, the girls had their hair done for the day since Loren and I were at Aaron's funeral in the morning. To give Lydia a little credit, she wasn't feeling well but it was pretty funny nonetheless.
After the Nativity was Bingo! This is the craziest part of the night with people stealing presents left and right. It's a hoot to watch!
I didn't think the girls were going to make it to see Santa, they were both really tired and grumpy, but somehow we did. Lydia again asked for colored pencils and a coloring book while Allie asked for candy. Those are my girls!
On Christmas Eve we were supposed to go to the Rigby's for the progressive dinner but the girls were sick with terrible coughs, fevers and congestion. Instead we had our first Christmas Eve together as a family with Panda Express and The Grinch. It was actually pretty fun to be together, even through the coughs and sniffles.
I walked into Lydia's room that night to grab some medicine for Allie and found her wide awake at 3:30 am. It seems she was too excited to sleep! I think she was up most the night but finally fell asleep around 5:30 and slept until 8:30 Christmas morning. It felt a little strange to be waiting for her to wake up. Allie was in pretty bad shape when she woke, but after some medicine she was able to hold it together. Here's our traditional waiting-on-the-stair picture!
The girls were so excited! When I was younger there were years that my dad didn't get anything for Christmas. I used to wonder how he could stay so happy, excited and positive through the day even though there were no presents for him. I think I'm coming to understand that now. Christmas with kids is magical and you really don't need anything to enjoy the excitement and happiness of the morning.
That's a lot of Santa's. He must have broken his back getting that inside!
Lydia was thrilled with her coloring book, pencils, Elena of Avalor busy book and I Am a Child of God necklace.
Allie got the same except a Disney Princess busy book. She's obsessed with those princesses and carries them everywhere, even to bed!
Mine and Loren's haul. Loren gave me a BEAUTIFUL new Kate Spade purse. I have to thank Sarah too as she helped Loren pick it out. I'm in love! I got Loren a new music stand that hopefully won't topple over. We were spoiled with some amazing gifts and money. We have the best family.
This was the big gift this year. A new doll house! I wasn't expecting it to be so huge, Allie can't even reach the top floor! The girls were ELATED and have been playing with it non-stop. My favorite part is the flushing toilet. So fun! Not sure how Santa will top this next year...
After Christmas was Loren's birthday! To be honest, it was kind of a hard day for him as he had a stressful day at the office. So we didn't do much of anything on his real birthday. But the day after we went to Olive Garden to celebrate his day and our Anniversary on the 30th. It's been a wonderful seven years! When we told our waiter what we were there for, he gave us a free dessert. I have never eaten anything so amazing. This brownie lasagne was to die for. I'd say it was appropriate for the occasion!
The parties kept rolling as we celebrated all the December birthdays with the Pecks with a "Chopped" competition. Loren and I are definitely the weak link of cooks in the family. We had the appetizer with an artichoke, salami, refrigerated biscuit dough, and ricotta cheese. We had never cooked an artichoke before and it came out.. well.. I don't think it's quite our thing. We also made mini pizzas topped with parmesan.
Sarah and Maddy let Lydia in on the fun.
At least the kids enjoyed the pizzas.
The highlight of the meal for me was this amazing dish made by Sarah and Maddy. They had chicken nuggets, bell peppers, soy sauce and sweet potatoes. They made a dish like the Sweetfire Chicken at Panda, only it was five times better. I was so impressed and could have eaten the whole thing myself.
Rachel and Jon made an amazing tapioca filled cake with pomegranate frosting. I didn't get a picture but it was pure bliss to eat! The Pecks sure know how to cook, it was a delicious night! Loren and I were so exhausted that we went home and went right to bed at 9:30, even though it was New Years Eve. Actually it felt pretty good to ring in the New Year rested and refreshed the next morning.
New Years Day was spent in Avon playing games like ping pong and Ticket to Ride Germany. We also feasted on this amazingness made by Lindsay. What will we do without her when she leaves on her mission in a month? Maybe I'll shed some pounds. This cookie dough cake was absolutely divine.
We had a wonderful holiday season but I'm excited to be starting a new year and getting back to our schedule. I also hope we can stay clear of any more sickness, it was pretty brutal. I'm excited for all this year has in store and can't wait to make some wonderful memories with family and friends. Here's to 2019!
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