Merry Christmas!

We had an interesting Christmas this year. We left on the 23rd to go to St. Louis so we could spend Christmas Eve with the Pettits and the Pfeiffers. On the way there Cole threw up. I thought he was car sick. When we got to the Pettits he threw up again. That night I woke up with stomach pains. A little later Ellie woke up and puked. A little after that Dax woke up and puked. Cole was feeling better by morning and Ben was ok, so they hung out with everyone while Ellie, Dax and I were quarantined upstairs. We slept most of the day and puked the rest of it. When the puking stopped we packed up and headed home. Ben gave me a blessing when we got home and I know that's the only way I was able to enjoy Christmas!

Christmas morning was exciting for half of us :) Cole was super excited and woke us all up. Ellie was pretty lethargic and not excited about anything, poor girl.

Cole and Dax had a lot of fun playing. Cole especially loved his Airport lego set from Grandma and Grandpa Coombs! Once Ellie got a nap she was feeling a little better and enjoyed her presents. I slept most of the day, which is why there are hardly any pictures. 

It's a good thing we celebrated multiple days this year! Our kids got spoiled with so many presents this year because of the tornado! It seems like every day someone was trying to give them presents :) It was a fun year...even if we were sick on the actual day!

Pre-Christmas

Elder Grandpa and Sister GG stopped by our house on their way to Toronto Canada for their second mission! They got here just in time for Ben and I to go to a Christmas party with the radiology residents. We had a fun night out, and the kids had a super fun night with GG and Grandpa Green! They made a gingerbread train, played games, and watched a movie...and Dax fell asleep cuddling with Grandpa :)

The next day we decided to have a little Christmas with GG and Grandpa before they had to leave. Cole played Santa and Ellie was his helpful elf as they put presents from GG and Grandpa under the tree. When Ben got home from work we had a Christmas dinner and then it was time for presents! 

  

 

We had a fun pre-Christmas with GG & Grandpa!

Preschool Concert

Ellie had her preschool concert today! Her little class sang three super cute songs. Ellie has been practicing them for weeks now and teacher said she is one of the few in the class that actually sings when they practice. It sure didn't seem like it today though. El got stage fright and barely sang as she twisted back and forth, refusing to do any of the choreography. It was still pretty cute though :)

I took a movie of the performance while wrestling Dax so I didn't get any still pics. I did finally manage to get some pics on Santa's lap though! We have seen Santa at least 4 times and I keep forgetting to get a pic. This is a cute one, and the one with Dax is perfect because that is what he did with every Santa we saw-cried and tried to get off his lap :)

Bass Pro Shop Wonderland

Last year we discovered the fun that Bass Pro Shop has to offer at Christmas time. So for FHE we ventured over to the one here in East Peoria. Unfortunately, the line for Santa was two hours long so we didn't get to see Santa. We still enjoyed all the other fun things they had to offer though. The kids had a lot of fun playing with the toy train, shooting the bow and arrow at the ducks, playing on all the boats and four wheelers, and doing the craft. The favorite activity though was the carousel:

I love the Christmas season!!

Snow fun!!

We had our first big snow storm of the year! It's not the first time it snowed, but it's the first time it's snowed enough to play in :) The kids were so excited...even though it was freezing!!! I wasn't really excited about going out in the cold so I made Cole and Ellie wait for Dax to take a nap to go out and I watched from inside the house...at first.

Ellie had to put on every warm pink thing she could find, and Cole had to have a face mask so he wore his storm trooper mask :) 

 The kids had a lot of fun making and throwing snow balls, and then making snow angels!

 They decided they wanted to make a snow bear instead of a snowman. They came running in frustrated and begging for help after a few minutes. I decided to be a good mom and go out to help them. Then I realized why they were so frustrated-the snow was more icy than powdery. It was really hard to get it to stick together in the shape of a ball. We did our best and managed a baby snowbear :) The kids were pretty proud so I guess it was a success!

After we warmed up with some hot chocolate the kids were ready to head back out. I decided to keep up the good mom facade and take Dax out to play as well. I'm glad I did because he loved it! He had a blast which made it fun for me too. It's amazing how these kids can help me enjoy things that I normally wouldn't. They sure bring a lot of joy into my life!!

Lamb Chop

Lamb Chop came to visit us this weekend. He belongs Ellie's preschool and visits each of the children. This weekend was our turn. So we made sure we had a super fun weekend :) We went shopping, to the new Disney move "Frozen", to our ward Christmas party to see Santa, to church, and enjoyed playing and reading with us at home. It was a fun visit for the kids!