Happy Birthday Mr. Stannix

Today we celebrated Mike's birthday! He worked for a few hours in the morning while I made his cake and tidied up a little bit. Shortly before lunch we took a trip to the city to pick up some things and grab lunch together. Lily and Sawyer tagged along and were excited about their Happy Meals, while Mr. Stannix and I enjoyed Vietnamese. 

When we got back to town, I went to the school to pick up Camilla and a friend and run them to Caroline for the clinic. Then I came home to pick up Fin and Ollie for their parent teacher interviews. When we had finished those, I ordered and picked up BP's for dinner as requested! I got home, quickly iced the cake, and called everyone in for dinner.

Happy birthday to our favorite Daddy who works so hard to juggle his responsibilities with his family, church service, and running a successful business. We are so grateful for the many ways in which he loves and provides each day through it all. Here's to many more adventures ahead together!

 

Christmas Baking

I am very slowly getting a head start on some Christmas baking. Along with a few dozen ginger cookies, I now have a few dozen shortbread cookies in my freezer as well. If I can bake something every day, then we usually have a nice variety to fill tins for our friends at Christmas time!

 

Full Moon

Thanks to last nights full moon, Lily was in my bed not once, not twice, but three times. The silver moonlight pouring in the windows made it easy for me to navigate my way to her bedroom through sleepy eyes. She sat on my bump, wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist each time I carried her back to her bed. She's still struggling with her cough, especially at night, so I made sure she got a drink of water each time. She would whisper "wuv you Mom", turn over and go back to sleep. 

Thankfully Mr. Stannix was really tired. Not even Lily's coughing stopped him from snoring peacefully. 

Light

Today was a day of relishing in different kinds of light...

The Christmas tree always gets turned on early in the morning and enjoyed for quite a while.

I caught this sunset on my way into town to pick up kiddos.

And enjoyed this sight upon returning home.

 

Deck the Halls

Today we had a great Sunday morning (and I can't say that happens often). The children all slept in after our late night out last night, and there was minimal fighting. For the first time in forever I was able to shower and get ready for church while they slept. 

Lily wore one of her new dresses from H&M. She has many short sleeved Summer type dresses, but not many warmer Winter dresses. I just had to snap a picture of her and her big sis before we left for church!

After dinner, we lugged up our new tree and called my parents over to decorate with us. Mr. Stannix made sure to go big, and we now have a 12ft tree in our living room. It might take us a few days to sort out the furniture situation as the tree took the place of our couch.

 

The big kids were a huge help fluffing out the branches and getting it looking pretty.

The little ones played with the nativity sets and santa hats while they waited to decorate.

Joe was a big help securing the cords (that ended up later breaking) to keep the tree sturdy.

I had to grab a shot of Mike and his girls!

Sonny also joined us for a little bit (until it got too chaotic and everyone started tripping over each other).

This little lady knows all about ladders and loved climbing to the tippy top of this extra tall ladder. 

She wasn't feeling too hot and ended up falling asleep in her big sisters arms shortly after this pic was taken.

Sawyer is such a little elf and expressed so much excitement over finally being able to decorate the tree! He was so happy to put the "bells" on the tree.

This little lady slept through the entire decorating process. Daddy was happy to snuggle her while Camilla helped us out!

Hyrum put the star on this year and was able to get it just right.

We also enjoyed some festive rice krispy squares to keep our spirits bright. The kids started loosing steam near the end.

I am grateful for this Christmas season, to contemplate my relationship with the Saviour and what it means for me.

Sawyer searched his jammie drawer for the perfect Christmas pajamas. He couldn't wait to show us all at bedtime!

After the littles were tucked into bed and the furniture was arranged and the house was still, Camilla and I spent a few minutes tidying up the livingroom together. She wanted it to be perfectly cozy for morning scripture study. I was feeling so tired, and so grateful for her help! We enjoyed the low lighting and soft Christmas music while Sonny chewed his toy and hung out on the rug. 

Just as we were finishing up, Lily came out of her bed, fever burning, and cozied up on the couch. Her sister read her a few stories before finally going down to bed herself. It was quite late, and we had an early morning. 

I waited for the bread to come out of the oven, took some pictures of Lily sweetly resting, and then scooped her up and tucked her into bed.

This was such a beautiful sight to end the day to.

The Parade of Lights

Today we took the children into the Nativity display to sing with the other primary kids their age. They did such a great job! Lily was so cute standing up there with them. She doesn't know many of the words, but she loves copying the actions of the music leader as they sing. I was able to get a couple videos and I will forever smile at them. After helping clean up the Nativity display at the church with a few other people from the ward, we spent a quiet afternoon at home. The littles played outside in the snow, and I tidied the house. 

 

The evening brought us spontaneously to Mike's office to catch the parade of lights! Typically we aren't able to watch it because of scheduling conflicts, so we figured we had better take advantage of our free evening. It also gave the children something fun to do this evening. When a friend texted to say they were going too, we invited them to join us at the office as well. It was so nice to be warm and cozy, sipping hot chocolate as we waited over an hour for the parade to finally make it to main street. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather! Some of the littles had chilly hands near the end, but for the most part, we all stayed warm and cozy. The children all got some candy and glowsticks from the floats and were happy to have participated! 

 

The Nativity

Tonight after the boys hockey game, we took the whole family over to the church to check out the Nativity display. This is always a fun way to kick off the Christmas season, being reminded of the true meaning of Christmas - Christ. They quietly walked around and looked at the many displays on the tables while listening to Christmas hymns being softly played on the piano. As I followed, I was able to witness a tender moment between Fin and Sawyer. Fin asked Sawyer if he knew who was who in each display. When Sawyer couldn't tell him all of the answers, Fin took a second to explain all about Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus and why we celebrate Christmas. It was such a sweet moment that I will always cherish, the two of them standing side by side, quietly talking and pointing at the display. Once we had looked at everything, we stopped by the refreshment table for some cookies and hot chocolate. It was a great end to the week!