Advent-ures

Honestly, our advent activities this December were a bit more sparse than usual, but we still managed to have some advent-ures.

* We love starting our month off with a visit to our Stake's Celebrate the Nativities Festival.  There is such a special spirit there as we view the nativities from around the world, see artwork of our Savior's life, and contemplate his birth. 

Bryce, who's currently a bit obsessed with helicopters, liked the nativity with propellers on the top best.

 Thane changed his mind 384 times, before deciding on a favorite.

 

 The children's craft room is always a lot of fun.  What's even more fun is having kids who are old enough to do some of the activities on their own!

 

Aubree and Thane submitted their own Christ-centered artwork to be displayed.

 

A highlight this year was an unexpected garden tomb.  As we finished walking down the hallway full of pictures of Christ's life, we turned a corner and were met with an empty tomb.  Talk about putting things into perspective! 

 

Of course we stopped at the cookie room.

And of course we had our yearly family nativity picture taken (so far, all the kids are still willing participants).  This year we were a little heavy on the angels.

* Aubree had the opportunity to be part of a "Christmas Strings" group, consisting of about 75 local, young violinists (I will add that there were a couple violas and cellos, otherwise Aubree chastise me).  This group performed twice at the beginning of December - at a city tree lighting event, and at the Festival of the Nativities.  It was a big deal to be part of the group and required that she memorize 30 minutes worth of Christmas songs.  

The tree lighting was held in the late afternoon on a cold, cold day.  Thankfully, the (relatively light) rain held off just until the kids had begun their performance and were under cover.  The group did a fantastic job, especially since (as Aubree informed me later), their hands were freezing.

Bryce and Thane had wanted to join me at the event.  Perhaps letting them come was a mistake.  About halfway through the performance, Thane was D.O.N.E.  He was so cold he really lost ability to reason.  "We are leaving!" he demanded.  "Go get Aubree, and we are getting in the car!"

 

Aubree loved every second of her time with the Christmas Strings group, which is telling, because she likes being cold about as much as Thane.

 * We had our annual salt dough nativity night.  This year we invited over a family that recently moved to our ward.  We love sharing this tradition with friends! 

Despite the fact that we've done this for YEARS, somehow the nativities of our guests always look significantly better than our own!

 

 * We made some guided drawing art projects.  Thane was completely unsatisfied with his Grinch and refused to let me display it afterwards.  I was most impressed with Graham's results.  He's hit the point where he really is capable of some very big-kid things!

 * We celebrated cousin Piper's 5th birthday!  Piper is such a star.  The girl is a certified Owl-aholic.  I love searching out owl-related items to get for her.  This year we gave her an owl necklace in an owl backpack.  Her reaction was the best... "It's an OWL!!  I LOVE it!  It's just what I wanted!"

Later, she came over to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and said, "last year, you gave me owl pajamas, and this year you gave me an owl necklace.  You always get me owl things, and I just love them so much.  Thank you!"

Excuse me while I go find more owl things...

 * One of the best and most anticipated parts of our December is our Christ-like dinner.  My kids have now hit a point where they're able to come up with great nominations without any prodding from Mark or me.  In fact, this year we had some good debates about who to choose ... until one of the kids suggested Sister Davis, their primary chorister.  At that point, everyone was quiet for a moment before exclaiming, "Yes! Her!"

Mark and I were in complete agreement.  Emily is enthusiastic, talented, and joyful.  She truly loves all of the primary kids and makes each one feel so special and included.  All of my kids love going to music time.  Plus, her laugh is 100% contagious, so you can't help but feel happy around her.

 After dinner, we made frosting-covered Christmas trees, which was just the right activity for this young crowd.  My kids were most interested in seeing how much candy they could cram on the tree.

* Although we decorated the Christmas tree in the days following Thanksgiving, apparently Graham felt it was somewhat lacking, so he decided to help out.

 * We attended our ward Christmas party.  Well, more accurately, SOME of us attended the ward Christmas party.  This year is was a special event - a Night in Bethlehem.  Unfortunately, it didn't begin until 7pm, which is 30 minutes past Nellie's bedtime.  Mark gallantly agreed to stay home with her and Graham (who was recovering from illness and had gotten up at 5 that morning). Don't feel too bad for Mark - he's not a fan of big group events and was more than happy to have a quiet house!

Aubree, Bryce, and Thane were especially excited because they got to wear costumes.

It was a very well done event.  Each family got a purse full of "coins" that could be used at various marketplace stalls.  We "bought" our dinners, side dishes, and desserts, as well as used our coins to play games and do simple crafts.  Families ate together on blankets on the floor.  At the end, Mary and Joseph wandered through the stalls before ending up at the stable on the stage. 

* We also attended a Caspar Babypants mini-concert at a nearby library.

 If you have kids, and aren't familiar with Caspar Babypants, stop right now and look up one of his CDs from your local library.  He's one of our favorite kid-music artists.  "Eleanor the Elegant Elephant" is our family's favorite song, but there are a bunch of other great ones.  So fun!