Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve

Sort of a side story! When we moved from Spanish Fork we had just had Roz and our dining table was not going to be big enough for our family anymore, so we sold it. Well, we moved in here at Malmstrom had no table! I custom ordered one that would fit our family and guests when we have them, but it took a couple months to be made and arrive. Lumber2Love got it here the NIGHT before Thanksgiving and we got it all set up and ready. Amazing timing!! So, we didn't have to eat on a folding table and a coffee table for Thanksgiving. It was a blessing. 

It's solid walnut and so gorgeous. Definitely worth the wait and the cost. 

This was our first Thanksgiving together staying home with our family, so Jeremy and I cooked our very first turkey! We were nervous, but it turned out perfect!! I made some stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and a veggie tray. The kids each helped with the pies, I made a layered pumpkin with a graham cracker crust and a lemon blueberry cream pie. Everything turned out super tasty and we are so grateful, haha. We watched the Macy's parade, as usual, in the morning, then some of the dog show. We ended up eating around 6 PM because we got the turkey in a little late, but overall it was a really great day. :)

Roz just liked dumping her sparkling cider from one container to another, haha.

On to Christmas!!

I am a stickler about waiting to decorate for Christmas or listen to *any* Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving, so Jeremy busts out the music first thing in the morning and we started setting up our Christmas stuff the evening after Thanksgiving. :)

And here are some more pictures from the month of December...

A gun Benson made out of marble run pieces, haha.

I can never say no to her.

Concentrating for school. :)

Bridger built me this LEGO heart because I was really sad about something, he wanted to help me feel better. :)

Here's the back. :)

Every night when we sit down to study... :) Haha.

Stop motion!

Being silly.

She always runs away whenever I try to get a picture of her cute little Sunday outfits!

He's done this same little side smile since he was a newborn. :)

Apparently, she needed a closer look.

Side by side, me and Roz. If the lighting were the same we'd look even more similar.

Roz helping put groceries away. :)

Jeremy's outfit, lately. Because it's snowy and FREEZING. Haha.

Ander wrapped this caramel and I love it so much.

Homemade caramels waiting to be wrapped!

The kids all helped wrap caramels this year and did an amazing job!! They were pro's by the end.

Jeremy gave himself the job of quality control, hahaha.

Playing games together. :)

Benson made Roz all cuddly and wanted me to take a picture, I made him take it off right after, haha.

December was such a busy month for us. It seemed like we were running all month. As a chaplain, Jeremy is assigned to 3 squadrons (over 700 airmen), and many of those squadrons had flight activities as well. He tries to attend as many things as he can to show support and meet people, so from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve we had 7 Christmas related parties (4 just the week before Christmas) to attend. One was a ward party, one was a sock party just for some friends and I, one was a Gatsby theme party for Jeremy and I, and the rest were family events. We ended up keeping the little ones and I at home on Christmas Eve because they were so grumpy, though, but Jeremy ended up playing in the worship band last minute! Haha. 

The Gatsby party was an absolute blast. Jeremy and I dressed up legit 20's style and had dinner with the 841st squadron. They had prizes (we won a really nice bluetooth speaker), a nice dinner, dessert, and games. They held it at a hotel in Great Falls and the decor was awesome. They also had a fun photo booth that we took some pictures in. It was such a fun night!

Christmas Eve was pretty low key, we were supposed to go with Jeremy to the Christmas Eve Program at the chapel, but Roz and Ander were SO grumpy. Before they left we had a short Christmas Eve program with just our family and watched the nativity story and opened their Christmas pajamas from Grandma, which they always love. Then they left and I ended up staying home and putting the little ones to bed and worked on building some Christmas gifts until Jeremy, Bridger, and Beckham got home. As soon as they were in bed Jeremy and I started a movie and finished up building some things and getting presents set out. Thank goodness we started early because we stayed up until 2 AM two nights in a row building! 

2 AM. Finally ready!

Movie night, haha.

Christmas Day I got up early and got a casserole I'd prepared the night before in the oven, and everyone was up by 7 AM. We ate a quick breakfast and then started opening gifts. :)

Jeremy has been wanting that Hot Wheels set for forEVER, haha! He and the kids were so excited!

Jeremy pretending to be surprised seeing the headlights he ordered for his truck, haha!

Breakfast cuddles. :)

Mom and Dad came up on the 26th and stayed for about a week and a half (a couple extra days because their flight got canceled!). She did Jingo with the kids, which they had a blast with. We also went walking/running everyday at the gym, made yummy food, Jeremy and Dad worked on installing his new headlights (which look amazing), we played games almost every night, and we stayed inside most of the time because it was WAY below zero. Like, -22 average. They got to stay through New Year's, which was fun, since we missed out on sharing Thanksgiving and Christmas with them. :)

We invited our new friend (she's also a new convert who asked Jeremy to baptize her when he first got here) Sara Smith and her kids over for the evening. :) We spent the evening playing games, chatting, eating tasty food, and celebrating the new year with a countdown and sparkling cider in our fancy glasses. :)

Happy New Year!! :)