December, Part 2: Washburn Christmas Party

Mike and Debra put together such a fun Christmas party this year. We had games and then dinner at Thanksgiving Point. We also had an amazing magic show. After the magic show, we rode on the trolley to look at the Christmas lights. Then we went to another room and opened up Christmas presents. Everyone had such a wonderful time.

Above: Daniel was all smiled out after our little photo shoot at home, but he still looked sweet!

Above: Just waiting for everyone else to get there. Surprisingly, we were among the first ones there.

Above: I love when babies and toddlers connect with each other.

Above: Peyton brought out the smiles in Daniel.

Above: Mimi brought some styrofoam balls for the kids to use as snowballs.

Above: Peyton giving her Uncle Jeremiah some snuggles.

Above: Waiting patiently while our first organized activity is explained to us.

Above: Logan is such a pro at walking around these days!

Above: Playing some more with the "snowballs."

Above: We played "Pin the Star on the Christmas Tree."

Above: Angie snuggling Peyton.

Above: Peyton sure is sweet!

Above: Piling on Cameron. Apparently, that was the best seat in the house!

Above: Playing a musical game that was a mix between "Hot Potato" and "Musical Chairs."

Above: The kids passed the present/box until the music stopped. The person who had the box when the music stopped got to unwrap/open one layer. The person who opened the final layer got the candy that was inside at the center.

Above: Peter assisting our magician during the magic show.

Above: He was really good! He used to tour with his magic act during his college days. He toured for about four years before moving on in another profession. He hadn't lost his touch though. The kids were entranced.

Above: The adults were pretty mesmerized too.

Above: For one of the magic tricks, Peter gave up his dollar bill to act as a prop.

Above: Pete's dollar bill got burned to ashes!

Above: Everyone--especially Pete--was concerned about the fate of Peter's dollar bill.

Above: Then we cut open a lemon and...voila! There was Peter's dollar bill safe and sound inside. It even matched the serial number that we had written down prior to burning the dollar bill to a crisp.

Above: Everyone was thoroughly impressed, as you can see by Mimi's reaction.

Above: Peter was pretty dumbfounded...but he was relieved to have his dollar bill back...smelling lemon fresh!

Above: Poor sweet sleepy Dan had to take naps in the Baby Bjorn on me and in Dad's arms to get the rest he needed, but he was a good sport.

Above: After we rode the trolley to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point, we went to another room to exchange gifts.

Above: The boys both got some cool money counting jars.

Above: Peter got night vision goggles and a bow and arrow set as well. Johnny got a cool little teepee tent.

Above: It was such an awesome party. Mike and Debra put so much work into it. Everyone had so much fun. Thank you so much, Mimi and Papa!

December, Part 1: Gingerbread Houses

One yearly Christmas tradition that we have is to decorate gingerbread houses...and for my boys to pretty much eat them almost instantly after they have been completed. These gingerbread houses were luckier than most...they made it almost 24 hours before being dismantled and devoured!

Above: Seriously, how did Dad finagle these boys into giving him a neck and scalp massage before decorating gingerbread houses?

Above: My silly guys.

Above: Perhaps one of the reasons the gingerbread houses survived 24 hours is because the boys each had their own decorator bag full of icing. With a little "taste" of icing here and there, they probably got their sweet fix taken care of.

Above: I love how he is wiping off his sticky frosting covered fingers onto his shirt as I am taking this picture.

Above: Dan needed a bottle while the boys were decorating their gingerbread houses. After he had a full tummy, he was as smiley as can be.

Above: Proud of his handiwork.

Above: Johnny's turn to snack on some icing.

Above: Johnny's gingerbread house.

Above: Peter's gingerbread house.

Above: Daddy's gingerbread house.

Above: Didn't they do such a good job?

Above: I loved how their houses turned out.

Above: Even if the houses never last very long, I love this tradition (except for my boys begging me constantly if they can do it until we actually do...I need to find a better place to hide the gingerbread house supplies until we're ready to decorate them). The boys always have so much fun though and I would rather that they are so excited for one of our traditions that they can't wait to do it than to have them not want to spend time together and do something fun like this. I will for sure be getting them separate houses with separate bags of frosting from now on though. That factor, alone, added a lot to the success of the night!