December

December is always a very busy month and this year wasn't any different. We love the Christmas season. It has been a month of shopping and wrapping and all the fun December things that happen with school.

At the beginning of December, Paige was able to go to a birthday party of a friend and they went to this craft shop in Maple Valley that also does workshops. Paige was able to make her own blanket by hand crocheting it. It is so pretty and soft and looks perfect on her bed.

The first weekend, Paige, Baylor, and I went and watched two of the young women in our ward and our friends perform the Nutcracker. They did amazing and I loved watching Lizzy be the rat king because the roll and the fun part of the role fits Lizzy's personality perfectly.

December has also been filled with gymnastic practice and meets. Paige is doing great. There was a couple of meets that she was a little hard on herself. The last meet before the break, she was an all-around so she got to do all four events and got to do bars for the first time. For this one, I made sure that her focus was just to have fun and enjoy the experience. She did amazing!

Paige and Baylor also had concerts. Paige had an orchestra concert and she did amazing. She plays beautifully and the school's orchestra is really good. They have an excellent teacher which always helps. I didn't get any close up or individual pictures of Baylor at her concert but she did amazing. They did amazing and I loved watching her. I almost teared up because she has progressed so much over the years with her confidence. She was much more herself and had fun with it.

Paige and I have gotten to enjoy some really fun youth activities this month. First off, we got to experience Snowflake Lane for the first time. It has always been on my bucket list and it was so fun. I would love to go again with my family another year. Then we went ice skating. Another activity, we made homemade decorations for our tree that we got to decorate for the ward party. We also did cookies and caroling with the young men and also had a temple trip to kick off our winter break.

Mr. Elf returned for December and has been moving all around the house making the girls stay on Sant's nice list. He has had some fun.

The tooth fairy and Mr. Elf were roaming our house one night so we had some extra excitement in our house.

We have been going to indoor playground in downtown Kent with our neighbors. McCall loves it and they had a special Christmas one and Santa even visited. McCall's face was a pure frown when we first arrive which was so funny. She very slowly warmed up and even willingly took a candy cane from him and smiled in the group photo.

The last few weeks there has been a lot of flooding in our area. We are fortunately way up on the hill, so it didn't affect us. There has been so much damage and evacuations. It is sad to see. Nate and I drove to downtown Kent to see some of the areas affected near us. It was crazy to see all that water.

I was able to do science in Baylor's class at the beginning of the month and then I volunteered the class for her class party on the last day of school before the break. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I am able to be her class as much as I am.

These three!

We watched the first Wicked with friends in our ward during Thanksgiving break. Then since the second one is still in theaters we went with them to see it in theaters to kick off our Christmas break. It was so good and I will never be able to watch the Wizard of Oz the same. It was such a fun outing!

Last night, we did our annual tradition of going to look at Christmas lights and see the Very Merry Christmas house. They put on quite the display to Christmas music and it's close to home which makes it the perfect spot for us to go see. 

We are looking forward to Christmas and all the fun traditions. I'm so grateful for the birth of my Savior! I can't believe it is already almost a new year. We are going to enjoy our break and time with family.