Gingerbread Houses

This year we did gingerbread houses to get into the Christmas spirit. I enjoyed doing all the prep but I didn't realize how much effort it took. My mom is my hero for doing it for 8 of us every year growing up.

They turned out successful and we all had fun being creative and getting very sticky! Grandma Darlene joined us and we spent several hours at the table playing. We were all getting our houses put together and Marley was sitting eating candy and decorating his cookie. He looked around and then said "Papi have house, Mommy have house, Grandma have house, Gracie have house....Marley not have house." He was so dejected and pouty. I almost cried! I felt so bad. The original plan was to have Marley help one of us decorate ours so we could help him with the icing. Once he said that, Douglas let Marley decorate his and Marley quickly adopted it as his own.

We escaped long term hurt feelings, ate way too much sugar, hardly touched lunch and the houses turned out great. It's a fun way to have family time and it brings back lots of good memories. After we were finished Marley said "MY HAPPY!" That made me feel so good. Then Gracie said "Mission completion" just the way they do on Little Einsteins when they finish their task. I thought it was cute and I'm grateful for sweet little ones and a wonderful husband to share this holiday with! Merry Christmas everyone!

Grandma Darlene working hard on her first gingerbread house ever! So exciting!

Douglas preparing his house/bunker.

Marley enjoying the first of about 10 suckers

Marley and Papi decorating the bunker, lighting it on fire with candy wrappers and making the assault vehicle.

Serious concentration

Marley loves his Papi!

Mmmm...royal icing.

I'm a little obsessed with snowflakes.

Grandma's little helper.

Gracie loved making her princess-my little pony cottage.

Grandma's house

Douglas and Marley's fiery house complete with kicked down door, land mines and an assault vehicle.

Gracie's cottage - She did all the decorating!

Anita's house.

Getting ready for Christmas

Gracie and Marley loved decorating the little trees!

So enchanting!

Handsom Douglas

I'm excited!

The final piece

My 3 favorite people!

Gracie's Christmas party at school

Marley even got to sit with the big kids and have treats. He was so happy!

I don't know who's daughter she is!?

I just love getting ready for Christmas. The house is transformed into a magical place and we all seem happier, more patient and excited. The kids have had so much fun decorating, making special treats and talking about the birth of Jesus. They understand so much this year. Their little spirits are so impressionable and ready to learn about the gospel. It's such a joy to read the scriptures with them and talk about the Nativity. I'm so grateful for the birth of Jesus Christ and the chance we have to celebrate his life and atonement. It really is the most special time of the year!

Playing with Papi

Marley and Gracie just love playing with their Papi. Douglas is such an exceptional father and we have loved having him home for Christmas break. Marley and Gracie were eating candy and then kissing Douglas with their sticky lips. Douglas is such a great sport!

Such sweet kids!

Tickling on the couch is their favorite!

Fun with the kiddos

Here are a few random pictures from our lives lately

Gracie announced to us that she was the evil Queen like on Snow White.

She gives a pretty good dirty look.

Marley really loves to brush his teeth and asks to do it frequently. I'm not complaining!

Gracie and Marley love to cuddle in bed together and tickle each other.

Sweet kisses, Awwww they do love each other!

Marley helping Papi get the Christmas tree from the attic.

Marley dancing so cute

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!

Yesterday a MIRACLE happened in San Angelo, Texas. IT SNOWED!!!!!

This whole week the forecast has included a chance of snow, but it never happened, so I wasn't holding my breath. Friday morning my alarm went off at 6:15 and I slowly got up to face the day. I walked through the living room and glanced out the back window. It was unusually bright outside so I took a second look. The ground was white but I still wasn't convinced, so I stepped out into the freezing air and witnessed the beautiful miracle that is called snow. Pure excitment filled my veins and my eyes teared up. In the four years we have lived in Texas, we have only seen tiny snow flurries in the air twice, but never on the ground. I just love the snow and often yearn to move back to Utah where the snow is plentiful.

Because snow is such a rarity I grabbed the camera and took whatever pictures I could. They didn't turn out spectacular because it was still dark, but I needed to make sure that I had evidence of the white stuff long after it melted. I headed back in to give Douglas the news and I climbed in the bed giggling like a little school girl. Well he was very excited too, just not quite hyperventilating like I was. About that time Gracie made her way to our room and we told her the news. She hasn't seen snow since she was a baby and doesn't remember it. Marley has never seen it, so it was really fun to take them out and show them how beautiful the world looks under a blanket of white snow.

They were still in their jammies and getting cold so we headed in for breakfast. Douglas made a special breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns in honor of the snow. We had to convince the kids to eat before we headed out to play and that wasn't easy. Finally the time came to play, so we bundled up like crazy and headed out to the backyard. Gracie was saying all morning "The snow crunches below my feet." She learned it in a Christmas song at school. When she stepped on the snow she excitedly said with a huge smile on her face, "It does crunch below my feet!!!!!"

Marley picked up his first handful of snow and then looked at me with a panicked look like, Why is it so cold!? We played and made snowballs and enjoyed the snow so much! Then we decided to take a family picture in front of the house for posterity and good memories. Who knows when this will ever happen again. Finally we were all feeling a little chilly, so we headed to 7-11 for some hot chocolate. Once we were home we all warmed up and spent some relaxed family time together. What a fun morning to spend together! About that time the sun started to peek out and we knew it would start to melt. But for the short time that we had it, it was wonderful and it was like a great Christmas gift straight from heaven. We feel blessed!

Marley's first encounter with the snow.

Gracie was very happy to play in the snow for the first time!

It makes my hands cold!

Gracie learned how to throw snow at her parents.

Douglas had so much fun showing the kids how to make snowballs

Marley and his first taste of snow

I just love playing in the snow!

The family that plays in the snow together, stays together.

Or something like that!

We never expected to see our house covered in snow, but we like how it looks!

Ooh..snow!

Happy to play in the white stuff!