Here Comes the Bride!

It's amazing what I find on my camera! I had no idea these pictures were taken, but it looks like Lindsay had her "Bridals" taken recently! She is wearing the wedding dress that Grandma Clarke made for Lauren's 5th birthday. (Grandma made Alli a wedding dress earlier that same year and Lauren was pretty jealous! She wanted one, too, when her birthday came around! Grandma is awesome!) Lindsay had been asking for a veil for her "bride dress," so I think we made one for her that day, and Alli got busy with the photo documentation! I'm so glad she did! These are pretty cute!

Christmas Eve Snowflakes

Alli and her friend Cora had so much fun after the snow on Christmas Eve, when they realized how big the snowflakes were! It was really neat that they could see each individual snow flake! Beautiful!

Dinner in Zarahemla

Every year at Christmas our family has "Dinner at Bethlehem." We dress up in our sheets to look the part and light our candles and eat kebabs, cheese, olives, grapes, pitas, baklava, etc. It's a fun tradition that helps us pause and remember the real meaning of Christmas. This year we thought it would be fun to invite our Goodman cousins and have a Zarahemla Christmas Eve Dinner. It was amazing! It was light outside, even though it was night! We were so excited that Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy was fulfilled! "And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness..." Helaman 14:3


Our Goodman cousins are always good sports! Thanks for playing along, guys!


Our menu consisted of tamales, quesadillas, chips and salsa, fresh fruit, and "fizzy water." (We figured that Zarahemla was sort of near Mexico--right?)


Aunt Kanani and Jake--washing up at the local "well."


Alli really got into the costuming--nice headdress!


Brian, Tyler, and Calvin eating yummy Zarahemla food.


Lauren looking very Nephite-ish


Lindsay and Jenny--cutest little Nephites!

Gingerbread Houses

This year we used all of our Christmas money--from both pairs of Grandparents, from Mom and Dad, and money the kids would spend on gifts for each other--to go to Disneyland. It was a blast! The kids were all way surprised and excited to go. And we all agreed that Disneyland would be totally worth only receiving a gift from Santa and maybe a few friends this year. Disneyland was beautifully decorated for Christmas and we really had fun doing nothing else but being together. Consequently, the area beneath our tree was looking a little bare this year...Lauren even asked, "What will people think when they see our tree?" We came up with a solution for that!


Alli's cute store--"Elf Mart" Love the candycane supports on her awning! Cute!


Mom's church--Love the Necco roof! There are even cute hard candy windows!


Lauren's row house--notice the cute steps she made for the front door!


Calvin and Lindsay's elf house--Complete with a gingerbread boy making a snow angel!


Do you think Lindsay's been told to go easy on the candy? Maybe a few times? Lovin' the journey!

Christmas Music

Alli at her Christmas Concert.


Alli is playing violin at school this year. She goes to school an hour early three times a week and takes lessons from a really cute teacher. Alli really likes it and is picking things up quickly. She and Lauren love to play together. Lauren has been teaching Alli the simple harmony on some hymns so they can play together--they sound great! It's fun to have live Christmas Music in the house!

We Believe!!!

Last week we got to take Calvin and Lindsay to the North Pole! We drove to Heber and got on The Polar Express! The train was decorated so cute--it was a Christmas Train, after all! We got meet some of Santa's elves--Glitter and Candy Cane, they took our Christmas wishes down so they could deliver them to Santa. We got to have HOT CHOCOLATE and COOKIES (made and delivered especially from Mrs. Claus). We sang Christmas Songs and learned about the Heber Valley Railroad (Heber Creeper for those of us that grew up here!). We even told Christmas jokes and had a "HO, HO, HO-ing" Contest. Then we finally made it to the North Pole. As we drove up, we saw Santa waving to us and then we saw the Elves's village all lit up! You'll never believe what happened next--Santa came on our train and gave each child a bell! And we could all hear them ring--even Mommy and Daddy! If you're not familiar with The Polar Express--that means we all still believe in Santa Claus--and that's a good thing especially when your sitting right next to him at the North Pole!

Still Enjoying the Journey!

Christmas in November!

I think Jeff and Lauren look a little scared on "Space Mountain!"


Can you say "All you can eat Breakfast Buffet?" We can! Yum! What a great way to start a big day at Disneyland!










We met up with friends from our neighborhood--the Littledikes! Calvin sure loves his "brothers"!






Lindsay and Drew Littledike with the "Cars."


Huntington Beach, where Grandpa Barrett grew up!



We decided it would be fun to take our kids to Disneyland for Christmas this year. We originally thought we'd go the week of Christmas and come home Christmas Eve, so they would really feel like it was their Christmas. BUT we researched a little and realized it was actually a CRAZY time to go to Disneyland, because everyone else thought that sounded like fun too! So after more research, we found that the week after Thanksgiving is the best time in the park--all the Christmas decorations are up and the crowds are low since everyone had just been in the park for Thanksgiving. So we made a plan and tried to surprise our kids. Calvin and Lindsay were the only ones who were surprised--Alli did a little snooping and had it all figured out (that little Dickens!), and since she knew, I told Lauren so they could work on their missed school work during the Thanksgiving Break--turned out to be a good thing. Poor Calvin just thought his teacher sent home an awful lot of work for the break--luckily it was mostly cursive writing, which he LOVES! We left right after Sacrament Meeting on Nov 30th (Calvin was sure Dad was teasing him, when we told him what we were doing. Lindsay cried because she wanted to go to her Nursery class!), and stayed overnight in Mesquite. Then it was on to sunny Southern California Monday. We spent some time at Huntington Beach that afternoon/evening. Then we spent every possible moment at Disneyland Tuesday-Thursday. We all had a great time! Merry Christmas! I wonder if Santa is still going to come on Christmas Eve?

It must be that time of year....

The temperature's getting brisk, the leaves have fallen from the trees, lights are appearing on homes, the house at the top of our hill has bedazzled the heck out of itself--it's AMAZING that every year they still add something new! (In this case more is not necessarily better), Lauren and Alli's violin practice music sounds suspiciously like the holidays, I'm busy making candy and dipping chocolates, and yes even the pillow cases have a new theme--It's beginning to look a lot like--CHRISTMAS!



I don't know why Alli didn't want her picture taken first thing in the morning...hmmm...weird. Lindsay didn't seem to have a problem!


We had a family dinner on Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa Barrett's newly remodeled home. It looks beautiful and I think we broke it in for them! We were celebrating their 41st Wedding Anniversary! At the end of the night, Grandma got the Christmas Season started early by handing out gifts--darling hand sewn Christmas pillow cases for each grandchild--12! Grandmas are the best! Thanks Grandma Barrett!