Tonight

Today we planned on picking a Christmas tree. Our first, real tree. Timing didn't quite work out...so Thursday's the day! I can barely wait. :)

Instead we went out for pizza. Our little family's night out on the town, it was bound to be perfect! Wellll...we were the only ones in the restaurant, which was actually quite awkward, and Brooks was bouncing all over our booth. I could just feel the servers' and cooks' eyes on us. Hopefully they have kids and understand, I thought. Between melt downs, he would try to climb over Adam to get out of the booth and refused to eat his "hoootttt" cheese pizza (which came to us warm, but cooled down rather fast). After taking Brooks outside to calm him down, Adam brought him back in and as soon as he started eating Ava decided to help herself to a leftover piece of crust on my plate, then proceed to take a giant bite with her two tiny teeth and choke. Luckily the piece of crust came right out, along with some throw up, right onto the ground. But she was not happy when Mama took that crust away...cue the water works, oh that girl is a drama queen. ;) My pizza was delicious, but Adam's spicy buffalo and blue cheese pizza was a doozy. We only stayed for about 30 minutes before I took Ava to feed her in the car while Adam paid our bill.  On our drive home, Adam and I just looked at each other and laughed. Our night out didn't turn out how we had hoped...but we were glad to be together and we were ready for a relaxing Family Home Evening before putting the littles to bed.

While Brooks did somersault after somersault and I held Ava, Adam read us two articles, "Christmas within You" and "My Christmas Letter", from this December's Ensign.  Both were so touching...and definitely reminded us that Christmas shouldn't revolve around the gifts or the tree, and that even though some nights are hard and certain things we plan may not turn out the way we had hoped, we are so blessed to have each other. And to have the chance to celebrate our Savior's birth.

After reading the articles, we sang Christmas hymns and let the children play with the Christmas lights that will soon adorn our front door and windows. Both of them were absolutely enchanted! Ava wanted to eat the blue ones, and Brooks liked finding the "ye-woe" ones, tapping them together, and saying "Cheers!". Since driving into Salt Lake City over the weekend, and seeing the twinkling trees up and down the streets, Brooks calls Christmas lights "bee-fulls" because I told him, "Aren't they beautiful!?" Goodness, I love this time of year.

Christmas Advent in a Box...on it's way to Chile!

We finally got Corrie's Christmas package (with her insanely belated Birthday goodies) in the mail to her yesterday...it's on its way to Chile!! :) I hope she enjoys some American sweets every day leading up to Christmas, along with scripture verses and uplifting quotes in Spanish from this past General Conference (in lovely print form from this site, they come in English, Spanish, and French!). 

In case you have someone you love and miss and you want to send them a Christmas count-down, here's how I sent ours to Corrie in Chile! :)

We love and miss that girl...but we know she's having the time of her life serving in Chile. ¡Te queremos Corrie!

DIY Christmas Advent Calendar

I grew up loving Christmas Advent Calendars. Each day in December leading up to Christmas, my younger sisters and I looked forward to opening the little, cardboard windows of our advents calendars (much like these) and eating the sweet piece of chocolate inside. And as the numbers on the windows got smaller, we knew Christmas was closer! Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face. And now that I have a little boy and girl I love that I can help make sweet Christmas memories for them! When I saw these two advent calendars at the lovely You Are My Fave blog (here and here) I knew I wanted to combine the two, add a little something to make it my own, and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I can't wait for December 1st when I'll have Brooks open the Christmas-tree shaped box with "24" on it and see what's inside for him! Next year Ava will be able to enjoy the candy too. ;) But first comes Thanksgiving. Oh how I love this time of year. :)

>> SUPPLIES <<

24 Paper Mache Boxes

(I got my assortment at Michaels, but Hobby Lobby has similar ones)

2x3' Cork board

Letter Stencils

48 Push Pins

Paint

(colors for the boxes, lettering, and numbering...I just used white and gold)

3 Paint brushes

(1 small brush for the boxes, 1 tiny brush for the numbers, 1 sponge for the lettering)

>> STEP 1 <<

Decide your Christmas message. Then, if your using them, lay out the stencils and trace the letters with a marker simliar to your paint color (I used a silver sharpie). You won't be able to paint the letters in order, stagger them as you paint. And make sure each letter is dry before painting the one next to it.

>> STEP 2 <<

Paint your boxes! This is the fun part. It's time consuming, but I caught up on a few favorite TV shows while painting so I was a happy camper, or painter I guess. ;)

>> STEP 3 <<

If you have an assortment of boxes like I do, and you want them in a pattern, first place your boxes where you want them to go and then paint the numbers on the lids.

>> STEP 4 <<

Pin 'em up! Be sure to secure the boxes with two push pins. 

>> STEP 5 <<

Add the sweets! Whether it's chocolate or fruity candy, put a wrapped-up sweet or two in each box. :)

>> STEP 6 <<

If you'd like, add a scripture verse in each box that can be read while the candy is enjoyed. :) I'm excited to read to Brooks and Ava each day...these verses highlight teachings of our Savior and then the account of His beautiful birth.  I found a list of scriptures here and added a few of my favorites too.

**UPDATE: My sweet friend Rachel shared a fun Christmas advent here using another set of scriptures with more verses each day, I love the stories of Christ's life and beautiful lessons they teach, so I'm using them now! :)

>> STEP 7 <<

Hang it up (I used Command Picture Hanging Strips) and look forward to a sweet and spiritual treat every day in December 'til Christmas Eve!

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Sharing this over at Whipperberry! Go be inspired by other fabulous ideas, tutorials, and recipes!

Christmas Weekend 2011

Our Christmas weekend was full of:

Caroling with the Kjar family at 2 retirement homes. I love Christmas music...and seeing the smiles on the sweet elderly peoples' faces was magic.

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Putting Brooks to bed veeeeery late on Christmas Eve (was it because he was so anxious for his presents the next day, or because his nap schedule that day was all sorts of crazy?)

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After placing the presents under the tree, Adam and I snuggled up to a movie and shared a pint of Haagen-Dazs.

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Opening presents with Little B!...that took fooooorreevver because he wanted to play with each gift before opening the next ;)

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Making a breakfast of french toast from Kneaders cinnamon bread. SO GOOD.

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Getting our wiggles out before church. Jumping on the bed with Dad is always a winner.

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Enjoying a beautiful church service. Brooks gave Adam and I a little present and slept the whole time in my arms. Loved the messages of celebrating Christ's birth, listened to beautiful musical numbers, and soaked up every minute of my sleeping babe in my arms.

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Brooks getting his first hair cut...he did great! Mom did not...more on that later ;)

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A lovely Christmas dinner at Mom & Dad Kjars.

(During one of Brooks' melt downs, his Aunt Katie came to the rescue and let him share some of the Christmas ham with her sweet dog Milo. Brooks & Milo both loved it!)

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Talking to Danner!! (Adam's brother who's serving a mission for our church in California)

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Face-timing with my family :) Can't wait to see them this upcoming weekend!

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Going to see a movie Monday afternoon in our PJ's..."We Bought A Zoo" was darling.

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Brick oven pizza, games, and dancing at the Kjars. Such a fun night!

And do you know what?? While we were able to enjoy a beautiful weekend with our family...there were certain plans/traditions that fell through and didn't happen, and for whatever reason Brooks was having a really hard couple days. Christmas was wonderful, yet it wasn't quite as I had hoped. Through tears (pregnancy hormones anyone?) I expressed my selfish feelings to Adam Sunday night...he was so sweet and just listened...and by the end of my little crying session I felt such a strong feeling of the Savior's love for me. I told Adam that even though it wasn't a "perfect" Christmas with our normally cheerful boy, all those little things didn't matter. This incredible holiday is dedicated to celebrating Christ and His miraculous birth into the world. I love Him. And I'm so grateful for His example and unconditional love for me. And because of Him and His gospel, our little growing family of 3 (almost 4) can be together forever! I love Christmas and how it reminds our hearts of what's most important!

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Spiritual Health:

Read "What Happily Married Couples Do" in the January 2012 Ensign magazine.

Loved it, and I'm excited to read it again with Adam tonight :)

Physical Health:

Going to the gym...kind of excited because I haven't done anything really physical over the past four days, yowza.

Dear Christmas,

I'm glad your festivities aren't over quite yet :)

xo,

Haley

This holiday season went by quicker than any I can remember, so knowing that Adam has the day off and we have fun plans with family this afternoon (going to see a matinee) and tonight (games & Christmas dinner leftovers) makes me happy!

This weekend was a wonderful, relaxing, tender one for our little family! Even though the sweet little boy in the picture above may have been a bit Grinch-y at times ;) I'm excited to share the rest of our Christmas happenings, but for now I'm off to be with my boys :)

May your days be Merry and Bright!

{ front of our Christmas card we sent out this year }

Wishing you the happiest of holidays, the sweetest Christmas (in just 2 days!), and the brightest New Year!

xo,

Adam, Haley, Brooks, and Baby

Our Christmas-filled home

Lots of red and green

Nativities

Candles and cards

Paper Snowflakes

Festive sweets

Our tree all decorated

Kisses for the baby Jesus in his manger

You can be sure that all of our Christmas goodness will stay up 'til my birthday at the end of January...it just makes my heart too happy to take it down any earlier :)

** Disclaimer: I wish I could say I made the caramel-chocolate apples...but they were sweet gifts from my friend Penny who made them! :) And just in case some are wondering, I got the idea for the cupcakes on Pinterest here, too cute to pass up!

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Spiritual Health:

I finished my reading of the Book of Mormon yesterday! Can't wait to share my thoughts on reading it this time around :) Today I watched this wonderful video:

"Wise Men Still Seek Him"

It's short and incredibly moving :)

Physical Health:

Doing some pilates that my sweet cousin in-law did with me last night after a family christmas party. Thanks Ali! My legs are going to be burnin' :)