December--Wrapping Up 2017!!!!!

Gett our stocking hung by the chimney with care

Tash and Cash had their little baby boy naxed Cash Jaxon, and he'll go by Jax.

This boy has been obsessed with my purse for months. If I don't put it really high out of reach, he can get it.

Watching some movie. We watched so many movies this Christmas: Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, The Nativity, several versions of The Christmas Carol, Disney Christmas shows, Charlie Brown Christmas, Home Alone, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (not with kiddos!), The Christmas Prince. We were committed.

Isaac started a dinosaur book that had some eye-brow raising comments about whether or not to feed moms to the dinosaur.

Our awesome cookie decorating and dancing. We didn't have Doug for half of December because of survey camping out at his building.

This lake by our house is so beautiful.

I've seen Isaac wrapped up in ropes twice when I've come to get him from scouts.

Me in my "Sweet Ride" 2016 Grand Dodge Caravan with leather interior. I got to drive this for a week while my van was being fixed. It was heavenly. Interesting thing to remember: leather is FREEZING cold if you sit on it with shorts on when you're going to the gym. I haven't worn shorts to the gym since.

I took the girls to a Ballet Company production of The Nutcracker. It was so awesome! Brook and I were on the second row and Lucy was on the first row.

A great trip to Woodard Bay with the kiddos!

I love this rail way in the middle of the water.

Brook, Lucy, and I all wanted to get a different gift for Isaac for Christmas. I texted this picture to Doug and asked his opinion. Lucy's transformer won.

And we went to Subway afterward. So fun!

Doug and I went to Red Lobster with our $25 gift card from Jeremy and Darcee. So delicious!

Doug preparing our Pepperidge farm December snacks for Christmas eve.

It snowed on Christmas eve! It was so magical.

The kids' snowman.

The kids got things all ready for Santa and his reindeer.

Doug took some pictures Christmas eve to help us remember how things looked.

Christmas morning! We had a great breakfast and an incredibly wonderful day. The kids played with their new legos for hours, I got to read a good book, nap, and go for a run, and we just got to relax. Corban was getting a croupy cough, but that always feels like kind of a backdrop to any event. I'm just happy I didn't need to take him to Urgent Care or a hospital this time.

We went to the zoo on Saturday (yesterday) and it was such a blast. A peacock sauntered over to our car in the parking lot so Corban and i got to admire him as he walked past us and I pulled Corby out of his car seat.

Isaac's enthusiasm at the zoo is always way above everyone else's, but we all feel awe when we see these amazing animals. Lucy named a stingray Goldy when a zoo worker named Malek encouraged her to name it. She first shied away from it, but then got excited. This experience became one of my favorite parts of the trip.  Doug went to the temple. I took the kids to McDonald's after the zoo, then got to work out, shop at the mall for a few minutes, and meet girls from the ward for a fun dinner. It was so nice to have a good break!

Corban was so brave feeding the goats!

The kids spotted a green hummingbird by the Christmas lights at the zoo. Such good eyes.

SO excited to wrap this up! Yay!!!!!! I love our pictures because they tell the story of us making a beautiful life.We've been blessed with healthy kids, a beautiful home, a job that pays well, faith in the gospel, and hope for a future linked to God and each other. We don't know how things will pan out in Doug's job, but we have faith that God loves us and will hear us. Happy 2017 to us!