Miscellaneous December Pictures

We had beautiful weather in December. It was rarely cold and often sunny! On this particular day, after we picked Ava up from school, we headed to the park to enjoy the last little bit of sunshine for the day (sunset is so early!) I brought a blanket and snacks, and we enjoyed a picnic together. 

I love my kiddos!!

Ava is getting so big. Every time I see her walk to and from school with her backpack on, I just can't believe she's in kindergarten already!

Mackenzie is getting big too! She has two teeth now and army crawls everywhere!

 I took this picture because this happens every afternoon. Tyler misses Ava while she's at school and is always excited for her to come home. He stands here waiting for her to come out of school and waiting for them to open the gate so he can be reunited with his best friend.

 Here's my little crawler. She also loves to open drawers in the kitchen.

 Ava recently asked me to cut her hair. I only cut off 4 inches, but when it dried, it got so much shorter! I miss her long curls. Good thing hair grows back. She let me curl it in ringlets for church, but wouldn't let me take a picture until the next day.

Bikes and Scooters

The kids ride their bikes or scooters several times a week. When the weather is good, they ride them every day to and from Ava's school. 

Tyler had a little 12" bike that he got for his birthday last year. He rode it so hard, that the tread only lasted 9 months! The day his bike "died" was a sad day for Tyler. He didn't want to accept it. 

 We finally found him this new bike on craiglist. It is much bigger! 16"! It's bigger than Ava's. When he stands next to it, the handlebars reach his shoulders, but he rides it like a pro!

I love this picture of Ava because it shows off her fun personality and her talent of being very agile.

 This is the scooter Tyler got for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve Pajamas. 

They are Elf on the Shelf pajamas.

 Ava made sure we left cookies for Santa and one carrot for each reindeer. She was so excited for Christmas morning that from about 2pm on Christmas Eve she started asking us if she could go to bed every hour. She wanted Christmas morning to get here faster.

Santa Came!

Christmas Morning!

 All this excitement for a box of Minion Gummies :)

A Spiderman Helmet

 Anna and Elsa Pajamas

Ava's big gift was a sewing machine!

 Mackenzie liked Christmas too and didn't eat too much wrapping paper.

  

 Tyler's big gift was a Spiderman scooter. 

However, his favorite present is the Paw Patrol Semi-Truck he got from Grandpa and Grandma Graff. It holds all the Paw Patrol cars he got for his birthday.

 Tyler with all of his presents!

 Ava and all of her presents!

 Mackenzie got a few too. :)

 Tyler and Ava picked out gifts for me all on their own. Justin said he tried to talk Tyler into a different gift, but Tyler insisted that I needed a boot mug! haha

The Aftermath

Temple lights and Santa take 2

On Christmas Day Justin took the kids to see the temple lights. They loved it.

Here are the kids visiting Santa at our ward party. I prefer mall Santa :) but these pictures are closer up so you can see the kids' expressions better.

Christmas Present = Torture

In our house, there are no presents under the tree until Christmas morning. The kids just can't stand it. When we get presents in the mail from family, I have to immediately hide them before the kids see the box. Before learning that I needed to do that, I let the kids see a box of presents from Great Grandma Graff. Tyler saw his name on a present and couldn't stand not opening it. He carried it around for 6 hours!!! He was a good boy and didn't just sneak off and open it. But it caused him a lot of anguish, just holding this mysterious wrapped gift.

 6 Hours later, after many attempts to hide his gift or explain why he needed to wait until Christmas, we gave in and let him open it. He slept with his Ninja Turtle that night.

Santa!!

We took the kids to see Santa! I was so excited about it that Ava, a little embarrassed, said, "Mom, you aren't a kid!"

 Tyler trying to be patient.

Tyler told Santa what he wanted first, then sat patiently while Ava enjoyed talking to Santa.

Gingerbread Houses!

We made our traditional gingerbread houses this year!

 Ava wanted a castle. I just now realized that I didn't get a picture of her with her complete castle! When Tyler heard that Ava wanted a castle, he said he wanted a "Nija Turtle Castle." I wasn't sure how to make one of those. This was my best attempt. :)

 Ava with Mom's gingerbread house.

 After I made Ava's castle, she said it kind of looked like a temple. I think she's right; it resembles the Salt Lake Temple a bit. We also made Mackenzie a little house.