Christmas Eve...

On Christmas Eve we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house.

Where we all got spoiled. The boys got these cool scooters and have been having some major fun with them. 

Then we headed home to begin our Christmas Eve traditions. 

We opened new pajamas. 
Kaysen is saying "yee haw!"

Gage is saying, "To infinity and beyond!"

Then we drank some hot cocoa and opened our family present. Which is always a game that we then play together. This year it was "Don't Break the Ice."

Then we sat together and watched "The King is Born." 

Then we left Santa's favorite cookies out...mint Oreos! 

That was our Christmas Eve. Boy were the boys excited. We worried that they wouldn't sleep well, however they fell asleep within only a couple minutes and were is ready for Christmas morning. 

More of that to come....

Nativity Play...

Every Monday before Christmas we go over the Nativity will our kids for Family Home Evening. Last year we recorded it with Jeremy & Jennie. 

This year we invited Jeremy & Jennie's family and Greg & Cayla Fish's family over for a Nativity play and some hot cocoa. 

Here is the angel telling Mary she will have a baby. 

Here is Mary wrapping baby Jesus. 

Here are the shepherds and wise men coming to bring Him gifts and worship Him. 

We had 10 kids there. Ages 2 months to 6 years and all them were so good.  Jerry read from the scriptures and they walked in when it was their turn then sat so quiet and still. It was seriously amazing how well they did. It's like they knew this was a sacred story. 

Campout...

Every summer we make it a tradition to go camping.

Not this summer though.

Fire danger had to mess that one up for us. Then by the time the forrest was open to campers, I was way past uncomfortable and on bedrest so camping was out of the question.

Our boys were devestated.

We promised them we'd set up a tent in our yard outside and do it.

We broke our promise.

On the night that we were truly planning to set it up...it rained. No wait. Poured!

So we said we'd do it a different day....then it rained again on that day. No wait...once again it POURED!

But we decided we would still have a campout...of a different sort.

We ate french toast for dinner. Then we popped some popcorn and ate some snacks from the gas station. 

As we munched on the snacks we sat in our tent and watched The Rescuers Down Under. It was a first for my boys.  They loved it and stayed awake through the whole things.  Then it was time for bed.

We read our book and scriptures then I tucked all THREE of my boys in. Then I headed to my nice comfy bed while they all slept on the living room floor in their tent. 

Kaysen decided that we "MUST do it again!"

So, although it wasn't a REAL campout, in the woods, or in a real tent...it was a campout nonetheless and our boys had a blast.

We then kept our tradition of building a tent and watching conference.  I promise that this little idea has been a LIFE SAVER when it comes to conference.  

We sit down with pillows, blankets, drinks and plenty of snacks and watch and listen to conference.  It really does help my kids get into the moment. Although towards the end of each session they were getting a bit restless.  I love this tradition and hope that we keep it up. It makes conference a bit more fun!

Easter and a Special Egg Hunt...

Today we watched "Worthy is the Lamb" which is about the Atonement and Christ's death, and "He is Risen" which is about the Resurrection, both are from the Living Scripture movies. We've been playing these movies each Sunday for a couple weeks in the hopes that our kids would better understand what Easter is really about.

Each time Gage sees Jesus on the cross he says he says he wants to help get Jesus down. Each time Kaysen sees it he says it makes him sad because he loves Jesus and those nails would hurt really bad.

The movies were a perfect way for them to see and understand a little better. Sometimes, it's a bit hard to explain something that complex to them. Gage knows who Jesus is but doesn't completely "get" the story. Kaysen however tells me that "Jesus loves us and died for us so we can live with him again. And that when we die, we'll come back to life too." We tried to explain that we have to stay in heaven for a bit but that yes, one day we will live again. At least he's understanding that Jesus loves us...that's an important thing to know.

Along with having the Easter Bunny come on Saturday, we've decided to have a "Special Egg Hunt" on Sunday.

Our boys were stoked to be able to find eggs again.





I told them something special would be in ONE of the eggs. So when all the eggs were found they had to open each one to see what the special surprise would be.




Kaysen found it....

a picture of the Savior coming out of the tomb. I told them that the egg was like the tomb that had Jesus' body inside of it. After 3 days, Jesus came out, just like the picture of Christ.

They loved it. So we did it again and again and again. Except now they both want the picture of Jesus. It's been a fun little game that I hope to make a family tradition. It helps keep the true meaning of Easter alive.

Happy Easter!