Christmas Partying

December is so fun because it feels like a month long party! We kicked it off with our annual BYU friends party. Russell and Ashley hosted this year, so we made the trek down to Springville (an hour drive) and it was absolutely worth it! Ashley had her house beautifully decorated, the company was perfect, and the children were wild. They seriously ran around in a little pack, and besides a few toy-stealing mishaps, got along perfectly! We love this group of friends so much. We got to sit around the table just chatting for a long time while the kids played. We had a stressful week leading up to this party (more about that later) and talking and laughing with these dear friends was just what the doctor ordered! I only wish we all lived closer so we could get together more than a few times a year! It was a perfect night. 

 Once Heidi got into town we set aside a night for cookie decorating. Heidi is a decorator extraordinaire- so it was fun to see her beautiful cookies besides the ones that Chase so lovingly and carefully decorated :) Chase is of the  "more is more" mentality when it comes to frosting and sprinkles. Hudson decorated a few cookies, and immediately ate them all.

Chase had his preschool Christmas program, which was adorable. He was so excited that Heidi flew in late the night before and came to watch him, Papa was there too. He, of course, refused to wear a santa hat like the rest of the kids and interjected (loudly) personal comments after almost every song (and was the only kid to do so). So the whole audience got to hear what was going on in his head "I only had three days to practice because I had strep!" "Thanks for recording that dad!" "Mom, I'm thirsty I need water." "That was my favorite song." Oh man, that kid. I love that he's confident.

 This is our family on Christmas Sunday. I always love this Sunday of church, mostly because of all the beautiful music. Music brings the spirit of Christmas to me like nothing else, and hearing beautiful praises of the Savior keeps us focused on Him. Chase got up to sing with the primary kids. He wiggled his way to the very middle, hopped up on the little step in front of the microphone, and then proceeded to play with the microphone and wave excitedly to us through the whole song.

 We had our annual White Family Christmas party at my Aunt Karen's that same Sunday. Chase was so excited to go because Aunt Karen has really awesome toys and surprisingly the boys were very well behaved, ate their dinner, and then mostly disappeared into the basement to play away with a few of my cousin's kids. The food was divine and so was the company. I was especially excited anticipating my cousin Kelly being there- we are very close and I haven't seen her forever (they live in Chicago). The day before they were to fly out, her husband Tommy was hit by a car on his way to work while riding his bike. When we got the original phone call they still weren't sure if he'd be okay- knowing a brain injury was likely. I was teary and hit my knees praying that he'd be okay. Luckily, it became evident relatively quickly that besides a concussion and several skull fractures, no other major damage was done- his helmet saved his life. Of course we all missed seeing them this Christmas, but mostly we are all so thankful Tommy is still with us and will recover- our own little Christmas miracle this year!

We sang "The Holy City" as always around the piano. Chase really didn't like it and pretty quickly left the room with his hands over his ears. We're really not a musical family- but this song is a tradition and I love it! Someday Chase will understand.

 The next night was our Smith Family Christmas party at my parents house. We did Mexican food and it all turned out great! The boys apparently used up all their obedient point the night before, so they may have ended up in my parents bedroom with iPads at some point during the night. In this picture, I'm between the newly engaged Nate and Halie! We are so excited for their upcoming wedding next year!

Now I've got two excited little boys who can't wait for what the next few days have in store for us! We love this time of year!