December

 

December came and went way too fast! With a later Thanksgiving this year, and just life in general moving so fast these days, I felt like time was just flying. Thankfully, there were many, many sweet moments where we were able to slow down for at least a few minutes and enjoy the beauty of the season!

One Friday afternoon we headed to Salt Lake for some Christmas magic. We stopped by the giving the machines and donated immunizations to the humane society (Lila picked, because there was a kitty on the picture). We stopped by the Grand America to see the huge gingerbread house and look at all the fun windows and Christmas trees. And we did some Christmas crafts at the church history museum while Nana was there doing her shift.

After seeing the huge gingerbread house, Lila was very determined to do her own! All four kids worked together on this masterpiece and it was a sweet, fun evening. It adorned our counter all month long!

We did our 24 days of service, which is so meaningful every year. This year we started with an extra special service project. We wanted to give to Primary Children's hospital- our neighbors do a collection every year. So the kids and I all worked together to tie this blanket. Then we went to Target and the boys used their own money to pick some toys that kids can do from bed. Lila picked out a few things too and then the kids delivered them to the Slaughters to take to PCH. Slaughter's daughter passed away of cancer shortly before we moved in and was treated there, so it was also a gift to them to donate in her memory. 

After carefully considering every possible Christmas dress on the market, this was deemed the one. Lila loved it- but only paired with the sparkly gold tights. White tights are boring and what you wear "when your mom just wants you to be ugly."

Davis finally lost his front tooth! I love this little toothless grin! He was so dang proud of it!

Christmas cookie baking- complete with princess/witch attire. 

We went to see Santa. Lila told me the day before she was nervous to go because she thought Santa would have her on the naughty list. (I mean, she wasn't wrong...) She did NOT talk to him and hated to be in the picture with him, but afterwards thought it was a positive experience. Davis asked for Crocs, Hudson asked for a putter, Chase asked for football gloves, Lila asked (through me, her interpreter) for a barbie camper.

This is Hudson after finding out he got the role of the KING in the school play this year! We are doing Cinderella and even though I got to be part of casting, I didn't get to cast him. He did great in his audition and I think it'll be such a cute role for him!

All the boys went for haircuts- under mostly duress. Chase really weighed all his options on his hair choices and finally landed on this- more of a risk than his norm. I think it turned out so cute!

We did more cookie decorating on the Sunday before Christmas with Nana and Heidi! The kids came up with the cutest stuff and true to form, Lila was the last one still decorating long after her brothers lost interest.

Davis finished up his basketball season! This was a dream come true for him. He's totally a natural athlete and improved so much over the season. His ball handling is excellent and he score a bunch of baskets. Mostly it's just so dang cute to watch him play.

More Christmas baking with Aunt Heidi. Lila has definitively decided that they are best buddies.

We had a fun Christmas party with the extended White family at my Aunt Georgia's house. Lila and Rosie quickly included Abby in their little group and the three girls were magically adorable all night long. It was so sweet to see them all bond like this! (Abby's mom Kelly is my "best cousin" just like Lila and Rosie)

This is Davis and Lila heading to the party. I love that they are dressed to attend the same event! My preferred outfit for both of them was somewhere in the middle of this.

And before we knew it, Christmas Eve was upon us! We had a lovely night all together. Heidi gathered the kids earlier to make Christmas cards for Whisper Cove (that they delivered the next day). We did games (that were hilarious), our epic talent show, a delicious prime rib dinner, hilarious gift exchange, and the kids got their big surprise gift from Nana and Papa- a treasure hunt that led them to matching Disneyworld T-shirts and the reveal that we are all heading there next month! The kids were jumping up and down and screaming in absolute delight! It was the sweetest moment. I can't wait until we are there!

Christmas morning started WAY too early since Lila woke everyone up around 4:45 am and no one really got back to sleep. Eventually we just went with it and began our Christmas morning. The kids loved all their gifts and were so thankful. Excitement was off the charts. It was just a sweet morning all the way around! We ended the day with dinner over at Ray and Diane's. It was a really beautiful Christmas in which I took basically no pictures because I was just enjoying being in the moment! 

November

November started with another presidential election. The last several elections have been so ugly in America that I think every kind of dreads election years now! Davis, who has gotten very interested in presidents this last year, is NOT a big fan of Trump. This was his reaction to hearing that Trump in fact won the election the next morning. No one in America took the news harder. 

Ben found Davis asleep like this one night. How this is even comfortable I'll never know! 

Two weeks after Ben's big surgery I got to take Hudson to Boston! This little one-on-one trip was planned long before we knew about the surgery and I was a big ball of nerves leaving Ben- and also leaving him in charge of the other kids knowing he wasn't nearly at 100%. But Hudson was so excited for the trip, I didn't want to let him down either. So I pulled it together and took him and it ended up being wonderful!

We went out to Rhode Island one day and toured The Breakers. Hudson loves fancy stuff, so he was all over this! (Also these poses were a joke- I suggested I hold him like I used to when he was a baby, he said only if it went both ways)

We drove out to Walden Pond and walked around in all the fall beauty! I'm a big fan of New England in the fall. Hudson had never heard of Walden Pond or Thoreau, but I told him to just tuck that knowledge away for a few years. He'll be sititng in English class and this will come up. 

We stopped at Harvard to look around. Hudson loved it there. He brought his yo-yo and used it all over Boston- and filmed it so put into a montage when we got home. What an idyllic yo-yo setting. I'm wondering if Harvard gives out yo-yo scholarships? Funny story- Heidi dropped us off here and headed out to Davis Square to get us sandwiches from the most delicious bakery. She got to said bakery, turned her car off, and then realized the car keys were in MY PURSE! So, Hudson and I hopped on the T and rode it a few stops to Davis Square and met up with her there (thankful I've been there before, but it was years ago!). As Heidi texted me, "We are always thinking one step ahead. Not always two."

We went to the Museum of Science and Hudson loved it- even Mr. Cool himself couldn't stop from cracking a huge smile during the electrical show.

Huds, Heidi and I walked the entire Freedom Trail! It was such a fun day! Beautiful, crisp, fall weather. Hudson is so happy to be along for the ride and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the city. When we got to Bunker Hill and found out you could climb the monument he took off immediately. He beat me up the stairs by a LOT and then we were both sore for a few days (but mostly me).

It was such a great trip with just Hudson! I loved having time to focus on him. He's a kid who doesn't ask for a lot of demand much attention, even more of a reason to make this trip happen even though the timing wasn't ideal.  Heidi was the best hostess and Ben and the kids at home did great while we were gone!

Davis played a lot of basketball in November! He was so excited to finally be part of a team and relished every game and practice. Since we were all available, the whole family went to watch him most Saturdays.

Thanksgiving! We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year! Our Thankful Tree looked a little sparse- November was just so busy with Ben's recovery and normal life. But we sure did feel thankful a lot!

We went to Will's that morning for some football/pickleball. But these two mostly just played inside.

Ben likes to take us all out to breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. It's such a milestone now that we can eat in a restaurant and not have it be too crazy with tiny babies anymore! 

I took the older two to see Wicked and Ben was home with the littles. It was a late movie and this is what I came home to! Ben still couldn't lift them since he was not quite a month out from his back surgery, so I moved them when I got home. What a sweet little sight!

Lila had a darling Thanksgiving feast at preschool! Speaking of which, preschool has been such a good thing for her! She normally struggles to leave me, but she walks right into preschool happily every day. She's learning such good social skills there too!

Heidi came for Thanksgiving and Lila was especially excited to see her. Whenever she was throwing a big fit during the fall and knew she was being unreasonable, she'd reply that she was just sad because "I miss Aunt Heidi so much!" But then she was maybe onto something because she was delightful the whole time Heidi was here! Also- this game of Guess Who was hilarious. We played by "millennial rules" which means questions about the personality of the person, not just physical appearance. "Would I be friends with this person?" "Does this person spend a lot of time at the gym?" or Lila's favorite "Would this person set up their Christmas tree before us?"

I think I took this photo because all my kids were watching a show together and no one was complaining. So it was probably Bluey.

Ben made the best steak for dinner one Sunday and it made my boys all so happy! These boys are carnivores for sure!

I love how sweet and affectionate Davis is! He's just the best!

Davis really wanted to have his friends over for a campfire night. These boys were so cute and played in our backyard and roasted s'mores for a few hours. It was cold and dark and none of them seemed to mind! 

This is how Lila and Rosie said the prayer on the food one Sunday. 

Hudson loves his lapel pin that Heidi bought him at The Breakers. And he looks so sharp in his suit! He wears it every Sunday now. 

We got snow one fun Saturday! We haven't had much snow this year, but the kids really enjoyed it for this one day. 

Hudson also hosted a fun campfire night. I texted a few moms to let them know he wanted to do it and told them it was a very open invitation to whoever wanted to come. We ended up with about 12 6th grade boys back there and they all had a blast! 

And then we kicked off the Christmas season! I always love this night- decorating the tree, all the memories tied up in the kids special ornaments, cuddling up to a fun Christmas movie. It's just such a simple and happy way to start the most wonderful time of the year!