Gingerbread Houses of 2013

So my aunt Silvia had all 16 of her grandkids over to make gingerbread houses and she had a house and some extra supplies that she gave to Kaylee, which Kaylee thought was pretty cool. Can't you just feel the excitement (no sarcasm intended).

Finished product

Now we also made some gingerbread house but ours were store bought and then we made then stand with hot glue. Here is us working on them

Kaylee happy about making another house

A group shot of the completed houses. From left to right: Kaylee, Kaylee, Abe's, my mom's, and then mine.

Salt Lake Trip 2013

So our annual Salt Lake trip went a little different but was still nice. We went to City Creek Mall and took an adventure to the coolest grocery store Harmons. We did some real shopping at Fashion place and went to my cousins house. We also ate a lot of yummy food. Oh and this time we stayed at the hotel that's like an apartment which everyone votes is the way to go.

So at the hotel they offer a hot breakfast which is nice. One morning Kaylee was in a bad mood and something didn't go as she would like and she throw a muffin and nailed a Russian, who looked like he could have killed Kaylee for hitting him with the muffin. But here is a nice picture of Conner enjoying his breakfast.

So at City Creek Mall they have this creek and pond thing inside the mall. It is stocked with fish and Kaylee thought that they were pretty neat.

In the Disney store they had a coloring station which Kaylee really enjoyed.

Fun in the apple store.

So for an early Christmas present we got a double stroller and it is awesome

So we also went to Target and we find this awesome hat for building a snowman and Kaylee loved it and when she wears it she becomes Frosty the Snowman

At my cousins Kaylee had a blast running around and watching trains and playing with her cousins. Conner was in a weird mood that night. He would put little balls under his chin for some reason and running around with it. He also would hug people but he doesn't know when to quit always and I had to detach him from time to time.

Now you wouldn't think shopping would be fun for little kids but my kids like going shopping. They had so much fun with cousins, a hotel (where Kaylee refused to sleep. She just want to play and play) and running around the malls that almost every time we were in the car they would do this.

So we didn't go to temple square this year so no family pictures. But here are some cute shots.

The Christmas Treats of 2013

We started the season off with making Swedish Ginger Snap cookies to send to Bryce in the Philippines. We thought it was a good idea since they are suppose to be stored in an airtight container for about a month and it takes about 3 weeks for Bryce to get a package. So we sealed them with a food saver. We used the same recipe as in the past and we all thought they tasted good here. Sadly Bryce said that they tasted funny and weren't very good, but Kaylee had fun helping roll and cut cookies for Bryce so that's good.

Gingerbread Boy and Girl

Swedish Gingerbread Boy and Girl

We also made fruit cake again this year and it turned out pretty good. We even decided to make a batch without all the nasty stuff and Nykol and I really liked it.

Supplies for O'Henrys

We made peppermint bark again this year and Kaylee enjoy working the microwave and watching me pour the chocolate.

We tried red chocolate this year and I prefer it over the white for the trees but not the gingerbread men.

And Conner for the most part of all the making of treats just ran around happy to be with people and getting fed bits and pieces of what was being made.

Here I am rolling out sugar cookies which we never did frost but still tasted good. And Kaylee is making it "snow" and saying Happy Holidays.

Conner really enjoyed playing in the "snow"

Exhausted from a hard day of work

Christmas Carols by Kaylee

Festival of Lights

Kaylee loves looking at lights Conner not as much in fact he was asleep for all the best lights. But anyway we took Grandma and the kids to Salem pond and the Festival of Lights. Kaylee thought it was way fun to show Grandma the pond because she had already been. And then we went to the Festival of Lights which cost $7 a car. They play Christmas music outside and you can tune your radio to the music in your car and you can drive around as many times as you want. We drove around it three times.

Kaylee was like look the Volcano is erupting

She also liked to wave at Santa Claus

And this pink tree can actually be seen for miles it's so dang bright.

Passed out from a successful look at lights.

Christmas Dancing

Annual Christmas Party 2013

The party happened once again. It was a small party only 78 people were able to make it this year but it was still really nice. The kids just love coming and being with each other and waiting for Santa and just everything.

The room pre-people

The room filled with singing people

Kaylee singing. She pretended to read the lyrics like the older kids and when they flipped their papers she did as well.

So Santa showed up and Kaylee was just so excited. See her blur next to Santa as she's jumping up and down wanting his attention and to say hi.

The excitement still hasn't worn off as she waits for her name to be called.

Now when her name was called I don't think anyone was more excited than she was. She jumped out of her seat and practically ran to him and jumped on his lap it was funny.

Now Conner didn't have the same excitement as Kaylee, in fact to was very leery of Santa but he did sit on his lap.