Wowzers, December went by in a flash

School, work, parties, wrapping, baking, so much fun

Saw this variety of panettone at the grocery store and had to snap a picture for my brother

Baking and watching sugar cookies cook away in the oven

Aubrey practicing with the wheel at pottery class

Fighting a case of strep throat :(

When her throat hurts so bad a popsicle is about all she'll eat

I received a new calling at church 

I'm now the music leader for the children!!

Play dough Pegasus fun with Dad

The international choir that I'm a member of

Celebrating with a Christmas concert before all the members go their separate ways for the holidays

Comprised of people from 9 different countries

Enjoying a band concert put on by Aubrey and classmates

Sam and her assistant working on a school project

We babysat a poodle for a few weeks

As if the America's don't stand out enough we got to walk a green dog

Cars, joggers and walkers stopped each day to ask to take a photo of our dog

Blue beautiful skies for most of the month

Aubrey earned her money 

Walking, cleaning, and feeding the pooch for the month

Assembling Christmas treats for neighbors and friends

So happy I could help these two cute sister missionaries on their transfer day

Big girls working at the embassy for a few weeks

Another one down with strep and the dog keeping her company

Visiting the girls at their office jobs

Lots and lots and lots of swimming

Bike riding buddies

Racetrack fun with Aubrey enjoying her Christmas present

and just like that welcoming in the New Year

2019 is going to be an awesome year!!

Merry Christmas

Christmas this year was just wonderful

We stayed home

No where to travel, to be or places to drive

Rob and I started Christmas Eve morning with a bike ride

then we spent the rest of the day at home

baking, wrapping, organizing and getting ready for a friend get together that afternoon

By evening time we were back home exchanging gifts with the family

and participating in a 4 way WhatsApp Chat

with family in Virginia, Texas, and the rest of the crew in Utah

I am so thankful for technology and the ability to see and chat with friends and family

   

    

Little one thrilled to receive her very first lego set

J&G with a nice pile from Santa & parents 

M with her pile to display

A with her pile and a giant stack of books to dig into

Sam's stocking and pile

The big girls this year each received an "experience"

They really don't need more stuff and one on one time seems to be something they enjoy

Sam got a visit to the salon for a haircut and keratin treatment

Mad got a day of riding motorcycles with Dad

Aubrey got a lunch date and driving go-karts for the afternoon

Hopefully they will each enjoy these dates with us

Lining up for the obligatory photo on the stairs 

   

Thrilled as can be to see American Girl dolls in their pile

   

   

And the lego building begins!!

Can't complain about taking a dip in the pool Christmas morning!

By afternoon we had eaten, slept, organized and headed to the mall to watch Mary Poppins Returns

Merry Christmas

Light the World

Our church for the past 3 years has held a worldwide Christmas initiative

#Light the World

Aubrey helped me make a countdown chain leading up to the big day

We included little things and a few bigger things that we could  

do in our community, church and globally

My cutie holding on of our activities

Another one of the evenings my two littles 

enjoyed participating in a nativity at our church

Lighting the world while enjoying the Christmas décor at the mall 

and the local boat dock/restaurant row

       

Smashing Success

It had been a few years since we carried out our Gingerbread making tradition

It was on everyone's Christmas bucket list for this year

I cheated and just bought graham crackers 

Thanks to Amazon prime they made it to us in less then 3 weeks

Our friends from Germany that we had over to help were a 

little shocked to be using such crackers :)

   

   

The completed masterpieces:

Shrek's swamp paying homage to Madison's recent news that she will be performing as 

Fiona in their school's upcoming musical

Jo's Christmas/Halloween creation 

   

 Gwen's candy corn creation and Aubrey's Christmas village

 And the smashing fun after the houses had been glued together, sat out for a few days, 

and been picked at 

Merry Christmas delivery

Thank you to the awesome donations of friends and family 

our crew was able to make an awesome visit to the 2 schools that we support

In Brasil they sell "food kits"

These food kits are basically a plastic wrapped bag of basic food and house essentials

So many of the families struggle to provide for their kids during the school year

When school is not in session it becomes even more difficult to feed the kiddos each day

During the school year the students are provided with breakfast, lunch and dinner at school

We loaded up a SUV and our mini-van packed to the brim with food kits and school supplies

The girls also played bingo with the kids, teaching them Christmas words in English

and we shared a favorite Christmas treat, Peanut Butter Finger Bars

It was a great day and we can't wait to go back to visit again

This is the video that Samantha put together of our day:

Christmas Delivery