Tradition

One of our traditions we started years ago was to get each kid their own chocolate advent calendar.  It's always a major highlight of the season!  Here are the kids on Christmas Eve morning opening their very last one.

And of course I had to document our elves, Jingle (Ella is holding) and Teeny (all the other kids holding) who move around every night the whole month of December leading up to Christmas.  They leave the kids notes, the kids leave them notes and they always love to wake up and look all around until they find their newest hiding spot.  But Christmas Eve, they go back to the North Pole and we don't see them again until next December.  The older three get this, but poor Ella has been walking all  around yesterday and today saying "Jingle? Teeny?" to no avail....

And while this isn't tradition, I had to document our morning visit with one of our favorite families, the Harpers.  They match up perfectly with our family (girl, boy, girl, girl) just 17 years ahead of us.  The girls grew up babysitting my kids from the time they were 12 until they left for college so we always look forward to their visits home!

Not pictured:  Dave's tradition is that he always goes with his family to a movie, so he went with the older three kids and his entire family to see Star Wars VII while I stayed home with a napping Ella and got some wrapping done!  Once they came home, the six of us continued the evening with the Mitchell Family tradition of going out to pizza (we always went to Connie's Pizza in Naperville - no deep dish Chicago style pizza here inside a restaurant decorated for Christmas and such, but we found a place that worked just fine!) and then drove all over town seeing all the beautiful lights.

Then we came home, sprinkled oatmeal and sparkles on the lawn for the reindeer, left some cookies for Santa (which he very much enjoyed) and went to bed!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night.

Dave's tradition of eating Turtles in the morning while opening presents.  I guess I'm okay with a tradition that involves eating chocolate first thing in the morning! ;)

My family tradition is for the kids to line up youngest to oldest.  Nobody is allowed to go downstairs until Dad has the fire going, the Christmas music going, etc and tells us its okay.  We do the same thing.  But oh my, this year, Lacey and Tanner were up by 2:30am saying they were too excited to sleep.  We finally got them both back down only to have Riley and Ella up by 4 with the same excuse!  When we finally got them back asleep by 6 or so, Tanner was back up at 7 (which we told the kids was the earliest we would go down for presents) and Dave and I were pooped before the day even started!  But alas, I was the exact same way when I was their age!

First order of business:  Stockings!

Tanner showing off his two favorite presents -the phone I gave him (which is why we are pictured together with it in previous picture) which he has been begging for for months.  My contract was up a couple months ago, so I've been due for an upgrade and Tanner has been hounding me to do it so he can have my old phone.   But there was no way I was just going to give him my old phone.  So, I waited until Christmas Eve and spent an hour and a half at a Verizon store on Christmas Eve afternoon with my 2 year old (that is true love right there!) to get my new phone so I could give T my old phone as a Christmas present (it is now disabled as a phone, but he wanted to use it for games and such).  And he can use an app on the phone to control his new robot which he thought was pretty sweet!

This was the first year Ella was really into Christmas.  She LOVED opening presents and was always a little perturbed when it wasn't her turn to open.  It was a Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol Christmas for Ella!

Riley J and her Papa

After Ella's nap, we all piled in the car and headed over to Dave's parents house where we enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner and had fun hanging out with our cousins!  Here's the whole gang!

We had a wonderful Christmas!  I love this time of year when we spread joy, exchange gifts, decorate our homes and yards, spend time with family and friends, etc.  But also reflect on why we celebrate Christmas and how grateful we our for the birth of our Savior.

Full Circle

I grew up playing the violin.  If I wasn't so tired right now, I'd go and find a picture of my elementary-age self playing the violin, but alas that's not going to happen.  Anyway, my mom put me in private lessons when I was 5 years old.  I learned how to play using a cracker-jack box and ruler before I graduated to my 1/4 size real violin.  She kept me in private lessons as well as a private orchestra all the way through High School.  By the end of HS, I was way too interested in friends, sports and other things to bother with the violin, so I put it down.... and sadly have only picked it up a handful of times since - basically whenever somebody finds out I play and asks me to play it for something.  Anyway.... fast forward to this year when Lacey said she wanted to start playing the violin.  In our school, 3rd graders are allowed to start playing stringed instruments and Lacey said she wanted to play the violin since I play.  I was so happy!

And tonight was their concert!

She shares her stand with another girl named Lacey.  How cute is that?

A couple weeks ago, their Strings teacher sent home a note asking if any parents/older siblings would be interested in joining them for the final song.  I was so excited to be able to play with my little girl!

I was the only parent that signed up - it was just me and this nice man, the "other Lacey's" grandpa.  We had so much fun playing together!  

It felt a little surreal playing violin with my own daughter.  Full Circle.....

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve

We've been busy in the days leading up to Christmas!  Tanner convinced us to start him in Tae Kwon Do and also lost yet another tooth (unrelated to his Tae Kwon Do moves! ;))

I took the younger two to a Christmas story time followed by a gymnastics "open gym" and a Santa Meet and Greet.

Then yesterday we had a neighborhood Christmas party for all the kids in the 'hood.

Tanner trying his hand as DJ at the party

Then last night, we went to the Ward Christmas Party.  They had this cute picture booth set up and Ella quite liked herself in a frame.

They had all these props you could use, but Riley couldn't quite get the hang of it..... here are are attempts.....

Ha!

The program ended with a live Nativity and Lacey got to play Mary, which she was VERY excited about!!

We came home from our Church Christmas party, did a quick switch-a-roo and headed off to the neighborhood Ugly Sweater Party.

I don't know if you can tell, but Dave's sweater lights up.

In the mean time our babysitter (our niece Becky) made a Gingerbread house with the kids.

The finished product!

A Japanese Christmas

My cousin John served a 2-yr mission in Japan and became fluent in Japanese.  After returning to America, he got involved with a program helping people from Japan who came to America learn English.  That is how he met his wife Miho.  So, all four of their kids are fluent in both Japanese and English and they have lived in Japan as well as America (and Indonesia and Sweden - these are well-cultured kids!)  Currently, they are living in Virginia - close enough that we should see each other more often than we do, but far enough away that it makes it hard to do so.  Anyway.... fast forward to last night.  There was a program at the Festival of Lights at the DC Temple and my cute little cousin Mya (the youngest of John and Miho's four kids) was the star attraction!  The program was entitled "Christmas Japanese Style."  

It was a long day for me.... I left the house at 6:45am for work and then after a long day of working and commuting, I swung by home to let Lacey and Tanner jump in the car to head to DC to see Mya. But it was definitely worth it!

In addition to the kids seeing Mya and Miko (Mya's older sister), they also got to see Devorah and Jaren, my cousin Tracy's kids who also drove in for the concert.  So fun seeing this next generation of Cardall Cousins get together and form relationships.

In fact this is one of the first pictures I could find of this generation of cousins getting together at the 2009 Cardall Family Reunion.  That is Mya (the dancer) front and center with a little 2 yr old Lacey next to her in pigtails and a 12 month old Tanner next to Lacey in the orange shirt.  My does time fly!

I also got to see my sweet Aunt JoEllen who flew in for the concert

And my cousin Tracy (John's sister).  

Great lights, great performance and great impromptu family get together!

Here Comes Santa Claus

I know a lot of people that wait in lines for hours at the mall and spend $20 or more to get a picture with Santa.  Not us!  My work has the REAL Santa come visit on a Saturday morning a week or two before Christmas.  It's so great!  Employees can sign up to bring their kids/grandkids and they have it so well organized.  First of all, it's free.  Secondly, Santa and his surroundings/atmosphere is unbeatable and thirdly, there is NO waiting.  They have donuts and juice and such out for all the families to enjoy as well as coloring and activities so everyone is thoroughly entertained until they come and get you and tell you it is your turn.  And then they have a professional photographer that takes the pictures and they provide you with a nice 4x6 print.  How cool is that??  Anyway, when it was our turn, Tanner b-lined it to Santa and sat on his lap.  He wants to get in good with Santa!

But then the photographer decided the two little girls were better suited for the lap ;)

After pics, the kids had a chance to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Ella was speechless, Riley said she wanted Shopkins and then Tanner said he wanted a new dog.  A golden retriever so he could play fetch.  I'm a little worried about that request as I'm fairly certain that won't be in Santa's toy bag this year....  Then Lacey said she wanted love and happiness and joy for everyone.  Gotta love that Lacey bug.  

Afterwards, the kids wanted to see my office, so I took them to my office and they all had fun "playing dietitian" with all my food models and such.

We were all having a great time until Kid #4 toppled over my food model cart and broke a glass plate and glass measuring cup - shattered into hundreds of pieces everywhere.  Good times!

But all in all, a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning leading up to Christmas!