A full month of fun!

December is always hectic for sure and sometimes you can see through the stress to realize there is a lot of fun to be had. A few of our December highlights so far have been:

-Ward/neighborhood party: It was catered by the Goodwood BBQ (wow! the church does that? what a fun change!) We also had a visit from Santa. This was fun to watch. At first, Jenna was too scared to see him and Sarah and Andrew were too cool to see him. In the end, none of them could resist the pull of sharing wishes with Santa

-Friend party: The Fletcher's hosted a party this year. Great food and crazy games. Just check out the picture of the guys with deer antlers (ie. panty hose stuffed with balloons). I think adults have more fun playing games than kids do!

-Shopping at the dollar store: This is fast becoming one of the kids favorite traditions. We give each of the children $10 and set them loose to shop for the family at the dollar store. They dodge and hide from each other, then they rush home to wrap their gifts. There are always some fun and interesting gifts. 

-Open houses: Megan and Cameron hosted their first holiday gathering (the first of many, right??). Go Meg and Cam on the domestic front...wassail, treats and a yard full of lights (and one big penguin!).

-Neighborhood parties: The Madsen's hosted a recital with some of the neighbors. The recital was even complete with roses for the guests to throw when the performers were done. From singing, piano, trumpet, to violin...what talent and fun was shared. Such a great event, loved it!

-Relief Society party: What a beautiful party...it looked like a wedding reception...complete with a live nativity on the stage.

-Gingerbread houses: It's become a tradition to decorate a gingerbread house with g'ma and g'pa Medeiros. This kids always look forward to the licking, tasting and time with the g'parents. This year, the kids got to open one gift from them since they will be gone on Christmas.

-Visiting the homeless shelter: The kids and mom had the opportunity to visit the shelter downtown to drop off some donations. This was such a good experience for them. Unprovoked, Sarah donated all her money. I even suggested any donation amount was wonderful, but she didn't hesitate to give it all. The kids were thrilled to be invited inside where they were treated to a photo with Santa and some hot chocolate.