December Ben

Here are just a few cute moments with Ben throughout the month that I wanted to document...

One night, Andy was trying to feed Ben on his lap and Ben kept trying to hug him :)

 

         

        

Andy always studies his scriptures next to his bed and Ben loves to join him with his own important business :)

Ben hasn't usually paid much attention to the Christmas tree but this year he noticed some ornaments that had his picture on them and began pulling those off to line them up with whatever else he was lining up at the time.  I just loved these shots of him being fascinated by what he was seeing.

And last of all, I often find Ben like this in the morning...

He often burrows down into the corner of the bed where I have tucked two large pillows so it will be more comfortable for him.

 

 

Christmas Conjunction

The title only works for one part of this post but I wanted to use it so...there ya go :)

Josh actually had an orchestra concert...only two people associated with each student were able to attend...and they had two nights of it to spread people out even more.

They did great as usual!  I have seriously been impressed each time I have heard this orchestra play.

And, as usual, they did a number with the band, orchestra and choirs which always makes me happy :)

We realized that this will be Josh's last Christmas concert in High School.

Crazy that this kid is a Senior!

Our other usual Christmas musical events were either virtual or canceled.

The kids' piano teacher went to great lengths to record all of the duets and compile them into a recital she posted online.  We quite enjoyed watching from the comfort of our own home with no stress on the kids :)  She said it was much harder and more stressful for her though to do it that way.

Josh's cello recital was canceled altogether.

As much as I enjoy these events at Christmas time, I must admit that it was kind of nice not to be running all over the place throughout the season.

I didn't get very good shots of the planets aligning but it was pretty cool to see!

Neat to think that the world hasn't seen this for at least 400 years.

Well, the stars aligned for this girl to get her driver's license two days before Christmas!

We had to really work in the last of her 40 hours but we made it!

I had told her to check with her teacher to make sure all the information had been entered into the system before we went and she did...and he said it was all in...so we were surprised and frustrated when the lady at the desk said Abby's records didn't show she had completed the class and something else was missing too.  We had to call her teacher who, thankfully answered (keep in mind we are on Christmas break and it is 2 days before Christmas), and said he wasn't in charge of any of that and she needed to contact the teacher with whom she had actually driven.  Luckily, he answered also even though he was at a family party, and said he had done everything he needed to on his end.  However, the lady at the DLD kept saying she was missing things.  After about 10 minutes of going back and forth, he realized he had put something in twice and when he changed that it must have fixed everything because our friend at the desk finally said she had everything she needed.  

I know that was a super long and unnecessary story but it was what happened.

We're just happy it all came together and she has the license :)

Hooray!

 

December Creations

Mini macrame ended up being my ornament of choice this year.

I looked at a lot of designs and made a bunch of prototypes before landing on the right size rope and beads.  They took approx. 15 minutes each to make but honestly, it was very therapeutic and relaxing.  I always like it when my ornaments allow me to sit comfortably on the couch and watch Christmas movies while I work.

Originally I made 125 but then ended up making about another 30.  I don't know for sure but I was somewhere between 150-160.

One of my kind friends cut and printed all the red and green cards for me and I added a touch of paint to them...

 

My trainer at the gym, Megan, is an amazing cookier (yes, that's a real term)

She opened my eyes to the world of professionally decorated sugar cookies.

I was fascinated with what she showed me!

I ordered some Christmas cookies from her and signed up for a virtual class.  Long story short, she and her mom and Abby and I all ended up doing the class together at Megan's home.

The class was taught by Luna Ellis (Arlos Cookies).  She told us in the class that she was going to be making Christmas cookies for THE Joanna Gaines!  Super impressive!

My cookies from the class are on the left and Abby's are on the right...

It was much harder than I had anticipated.  I had watched plenty of videos on Instagram (they are quite satisfying) and they all made it look quite easy :)  I was surprised at the difficulty.

                                              

A week or so later I tried my hand at my own first batch...

Colors were not what I had hoped and it was interesting...but fun!

These are the cookies Megan made for me...

Aren't those gnomes adorable?!?!

I was so excited to see macrame cookies were a thing!

I couldn't wait to see how they looked with my ornaments!

Andy found a pattern for a Mandalorian snowflake...

he was pretty proud of it :)  Cutie!

Every year I give the kids a new ornament on Christmas Eve.  This year I wanted to do something related to the crazy year we have been through.  I got on Etsy and found a lot of similar looking ornaments that I decided I could make myself.  My first attempt was pretty unprofessional looking.  I just used markers and I have never been very good at lettering so, yeah...

I figured it was time to dust off my Silhouette.  It had been quite a while since I had used it so it literally took me hours to remember how to do everything and make these ornaments.  They turned out much better than than the first ones though so I was happy.

And finally, our Christmas card for the year...

 The snow globe was a challenge and it didn't turn out like I had hoped but we made it work.  It was Andy's idea to make a wreath out of masks...a subtle touch that we're not sure many people noticed :)

Thanksgiving COVID Style

Instead of eating our Thanksgiving meal together, Mom suggested we have a pie party out in our backyard Thanksgiving Eve.

She provided multiple yummy pies and fixings.

Shivering, we gathered around...

I believe it was in the 40s that day.

Ben didn't seem to mind the cold and was just thrilled to be outside!!!

We had a grand old time!

Seriously, the pies were amazing though :)

We're glad Jo and T were in town and could join us as well!

 After the pie we turned on "On Moonlight Bay" per tradition and I prepped a bunch of food.

The next day there wasn't a whole lot to do on my part.

Andy cooked the turkey roast in the Instant pot with great success!

I know the spread doesn't look super impressive but for me this was a big deal!

Andy and I had never prepared a whole Thanksgiving meal all on our own before so I was pretty proud!

Rolls, salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, creamed cheese corn, stuffing, mac and cheese and turkey and gravy. 

I had asked everyone the week before one or two things they wanted to make sure we served.  Hence the mac and cheese :)  Thank you Matt.

The kids had made a couple of pumpkin pies the week before over Zoom with the young men and young women so I had frozen one to save for Thanksgiving.   Josh also requested a chocolate cream pie so I had him make it.  I thought it was pretty fun that the kids made all the pies :)

We had a lovely meal with just our little family.

What a pleasant experience it was!

We have so much to be grateful for as a family.

Love this crew!!!