Christmas Preparations:

Addie made this cute snow globe at school:

Joseph drew this self portrait in school, and colored his own wrapping paper:

We spent a couple of days baking and delivering treats to our ministering families or as surprise Elves. We didn't do a very good job in sneaking away, but we still had a lot of fun! And the kids always love baking!

Second weekend in December the Baseball league delivered our first real Christmas Tree. Joe was excited, they always had real trees when he was a kid. I remember having one when I was little. So this was our year to have a real tree. It was very pretty and full.

Addie's favorite ornament through the years, a fairy/angel.

Joseph's favorite ornament throughout the years, his handprint made into Rudolph.

We went to Lindor's farm to see Santa, and dur to Covid, it was hard to find one where they could actually visit with Santa. It was freezing, but totally worth it. So fun!

We drank hot cocoa and the kids played on the tires while they got our polaroid ready. 

We also went to Boise Fairgrounds for Christmas in Color. We drove through music coordinated lights. It was a lot of fun. We missed going to Indian Creek in Caldwell, but Joe's feet were killing him due to an arthritis flair up. So we splurged and went here instead. 

We wrote letters to Santa:

We went a couple of times to the Scentsy lights. 

I even rolled down the hill with them a couple of times. My favorite part!

When it snows here, we always joke the kids better play in it before noon because it will have melted. This time it lasted a few days. The kids were in heaven.

And our cute baby kitty Twinkle loved to sleep at the bottom of the tree....and often we would find oranments on the floor. She had a lot of fun.

 

Addie's 7th Birthday: Hogwarts

This year Addie wanted a Hogwart's/Hermoine themed birthday part. She picked her birthday cake. She also wanted to bring cupcakes to school. But with them having to be bought, we decided to also add some "Golden Snitches" for fun along with some house themed pencils. I was allowed to come and bring them for her class. 

Every year I try to decorate their room/kitchen in their theme. This year I did both because of Covid we couldn't do a party. 

Snacks: Nimbus 2000 (sting cheese and pretzels), Professor Sprout's garden (veggies), Buckbeak's Pumpkins (pumpkin marshmallows), Slytherin Snakes (gummy worms), Hufflepuff's (Cheetos)

Each year, the non-birthday kid gets a small toy....It helped especially when they were little to not feel left out.

Her with her first grade class and Mrs. Fugge. She was very excited!

The elementary school decorated the halls as Candy Land for Christmas. 

Addie's cupcakes and snitches.

 

Thanksgiving 2020

With Joe and I working in the Medical field, we often have one or both of us working.  That makes it difficult to plan going out of town for the holidays. Because Joe had to work Thursday night 9even though it wasn't his holiday, his department recognized Wednesday night as the holiday) we decided to stay in Nampa. We went to Sally's and Phil's, enjoyed their company and food along with Gary. 

I still wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner at our house. And it's not complete without making Grandma Sarah Hebdon's apple pie filling with Grandma Norma Neibaur's pie crust....Delish!!

For School, Addie came home with this cute bracelet and I thought I would share it. As with all holidays, I think it's important to remember the true meaning. And to teach our children as well. We are so blessed by so many who sacrificed and went without, by those who dared to pilgrim to a distant land for freedoms. 

JoJo made this cute Indian outfit at school. What a handsome boy!

That weekend we went to one of our favorite restaurant's: El Tenampa (Mexican). We love their chicken Fajitas. 

In Relief Society we did this painting, and I loved it! I really enjoy doing these types of things. It was awesome. I would love to take lessons and learn how to do techniques.

For years I have wanted to get the kids their own Christmas trees. They picked which kind they wanted, ornaments and lights. They love having them in their rooms. This  year, we needed extra Christmas cheer.

This is a picture Addie drew of me and her. I love it! She's such an artist.

Swimming Lessons Fall 2020

When we moved here to Nampa, we decided the kids were old enough to do swim lessons. I believe this was the 3rd session we have done in about 3 years. And each time we can really see the progress they have made. It's so exciting to see the courage pick up. They have especially loved their teacher Charlie. She does such a great job with them and they seem to respond with her. They have had her twice now. She is the one in black.

Addie is in the deep pool, able to swim for quite a few yards without any help. She also puts her head in the water and tried to do the American Crawl. We think she might have some swim love and skills in her! It will be fun to see how she does in the future.

JoJo has also made a huge leap in his progress. He is able to swim pretty well, put his face in the water, and if he sinks....He doesn't panic! He just sinks to the bottom, and pushes his way up to swim a few strokes, and repeats. He doesn't float very well, so this is his way of swimming. At first it made me nervous until I figured out what he was doing. His confidence is amazing!