We were setting up the nativities on top of the piano, and we asked Becca to go ahead and set up the little wooden Guatamalan set (since it's not fragile). She carefully took her time and then announced she was done, and this is what we found...
We enjoyed advent at Ben's family's home and cousin Adam has turned into the family pianist... he played almost all the Christmas songs during our Sunday advents each week -
Jake and I did a fun preschool activity, with a little color sorter I put together from an oatmeal container. Jake often drives me crazy, but when we are just doing one and one activities like this, he is so entertaining and very focused. It gives me great hope for him for when he starts preschool next year. :)
We made reindeer cookies (they are a lot cuter on the link, but all I had was mini holiday m&m's, so we settled with green eyes... just slightly creepy, haha)-
Becca had a playdate with Dagen while her mommy was busy at an important appt. Girls like coloring (Jake stayed at the table and colored for literally 10 seconds... it was just lucky I got a picture with him in it) -
We colored little gingerbread men too-
Ben had to work, but we decided to head over to the ward Christmas party anyway... I'll pretty much go anywhere, even without a hubby, for free food. :) Emma was the only one that was excited and willing to sit on Santa's lap...
We celebrated Adam and Carol's birthday a week early at Ben and Emily's house. During their actual birthday weekend, they were going to be gone in Washington D.C. - Emma went too! That trip really deserves it's own post, but I don't currently have any pictures - hopefully I'll get some sent to me soon though! So, lest you think this cake was poorly decorated, it was part of the fun to have the kids decorate their own sheet cake - they piled on candy, sprinkles, and marshmallows. Ben made the sheet cake and it was delicious! Happy Birthday!
So, Ben's parents took Adam and Emma on a 4 day trip to Washington D.C. this month. Emma had an amazing time and learned so much about our country and government. Some of what they did included visiting the Lincoln Memorial, and touring the U.S. Capital, Library of Congress, Aero Space Museum, American Art Museum, and American History Museum. A congressman from Arizona, Jeff Flake, even took Adam and Emma to the floor of the House of Representatives, and they got to vote! They were able to insert the voting cards of several congressmen and press the appropriate buttons on one of the electronic voting machines in the chamber room. Emma said she voted "yay" 4 times. :) What an amazing experience! We were able to find video of Emma, Adam, and Congressman Flake HERE. The video is 15 hours long for the day - so click on the link, and then skip ahead to 4:21:15. On the far left side of the video (to the left of the word 'Democratic' on the screen), you can see them walk in (thankfully Adam and Emma are both wearing RED sweaters, so they are a little easier to spot in the very crowded room). They had already done the voting procedure in another part of the room, outside of the video shot. Anyway, maybe Emma will decide to get into politics. haha. :)
