Making Gingerbread Houses as a Family

The kids gathered around the table tonight to decorate the two gingerbread houses that I bought a few weeks ago.  It took until three days before Christmas before we finally had the time to sit down as a family and participate in this annual activity.  The girls chose to work together on one of the houses, while the boys worked on the other.  Ron and I assisted a bit, but overall, the kids did a great job completing this activity on their own.  Their houses looked so cute when they finished and now we get to watch the children slowly devour them over the next few weeks.

All four kids smiling for the camera.

The girls decorating their house.

And the boys doing the same.

NWTL Holiday Ball

For the third year in a row, the girls and I went to NWTL to attend their holiday ball.  Since Lia will not be participating in any of their shows in 2026, this is the last party of theirs that we will be attending, which is bitter sweet for me.  As always, I offered to be in charge of the food and spent a portion of the evening helping with set up and clean up.  The girls had a good time reuniting with some of their theater friends while eating dinner and participating in a massive gift exchange.  It was fun to return to this beloved theater that holds so many wonderful memories to celebrate one last time.

My girls and me all dressed up at the beginning of the party.

Lia posing with some of her lab buddies:

Back Row (L to R):  Chileshe, Malaika, Lia, Temweni, Marcus

Front Row (L to R):  Max & James

Lia participating in the massive, gift exchange.

Ella holding a huge gift before she sadly had to pass it on to the next person.

The girls showing off their gifts after the exchange was over.  Ella was so thrilled to receive a 4-pack of Disney, Funko Pop princesses.

A group photo of all of the kids in attendance at the end of the party.

All I Want for Christmas Is My Four Front Teeth

 

Over the past few months, Emmett has lost all four of his front, middle teeth.  And, although one of the four adult teeth is starting to grow in, I just had to snap this picture of him in front of our Christmas tree showing off his toothless smile.  Emmett looks so cute like this and I know that his smile is going to look so different next Christmas.  As a result, we will be singing, "All I Want for Christmas is my Four Front Teeth," as much as we can over the next few days!

Lia Performs at the South Hill Mall

Since Lia is in Vocal Ensemble this school year, she has had a total of TEN singing commitments in the month of December.  From elementary school assemblies to office parties to a fundraiser concert, she has sung a lot this month in addition to school, homework, and Freaky Friday rehearsals.  I managed to take Ella to see her sing in Seattle before and during intermission of one of The Nutcracker performances and also attended her regular, winter concert.  However, I decided last minute to take the boys to see her sing in the South Hill Mall tonight since it's so close and we had a free evening (while Ella was at a holiday party for gymnastics).  It was so nice to just sit in the mall for 30 minutes and listen to her talented choir sing one Christmas song after the next as shoppers passed by.  Her choir group sang several Christ-centered, Christmas songs which is very different than the more holiday-themed songs that they had to sing at their school concert two days ago.  I just loved being able to sit there with my boys and listen to this beautiful music.  I am definitely going to miss this next year.

Vocal Ensemble singing in front of the beautiful, Christmas tree in the center of the mall.

A close-up of Lia and some of the other students in her choir.

Lia singing, "Twas the Night Before Christmas," with her partner, Ryan.

Lia's Winter Choir Concert

After returning home from Logan's wrestling match and getting Ella ready for her gymnastics' team pictures, Ron and I split up for the rest of the evening.  He drove Ella to the gym for her team photos and I drove to Rogers HS to attend Lia's final, winter concert of her high school career.  Since she is now in Vocal Ensemble in addition to Concert Choir, she got to wear pajamas for the Vocal Ensemble portion of the concert which is a Rogers tradition.  Vocal Ensemble started off the concert by singing six songs, including their traditional "Twas the Night Before Christmas" arrangement that lasts for almost ten minutes.  She then changed clothes, put on her choir robe, and sang five more songs, including my favorite, "Carol of the Bells," that I still know from heart from my high school, choir days.  It was a wonderful way to spend an evening during this holiday season.

Lia singing during "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Lia singing with her choir partner.

The choir reaching for presents from Santa as he appeared at the end of "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Lia singing with Concert Choir.

Lia and Concert Choir singing, "Thy Little Ones," with all of the Rogers alumni in attendance at the concert (which is also a Christmas Concert tradition).

Logan's Last Wrestling Match of the Season

Today, I met Ron at Aylen JHS to cheer on Logan in his final, regular wrestling match of the season.  Due to various reasons, I have only been able to attend a few of Logan's matches this year, but Ron has been able to go to all of them except for one.  Just like last year, Logan did a great job.  He moved up to the Varsity level at the beginning of the season and returned to JV a few matches later.  He has amazingly won every match at both the Varsity and JV level that he competed in, included today.  He was able to pin his opponent toward the end of  the second round of his match and secure the win.  Although Logan has definitely become a long-distance runner in the past year and enjoys XC and track more than any other sport, he has made the most out of this second season of wrestling as a way to stay active during the winter months.  We are proud of how hard he has worked at this sport and have been so impressed with all of his wins.  Way to go, Logan!

Logan and his opponent at the beginning of the match.

Logan and his opponent hand fighting.

First take down of the match.

Logan trying to get the other boy on his back.

The boys resetting due to going out of bounds.

Logan shaking hands with his opponent after pinning him and ending the match.

The referee raising Logan's hand as the winner.

Logan's teammates congratulating him after winning his match.

Ella's 1st Gymnastics Meet of the Season

Ella competed in her first gymnastics meet of the season this afternoon at the Holiday Critique Meet at the Tacoma Convention Center.  This was Ella's first time competing in this meet that is a bit unique as they do not hand out medals at the end.  Instead, the coaches give critiques to the group of gymnasts after completing each event throughout the meet.  Ella did a great, earning an 8.2 on beam, an 8.55 on vault, an 8.65 on floor, and a 9.1 on bars with an overall score of 34.5.  This is a great start to the season and I know that Ella will continue to grow and progress over the next few months.  Great job, Ella!

Although I took videos of each of Ella's four events, I did take some pictures of her warming up on each event.  Here she is warming up on the beam.

Ella jumping to the high bar.

Ella doing a cast on the high bar.

Doing an undershoot.

Ella warming up on the beam and going into a cartwheel.

Doing a cartwheel.

Doing a split jump on the beam.

And landing it.

Ella going into her tumbling pass.

Ella going into her round off, back handspring, back tuck.

Ella dancing in her floor routine.

Ella running towards the vaulting table.

Ella going over the table.

Another shot of Ella taking off the springboard. 

My favorite picture from the entire evening.  Ella doing a half on, half off twist off the table.  Look at that awesome, sideways position she is in!

Our Annual Trip to the Living Nativity

We headed out into the rain last night as a family to attend the Living Nativity that we go to every year at an Adventist Church in Auburn.  Although many events are being cancelled right now due to the historic flooding that is happening in our area, the living nativity was luckily not cancelled and we were able to drive up to Auburn without much delay.  We were one of the first groups led out of the chapel to begin our journey to Bethlehem and it was just as wonderful of an experience as it has been in previous years.  I am so grateful that we are able to participate in this Christ-centered activity as a family each Christmas season. 

Emmett was invited to feed the camel this year.

Visiting the Roman court.

The angels singing above the shepherds.

Baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph.

All four kids after finishing our journey and enjoying the complimentary cookies and hot cider.

Emmett's 1st Grade Holiday Concert

Since Emmett's school hired a new music teacher for the younger grades, she decided to host a Winter Concert for the first time ever.  Emmett was so excited to perform and was even asked by his teacher to be one of the few students to read some information into the microphone at the beginning of the concert.  Lia got home from her high school's rehearsal and was able to join us right as we were leaving for his 6 pm concert.  Emmett looked so cute in his little suit and bow tie and did a great job singing all three of the songs ("Penguin Polka," "A Million Little Snowflakes," and "Jingle Bells") with the rest of the 1st grade class.

Emmett singing on the front row.

Emmett singing next to his good friend, Clara, who is in the blue dress.

Emmett posing with his big sister after the concert was over.

Lia Sings at PNB's Nutcracker

Although I have always wanted to take both of my girls to Seattle in December to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet perform The Nutcracker, I never could justify the price of the tickets.  However, after finding out that Lia's elite choir group, Vocal Ensemble, sings at McCaw Hall before and during the intermission of one of The Nutcracker performances, I decided to take Ella since Lia was able to see the ballet for free and I was able to buy Ella's and my ticket for 30% off.  Since I haven't seen PNB perform this ballet since 2002 when I went with my mission companion, Sarah McDonald, and her family, I was so excited to return and to share it with Ella.  We had so much fun dressing up and driving into Seattle.  After arriving early, Lia's choir group showed up a few minutes later and we were able to listen to them sing one Christmas song after another in the beautiful lobby for about 30 minutes before the show.  They sounded so amazing and it was so fun to watch Lia sing in such a beautiful venue.  After enjoying the first half of the show, Ella and I went back out into the lobby to find Lia's group singing on the third floor.  We enjoyed watching a lovely second half of this incredible ballet before heading home at 8 pm.  It was a wonderful, mommy-daughter date that I will never forget. 

Ella and I posing in front of the massive Christmas tree in the lobby after arriving.

Since the Waltz of the Snowflakes is my absolute favorite scene in The Nutcracker, I insisted that Ella take a picture with me in front of this photo backdrop.

Lia and some other Altos singing a Christmas song.

A shot of the choir on the stairs in the stunning lobby of McCaw Hall.

Cute Ella posing for me inside a picture box in the lobby.

Since we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the ballet, this is the one I was able to take during the bows at the end.