Look how pretty! It is always lovely but especially with fresh snow.
Opa has been working on his new barn and then in celebration of the season found a new place for a Christmas tree! Isn't it cute?
It was the perfect day for sledding and playing in all of the new snow. It was a perfect day, thanks to Oma and Opa's hospitality and generousness. We will definitely be back soon!
William had been craving the peanut butter bars we all remember from school lunch for awhile now. So I asked my friend Mandi, a known baker around here, if she had a good recipe. Of course she did and I converted it to be gluten-free. I keep losing it and having to ask her for it so I finally am putting it on here so it won't be lost!
Here is the whole group. Good looking aren't we?
Waiting to be seated in the beautiful lobby.
After the wonderful breakfast we explored the whole gorgeous hotel. They have a beautiful new French bakery.
They have an amazing toy store too. Don't you think that Josh looks perfect in this adorable car with his suit and all?
I may have to make a crown like this to use for our family birthdays.
When everything is so pretty you can't help but make a collage of it all!
Pretty tablescapes everywhere!
It was a perfect morning, these cute kids had a great time in such a special place making special memories. Thank you so much Grandpa and Grandma, for such a special day but especially for being such a great example of what marriage can and should be. Everything I know I learned from you! 
In the week leading up to Christmas I worked like a crazy person making doll clothes. It seem every little girl I know was into The American Girl dolls. Of course they are more fun when you can change their clothes. After dinner Brittany and my nieces put on a fashion show starring their dolls in their new dudes fashioned by Aunt Shell, (that is me). It made me so happy that they had such a good time! Notice that Matthew was the music with his paper jam guitar and they used the karaoke machine to announce each model.
Matthew was so good on the guitar that Josh couldn't resist dancing!
One of my favorite days of the year. I love the excitement, the surprises and the happy faces. As you can see Matthew was thrilled to have a paper guitar, for as long as that lasts. Josh got a new Batman uniform and Miss Brittany is now the happy companion of the now discontinued Felicity. It was really such a good day.
This, however, is what things still looked like a few days later. Needless to say it was a good thing school resumed today. Tomorrow the tree finally comes down and life resumes. It is so great though to have these fun days of Christmas to play with all of the new toys and have fun together.
And when you have two cute matching boys like this how can you resist?!
We have wrapped everything in sight, baked everything we could think of and talked to the big man. Let's do this thing!
Just in case you were left off our Christmas card list! Hoping you and yours have a wonderful Holiday!
If you live in the Salt Lake Valley and especially if you are LDS a trip to Temple Square is mandatory every December. Yesterday we made our annual trip. Bad picture, lovely night.
This view just never gets old.
Hope every one's Holiday preparations are going well!
Matthew had a great time with the erector set.
Josh loved this awesome truck that resides in its original box. 
This is my pride and joy this year. William's mom has made us each these gorgeous, cross-stitched stockings and last year she finished Joshua's so now we have a complete set. They make me so happy whenever I look over there during the day.
My big nativity, I have several but this is the "real" one. My parents gave it to us one of the first couple of years we were married. It has traveled with us and survived the kids so far. I love it. 
The Christmas tree.
The gingerbread village on the kitchen table.
This weekend it was time to make our traditional Gingerbread Village, or ginger snap village as Josh called it. I guess we never eat gingerbread but we do eat gingersnaps. Here is the gang hard at work. I love the Gingerbread village from Wilson. I bought it at Michaels, it comes with five houses-the perfect number for my family, the frosting and some candy. I swear we get better every year.
The finished products. I put them on my little cake platters, which were fun to decorate them on too, and now they are my centerpiece on the kitchen table.
This was this weekend's big accomplishment. The American Girl Dolls are huge with just about every little girl I know this year. My daughter, nieces, neighbors and friends. One of which would like a bed. No way was I forking out for the AG version and some of the knockoffs just didn't do it for me. So when I saw a wire shelf at the thrift store the wheels started turning and this is where it lead.
This was the shelf.
I cut a cute sheet into strips. I wanted it to go around the shelf two times before it was gathered. I gathered it, and then serged the edge. You could just zig zag the edge. Then I hot glued the whole thing to the shelf.
Then I made a blanket sandwich, just as if I was making a quilt. I used two layers of batting, and two layers of the sheet right sides together cut the same size as the shelf. I sewed around leaving an opening and then turned it. I ended up hot gluing this to the top of the shelf.
I added a pillow and blanket an Ta-dah! I have to say it is the cutest shelf around. This American Girl bed cost me $1.50 because I had just about everything. This is probably more information than most would want but on the off chance that some mom finds herself in the same position I thought I would share.
Wow! Time is flying this time of year! I have lots of pictures of the reasons I haven't been blogging. But first I managed to get these girls into the shop in the hopes they may find homes. I won't be making any more this season. They are here.
She is pretty hard to see but she is a little left of the center.
This was the only number I could get to photograph without using the prohibited flash. It was really a fun night. Brittany has so much enthusiasm and tries so hard to do her very best, which is usually very good.
It was fun to see her develop new talents. We may go back to ballet, we both really love it, but it sure has been fun to try something new!
My mom's pretty table before all the carnage.
We don't have a kid's table, just an end of the table.
After dinner the kids put on a play they had been working on all week. Can you guess what it was? Here's a hint. He is the white rabbit.
She is the Red Queen.
And this is the Mad Hatter's tea party.
Yep, it was Alice in Wonderland. Here is Alice trying to catch that cute white rabbit.
It was a fabulous production and everyone took well deserved bows when it was over. I think this may replace out usual Fashion shows at Grandma's. Brittany is already busy on the next production!
Josh, in his sister's boots.
And in his brother's dead basketball. We got this kid just for entertainment.
Brittany, who is always orchestrating something new for her brothers, friends or cousins to do.
Matthew, creator of all things mechanical.
My sister-in-law Elizabeth gave me this dish scrubbing brush for my birthday last month. Isn't it the cutest? It almost makes doing dishes fun, and that is saying a lot. I hate doing dishes.
This gum! I love it! I kept wishing someone would make chocolate flavored gum and this is the closest thing I can imagine. It is yummy! 
