Auman Christmas and Farrell Polar Express party

We only had one day when my entire family would be in town, so we got to have Christmas at grandma Auman's house a couple days early this year. Usually we go there Christmas evening, which makes for a pretty long day after trying to stop at all the family houses in the area. We had a delicious and leisurely brunch and got to just hang out together. It was awesome. 

Owen got a create-a-puppet... it's kind of creepy in concept, but it was totally fun to play with. :)

Nora attacking Karen.

These little cousins are so cute together!

Katelyn!

Tetherball is always on the agenda at grandma Auman's house.

We got grandma a new tetherball for Christmas that ended up being considerably harder than the one she had before. Nora loves trying to play tetherball with Owen and Matt, but it wasn't long before she got it straight in the face. Poor baby.

Grandma has lots of books for the kiddies to read!

Owen trying out his new science kit.

He was so excited when the vinegar/baking soda mix filled up his balloon!

Hoola-hooping!

Matt's family does a themed Christmas party every year. This year it was the Polar Express. We all came in our pajamas, had a hot chocolate bar, and watched The Polar Express.

Jason, Nora, Emma, and Owen waiting outside for the conductor to let them in.

Grandpa/conductor punching Nora's ticket.

The grandkids waiting patiently with their tickets.

Our family with the conductor!

Gingerbread houses!

Cutie boys adding all the candy they can to their houses. :)

The finished products!

Grandkids with their houses.

The boys watching the movie.

Getting ready for Christmas

We had a very busy Christmas season between all my music commitments, our church commitments, and extended family plans. We made sure to plan time for just our family, though, and were able to do some fun things before Christmas!

Decorating the tree! Nora's first time (that she remembers....).

The kids LOVED the tree... we kept the lights on pretty much any time we were home. Both Owen and Nora loved to sit and look at it. 

Everyone came to see me play in the orchestra for Nutcracker at Temple Hill.

We made a point to go to some of the best Christmas light houses around us. This one was called Widmer World.

The whole yard - front and back - was full of lights and displays. Owen and Nora especially loved the trains.

We also loved the cool K'nex rollercoasters!

The best part about this place? They take and print professional-quality Santa pictures for you - totally free! This will definitely be on our list of places to come to every year. 

The primary kids acting out the nativity at our ward Christmas party.

Nora wasn't quite sure what was going on (she was supposed to be a sheep - hence the furry vest :) ). 

My sheep and my angel!

The town next to ours does a living Bethlehem, complete with live camels, sheep, donkeys, etc. It was awesome!

Signing the census in Bethlehem!

The Roman guards made sure that we followed all the rules.

Matt's family came with us.

Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem!

There were lots of displays set up - we tasted olive oil, learned how to write in Greek and Hebrew, smelled frankincense and myrrh, and Owen even got to make a mud/straw brick and use it to help build a wall!

We had a great time. It was really fun for the kids to see the story of Christ's birth acted out - we read about it a lot, obviously, but I think this really helped them realize that it actually happened.

Owen's Pirate Party!

This is the first friend birthday party that Owen has ever had, and he had all sorts of ideas about what he wanted to do. His main idea was to have a treasure hunt, so we decided to build the party around that theme and do a full pirate party.

We started out by having all the kids help decorate a pirate flag. They wrote their names and drew pirate pictures. Then we played "don't walk the plank" (basically like musical chairs, only if you were on the plank when the music went off, you got out). We did cake and presents, and then left for the treasure hunt! We were wiped out by the end of the party, but I think all the kids really enjoyed it!

Opening presents

Everyone singing to Owen - he's so happy!

I LOVE this picture - we handed out eyepatches to all the kids and then had them line up to hear Matt's story about the Pirate of Pleasanton (whose treasure we were going to find). When the story was finished, we sent the kids out the door. Each one got their own pirate sword so they could fight the Pirate of Pleasanton!

Owen leads the group with the pirate flag.

Looking for the first clue!

Matt helping the kids read the map to find the next clue.

More clues!

My little baby pirate. She LOVES that sword.

Owen with the map.

Looking for clues under the bridge

Matt reading clues at the "king's throne"

Two pirate babies!

All the kids with the "Pirate of Pleasanton" that they fought to get the treasure

Pirate Nora!

Owen in his pirate costume.

Here is the final battle between the kids and the Pirate of Pleasanton (Ryan dressed up as our pirate... he did a great job!). Watch towards the end of the fight when a couple kids discover that he's not a "real" pirate... pretty funny. :)