Christmas Activities

We've been in Idaho now since Thanksgiving. Everyday Naomi has asked for snow and every day she's woken up with a bit of disappointment. No snow. So in the meantime, we've tried to fill her time with fun activities. Thank goodness for the holiday season with a ton of fun traditions.

First we made Pfefferneusse. This little cookie is a Harper Family favorite. It's one of the recipes that has been passed down from generation to generation. My father-in-law told us that he remembers his grandmas making it with him when he was just a little tike and that she had made it when she was little too. Now he is teaching Naomi and the tradition continues.





2. My sister-in-law KT and I took Naomi to the NUTCRACKER!!! It was great. She watched with amazement as the beautiful ballerinas danced across the stage. She loved every bit of it and for the past 10 days she has danced around the house asking for any kind of music to dance to.



Finally the snow came but only for a day. Naomi's cousin Mia came over to play and they built the cutest little snowman. They gathered as much snow as their little hands could gather and ended up with the best snowman on the street. Notice how the only snow around is the snowman itself.



Of course since the snow didn't last we needed more activities, so we decided to decorate the house for Christmas. My mother in law has 4 nativity sets that she displays every year. It was Naomi's job to pull each piece out and set up. She ended up playing house with them all. Poor Mary had quads. Once they were all set up and not to be played with the other decorating got boring so she turned to her brothers. She said that they could be the tree.



To top everything off, we went to visit Santa. She asked him for a doll, tons of bouncy balls, and snow. The brothers just stared. Santa was such a good sport to have them all sit on his lap. The great part about the visit to Santa was the next day we woke up to about 4 inches of snow on the ground and nonstop snow since. Thanks Santa!!!

YOU DID IT!!!

Rhett got a certificate from his O.T. and it said, YOU DID IT!! He is finally finished with his DOC Band!!! YEAH!! It's amazing the difference in just a few short weeks. Check out the difference of his ears in the bottom left picture in comparison to the one next to it. Can you say 'Modern-day Miracle'!!!! Bennett will be finished at the first of the year!!! We can't wait to have normal looking boys again.

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving!! It's such a great excuse to eat anything you want guilt free. Hahaha! This year we drove to Blackfoot to visit Mike's parents and for Mike to drop me and the kids off for the entire holiday season. After finals, Mike will join us. For dinner, we decided that it would be okay to give the brothers a taste of our holiday tradition! As you can see, Rhett LOVED the turkey. There are too many things that kid doesn't love when he can put it in is mouth. I also wanted to treat you with my Top 10 things I'm most greatful for:

1) The Gospel of Jesus Christ. How wonderful it is to have the fulness of the Gospel here on earth. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true!!! I love my Savior and all the blessings He continually bestows upon me!

2) My wonderful family. My kids are crazy, actually my whole family is crazy, but I love it! I love my family. I love how each members adds a different dynamic. I'm also so happy that we are all alive and well.

3) Our dearest friends. Recently we've made some great friends in our ward. I don't know where I've been for the past year and a half, but our ward is full of these great people! The dental school has given us multiple people to call our friends and I don't know what I'd do without them. Thanks guys!!!

4) Dental School or the fact that we are on the down hill side of it!!! We have lived and breathed dental school since before Naomi was born. We are excited to be in Las Vegas and enjoy the benefits of being students.

5) Our Country and all the freedoms that we enjoy. I'm thankful for the soldiers that serve our Country and fight for our freedom.

6) Mike's willingness to want to serve our Country. What a great example he is to our kids and those around us. He's always felt a great desire to serve!!!

7) My minivan. I know that's really silly, but I love my van. I thought I'd never say that, but it's true. It's such a great car! I also love that it only costs $30.00 to fill the tank! Let's hope that gas prices stay low for a little while.

8) Toilets and toilet paper!! Need I say more? Hahaha! I'm also going to have to add disposable diapers!

9) Sunday afternoon naps. When President Hinkley said that sleeping was an okay activity to do on Sunday, our family jump on board. All week I look forward to my Sunday afternoon nap!!

10) LVAC (Las Vegas Athletic Club) I love the spin classes and I don't know what I'd do without them. The clubs kids gym is amazazazing. I sure and going to miss it for the next 5 weeks!