Breakfast with Santa + Mrs. Claus {aka A Perfect Day}.

Saturday, November 26

Britt had sent me a FB message about a local Santa and Mrs. Claus for hire, so I decided to start a new tradition and host a Breakfast with Santa for the grands. Tay and Nae were here visiting for Thanksgiving, so I scheduled it for the Saturday after. This is our year for "Family Christmas," so I thought it would be such a fun way to kick off the season and festivities while everyone was here. I had prepped as much as I could the night before, but Bill and I got up early to have breakfast ready.

We had regular and chocolate waffles with fruit, a variety of syrups, juice, and bacon. (Things to remember: the chocolate waffles were a hit so I could use more next time, and I definitely needed more bacon - I think I did 3 lbs this year.)

I think breakfast was a hit.

Afterwards we gathered everyone together to sing a few Christmas songs while we waited for Santa to come. This Santa and Mrs Claus were adorable, but definitely a bit non-traditional. 

In making the arrangements prior to the visit, I was told that if I had a small gift for the kids, to put them in a bag on my front porch and Santa and Mrs. Claus would put them in Santa's Pack. I was {slightly} disappointed that they came in with the same paper bag I had put on the step. Maybe they forgot Santa's Pack {wink}?

M was a bit confused when he sat on Santa's lap, asked for a godzilla toy, and then Santa handed him a squishmallow gift. He also quickly determined that this was NOT the "real" Santa because he had brown eyes. Haha - can't pull one over on my cute Emmett James.

I LOVED this Santa and Mrs Claus. 

They were so cute with all the kids, and I loved the sweet message of the Savior Santa left with us towards the end of his visit. I am hoping to continue this super fun tradition for our "Family Christmas" {even} years.

After Santa and Mrs. Claus left, we gathered for a family picture for our Christmas card. Austin is always such a great sport, and we were able to grab some really great pics. (He also gets photo creds for most of the pictures with Santa above.)

This was the winner for the cards:

After our brief picture sesh, we gathered the kids together for one more little gift.

Christmas Season jammies.

I had decided to stop doing pj's for Christmas mainly because 1) it's darn expensive as our family grows larger, and 2) several of my kids want to do a Christmas Eve pj's tradition in their own families. I thought it would be fun to get the grands Christmas Season pj's that they could wear all month before Christmas. I found the perfect pj's from Target (and it wasn't easy to find matching all in the right sizes!), and the kids all LOVED them. They were super comfy. We had them all change into the pjs so we could snap a pic. (I love how Nora Jane was feeling herself!)

Once we added the boys, some of the gang were over it, so this is the best pic we snapped haha.

Little did I know that everyone would hang around and chill for the rest of the day. The grands stayed in their pj's all day while they colored, played, and enjoyed being together.

The adults all hung around, too! We played games, visited, and CHILLED. I couldn't have planned anything better (and I actually think NOT having a plan for the rest of the day made the day even nicer). It was literally a day I hope to always remember because it was SO PERFECT.

Halloween fun.

 Thursday, Oct 27

Tay & Nae's Trunk or Treat

I had to post these darling pictures, even if I wasn't there. These girls are the cutest ♥

And NaeNae makes a smashing Corpse Bride.

I love this cute family ♥

Saturday, Oct 29

Neighborhood Fall Festival

Some of the younger moms on the street put together a neighborhood party to celebrate the season. I think they were missing the typical ward activities that are planned around this time of year. With our newly split ward, it wasn't going to happen. Kudos to those mommas. We older grandmas signed up to bring a food item, and Diana even dressed up a bit, but that's as much as I could do. Bill and I picked up Scarlett and Ellis to come and enjoy, although the day was VERY COLD, so it wasn't as pleasant as it could have been haha.

I had to snap a picture of Scarlett and Ellis's food choices... bread and treats :-) I also got them some hot chocolate to warm them up a bit.

There were some fun games for the kids,

and I had also signed up for a 30 minute stint of face painting.

Jason and Lex came for a little bit, but their kids didn't have coats (and Jason was in shorts)... and did I mention it was VERY COLD?

They didn't stay long.

Hey, I got to face paint my grands ;-) Ellis's bat though... not my best work. In my defense, the face paint and tools were supposed to be provided, I threw in a couple of items "just in case," and I ended up using only the few things I had brought. Next time I will be more prepared.

Lex sent me a picture of Brielle once she got home and could see her pink hearts - also not my best work - and she loved them. Face painting success ♥

Sunday, Oct 30

Family Dinner Halloween Style

Shi put together the veggie tray

Lex made the cute skewers. 

And I'm pretty sure Britt brought the Caesar Salad you can spy on the right ;-)

The eyeball spaghetti was visually appealing, but tasted pretty average. Not sure it was worth the effort.

I made the ribs from scratch in the oven. They turned out so so good.

I attempted another skull treat charcuterie... this was was a little cuter than my Bunco one IMO.

Meanwhile in CO:

these li'l pumpkins were carving pumpkins.

Monday, Oct 31

Halloween

The Martins and the Paulls planned to trick-or-treat on our street. I planned to grab pizza at Papa Murphy's and learned that it's nearly impossible to get a Papa Murphy's pizza on Halloween. I had placed an order to be picked up around 3:30. I was running a couple errands, so stopped by around 3 thinking I might be able to grab it. It was a madhouse. Someone said they had been waiting for a call-ahead order for over an hour past the time it was supposed to be done. Once Shi and Kody arrived, we sent Kody to pick up the pizzas... it was still a madhouse. 

Things I've learned: pick up your Papa Murphy pizza the day before Halloween (although this year that was a Sunday), or make your own... or get frozen.

I went out trick-or-treating with the grands while Bill stayed home and baked the pizzas (and talked to Jon, who we had invited over for dinner). I thought the kids would wear out quickly and want to go home, but they were champs and loved going door-to-door. Emmett started only wanting KitKats, so if someone didn't have any, he would pass on the candy haha.

When we got home we ate pizza and the Andersons joined us (after they had trick-or-treated with their neighborhood friends).

It was such a fun day.

I had to include this picture of our new decor item for the season... Bill and I found this fun old-fashioned ghost radio at Walmart. The kids all love it. Such a good investment.