The girls both got to go on fun Polar Express field trips this year. Lindsey came home with this cute Rudolph hat.
Gracie taught herself how to play Jingle Bells (both hands). It's amazing to watch the kids as they learn new things. They're all so smart!
We had my friend Cari Hozian and her family over for dinner, and she brought us this manger. We love it. It especially came in handy when we acted out the Nativity on Christmas Eve while Tim read from the Bible.
Gracie had asked Santa for some new clothes for her Belle doll. Lindsey has Ariel, and Olivia has Rapunzel. Belle's hair was curly when we got her, but it was a tangled mess, so I decided to straighten it as a gift for Gracie. I found her crying in her room one day trying to brush the tangles out, and knew she would love it if I fixed her hair, especially with new clothes coming for her. I used my cheap Walmart straightener. I wasn't sure if it would just burn the hair and make it fall out, but it worked!!!
At the ward Christmas party the Primary acts out the Nativity and sings songs. They don't have enough costumes for every kid, so they take turns each year. Gracie was asked to be a shepherd. Cooper was bawling because he didn't get to dress up as anything. I told him there weren't enough for everyone, and he would have a turn another year. Later on stage I saw him grinning from ear to ear, dressed up as something. One of the leaders must have given in to his cries. Little stink!
Gracie is to the right of the star, Cooper is two kids down from her, and Lindsey is two kids to the left of the star, with the pink shirt.
The little girl sitting next to Gracie during dinner spilled her drink all over Gracie's pants. Thankfully we had extra clothes in the van. The little girl's name is Cora, and Cooper always tells us that's who he is going to marry. She's in his church class. I told him that her name would be Cora Corless if she did marry him!
The Primary had a giving shop where donated items were available for kids to "buy" things with paper money they'd been earning during singing time. The idea was for them to be able to buy gifts for their siblings for Christmas. It was so sweet when we got home and the kids gave each other their gifts. Cooper even thought of me and Tim. He got me this ring, and Tim a flashlight. It melted our hearts to see that he really thought out what he was getting for each of us, and he was so happy to give them to us!
Ever since the kids saw the photos of me and Tim in the reclining theater seats, they've been begging to try them, so we splurged on Christmas Eve and saw The Good Dinosaur. Otherwise, we almost always wait until movies are at the cheap theater. We were the only ones at our showing, so that was nice too! I was also able to get concessions with several coupons I got through my DisneyRewards account!
On Christmas Eve, Olivia fell asleep on the couch at 5:30, so we were nervous. She woke up for dinner and our family Nativity. Surprisingly, she ended up being the last one awake in the morning anyway. Thank goodness!
Cooper wanted a picture with the Joseph figurine to match him.
Olivia was our little angel!
Gracie wanted to be the shepherd since she loves her scentsy buddy sheep.
Lindsey was Mary.
Olivia wanted to try out being Mary too.
I love how sweetly they all held the baby Jesus.
Bright-eyed and bushy tailed!!! Haha! We told them they needed to come to our room when they woke up to wait until everyone was awake.
Santa ate the cookies we left out, and he even remembered to leave some bones for Cole! We couldn't convince the kids that Santa missed Cole and needed to take him back. They always said, "No!!!!" when we made that suggestion.
We rotate who gives who gifts on the Corless side of the family each Christmas. This year Grandma and Granddad had us. Thank you so much for all our wonderful gifts! We loved them all!
Belle in her new clothes . . .
Cooper loves the Mickey Mouse waffle maker from Aunt Heidi. Thanks for all the gifts Heidi! The kids loved them!
