The Lewis Family: 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Family Time!

This Christmas was extra special seeing so many family members! John, Tracie & family came to Utah for a week and we did lots of fun activities with the Lewis family.
Also Blake & Grace came to town for a few days and we were able to spend time with them.

Gracie is such a little cutie! Carder was so excited to have her come visit!

They were two little buddies playing together!

Mara was in heaven with a little cousin! She was a mini-mom and took great care of Grace!

She was very 'smotherly-motherly!' She couldn't get enough loves from Grace!

We went to Mimi's for a couple days and hung out in Tooele! The kids had fun playing toys with Grace.

We were nearly snowed in and Grace had her first experience with snow! She wasn't too sure about the cold!

It was so fun to see uncle Blake! Sure wish he lived closer! We missed Maren and wished she could have come too!

The kids had fun playing in the snow at Mimi & Papa's!

The kids had fun playing with their cousins. After playing in the snow we went up to the church and ran around the gym and played sports.

That is one big snowball Caleb!

A sweet snow angel!

The kids all enjoyed frosting cookies especially Carder! He loved licking the frosting right off the knife. Gracie loved watching all the kids laugh and play!

And by the end Gracie warmed up to Uncle Nate! He enjoyed feeding her sprinkles which made her happy!

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning was exciting and full of surprises! The kids were thrilled with their presents and everyone was happy!

Presents were delivered under the Christmas tree!

Santa brought a beta fish to Mara, a tank for Ty's Salamander, a tree frog to Caleb, and a tree frog to Carder! I'm not sure what Santa was thinking bringing so many critters to one home! But the kids were thrilled!

Carder's favorite thing about Christmas was the apple juice in his stocking! He was thrilled! He climbed up in his high chair and was good to go even without opening presents!

Merry Christmas kiddos! The boys all got new sports equipment and Mara got a doll house!

After breakfast and presents it was time to go outside and play in the snow! It was a white Christmas after all!

Caleb was excited to try out his new gloves!

My little snow angel!

The boys even made a Christmas snowman!

The best part of Christmas...He is the gift!

This Christmas was different, it was special! It wasn't because of a special Christmas tree we cut down, and it wasn't any certain present. In fact it wasn't one certain event, it was just a collection of many special things and it all began with watching this movie:

At the beginning of December we watched this video as a family and talked about Christ being the gift of Christmas. We tried focusing this month on the true meaning of this season: the birth of Jesus Christ. And because He is the gift of Christmas we tried giving others a special gift of Christmas. Whether it was serving others or doing kind things for others we felt the Christmas spirit come alive in our hearts and home. Here are a few examples of how we "shared the gift."

Ty shared the gift by serving his little brother. One day after school Ty came in and put together an after school snack just for Caleb and served it to him in a cute way!

Mara shared the gift with her family by writing nice notes to everyone in her family. She made us all feel loved by kind words.

Caleb shared the gift by giving a present to his teacher and writing her a card.

Carder shared the gift by reminding us all the true meaning of Christmas was baby Jesus! He loved playing with the nativity set and holding baby Jesus. He loved hearing the story of Mary and Joseph!

On Christmas Eve we had our special Christmas Devotional. Mimi and Papa joined us and we shared our thoughts and testimonies about our Savior's gift to us and what our favorite gift was to Jesus Christ. We read the story of Christ's birth in Luke 2 and dressed in costume. It was a very touching and spiritual evening. It truly was the best part of Christmas! That was what Christmas was all about!

Ward Christmas party!

The annual Ward Christmas party...wow! All I can say is Wow! It was above and beyond! Decorations, lights strung from the ceiling, dancing, music, trains going around, a video presentation and even a visit from Santa Claus! It was amazing! I'm sure glad I wasn't in charge of it! I only got a few pictures of the kids sitting on Santa's lap:

Cute Caleb! Such a happy kid!

Mara asked Santa (once again) for a goldfish in a bowl! (?)

It was so cute seeing Carder sit on Santa's lap! Such a big kid, didn't even cry! My baby is growing right up!

Christmas Concert at the Conference Center!

This Christmas was full of fun events and concerts. It's been great to live close to so many cultural experiences and opportunities. My neighbor/friend called and said she had four tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert featuring the Sesame Street Muppets and Santino Fontana. I was thrilled for the opportunity! I was able to take Ty, Mara, and Caleb but Nate was a trooper and stayed home with Carder so we could go! (It was for 5 and up, and we only had 4 tickets!)

We had this great idea to eat at Crown Burger before the concert and park there for free. I guess everyone else had the same idea for the concert and the Jazz game, we found parking but couldn't get a table! It took forever to order our food and we had to eat our burgers in the car and our french-fries while we walked to the conference center! Oh the memories!

We finally made it into the conference center, stood in line forever to get through security, then finally found our seats! It was so amazing being in the conference center. I'm so grateful my kids had this opportunity. They concert was fabulous! Ty was pretty hesitant about the concert...he heard Sesame Street and thought it wasn't for him! I told him he would love it and he actually did! I'm glad he would go.

Even Caleb enjoyed it, and because he had a nap on the ride down he didn't even fall asleep in the concert!

Mara loved all the singing and dancing. It was a very entertaining concert! The Muppets were funny and the singing was delightful.

The walk to the car wasn't even that bad, it wasn't too cold! We enjoyed seeing the sights of the conference center.

Had we had more time we would have gone and seen the lights at temple square! The kids were too tired and so we only saw them from a distance! It was pretty seeing the temple all bright and beautiful!

Monday, December 29, 2014

Polar Express!

Our ward had an amazing Christmas Party with the Polar Express theme. Before the party the committee wanted pictures for a video presentation. I took my kids to be in the pictures and took a few while we were there!

What a cute bunch of kids!

They all had fun climbing on the train!

Sure love these boys!

Mara wanted her picture taken on the caboose!

Nice pose! What a crazy kid!

Aww! There's my cute little guy!

And Caluba too ready to drive the train!

Ty is such a great big brother! He and Carder are best buds!

All-aboard! This train is ready to go!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Best Birthday Ever!

For my birthday this year Nate surprised me with a week of Christmas activities! It was awesome! Three of the nights I had a date with one of the kids! It was so fun to go on a special date with each of my kids! What's more--I totally felt the joy of the Christmas season at each of the events!

So Caleb's date we first went to pizza hut and got his Book It pizza! He has really turned into a great reader! He loves having a goal to earn a pizza too!

Yum! The funny part was where we picked up our pizza wasn't a dine in so we had to go to Carl's jr and eat our pizza!!

We took funny pictures all night long!

Then we went to a Kids' and Christmas Concert. It benefited Children's Justice Center. There was singing, dancing, all sorts of entertainment...but most of the concert Caleb asked "Is it over yet?"

Half way through the concert someone fell asleep! I wondered whether or not to just leave but figured I might as well finish it! So I held a sleeping boy and carried him all the way to the car! (Yup, he's just like uncle Blake!)

On my real birthday we went out to dinner and then saw the lights in Ogden!

The lights were fantastic! So fun and not even crowded!

We even got to see Santa there! I was super surprised Carder would sit on his lap!

Ty probably would have hurt Santa's lap because he is so big! So he just stood by him!

They also have these little houses and a village to walk through and see! Great place to go during the Holiday season!

The next day Ty and I went on a date to see the Forgotten Carols! I've had the CD since I was a kid but I've never seen the play! It was awesome. Ty liked it too. It was sure fun being with just me and my buddy!

And last but not least Mara and I went to the Nutcracker Ballet! It was so fun seeing this production with just my Sweetie! She loved it! She loved the costumes, dancing, music, everything! It was very well done and I can't wait to take her again next year!