Christmas in Montana

-18 degrees (yes, negative.) That is what the thermometer read when my Dad and Ian went out to feed the cows one morning. Yikes! Last year we were in CA for Christmas basking in the balmy 50 degree weather. Despite the terribly cold temps, we had a fantastic Christmas.

There is (almost) nothing I look more forward to than Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma Stott's home. My Grandma is the queen of all hostesses. The food is fabulous. I made fruit salsa with cinnamon chips and it was a hit (i.e. make this stuff)!

We have multiple traditions Christmas Eve, like the Night Before Christmas Pass Around Game, reading about the birth of the Savior and singing Christmas songs, eating trifle, and gift exchanges. The biggest hit was Uncle Jay's gift to Ian . . . a VERY dangerous foam sword:

Santa Claus sure gets around! After Meggie's horrifying experience at the mall with Santa (He said "HOHOHO!" too loud), it took a lot of coaxing to get her to sit on his lap again.

The "Aunts": Aunt Cody and Aunt Chelsea. (Inside joke. Cody's not feminine.)

Meggie and her BFF in Montana, Sophie.
Grandpa Stan. Wonderful, wonderful man.

Not so happy about having to wait to go see if Santa came (in their new princess and Transformer PJ's they opened Christmas Eve.)
Grandma got Meggie lots of "Fancy Nancy" kind of things: a pink feather boa, white gloves, tiaras, a tutu, etc.
Ian and Grandpa playing Twister, one of Ian's 5 games he got for Christmas.

Preschool Christmas Program

We've had a lot of exciting entertainment this season. However, Ian's Preschool Christmas Program was by far the most entertaining! They sang multiple songs, including Ian's favorite of "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas".

Santa Claus came, Ian told him he wanted Star Wars "Plegos"
All the boys were soldiers (Ian picked the "red" hat, much to his father's chagrin).

Meggie and her BFF, Jason. They have a crush on each other.

"He's going to need some helpers."

Traditions

We are on the countdown at the Smith home to Christmas! I love traditions, and we have quite a few. One of my favorite traditions is wrapping 25 Christmas books (we use the same ones over each year) and then the kids "open a present" each night in December and we read the book. The kids LOVE it. Aunt Karrie gave us that great idea. Our final book (on Christmas Eve) is "I Believe in Santa Claus". It is incredible. It totally makes the connection between Santa and the true meaning of Christmas. It talks about the symbols of Christmas. We have a little box that we pull out our little symbols and discuss each one. Really, if you have kids, get this book.

Another tradition is the gingerbread house. I had these great ambitions this year to make a gingerbread house from scratch, but then my senses got the best of me and I bought one from Costco. The kids got to decorate with their cousin, Holden, in town from Chicago.






In other news, I have been doing really fun things lately like washing the walls and cleaning out cupboards. Am I a clean freak, you ask? No. My husband doesn't like me to shop for Christmas without him. I know, crazy man. So, while all of you are out there shopping to your heart's content, I am home cleaning, until Kevin has some time to go shopping with me. Hmmmm . . . maybe the refrigerator today . . . yuck.

Granny Betty Rose

Kevin Grandma Betty Rose passed away Thanksgiving morning. My mother put it best when she said that on her handful of encounters with Granny, she found her to be so elegant and kind. She welcomed me warmly into the family when Kevin and I were married. We love you, Granny! She was 86 years old.

Kevin's brother, Jason, made this incredible program for her services.

Why we love Aunt Wendy . . .

A few months ago my sister-in-law Wendy asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I, (knowing that Wendy is the queen of all shoppers) told her that I wanted clothes . . . for Meggie. Boy, did she ever deliver! Check out these incredibly cute outfits, with and this incredibly proud little girl. Thanks Aunt Wendy!!!