Nursery was a bit exhausting today, I guess! 😂 Lucy came home from church and crashed out hard! This afternoon, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa’s when Lu woke up. Emily, Dusty, and the kids are going to Steve and Sally’s for Christmas this year, so we had an early Christmas celebration with them. Lucy loved trying to sneak ornaments off the tree. She only managed to get one completely off by taking the top off. She kept petting the tree like it was a dog, and then would run off. Lucas actually snuck an entire Christmas ball in his mouth and ran off. Crazy mutt!I wanted to get a picture of Lucy so bad in front of the tree, but she kept sitting for about 2 seconds, then would run away laughing.Lucy sure loves Quinn! Miller brought his tortoise, and the kids were so excited to play with it. Poor thing! I bet these big old creatures handling it terrified it! The kids sure loved it though.

I LOVE our Chick FilA! They do the cutest things. The boys have been begging to go to breakfast with Santa Cow for weeks now, and today was the day! Go figure after all that waiting, Alex was so tired from last night, he didn’t want to get up. So, we took Brie, William, Natalie,and Lucy.Lucy LOVED the Cow, but when it was her turn for her picture, she had a mouth full of chicken nugget. Oh well. 😂 The kids wrote letters to Santa, made glitter ornaments, and created their own custom hot chocolate, including sprinkles, marshmallows, and chocolate dipped spoons with crushed peppermint.Yes, it was early, but it was a great way to start the morning!

This time our Santa visit was a success. Tonight was our neighborhood Christmas party, and aside from it being pretty cold and windy, it was great fun! I LOVE how our neighborhood really makes its residents feel special for the holidays. When we arrived at the party, we were greeted by Frosty. Lucy fell in ultimate love with him. She kept having us chase him around so she could just sit there and smile at him. It was absolutely precious!☺️We practically had to pry her away from him. Luckily, she saw the train after we got our cookies and hot chocolate. Then she wasn’t looking for him as much so we could enjoy the other festivities.Lu and Alex loved the holiday train, but boy was it cold!Wesley and Emma joined us though, so that made everything great. We entered their holiday gift raffle, and we won gift cards on 3! of our 5 tickets! Toys R Us, Chick-filA, and Starbucks! It was great!We thought we’d try Lucy with Santa again, just to see if she’d be okay. (Heck! Luck was in our favor tonight, so why not.😉) It was well worth the try!No crying at all. She didn’t want to be there too long, but he was such a fabulous Santa, she felt VERY comfortable with him. Mrs. Claus gave her a stuffed Santa Monkey……but Lu LOVED the chocolate m&m candy cane the best. This girl has a weakness for chocolate!Alex and William were so adorable! Bigger boys, but still didn’t want to miss the magic. (Or the treats! 😉)William thought he was going to break Santa’s lap. 😂The night wasn’t complete without getting a picture with Wesley. Lucy is just in awe of him. Then we rushed to the van to warm up……And have a ballon sword battle. It was a wonderful evening! 

We are making progress in Lucy’s advancement into nursery. Today, she even allowed Sister Coon to take her to get a drink at the water fountain and also let her watch Wiggles with her. It was so cute! After our class was over, she actually asked to go slide in the nursery. She went right in and played and interacted with the kids instead of clinging to me. She found the “Big Red Car” and didn’t want to leave. We’re getting there.😊

Lucy is really enjoying her dance class! She LOVES Miss Jamie, her instructor, and all the songs they sing. She is even following the dance moves on cue now. I need to get a video. It is so cute.I am really impressed with her agility at the end of class. They set up obstacle courses for improving strength and she does really well. She is making friends too. She LOVES to pat Evelynn on the head.

Later in the day, Lu spotted Emma coming home from school. She gets SO excited to see the Gundersens. I am so grateful to have them as neighbors.

We had our ward Christmas party tonight, and Sam was in charge of it. I have to admit I was a bit nervous at first, but overall it went really well. Dinner was catered by Spring Creek. We all ate “family style”, then the missionaries provided a Christmas message and we watched the primary kids sing some carols.The night wouldn’t be complete without Lucy getting my phone for selfies. 😆As we were cleaning up, Lucy and Addie raced around the gym. Addie sure loves to give hugs. 😊

Wow! Our calendar is cram packed with events for the holidays! Hopefully we can enjoy it all, and not feel so overwhelmed that it isn’t fun. Tonight was such a wonderful night. We started it off with the City of Murphy’s Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting Ceremony. We went to this last year and loved it, and this year we were not disappointed either.There is something magical in reindeer. Lucy loved watching them rub their antlers.The parade is a small parade on golf carts, but the kids love the candy they throw and getting prizes and coupon cards.After Santa came by, we rushed to the square to roast our S’mores before it got too crowded.The kids loved being allowed to do something “dangerous.”Lucy just enjoyed eating all the marshmallows.Before we headed off, the kids decorated some ornaments.Lucy got VERY into it. 😄She was very proud of herself. From Murphy, we headed to the Arboretum to meet Grandma and Grandpa for the 12 Days of Christmas.The displays are gorgeous! It is so hard to get a picture though because everything sparkles so much.Lu loved trying to dance to 11 Pipers Piping.Natalie loved showing Lucy EVERYTHING! ❤️️Lucy appreciated it.What a fabulous evening!Ending it BIG. 😊