Back to Bethlehem Night

For our ward’s Christmas party this year, we had a Back to Bethlehem night.  It was really neat!  We had to pay our taxes (a can of food), sign the census, and pay coins for our meal.  The church was decorated like a market in Bethlehem with middle-eastern music playing and we ate our dinner on the floor.

Adam learned how to play Dreidel and we had a nativity skit and sang carols together.  We dressed up in bathrobes (yes, very authentic I know), and Abby briefly wore a cute headress.

Admiring the Baby Jesus.

It was a great way to begin the Christmas season and I’m so thankful for all the work that went into the night!

Getting Ready for Christmas

The kids have really enjoyed decorating the house for Christmas.

They love the Little People Nativity….although it’s never used as it’s intended purpose.  Gotta love the imagination of a 4-year old boy!

We put up some lights outside and Adam has the important job of plugging them in every evening.
While Dad was hanging the lights, Adam got to try out his new scooter!  He did pretty well!

I made a felt Christmas tree with felt ornaments so the kids can decorate and redecorate to their hearts content…thank you Pinterest! 
I made A-D-A-M and A-B-B-Y ornaments in an effort to help Adam learn to spell their names.  As you can see, it’s working beautifully. :) 
It’s a great idea in theory….the felt just doesn’t stick as well as I thought it would.  I might attach some velcro to the ornaments to help them stay up better.

I don’t have pictures, but a fun tradition we started this year is opening a wrapped Christmas book each night and reading it.  Some are board books about Santa and snowmen, some are classics like The Polar Express, and some are focused on the Savior.  Adam is keeping close track of whose turn it is to choose a “present” to unwrap!

Adam’s Birthday Weekend

Adam’s 4th birthday fell on the Monday after Thanksgiving this year so we celebrated 3 1/2 different times!

On Thanksgiving we were with the Gardners so he had candles in a pumpkin pie and presents from Grandma Lesa and his cousins.  Not sure where the hat came from…

On Friday while we were visiting Nana and Papa’s house, Grandma Great brought over a present from her and Grandpa Great.  This is the “1/2 celebration”.

On Sunday, the Shurtleffs came up for dinner and an Angry Birds themed party.

His big present from us was a scooter.

Adam really wanted the game Hungry Hungry Hippos and Aunt Danielle gave it to him!
Everyone had fun playing it!

I made Angry Birds cupcakes.

The final celebration was on Monday the 28th, his actual birthday.  We surprised the kids and went to Chuck E. Cheese, which they loved!

Followed by a Cold Stone ice cream cake at Dad’s insistence.

My sweet baby boy is now a big 4 year old!  Life keeps getting more and more fun with each year.  Happy Birthday Adam!