December Fun!!!

WOWSERS!!!! What a crazy, busy, but super FUN month December has been. Here's a photo post to show a little of what's been going on with the Pope Familia this past month....December must be kicked off right with the traditional 1st of December jammies!! Neighbor Gifts are a big deal around here and it's always nice to have them finished up and delivered. I think we delivered almost thirty this year!!

Me, Kambree, My Mom, Mandy, Alyssa, Sheila, Kendall, and Vicki had an awesome Girls Night Out...We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then to the Pickleville Playhouse production of "Once Upon a Christmas".

The girls with a fun elf from the play.

Kambree got to check in with Santa

Love our Girl Time

Kambree and I went to this production a few years ago and just loved it...went back this year and it was just as good, I think it will definitely become a tradition.My Mom even won on ipod...woohoo!!!

My little Kaisley won the coloring contest at A.A. Hudson. She was super excited, her gift was a doll..someone knew exactly what she would like!!

....here is the masterpiece

Chad has worked so hard putting up all of our Christmas lights outside, and the kids have helped a ton!!

I am the wimpy cold-hater and prefer to do my decorating inside. I have really been into the decorating this year and have had so much fun with it.

We ventured to Salt Lake the first of the month for the annual Pope Family Christmas party. It's always fun to get the whole family together. The girls just love to play with all of their cousins.

Uncle Dan gave the kids gift cards to Toys R Us. We had to stop before we returned home that night. It took a looooong time but the gifts were finally chosen. Kambree got two new Nintendo D.S. games and Kaisley picked this shopping cart that she absolutely loves!!!

it even came with a few groceries.
Kort got his new Board and is ready to hit the Beav!!

Kambree had an Orchestra Concert and a violin recital both on the same night. She did an amazing job, especially on her solo at the recital.

Here we have the twins..haha may as well be since they are pretty much clones. The BFFs after the recital



Kaisley had her very first dance performance.




Doesn't she look excited...well she wasn't. She told us she wasn't going to dance when she got there and she stuck to her word. She just stood there and watched everyone else dance. Oh well she looked cute.


Kambree and Kenzie played Silent Night and the Nativity Song in Primary

Honestly, how is Christmas really complete without SUGAR COOKIES?? The girls had a ball making and frosting sugar cookies AND looked amazingly cute in their brand new aprons that Sheila made for them.

Even Kort got into the action by drizzling the oreo balls. We have done a lot of baking...We did fudge twice, two different types of cookies, these yummy oreo balls, cupcakes, and Muddy Buddies to name a few.

Whew..no wonder I'm exhausted and haven't had time to blog for almost a month. Although it's so busy..I have to admit it really is my favorite time of the year. We have been doing a little Secret Santa for one of our neighbors and it's so neat to see the kids get excited about giving.We truly are blessed. Merry Christmas to all!!

Meet Nickel from the North Pole

As Kaisley and I were pulling out of the driveway to go and get Kambree from school, she spied something hanging from the mailbox. We were in a hurry and didn't have time to investigate so we ran and got Kambree and hurried home to see what it was. To our surprise, the mailman had delivered a package that had been mailed right from the North Pole. The Girls were so excited and immediately tore it open

This is what we found inside. Santa sent us our very own "Elf on the Shelf" we weren't sure what this was all about but it came with a story book and so we sat down and read it. It turns out that Santa has given us our very own little Elf to keep an eye on the kids and see how they are doing. The story says that all day long the elf will watch and then at night he flies back up to the North Pole and reports to Santa how the day went. Every morning he will return BUT in a different spot. The story also goes on to say that he is very magical and if children touch him, he will lose his magic. He also made a promise to Santa that he would only watch us and that he would not talk to us. He is however, able to hear us and so the kids can tell him what they would like for Christmas and any other important messages that they have for Santa.

Here is a picture of our new little friend. It says in the book that you must give him a name. Kaisley immediately came up the name Nickel (think it had something to do with St. Nicholas but not real sure)

It's been so fun watching the kids with Nickel, whenever Kaisley does something a little bit naughty, she runs right over and apologizes to him, also whenever she sees something that she wants on TV, she will run over and tell him all about it. They love to look for him as soon as they get up in the morning. Nickel has been a great addition to the season. It says in the book that as soon as Christmas is over he must return to the North Pole. I certainly hope that he decides to return to us again next year!!

Jammies

We have always had the tradition of opening a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve, this year I thought that we would shake things up a bit and get some new pajamas on the First of December, that way we can be Snuggly, warm all month long!!! Kort got some pajama pants as well, unfortunately he has taken a month long hiatus with his x box so no photo was available!!