December = Christmas Parties and Birthdays!

December is always a busy month; lots of birthdays (Jared's brother - Todd, my brother, Kent, my two Sister-n-laws - Natalie and Carly, my niece - Valerie, my Aunt Diane, and I know I'm forgetting some)... it's just a busy birthday month. And, there's the party that we honestly look forward to all year long, the Stringham's Christmas party. We just love this group of friends and we're so lucky to know each of them. We usually stay the night up in Park City and have breakfast the next morning, but this year was just as fun (we always have tummy-aches from laughing so hard all night) so as always, it was a riot.
And our very sweet neighbors, the Powells host an annual Christmas party at their house and they go all out, and it's always a fun night. Lots of fun in December.. and more to come!

Draper City put on a Christmas event and Jordan got to see Santa, decorate a cookie, and write a Christmas letter to Santa (well, he tried; he ended up showing off his art skills and drew up a monster truck).



Ward Christmas breakfast: my little monsters wouldn't sit still for even a minute so we just roamed around for about 30 minutes and then called it quits.

Jared's brother Todd (aka: Uncle "T"), Wendy (Aunt "Wee"), Grandpa Larson, and the 4 of us took Todd to dinner to celebrate his B-day; my kids love their aunt and uncle so much and Jordan gets so excited every time we go out to visit them.


So every year at the Stingham's party, we do these white elephant gifts. Let's just say they get a little crazier each year (thanks to Jared Carlson!) I think this gift topped the chart (yes, that's a live gerbel), and the winning couple actually took the little rodent home!

Jared's gift: the Redneck Shotgun. No need to explain :-)





Our friends/neighbors just adopted these two little babies from Missippi and they are just the cutest little things! Sooo.. more babies in the neighborhood for us!