December Happenings

December has come in with a bang! It was busy from day one. Lots of after school stuff, lots of weekend events, lots of shopping. All fun but so busy! So we have been trying to make a conscious effort to take a few quiet moments each night to focus on our newborn king. We continued our tradition of celebrating Advent each night  with the boys. (when we are home) Lighting a candle, reading a devotion, singing songs, and discussing the reason for the season! "You can't spell Christmas without CHRIST!" (A shout out to my St. Peter's peeps!)

I have been struck this season by this particular verse. So I penned it on our chalkboard as a reminder. A weary world. I see it and feel it so much lately. Hearts just longing and hoping. So amazing to know that we DO have HOPE and we CAN REJOICE in knowing there is LIGHT in the DARKNESS. 

Heath had his Preschool Christmas Program. 

And he ROCKED it! He was so cute and smiley and he really sang out! 

He was much more confident this year! 

He was so proud of himself! 

And Nolan was so proud of him too! He gave him this HUGE hug as soon as we met back up with him after Heath's performance. 

We are so happy that these two know that Jesus is their LIGHT! 

Thank you to Oma & Opa for coming to support Heath! 

We celebrated his great singing with milkshakes on the way home! 

The next morning we headed over to our Stonegate Community Center to see Santa! Now that Mark doesn't work for NCM anymore we don't get to attend their traditional and awesome Children's Christmas Party. So we were very thankful that our neighborhood association offered a complimentary visit with Santa. 

They even flew in Dancer! 

The boys liked letting him sniff and lick their hands. 

The newsletter said to expect to wait an hour to see Santa, but when we arrived we were able to walk right in! 

Nolan is an old pro now!

He asked for a "Snackeez". Santa has it easy this year thanks to informercials during cartoons.

Heath did a great job too! 

He asked for a "Half Shell Hero Shellraiser". 

And then there's this one...

"Ho Ho…Nice." That's what he said. But that is not how he acted! Just another Jansen boy screaming on Santa's lap. Hopefully next year he'll be over this phase! 

But he did tell us that he wants Santa to bring him a puppy. Poor kid. Not happening. He also calls Santa on his red flip phone and asks him for "hock"…anything hockey. So that's what Santa will be bringing. 

We had such a nice time. The boys got little candy canes and treat bags and we had cookies and cocoa too. 

Then we went back out to visit Dancer while we waited to take a mule drawn carriage ride. 

The boys were so excited and were really funny and cuddly on the ride. 

Having fun riding through the neighborhood. 

Our driver asked us many questions about his mules, "Black and Decker". Surprisingly I was a wealth of mule knowledge. I'm the only one who knew all the answers to his mule questions! Ha! Who would have thought?!

We jingled through the neighborhood and we even passed the boys' favorite Christmas house! That yellow house in the background is pretty incredible when it's all lit up at night. (tacky but awesome) 

Brooks really liked checking out the mules. 

After the ride, we played at the park for awhile. 

We are so thankful for our community and all it has to offer! 

Another HUGE hit this December came in a surprise package all the way from Michigan! 

Auntie Jill knows just how much the boys love "blow ups" so last year when she spotted these on sale, she snagged them up and kept them for 9 months until it was the perfect time to surprise the boys! 

They were ECSTATIC! They love their new blow up friends! Thank you Auntie Jill for being so thoughtful! You sure know and love our boys and we are so grateful! 

That evening we had a Christmas Party/Going Away Party with all of our friends. The Cottiers are moving to Kansas City to do ministry with Cru. We will miss them so very much. 

Auntie Mandy planned some fun games! 

Pass the Parcel

Christmas Crackers

The Pickle

Heath won! 

And Christmas movies to close out the night. 

These guys are pretty lucky to have each other. Friends since childhood. 

And I am just so happy they all married such super fun women too! 

I baked this cake to wish them well in their new adventures. 

Once the kids were settled in with a movie, us adults played some games as well. 

Pass the Parcel 

We laughed. A lot. And we played the Pickle too, but I didn't get any pictures of it. It was a great night and we love any opportunity to all be together. We are so happy that the kids have all of these people who love them and so many friends to grow up with. We are so happy D.J. and Mariah are adding to the mix this June. But we are SO SAD to see the Cottiers go. Good thing James' family is here so they have to come back and visit! 

And of course, Eckabee came back again this year. The boys love waking up and running downstairs to find him each day. One of their favorites so far has been...

Eckabee diving into the Wheat Thins Box. The boys looooooove Wheat Thins and have been known to wake up and sneak downstairs and practically finish off the box before breakfast. As you can see, this Costco sized box has been ripped open and the bag mangled by some ravenous little boys. 

When they got home from school this is what he was up to later in the day. A little afternoon snack! 

Our weather this month has been amazingly mild so far. Sun shiny days, perfect for relaxing at the park! 

We did get some snow today which is actually fine by me because it makes it feel a bit more Christmasy! 

This past week, Nolan prepared for his 3 minute Family Tradition Oral Presentation. 

He chose to write about baking cookies with his Grandma. He did such a great job! He chose his props and we printed out pictures and we baked the cookies to share with his class. He was so proud to share about his family. He memorized his presentation. He was a little bit nervous, you could tell by his body language, but he never said a word about it. He was the first to go on his assigned day and he spoke clearly to his audience. He even asked, "Does anybody have any questions?" when he was done. It was the cutest thing! And we're happy that it warmed his Grandma's heart as well. He sure loves her! 

I chopped my hair! I was so ready! 

And finally, we attended a pretty fun White Elephant party this weekend! 

Wes swiped this awesome bag from Gwen. Can't you just see him carrying it into King Soopers to get his groceries. Ha! 

We had a blast and we are so thankful for 2 back to back date nights this weekend because we had Mark's work party too- although I didn't take a single picture that night. Thank you to the Leensvaarts and Oma & Opa for watching our kids so that we could relax during this busy time of year! 

I've been blogging a lot lately! I'm so proud of myself. Ha! Choir, Brooks' Birthday, and Christmas to come. Just trying to stay on top of it...finally!