Two December days

M2B =)  days 316 & 317.  Friday, December 17th - Saturday, December 18th.

Friday, December 17th happiness:  I woke up to this!

It is hardly ever this foggy here.  It was so awesome.  The fog was even heavier by the time I got to Sheri's house to pick up Max and Ben for school.

I wasn't the only one out enjoying it.  Dallin was out riding his bike through the neighborhood.
Today was the last day of school before winter break.  Woo hoo!  I need a break after last week.

It was fun.  I got lots of nice home-made cards and lots of nice Christmas gifts from my kids.  They are the best.

We also had a holiday party this afternoon.  I took tons of photos, they sure love to ham it up for the camera.  I won't be posting them here though.  We had a mug exchange  (think white elephant game, but with hot chocolate mugs).  Once all the kids had their new mugs we had hot chocolate and some treats.  It was fun.  We got the kids all hyped up on sugar and then sent them home. =)

I brought my holiday headbands to wear throughout the day.  Ben and Max wore them on the way home.  When I dropped them off, I made them pose for a silly picture.  
Friday afternoon, I did a little photo shoot with Joe.  I made this one a little purpley and funky.  I thought it was appropriate for Joe =)  It got dark too fast, so we only got to do a few.

Saturday, December 18th:  A day jammed full of happiness!

More photos with the kids this afternoon.  We waited until the last minute to get the calendars ready for mom and grandma this year.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots:

Yesterday, when I stopped off at my mom's after dropping off Max and Ben.  I had the antlers with me.  Joshua got so excited and kept asking "Are those for me?  Did you bring those for me?"  So, I just gave them to him.  He hasn't taken them off since.

After the photo shoot, we left for what is one of my most favorite holiday traditions, even though it really doesn't have anything to do with Christmas.  

We went to Organ Stop to celebrate this kids birthday:

I love that Michael has his birthday at Organ Stop every year.  I look forward to it.  As soon as it hits December I start to get a little excited.  Yes, I am aware that Organ Stop is open year round, and I could go any time, but I don't.  I go once a year, for Michael's birthday, and I love it.

It was a little different this year.  Yes, they had the usual Christmas music, but some things were different too.  We usually get to hear The Star Wars medley and the Phantom of the Opera medley.  We didn't hear either this year.  Come to think of it, we are probably the ones that request those 2 particular medleys.  Maybe no one did this year.

They did do a patriotic medley, that I thought was fun.  That was new.
Adam showing his respect for the flag.
Also this year we saw a couple of celebrities.  Can you believe that the Phantom of the Opera was there?  I had to text my mom and tell her.  I'm sure she was sad she missed it.
Also, Santa was there!
He tried to be inconspicuous by dressing in regular clothes, but he didn't fool me.  I knew it was him right away.  He must be taking a break before the big day.

Afterwards, we went back to mom's for a fun game of white elephant.  This was one of my favorite years.  There was just enough really good stuff and just enough really bad stuff.  A lot of trading went on this year.  Some people went home really happy, others, not so much.

Poor Alex.  I don't think he was happy to open this:
The sad thing is, he went home with something even worse than that.  Courtesy of Brian, he went home with men's adult diapers.  I don't think Alex will ever play white elephant with Brian again.  I have to say, he was a good sport.  Adam ended up taking home the poster, which he brought, by the way.  I'm sure we'll be seeing it again next year.

I won this t-shirt last year at an ugly Christmas sweater party.  
Can you believe that Kaitlin actually stole it from him?  She wanted it bad.

It was a super fun night.  I thought it was appropriate that Michael ended up with the best gift:  a movie cup and movie ticket (that's what I brought.  I had to try and even out Brian's really crappy gift).  It was his birthday and all!  Max stole the gift I wanted.  It was The Nightmare Before Christmas Uno game.  I'm glad he ended up with something good!

Happy Day!