Snowman shirts

I love to coordinate my kids clothing and found a great idea for Christmas pjs online. Using freezer paper, fabric paints and a little artistic touch they turned out great. I bought them all fun jammie pants but made them the same shirt, I think we might try something like this next year too! I'm thinking snowflakes.  

Alvey Family Christmas 2011

After our family Christmas party, we headed back home to celebrate more! The kids were able to open their Christmas pjs, make cookies for Santa, read the Christmas story once more and have family prayer before being tucked in for the night! They were pretty restless but let us sleep until 7am.

Boy the excitement was all around! What did Santa bring? Look what he got! Oh yeah, that's just what I wanted! It really is fun to see my children's faces light up! Makes all the crazy shopping and wrapping worth it!

Brooklyn didn't quite understand what was going on but she was rather content to just watch everyone. Daddy held her while I took pictures and made sure everyone was getting their presents! The kids sure loved all the excitement of it all. Santa left them each a special kid size box of cereal that they got to eat for breakfast. We then all got dressed and headed over to church to feel just a bit more of that Christmas spirit. It was such a nice thing to be able to gather together and worship on Christmas day. I loved the spirit of it. The kids sang a few songs during our sacrament meeting and Zack sang with the choir. It was very uplifting!

 Later we let the kids get back in their jammies before heading over to my parents' home for more presents, lots of food, visiting and playing. We sure felt the Christmas spirit this year and loved all the cards and Christmas wishes we received! I'm so thankful for this most special time of year! May the Lord bless you and yours. Merry Christmas!

Family Christmas Party

For the past couple years Stephanie has hosted our family Christmas party at her home. It is always nicely decorated and the food is great! She keeps it well organized and every follows through with their assignments so there is plenty of food and activites for everyone. This year we had the kids dress up and act out the nativity while my dad read the story of the birth of our Savior out of the Bible. It was lots of fun! The kids had a blast dressing up and followed exactly what they were suppose to do. The spirit of the true Christmas story brings such peace to us. I am so thankful for my Savior and the opportunity to celebrate his life!   

BFFs

Katelyn and Emily are pretty inseparable! They are really close in age and both love to be together plus they are neighbors which works out very well. This fall they both got new baby sisters who are just 6 weeks apart. I hope Brooklyn and Sarah are as good friends as Katelyn and Emily when they get older! Don't they look so cute together!?!

Christmas Stocking Holder

I have always decorated each child's stocking and had bought exactly 8 stockings just in case about 7 or 8 years ago so they would all match. I recently finished Brooklyn's stocking of a Christmas angel. Most the ideas I have gotten from the Bucilla felt stocking kits I've seen online with my own twist of course. Each one is very unique and special! I didn't really have a good way of displaying our stocking since we don't have a fireplace/mantel and my shelf isn't long enough anymore. I have seen this idea at lots of craft sites and finally got around to making my own. We just bought a long board since we have so many stockings, vinyl lettering cut by my sister Stephanie, paint, nails and picture frame backings to hold it up. Next year, I may change it up and add drawer knobs but for now I am sticking with the nail heads for simplicity. I love it!

Ward Christmas Party

We attended our ward Christmas party last night! The food was great and the entertainment was exceptional. Each group in the ward was assigned to give a performance. The little primary children dressed in the traditional nativity costumes and sang "Silent Night". We wanted to let all the primary children dress up but it was quite a bit of work scrounging to make sure everyone had a costume of sorts. We were planning on some of the kids bringing their own but only four did. I will need to add to my supply, I was over the primary children acting out the nativity last year and had costumes for only the senior primary but with help from our primary chorister we came up with just enough costumes. This included one girl wearing the background, I had made last year, draped over her shoulders to look like a robe. I guess I'll be making a few trips to our local DI and buying some material so my stock is better for next year. They all did a great job singing and loved being dressed up. The other groups all did songs too. The Elder's Quorum gets points for most creativity. They sang "On the First Day of Christmas" with a bit of a twist. It was LDS oriented with what the Savior gives to us, like one living prophet, two home teachers, and so on.

Brooklyn is 2 months old!

Brooklyn is such a joy to have in our family! She has grown so much in the past two months. She responds with smiles when she is talked to. She loves being around people and gets upset when she is alone. Brooklyn adores her daddy and cuddles with him all the time. She has him wrapped around her little finger already! She is starting to follow Mommy with her eyes around the room and smiles at her all the time. The kids all love having their baby sister around. Matthew says, "She is here and she is happy!" She loves when they play with her. Brooklyn is very mild mannered. She is easy consoled which is a big relief. She loves her bottle. She wasn't much for nursing but has taken to her bottle quite well. Whenever she is hungry she will immediately stop crying if you give her a bottle and start chugging! Brooklyn loves bath time and being pampered. She rarely spends much time without someone holding her. Her newborn fuzz has all but fallen out and now she's bald like her grandpa. Brooklyn coos when we are all together eating dinner at the table. 

Matthew and I took Brooklyn to her two month appointment. She weighs 12 lbs 9 oz and is 23.5" tall. She was not very happy about the shots but she endured them well. We sure love having our little baby girl here!

Brooklyn's Baby Blessing

Brooklyn's baby blessing was beautiful. Zack gave her a very sweet blessing that made most everyone shed a tear. He blessed her to live up to her namesake Krystal, his sister who passed away earlier this year. We were blessed to have so many family members support our sweet baby. Brooklyn wore the same blessing dress as her sister, Katelyn. It was made by her grandmother out of the same material that was used for my wedding dress, very sentimental. She also wore a flower that her aunt Krystal had made for Katelyn last Christmas. It was so special and sentimental.
 

We had a luncheon at our house following the blessing where we celebrated Brooklyn plus added a little birthday celebration for Jed who turned 25! We are so thankful for all the support and love we get from our family and friends! Our little miss Brooklyn is well loved and adored!