December in Review

***Due to technical difficulties I have been unable to post for the past month.  So now that those technical difficulties have been fixed this is a post of all the fun things we did during December.  If you want to read it all go head if not I hope you enjoy the pictures.***

TWINKIE DATE!  Our home teachers reciently challenged Brett and I to do something they called 5+1, which were the things our Stake President has been asking us to do for the past year.  One of those things was to go on a date every week.  While thinking about a fun date to do, Brett saw that one of the leaders with him in the Teachers Quorum had the TWINKIE Cookbook, and so Brett got creative.  He chose two recipes, Twinkie Sushi and Twinkie Grasshopper Milkshake, wrote down the ingredients and then took me to the store to get what we needed without telling me what we were going to make.  It really was a lot of fun I think I like the Sushi better then the shake, but we really had a good time.  So if you are looking for a fun date idea and you would like the recipe for one of both of these please let me know.

Growing up my family always had Santa come a week or two before Christmas.  We would sit on his lap and he would ask us all the regular questions and we also got to open a present.  It was a fun tradition that we did as a family and I decided to start it here and it turned out great.  As you can see Mark wasn't too sure about Santa but we still had a great time.

We learned early that Mark's favorite toy is a ball.  He could spend hours throwing balls around the house, and he does.  He has reciently begun to focus really hard at what he wants to hit and 6 out of 10 times he hits it if is in reach.  So we gave him a target, and he really has a pretty good shot.  Watch out Bryan Russell!

Time out for Bubbles!  Brett and I gave Mark some bubbles and after opening his first present and then opening the bubbles he decided that we needed to take a 15 minute break and play with the bubbles.  This was the longest, and most fun Christmas we have had yet!

Mark loves to jump, unfortunately he has been choosing to jump on my bed rather than on the floor.  We also wanted to give him something that would use up all his energy so James, Mark and I could all take a nap.  I doubt that I will be that lucky to have both children asleep at the same time but one can always dream, right?

Brett and Mark are best friends they love to play together all the time.  So they had to try out Mark's new trampoline together, and they like always had a blast!!!

Who needs presents when you have a box?