so this is xmas...

 On the first Sunday evening in December Daddy read everyone the Elf on the Shelf book and we eagerly awaited our elf's arrival the next morning...

They woke up to find this in scrabble letters asking them to give their elf his very own name.

 I don't remember who said it first, but Jingle made everyone happy rather quickly.  I was actually surprised it didn't take a long time to agree!

 On the first cold evening of the month we made hot cocoa and played scrabble by the fire.  Perfect evening.

 This placement of Jingle happened to turn out a little creepier looking than I had planned!  I was really not going for the horror movie look, but I think that's how it came out!

 Luke told me that this was his favorite place for Jingle to be.  He also ended up toilet papering the xmas tree, hiding in the stockings, hanging out in the sugar bowl, locked in Jack's crate, and some last minute ones that are hard to remember.  There were several mornings that I woke up and panicked because I had forgotten to put Jingle somewhere new.

 I think this was the fourth year in a row that we have gone to Logan's to watch them make candy canes.  There is nothing like a fresh candy cane piece that is still warm from the oven.

That's Uncle Joe photo bombing... gotta love him!

 Another one of the wonderful traditions that the Grows do for all the kids is letting them come and decorate gingerbread at xmas time!  I could not believe how HUGE the gingerbread men were and they tasted so wonderful.  Thanks SO much to Denise, Delena, and Vanessa for taking the time and having the patience to do such a big project!

We couldn't wait to give Owen his first xmas present from all of us.  It was easy to decide what to give him because all of my kiddos have always loved the "Little People"  toys.  Owen seemed to like them right away too.

 Another Jingle picture.. this one is my favorite.  Jingle is reading Rudolph to our Rudolph toys.  The kids didn't seem to appreciate this one as much as I did.  As Aunt Judy told me one time, "No one ever appreciates your hard work, more than yourself!"  Very true!

 Love these boys!  It will be such fun seeing them grow up together!

On Xmas morning, the kids woke up to find that the top of the stairs had been blocked by Jingle the Elf.  It was also a convenient way to make the kids wait to go downstairs until we were ready.

Jack got his own stocking too.  He enjoyed his new chew toy so much that he didn't move during the whole time that we were opening presents.

Luke and Caleb got matching "Angry Birds" beanies to wear on our trip to Atascadero.

Daddy likes to wait until Xmas morning to look at the new calendar for the year.

Back to our tradition of Daddy making homemade cinnamon rolls.  Last year our fridge was broken at this time, so it was nice to have things back to normal.

We all love college football.  Chris surprised Lori with UCLA football season tickets.  We surprised them with Washington State football t-shirts.

This year all of the cousins exchanged books.

Here all of the kids are watching one of the Jib Jab dances that Daddy made.  I think Aunt Lori was the star of this one.

Between me, Aunt Lori, Grandma, and Santa, Caleb and Luke expanded their collection of Mo Willems' books over the holidays.  I love the books because Caleb is never to shy to act one of them out, and Luke is a perfect Gerald. I feel like Piggie and Gerald are part of our family now too.