This post is mostly just pictures, but pictures of memories that we don't want to forget.
Christmas morning was wonderful. The boys were so excited.
Quincy woke up first, and I think that the only reason that Hunter and Walter woke up, was because they heard Quincy. But it was past seven,so it was fine. Both Hunter and Walter had asked for new bikes and legos, so they were both happy.
Quincy didn't ask for anything, but he was still happy.
Emptying out their stockings.
This year we started a new tradition, called Brother to Brother. The boys drew names of one brother that they were going to make a homemade gift for. I helped a bit, but they did as much as they could.
Hunter got Quincy's name and decided to make this airplane/cloud mobile. It's perfect for Quincy's nursery. (I'll have to take a picture of his nursery-so you can get the full effect)
Walter had Hunter's name and made him a snowman kit. He used a fake plastic carrot, and three huge buttons. Then he made coal out of clay that we cooked. Followed by a long piece of green felt for a scarf. I did sew a felt top hat. And then we attached all the piece to either dowels or golf
On Christmas Eve we went to Weston's parents house to gather together with most of Weston's family. I had made the boys little drummer boy shirts to wear on that night. I once again used my silhouette. (I really got a lot of use out of that machine during the Christmas holiday) I was planning on making one for Quincy as well, but I burnt the decal, so he just had to rely on his charming good looks that he gets from his father.
First we had the traditional Christmas Eve Dinner: Clam Chowder. Followed by the Christmas Eve program.
Ceci and Carmen lead the kids in the Christmas Puppet Story.
The boys were both Wise Men (which went along so well with what we had just discussed in our Jesus Dinner-the night before)
The grandkids then performed in the Grandchildren Christmas Chior
They sang the songs "Christmas Bells" and "Picture A Christmas"
Then we watched a short video, about the birth of Christ.
Then, all the grand kids got in a circle and got to open one gift (they all know that according to tradition the gift is a new set of pajamas).
We open them youngest to oldest, so Quincy was first.
Quincy thought it was so much fun- he started clapping.
Walter enjoyed his, he loves sports and Hunter told us after the fact, that he just knew that we were getting him dinosaur ones.
We then tried to get a group shot of all the kids.
We then sat around and sang some Christmas carols.
By then it was getting late, and it was time- to get the kids home and into bed, before the big morning.
10.The rough number of kids that Walter
tackled football style in soccer this year.There are some things that are hard to teach a four year old with a
linebacker’s physique
9.The number of scouts that Weston almost lost in an epic high adventure
in Escalante Utah (“almost” being the key word)
8.Hunter ran in his first mile race and finished in 8:45, good for 12th
in his age group.
7.Quincy crawled for the first time at 7 months, then he stood up and
sidestepped a couple of weeks later, then he said “I am going to be the next
Messi” (alright he didn’t actually verbalize that, but that is what his eyes
said)
6. Number of years that Sue has been
the best mom in the Universe.If you
don’t believe me read number 5.
5.Number of chocolate chip cookie recipes Sue tried before she found the
perfect one for high altitude cooking.Nothing says perfect mom, like perfect chocolate chip cookies.
4.Weston ran another marathon, blew up in mile 20, and finished in over
four hours (not exactly a highlight, but motivation to train better this year)
3.For the first time in 3 years we didn’t have to take a trip to the
emergency room for croup (fingers crossed for the last couple of weeks in the
year)
2. Number of minutes before Quincy took
his first breath.It felt like hours,
but we are sure blessed to have him as a new member of our family.
1. One more great year in the books for
the Hafen Family
I wish I had taken pictures of everything, but I didn't. So I'll just share what I have.
Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert
We got tickets to the Christmas Concert this year!!! It was awesome!!! We actually got enough tickets that Weston's parents and both of his sisters with their husbands were able to go. And then before the concert we were able to go out to eat at PF Changs. So we were able to have a delicious dinner and watch a wonderful concert.
The guest star for this year's performance was Alfie Boe- so wonderful!!
Here's a little clip from YouTube
And then the story that they shared was The Candy Bomber. WOW, what a powerful story. Right
after the concert I told Weston that we had to make sure to share this concert with the boys. Luckily we were able to have the boys watch it on Sunday during Music and the Spoken Word.
Primary Christmas
I was called as the 1st Counselor in the Primary for our ward. The whole presidency is new and we have only been in for about two months. We were trying to think of a cute/fun Christmas gift for the kids.
We saw this cute idea and decided it was perfect, since the Primary Theme for 2011 was, Choose the Right: CTR
So I ended up cutting out 100 vinyl CTR crests with the help of my wonderful silhouette.
Teacher's Gifts
I wanted to make something cute but simple this year for the wonderful teachers that play a great role in the lives of my boys. I made one for Walter's speech teacher and then two for Hunter, since he has an English and a Spanish Teacher
I liked them so much that I ended up making three more for the other members of the Primary Presidency. I cut a piece of vellum and then used my silhouette to cut the nativity scene out of vinyl. Then I used glue dots on the corners of the vellum paper to adhere the vellum to the glass block. Then I put one of those battery operated candles in the glass block as well. I love the way it glows right around baby Jesus
During all of this I had a wonderful helper named Quincy:
This is his "Yes I know I'm cute face"
The next morning after working so hard with me the night before I walked into his room to find this:
Right after I took that picture he woke up, and when he saw that I had the camera he gave me this cute smile
Sleeping under the Christmas Tree Lights
So one of our small Christmas traditions is on the first night of the Christmas Break. We let the kids sleep under the lights of the Christmas tree. Quincy is a bit too young to join the boys, but maybe next year.
They were so excited they kept reminding us over and over that they were going to sleep in their sleeping bags.
Gingerbread House
I have yet to master the art of making a gingerbread house, so we still use the kits, but the boys don't care, so maybe the art of making my own gingerbread house can wait.
Every once in a while we have to taste the frosting and candy
Quincy and Weston supervised
Dancing with Tia Wendy
So on the 21st we went to my cousin's house for a dance party. Quincy sure had fun. And Wendy said that he was one of the best dance partners she had ever had.
Gingerbread Men
We were able to decorate our Gingerbread Men again this year, and we were able to have one of our neighbor's join us.
And Tia Wendy came as well. The boys love the Candy Eyeballs. I think we had more Gingerbread Zombies then Men. Here is a picture of Walter using Wendy's phone to take a picture of their masterpiece
Sunday the 23rd
The boys wore their Christmas best and Tia Wendy joined us for church. Right before church we were able to take a few pictures of the boys.
23rd- Jesus Dinner
We always have our special Jesus Dinner on the 23rd, (since on the 24th, we have extended family events)
I didn't get any pictures of the dinner, but we eat by candle light and we eat food that the people during the time of Christ may have eaten: like bread, cheese, grapes and yogurt. The boys love it. I remember the first year we had this dinner, I was so worried because the boys were so quiet. But this year I just sat there and enjoyed the quiet.
After the dinner we told the Nativity Story and we watched this awesome video
Then we talked about what it meant to be a wise man:
They read the scriptures and understood them
They listened to promptings from the Spirit
We then read this book called:
The Not-So Wise Man
And we discussed what mistakes he made and how we could avoid making the same mistakes.
Then I gave the boys the crowns that I had made for them.
Christmas Ornaments
Each year we make new ornaments for our tree. This year we kept it very simple, since it was Quincy's first year. I just got thewood cutout ones and the boys colored on them with markers.
