December 2019

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I love Christmas time with little kids in the house. It is so magical. We made a trip to Bass pro shop to see Santa and the kids told him their extensive wish lists. We got a great picture of all the kids, and not one of them cried on Santa's lap, it's a Christmas miracle!

Since this is my first year teaching at Take Five Dance I just helped and observed their winter holiday show. I am so used to doing the Nutcracker over the holidays that this show was different and a little refreshing. It is basically a mini recital filled with numerous jazz/tap/hip hop dances to holiday music. It was a delight to watch my students perform, but what brought me even more joy was watching Abby light up the stage. She is loving dance at this new studio and I love watching her grow and develop as a dancer, even if that is not specifically ballet training. She still takes a ballet class, but it is her least favorite dance subject. She really has been getting into jazz and hip hop.

Oh Brayden, I just love this kids love for life. He is such a hoot in his church nursery class, and has been keeping us all holly jolly this holiday season. He is really into our family elf on the shelf and loves to find his new hiding spot each morning. In fact, our elf on the shelf is a funny story... last year we started the tradition and as always the first year that you have an elf you have to name him/her. Kyle suggested we name our elf a traditional Italian boys name of "Chiro." The kids and I were like sure why not, but none of us except Kyle can correctly pronounce Chiro. So the name has now evolved to "Cheeto" as in the bright orange puffs that stain your fingers when you eat them. Yup, our elf's name is now named Cheeto.

Abby and Connor still do private tutoring lesson with Ai sensei and they put on a little Christmas concert. They sang Christmas songs in Japanese and had a little Christmas party. I am so grateful we found Ai sensei and that she is willing to help my kids continue their Japanese studies.

We decided to check out the Phoenix Zoo lights with Nate/Brooke and Cody/Brielle. It was fun getting all the Arizona Benhams together and the kids had a lot of fun. To be honest I was hoping to see more animals, but the lights were pretty and the company was even better.

Connor's class put on a little Christmas concert and they sang the song "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" and Connor was the star! He was the main boy who supposedly was missing the two front teeth and he did such an amazing job. In fact Connor was so secretive that he didn't tell me about his star roll and his teacher, Mrs. Robinson, had to tell me to make sure I got front row seats to see him shine up on the stage. Oh man it has been a while that my momma heart felt like busting to the point of tears filling my eyes, so when I started to get teary eyed watching Connor I just let them roll down my cheeks.

Christmas Sunday, the Sunday before Christmas is one of my favorite Sundays. We went to church and had a sacrament meeting that was filled with Christmas songs, messages about the birth our of Savior, and and overall  spreading of glad tidings and great joy. I am so grateful for my Savior, His miraculous birth, His selfless life, His ultimate gift of the atonement, and His pure love and sacrifice to die for all of us. I too join the heavenly hosts and sing "Hallelujah!"

Christmas Eve finally came and we filled the day with all our many traditions of pizza dinner, sugar cookie making and decorating, looking at Christmas lights, and of course reading the book "'Twas the night Before Christmas." The kiddos all got new jammies from their elf as a goodbye gift till next year. 

Christmas morning came and the kids were so excited for the gifts that Santa brought them. From slippers, to baby dolls, to legos, to football helmets, they got pretty much everything they asked Santa for. I sure love my kiddos and love how much they love Christmas time. 

For New Years we went up to Las Vegas to meet up with my family. My parents flew in and Doug/Taylor and Katie/Dallin drove down from Utah. We had a mini little family reunion where we visited the chocolate museum, went sight seeing on the strip, and hung out back at the rental watching sporting games. Any chance we get to see family I take it. That was by far the hardest part about living in Japan for three years, so now I feel like we are making up for lost time. The kids loved seeing their aunts and uncles, and of course Nonna and Pappie. 

On the night of New Years Eve nobody was feeling adventuous or up for any fun parties. I wasn't about to let New Years in Vegas pass me by. I bribed Kyle to go to the strip with me to count down to the new year while the rest of the family stayed back at the rental house. They decided to watch football and thankfully became built in babysitters to our kids who we tucked into bed early after celebrating a fake New Years Eve with them hours prior to the real thing. 

I know it was definitely not what Kyle wanted to do, but he went to the strip with me and rang in the new 2020 year crammed with thousands of other people. It was a New Years I will always remember, and probably the last one I will ever be able to convince Kyle to change out of sweat pants and leave the comfort of his own couch. Lets do this! Heres to an amazing 2020 year!