Janis Family Christmas Eve

We had several friends over tonight to celebrate Christmas Eve! We made six pizzas and gobbled those up along with trays of fruits and veggies. They all turned out a bit lopsided so we called them Artisan Pizzas!

Pepperoni

Mozzarella, tomato, and basil

Ham and pineapple

Alfredo chicken and Jimmy's sausage

Peppers, olive, and sausage (the peppers were lightly sauteed in the pan after the sausage was cooked in it)

Leftover pizza!

The spread as the first of the pizzas gets served on the table.

Esther and Nathan making silly faces.

Latisha learning to get the dough ready.

Daron demonstrating tossing the dough.

Cydney using the pizza peel.

We read scriptures about the birth, life, and resurrection of Christ and sang hymns. The kids got to open their Christmas Eve presents - new robes - and then off to bed before Santa comes!!

Our little man.

Cute girl!

Hanukkah

Last night we celebrated Hanukkah with Daron's parents and our friends Andrea and Justin. It turned out really nice. Daron's parents were amazing! They helped watch the kids while I ran last minute errands and helped cook and cook!

And I got to take fun pictures with Instragram on my new iPhone.

 Jelly donuts!

 Pretty table - silver is the color of choice for this holiday season's festivities!

 Our menorah

 Favors - to play dreidel later!

 Our snowflakes/stars that were so easy to make! In a lovely sepia color.

 Homemade pear/applesauce - delicious!

Esther making fast friends with Andrea and Justin.

 Nathan's funny face.

 Mom and Dad J.

 Messing with closeups and candles.

After dinner, we read the Hanukkah story, opened our little Hanukkah gifts, and played dreidel. Daron won, though Esther and Nathan came in 2nd and 3rd. Little Esther is already showing signs of uber- competiveness like her Daddy!

What a fun night!!

Bishopric Dinner

There is a tradition in our congregation that the Bishop hosts a Christmas dinner for the counselors, the Executive Secretary, and the clerk and their spouses. We've done this twice now and it's really been a nice evening. It's an assigned potluck and we provide the ham. I went a little crazy on the table this year (last year we did paper plates) but I have just had too many fun ideas running around my brain. You'll see a similar table for Christmas since I've already got the stuff!

 I decided to go with silver and white. I was going to do peonies but they wanted $7 for three of them and it would have added up too much. The daisies, which are more cute than elegant, still turned out very pretty. The boxes on each plate were filled with our favorite chocolates.

 Thank you, Christmas Tree Shop for the elegant $8 runner! Usually a nice runner costs around $25!

 Simple votive candles placed around for some extra light and sparkle!

 The Carlyles

 The Ramirezes

 The Jacobs

 

The Smiths

Amazing Christmas Star Project from Button Bird Designs!

Click on the link below to see what I'm going to be making for Christmas with the kids next week!

via Button Bird Designs

Button Bird Designs Blog

Recent Goings-On

During Thanksgiving break, we went to the Dallas Zoo on their dollar day. I brought our amazing babysitter, Cydney, with us. She is such a help keeping track of the children. The kids adore her and this picture turned out so cute. 

Daron and I celebrated our ninth anniversary on the 30th of last month. Daron had an idea for a new family tradition - a birthday cake for our family's birthday! We even sang "Happy Birthday" and the kids thought this was great!

Daron has been getting me a rose for each year of our marriage. This year for some reason, he ended up getting more. No complaints here! The bouquet is still beautiful and the card was very sweet. I needed the time with him - things have been so hectic lately!

We did sealings at the temple and then out to The Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant. Very good, but not to die for, food. It was a quiet atmosphere, though, and we talked and just enjoyed each other's company.

While I was getting ready for our date, Daron and the kids played with Tinkertoys. Esther and Nathan were very impressed with Daddy's handiwork. Esther called it a hotel and named it the V Tree Elephant Hotel.

Yesterday, Esther had her first dance performance. Her teacher invited all her ballet classes to perform at the local mall. Her class, made up of 5-7 year olds, danced to "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" including a winding through the line with a rope! They didn't know the rest of the dance very well, but they sure got that part down!

Esther was soooo excited to wear makeup. She thought she was so pretty that she declared she'd wear it everyday. Sorry to disappoint you kid, but you'll have to wait until you're 16. She looks like such a pretty ballerina.

And the usual squashing the brother hug....

And little brother running around like a crazy kid before the show until he rammed into someone else. Then he sat quietly in my lap for awhile. 

As a side note, the carpet in this mall is newish. They installed it straight over the broken tile floor a couple of years ago. I think they were on a budget. Yikes, is it ugly!