xmas date night

i was freakishly excited when i went to trader joes and they had all of their christmas products out.  when i saw that they had gingerbread house kits i knew i had to buy it because dawson and i have never even made a gingerbread house together, and i don't know how this has happened.

we didn't even look at the box or instructions so that we could have our own creative juices flow and build a gingerbread house that was entirely our own.

it turned out so cute that i made dawson take a picture of our family night activity.  i am so embarrassed because i had to download a timer app on my phone so that i could take a picture of us all. 

it took like 20 tries to get the to not fall down, get us all in and all of us looking semi-normal.  i have since deleted the app so that we don't have to go through ordeal that again.  and i don't want to have people thinking we have a personal photographer with us at all times.

after the picture fiasco i went into the kitchen to clean up, and dawson said he was going to decorate a little more.  when i came back a mere 5 minutes later, the gingerbread house looked like it had been through a frosting blizzard.  

bless his heart.

we were feeling so festive still that we decided to go to festival of trees.  all feelings of pride in our gingerbread house went out the window when i saw the houses on display there. 

it really humbled us and helped us to realize that we are still gingerbread amateurs. 

we have decided that when we are rich, we are going to donate a harley davidson tree to the festival of trees.  dawson will pick out an actual harley to donate, and i will be in charge of decorating the tree.

but for now we will just be tree admirers.  here is blurry dawson with our favorite tree of the night, the ute tree of course!

a kent christmas

the christmas celebration never stops!

we were so happy to be able to watch our nieces and nephew open presents this year.

there is nothing more magical about christmas than a little kid opening a present from santa.

and it doesn't hurt that we have the absolute cutest nieces and nephew around!

it was so funny watching them open all their presents.

presley opened them all as fast as she could so she could,

while maybelle had to open and play with each present before she could move on to the next.

baby merida, barbie cruise ship (that i loved almost as much as presley), and the dress ups 

were the big hits this year and rightfully so.

the toys they have for kids these days are amazing!

i wish i could play with them all without having to feel a little embarrassed.

then came time for the adult presents!!!

diana and blair spoiled us all rotten.

ipads, snowmobiling gear, clothes, traveling gear, etc. were showered upon us.

but the real highlight of my christmas presents was this:

don't mind the blurriness, just focus on the joy

you know you are a grown up when you get excited about getting a blender!

dawson and i look up "will it blend" videos on youtube all the time,

and i have been dreaming of the time that i would one day own a blendtec.

well the time has come, and you can bet i have been blending away on a daily basis!

another great idea by diana this year was christmas bingo!

it was similar to the white elephant game where you can either open or steal someone's present.

the battle was intense and things might have gotten a little competitive...

but luckily all the gifts were amazing so we all ended up with something awesome.

it was a lot of fun and hopefully the start of a new tradition!

now christmas festivities and christmas music are over for a whole year.

boo.

but at least we will have lots of healthy blended smoothies to look forward too!

a whittingham christmas

(we were so crazy busy this christmas that i decided to divide it up into two posts)

we spent christmas eve with the whittingham side,

enjoying a christmas eve dinner at the ever classy el rancherito.

then we decided that to keep our yearly nativity reenactment to ourselves was just selfish.

so we headed over to the beehive house (and assisted living home) to put on a christmas eve show.

we've visited the beehive house on christmas eve before, but not for a very long time.

i'm pretty sure the last time we went i had braces on and baby jesus was an real baby cousin.

at first it was a little embarrassing, seeing as how we are all so grown up now...

(dawson was shocked that we keep this tradition up when most of us are 16+)
and the fact that our "costumes" are from grandma nancy's collection over the past 40 years,

but the audience loved it and i think it helped all of us remember the true meaning of christmas.

and even though mary and joseph look good with a baby, don't be expecting a real kent baby anytime soon.

we went over to grandmas nancy's after for a little cousin time

and a "practical" white elephant party which included toilet paper as one of the gifts.

(don't worry, it was unused)

and of course a few impromptu dance performances.

if you thought julie's dance skills were limited to the running man, you were sorely mistaken.

we spent the night at my parents house,

and then first thing in the morning we headed over to the kents 

so we could watch presley and maybelle open presents!

which could possibly have been the highlight of the day.

then it was BACK to my parents (we're lucky our parents live 5 minutes apart)

to open presents with the princess of the family, kylie,

who was a little upset that we had to wait til afternoon to open her presents,

but we appreciate her being so patient with us.

then the other best part of christmas (you can never have too many best parts of christmas)

was talking to elder whittingham on the phone!

unfortunately his mission president won't let them skype,

but it was wonderful to at least talk to him for a solid two hours.

he is doing great over there in new zealand,

but we are very grateful that we will be able to have him home for next christmas.

we had an amazing christmas this year,
and are so blessed that we are able to live so close to family.

and this was only half of it!!!

get ready to hear about "a kent christmas" soon...

christmas spirit

christmas is only two days away!!!

our shopping is done. 

our presents are wrapped.

christmas decorations have been made and put up.

our christmas card has been sent out.

many christmas lights have been seen.

christmas parties have been attended.

christmas movies have been watched.

and way too many christmas treats have been made and eaten.

we are more than ready, so bring on christmas eve!

zoo lights

did we have more fun than the little kids at the zoo?

did we sneak in our own delicious hot chocolate?

did nakita ask the same person to take our picture multiple times throughout the night,

not realizing it was the same lady with horrible picture taking skills every time?

were the only animals that were awake the creepy ones?

was it absolutely freezing with the most bitter wind you've ever felt?

did we end up taking a few too many pictures?

do we feel much more festive and in the christmas spirit?

do we always have the best time with the nicols and laugh til our stomachs hurt?

and do i have the sweetest, most handsome hubby in the entire world?

i am going to have to answer a big fat YES to all of those questions.