December is such a fun month to be a parent. The kids are so excited for all of the Christmas related activities. Also, our Jr. Jazz basketball season starts in December and this year all three kids are playing. Alyssa is playing for the first time and she sure looks great out there on the court. The first two "games" are actually clinics where the kids learn some of the fundamentals. The third week, she had her first game with another team. I really love coaching young kids how to play basketball, and I wish I could have coached Alyssa. She listens to her coach and plays really great hands-up defense.
I will have some pictures of the boys playing basketball coming soon. Logan was able to be in a play at his school. His teacher, Mr. Jerman, puts on an abbreviated version of "A Christmas Carol." Logan had a terrific role as Scrooge's nephew, with quite a few speaking parts. The children practiced and practiced and then before the Christmas break, their class performed all day, once every half hour. I believe every class from the school came to see them perform. Landon and Alyssa both saw the performance, and Jill and I saw the 2:30 p.m. performance. Logan's friend, Mason, was Mr. Scrooge and he did a terrific job too. Logan knew all his lines and delivered them with volume and energy. He did a great job!
Alyssa has been practicing for her Christmas dance performance. She first performed at the Dicken's Festival at the South Towne Expo Center. She did a terrific job and loves her costume and performing for family. Jill was away at Christmas baking day, so I took Alyssa and the boys to see her perform at the Dicken's Festival. Then the next week she performed again at West Jordan Middle School. Both sets of grandparents were also able to come enjoy the performance.
Alyssa's class has three girls in it while another kindergarten class has four girls. Miss Shelly combined the two classes for these Christmas performances. Alyssa was so excited to dance with her friend, Calli.
Jill had never been to Scheel's. I've taken the kids a couple of times, but Jill had never been. One Friday night, we went to Scheel's to ride the ferris wheel, try bowling, and do some shopping. It's a fun store, and we had a terrific time.
One Sunday at family dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Bunkall's, the boys were rough housing in the basement and we heard a loud cry. It came from Logan who was crying almost hysterically. We asked what happened and he sobbed that he "didn't mean to." Jill asked if he broke something and he said "yes." We ran down to the basement and saw this.
Logan felt horrible, and Jill and I were mortified. We felt horrible that he would play so rough that he could do that kind of damage. After a few short days Grandpa had the hole all patched up and painted. Thank you so much Grandpa and again, Logan is so sorry (and so are we).
It really began snowing this month. During December we've had a couple of really big storms. The kids love the snow and have had a great time playing in it.
Our ward party was a lot of fun. We arrived a little late because of one of Alyssa's performances. It turned out that we timed it perfectly, getting there just in time to eat some of the delicious food. There was a short program with some of the ward members playing instruments and singing. The primary sang "Christmas Bells" and "Jingle Bells" and then we had a visit from Santa. This was the first year Logan didn't want to sit on his lap. He was too cool, along with some of the other older boys, to sit on Santa's lap. It was very sad for Jill and I to see him growing up. Landon even acted up and told Santa how "bad he has been." I was disappointed, but thankfully Alyssa had a good time talking to Santa. She asked him for an American Girl doll and make-up. As a side note, one day our ward young women watched all the kids in the neighborhood so parents could do some shopping. Jill and I didn't need many presents to buy, but we did need to return some items. The kids asked if we bought them some presents and I told them "mostly we returned gifts." Their hearts all sank as I told them I returned gifts. They assumed we took presents back to the store rather than gift them on Christmas day. I had some fun letting them believe that for a few minutes before telling them why we returned gifts.
The Sunday before Christmas we gathered at Jill's Uncle Brent's house with all the Bunkall family. We had a nice visit and ate soup and breadsticks. There were lots of cousins there for good visiting. Jill was asked to share a Christmas tradition memory. She shared memories of going to the West Valley Christmas parade the day after Thanksgiving. She also shared that our second date was to the West Valley Christmas parade. We disagree slightly on exactly how that happened, but we both agree I found a way to get myself invited. Jill did a great job sharing the memory.
Our family worked on a puzzle one Sunday. We had so much fun working together on the Eric Dowdle puzzle.
Corwin and Judy are so kind. They took all the family to Rio Grande Cafe to eat Mexican food before going to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. The food was terrific and we enjoyed walking around downtown seeing the lights. It's turned into a very fun tradition.
One of my family traditions is to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. My mom always had small gifts to open and enjoy after dinner on the 12 days leading up to Christmas. For one of the 12 day presents, Jill found a gingerbread house at Costco. We all worked together to create this masterpiece.
Our kids are really excited for Christmas and Jill and I are excited as well. It will be a great day.
