Wrapping up December

December was full of so many great things: Jr. Jazz, Christmas parties, Family traditions, and various daily fun. We had a fun month, and finished up a great year!

The girls finished up their Jr. Jazz games and watching Claire quickly became one of my absolute favorite things to do. She didn't love it, but she finished strong.

Claire made the cutest snowman one night.

We made it around Elara's Lights and Inflateables to the Tree of Life - super simple, but something I look forward to each December. Our little family sure is growing up.

Quincey was having the best time with all of the books in Barnes & Noble one day.

I thought I lost Quincey one day in Old Navy, turns out she was just hanging out with the manequins.

We had a busy Saturday between Jr. Jazz games and the Annual Spjute Christmas Program/Party.

This video of Claire makes me smile. She never did get very good at shooting, but boy could she run down that court.

The girls loved doing the nativity for the residents of the Farmington Senior Living Center.

We finally got an Elf on the Shelf and it was so much fun waking up to her shenanigans each day. The girls loved it!

Claire stayed home sick one day, so we had an art class at home. I ended up being pretty impressed by how good her watercolor ornament turned out! Claire has always been a little artist.

Whenever we need to be even remotely productive, Mittens has made it a habit of including himself, which often ends up being pretty counterproductive 🤣.

Claire's face says it all.

I love sunny December park days, and they're made even more special when we let Claire play Hooky to play with Quincey. Full-day Kindergarten is great, but I do sometimes miss having Claire around.

The Perks of doing Jr. jazz is getting a free ticket to the Jazz Game. Greg had a fun night taking the girls, and what made it even more fun was them somehow being chosen to receive the first Crumbl cookies of the night. Claire didn't know what to do - it was great!

Apparently all of the Kaysville Jr. Jazz kids went the same night - Sof had the best time the next day having a bunch of kids come up to her to tell her they saw her on the jumbotron. She felt like a celebrity.

Claire's cute Christmas list.

Quincey and her bestie.

A balmy bike ride on Dec. 19.

We had fun helping at Claire's classroom Christmas Party. It was fun to meet all of her cute friends.

We planned to take the Front Runner into Salt Lake and have Greg come meet us after work.

Playing at the Children's Museum.

On our way to City Creek.

Quincey has always loved books. It was fun to have a little read-a-thon in the Girl's room one day.

Quincey made a new friend at Cabela's.

Greg took the older girls skiing and it was a beautiful day!

Merry Christmas Eve! The girls looked so pretty in their Christmas Dresses.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Claire took this pic of her new LOL Dolls - she did good.

We've learned that Dec. 26 is a perfect day to go see the windows at the Grand America! I think this years display was my favorite yet.

We all made it skiing together! Quince was having a blast walking around in all the snow.

I ended 2023 by taking a solo trip to Cedar to see my Grandma. My mom let us know that Grandma wasn't doing well and had been hospitalized. It broke my heart, so I went down to spend a few hours with her before coming back home to spend the last day of the year with my own family. It was a whirlwind of a day, and I made it in time to put the girls to bed, but I'm so glad I took time to have cherished conversations with my grandma that I wouldn't have been able to have otherwise.

2023 was good to us. We all ended a little older, smarter, and happier as a family. 

Bring on 2024!

Riding the Polar Express

Here I am almost one year out and I'm doing my darndest to finish up the happenings of 2023 - pray for me, people! I'm determined to get caught up ad I've got less than 2 months to do so.

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December started off with a bang. I major procrastinated getting Polar Express tickets and was so sad to see that everything was sold out.

Well, I decided to give the Train Station call one morning and was so excited to hear that they had the exact amount of tickets we needed for that afternoon. So, I bought them, told Greg to be home early, and spent the day anxiously awaiting the girls to get home from school so I could tell them our fun plans for the day!

We made it to Heber just in time to climb aboard our train car. It was so much fun being with other families in their Christmas jammies - the Christmas spirit was alive and the girls was amazed!

It was definitely one of the more magical moments we've had with the girls and I'm not sure I will get the image of them staring out the windows in wonder out of my head anytime soon. They are the perfect age for to experience the magic of the Polar Express.

Yes, Greg drove the entire way like this. He sure was dedicated to his role. What a man 🤣

The view was beautiful!

It was very cool looking out the window at our train as we wound our way back.

Meeting Santa Claus was amazing!

What a special day with our girls. I'm so glad we were able to make it happen! 🎄

Finishing up November

In between piano, basketball and family trips, we were able to do some other fun things that didn't quite qualify for their own post but are noteworthy, nonetheless. I figure if I took the picture, they may as well be appreciated by those other than me, right?

Cooler temps had set in, but we were still making the most of park days and other outdoor areas while we could.

Quincey made it a habit there for a while to sit on Claire's face. Never anyone else, just Claire. And Claire, being the trooper that she is, would let her. It was hilarious!

Quince was also in the phase of watching the big kids play vs. actually playing herself. But, she has her cute piggies in this day, so it's worth the video, I guess.

Not exactly sure what's going on in these picures, but I sure am glad I caught them 🤣.

Fall is so pretty! 

Greg says Mittens sticks out like a sore thumb. I took this pic to prove he blends in with some things. Fall is his time to shine!

The Spjute family rallied for Megan's farewell. She was well represented!

Claire inherited my frown. She's getting pretty good at it 🤣

Claire loves parties! We didn't have any birthday specific paper so she colored her own and then wrapped the present. It turned out great!

Everyone was in awe at how good both girls were at the rock wall, all thanks to their practice all summer long at Cherry Hill.

Happy Birthday Lexi!

True to tradition, we took a locker picture. Some of us are getting too big ....

We had to document that Greg put up Christmas lights before Thanksgiving. Claire was living her best life scrambling around up there.

Whatever Claire ate, it was Blue.

Quincey enjoying her two favorite things at the same time - swinging and snacking.

X marks the spot.