Christmas in Cinci!

And we're off! Cinci, here we come!

Spending the holidays with family is the best!

Feelin' the Christmas thing!

Savannah and I went to Mom and Dad's ward Christmas party. I didn't grab any pictures there but I did get a few of the food prep...

just because I LOVE how my mom checks to see if her potatoes are hot, ha ha!

Sunday evening for FHE we learned about what the symbols of Christmas represent.

Such a great start to our Christmas vacation!

Time to Party!

We decided to have our seminary Christmas party at the Wines house this year. Our two guys were the most festive, showing up in their awesome Christmas sweaters!

We ordered some pizzas...

and played some games.

First up - Deception!

Elinor didn't really like the game until she figured out the murderer was Grace within 5 minutes of starting the game!

The rest of us had a ton of fun! Okay, maybe Grace was a little stressed out...

The girls caught Felix!

Time for Taboo!

It was a really fun night and we all agreed that seminary game night needs to be a monthly thing. And, because one party wasn't enough, we had a second Christmas party the last day of seminary before the break.

Elinor brought some tasty French toast and I provided the donuts.

Elinor had just found out the previous Sunday that she was being released as a seminary teacher and would be the new Relief Society president for her ward. During class the kids were passing around a thank you card for her and, Elinor being Elinor, when she saw it she got all nosy and asked them what they were doing. We all had a good laugh when I gave her a hard time about not knowing enough to just pretend like she hadn't seen it. When they finally finished signing it and gave it to her, she acted all surprised, ha ha!

Time for the gift exchange!

We finished up our party with a fun Doctrinal Mastery game called Grinch Grab. Each candy/treat in the middle had a DM scripture reference on it and as I read off a clue, they had to quickly grab the matching DM scripture. It was obvious after the first few minutes that we were definitely going to need to practice our Doctrinal Mastery verses A LOT more in the coming year!

Lydia wanted this candy cane so much that after each clue I read she would say this verse in the hopes that it was right. I finally just read off the corresponding clue just so she could get the candy.

Such a great class!

I hate to be losing my partner-in-crime! We have had so much fun serving in this assignment together!

Our December 2018

Hangin' with my favorite winter friend, both of us dreaming of summer...

and another favorite person to hang out with. He had his heart set on watching Ben Hur and even dressed up for the viewing.

She stole my original pair at the Relief Society Christmas party, forcing me to go out and buy my own pair. We sure do rock our rainbow monster slippers!

We hate when we lose one of our missionaries! Goodbyes are certainly hard!

Thank goodness we still have the slipper-stealing Sister Attebury with us!

Playing some games...

acting silly (what else is new)...

putting together a super hero costume for school...

and making Christmas cookies for church teachers and leaders.

And then there's Cleo.

David and the kids love her; I tolerate her.

She LOVES her food! The way she behaves, one would think we never feed her!

One thing I have enjoyed about having her is the long walks I get to take. Annoyances on our walks include dog messes left by inconsiderate neighbors, the chewing gum that Cleo invariably sniffs out and starts chewing - yuck! - and her pulling on the leash when she thinks her friend Shiloh is up ahead.  What cracks me up is her love of sticks and how she'll carry one all the way home.

She's not much of a cuddler but if you find her in the right mood...

A little goofing around.

She sure is a pretty dog!