Our Magical December


To me, December is a time for comfort, good food, warmth, spending quality time with my family and celebrating our Savior. Our December has been jam packed and I have not been able to do Friday favorites, so I will just give you a little run down of our month. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.  I am so very thankful for all of you and the support from those who follow me and read my blog.  It has been an amazing year. This March will be 11 years of blogging for me.

Our elf Tinsel arrived on December 1st and he stayed until Christmas Eve night. He left a note each morning for the kids with a special toy or treat for each child. They love it and so do I.


The kids made gingerbread houses and a train



My dear friend Sophie hosted her annual cookie exchange. It is one of my favorite parties every year. She seriously has the best decor, food, and her home is so warm and inviting.


We went to Universal Studios for Grinchmas. You can read the blog post here.


 We went to Fa La Land, which you can read about here.


I got to meet Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini this month and interview them for their new movie Second Act, which is in theaters everywhere.  You can read more about my day here.


 I dressed these two up like their elf Tinsel


 Carter and Kennedy both had their Christmas performances and their last day of school on the same day.  It was a crazy morning, but we made it to both schools for the performances.


 I shared a fun festive drink on the blog earlier this month.  Check it out here.


My mother in law, sister in laws, and I went to AR Workshop Fresno and made cookie trays and learned how to decorate sugar cookies with Stephanie who owns Flour Fog Bakery.



 We took the kids to see The Nutcracker.  This was Carter's second year seeing The Nutcracker and Kennedy's first time.  It was so good.



 This is my favorite picture!


We did a Nativity drive thru, the journey to Bethlehem. It is amazing and we do it every year. It is put on by the Bethany Church in Fresno.  It only runs for a few days during the month of December and it is truly amazing.

The Sunday before Christmas we went to Prodigal Church.  Our friend John Richardson is the pastor and he is the best speaker.  I could listen to him all day and his family is adorable and some of our very good friends. All of our closest friends go to Prodigal and they were putting on a play, so we went to watch and support.  We are Catholic and attend a different church every Sunday, but I am able to keep up with Prodigal weekly because they upload the weekly service to YouTube.  So basically I go to church on Fridays with Carter, I go to church with my family over the weekend and listen to John Richardson on YouTube.  If you are looking for a new church in the Fresno/Clovis area I am happy to share the Catholic church we attend, but if you are looking for something else I highly recommend Prodigal.  The music is so good, the people are warm and inviting, the stage, screens and projections they use are so good and listening to John speak is amazing.  Believe me, just go one week and you will love it.



 On Christmas Eve we headed to Los Banos to spend time with Blake's family and we spent Christmas day at home just our family of four and it was so nice.  We made a wonderful lunch, watched Christmas movies all day, and of course played with our new toys and gadgets.


 Merry Christmas!


We have a thing for matching Hanna Andersson pajamas!

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We took the kids ice skating at Tenaya Lodge.  It was so much fun and we love Tenaya Lodge.  You can find out more about the hours and pricing for ice skating here.


We rang in the new year at home like we do every single year.  We enjoy being at home, having Chinese take out, playing games, watching TV or movies, and sitting by the fire on New Year's.  There is no other way I would rather to spend New Year's Eve.


We have had a wonderful month and I am so truly blessed. I hope you all had a magical December.  Happy New Year!