The Green Family Singers

Austin & Cameron sang in their School Christmas sing. They both did a good job and were really cute. They have been working hard on their songs. It has been fun listening to them sing the songs around the house. Here are a few pics and some video clips of both of them.

Where are you Christmas????

This holiday season has been a little rough for me. I have been doing a lot of thinking and have felt a lot like Cindy in "The Grinch who stole Christmas". I have had a hard time with all the commercialism. People are rude and in a hurry to get to the best deal. It's hard when your kids come home from school every day or remind you every day, "I want this...I want that....When Santa brings me this....." I want my kids to enjoy Christmas and be excited for Santa but I also want them to understand the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas. I don't want them to expect gifts or everything on their Christmas List. I have also struggled especially hard this year with the loss of David more than a year ago. I have thought A LOT about him and how much I truly do miss him. He was a big support to me and cheered me up whenever I was confused about something or just feeling down. With finances being short this year and just everything that has been going on...I have really been trying to focus on the "true" meaning of Christmas and ways I can teach my young children how important it is to focus on our Savior and his birth and to give, serve, & love instead of always expecting to receive. It has been somewhat of a challenge but hopefully one small act will penetrate their little hearts.

One of the things I have been doing is trying to talk more about Christ through scripture study and stories. The other night Kent's load at work got canceled so we decided to take the kids to temple square to see the lights and look at the nativity. They really enjoyed that. (they loved the train/trax ride too)

The beginning of December I took them to a live nativity that a family in my ward does. It is the BEST I have ever been to and hope to make it a family tradition for as long as they perform it. Thousand of people come all over to see it. Instead of just looking at a manger scene...you as travelers experience looking for the Christ child. You meet the shepherds and the wise men on your journey. Right before you get to the stable you hear the angels sing and then end up at the stable where Joseph, Mary, & baby Jesus are. They sing a song and have the kids come touch the baby's hands. It's very touching. My boys talked about it for the next week after. They kept wanting to go back and see baby Jesus.

I hope we can all focus on our Savior this Christmas and remember that he loves us. Let us not get caught up in the hustle and bustle....trying to get the "perfect" gift. Let us concentrate on how we can serve those around us and remember the one who gave His life for us, the Greatest Gift. Merry Christmas!

Here are a few pictures I took of the kids at temple square.....

The ride home from Temple Square...Austin (above) looking tired. Benjamin (below) fast asleep.

Cameron wide awake and showing off for the camera.

Ward Christmas Party

We went to my parents Ward Christmas Party on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. The boys got to see Santa and give him their "Christmas Lists" that they wrote. I wasn't even privileged enough to know what they are asking Santa for for Christmas. Here are a couple pictures of the evening. Benjamin wouldn't go sit on Santa's lap but he did run up to him, touch his knee and run away.

All the auxillaries performed. This is the high priests with the Bishop(dad) in the center, singing a Christmas song.

Cameron, Ben, & Karlie waiting to eat.

Grandma & Sue waiting to eat.

Austin & Cameron waiting and picking at their rolls.

Cameron actually sat on Santa's lap this year!! He was even excited.

Austin showing Santa the picture he drew for him and his Christmas list.

Real vs. Artificial Christmas Trees

So this year we decided to go with a real Christmas tree instead of our pre-lit artificial one. I love the smell of real Christmas trees. Kent and I haven't had a real one since we've been married.. Kent's sister and her husband cut us down a tree and brought it home to us this past weekend. It's a cute little tree.

Last night the kids finally talked me into lighting the tree and setting up Christmas stuff. We have had a bit of a struggle finding a tree stand for it. The one I picked up was really big so we bought a smaller one but it's almost too small. Kent finally got it to stand up but we had to be careful so it wouldn't fall over. Well, at 10:00pm last night the tree is finally lighted and Christmas is up. I walked out to the kitchen for a minute when I hear a crash. I run out to the living room and Benjamin has a huge grin on his face. He decided to play with the tree and tipped it over. Our ornaments that we just carefully placed on the tree were now on the floor. I quickly just hung them wherever and told the kids to get to bed. I turn out all the lights and went to bed myself.

At 3:00 this morning I hear a crash. I'm half way asleep so subconsciously I thought it was my bird hitting the bottom of the cage. I hurried and got up to go see if she's ok. She is just fine but my tree is laying on it's side....AGAIN!! Kids are all in bed so I secretly swear at this stupid tree stand, pick the tree up, put the fallen ornaments under the tree, and text Kent to fix it when he gets home. When Kent got home, he put it in the "big" tree stand to see if it will work any better. I guess we'll see. At this point, I'm thinking our artificial pre-lit tree might be a whole lot more stress...I'll just put on a candle for the smell.