Random Christmas Fun

December is always a busy month and it is always Danny's busiest time of year at work so I tend to have to get to the girls end of year activities on my own. We did a school choir concert, a piano recital, Ashley's after school choir concert, 4 different parties for Alyss, and a Marie Osmond Concert for me. Not to mention Young Men's activities and a Relief Society activity. Most of it, I didn't get pictures of, but I did get a picture Ashley's choir concert(one of the things Danny actually got to attend).

After the girls were out of school, I took them to the mall to check out the Harry Potter event they had going on all month. It was crowded and more of a Harry Potter themed shopping area, but we did do some other fun things at the mall like ride the train.

On Christmas Eve, we went over to Gawbie and Grandpa's for a family party. We had a delicious ham and tamales dinner. Then we got to decorate the men like Christmas trees.

We had a nice program and then enjoyed some Christmas goodies and hot chocolate. Then we opened presents. It was a fun afternoon.
Back at home, we let the kids open their one gift, Christmas jammies. This year I made jammie bottoms with Labrador retrievers on them in honor of Casey.

 On Christmas, they were excited to see that Santa visited.

And it isn't Christmas, for me, without a picture of the kids on the stairs. Miner traditions are engraved into my heart.

We had a nice Christmas season and a happy new year. We were happy for the time that Danny took off around the holidays, especially after the busy season at work.

Alyssa turns 12

Alyssa had a great birthday. She wanted a rice crispy cake for her cake this year. She even requested to decorate it herself.

She got to have a friend birthday party, but we limited the number she could invite to her closest school and neighborhood friends. She wanted to do a baking theme, so after researching a little and talking with her about some of the things she wanted to do at the party, we decided to do a mini version of Cupcake Wars. They started with decorating aprons so that they wouldn't dirty their clothes.

Then we split them into two teams and let them choose from 5 different cupcake recipes(vanilla, coconut, gingerbread, funfetti, and lemon). We gave them 15 minutes to get their cupcakes into the oven. One team chose coconut and the other chose funfetti. I thought both team's cupcakes turned out delicious. 

 While the cupcakes were baking, we took a break for some games and then presents.

When the cupcakes were ready, we gave the teams 15 minutes to design 3 different cupcakes representing things that describe Alyssa. The first one was an artist theme, the second an author theme, and the third a Christmas theme. They had 15 minutes to design their cupcakes and get them on a plate for the judges. They were provided with about 6 colors of frosting, a huge selection of sprinkles, and fondant. I thought they created some fun cupcakes.

The judges chose their favorite from each category and the team that got 2 out of 3 took home the prize. I think the girls had fun. Our only snag was running out of time at the end because we got started late due to traffic delaying a few of the girls. The cupcakes also took a lot longer to bake than expected. But Alyssa thought it was fun and that is what was important.
On her birthday, we went out to the Japanese Steakhouse again this year. She has chosen that for her birthday dinner probably 4 out of the last 5 years.