Christmas Day 2013

Christmas morning everyone got up around 7:30 a.m. The kids opened their stockings and then we had butterscotch pull a parts and hard boiled eggs for breakfast before opening presents. This was another big Lego year for us: the girls each got a Lego friends set, Zach got a superman set, and Jared got a star wars set, while Kristi got a Lego storage organizing unit. :) It was fun to have some special international gifts from Austria and Hungary from the Hawkins family. We spent a nice quiet day at at home, mostly in our pajamas, playing and watching movies. We did get dressed to go outside and try out the girls' new rollerblades.

And the Lego building begins!

Figuring out the Rainbow Loom

Butterscotch pull aparts and hardboiled eggs for breakfast

What can it be? Probably a superhero!

Trying on the rollerblades

The living room has been taken over by Legos!

Christmas Eve 2013

We spent a lovely Christmas Eve at home with just our family. We rode bikes, wrapped presents, watched White Christmas, and ate good food by candlelight (our traditional Chinese food menu).

Lily as a reindeer.

Anwyn colored and assembled a nice Nativity backdrop and Lily colored the figures so we could tell the story of the birth of Christ.

We decided to let the kids open up the gifts that they had prepared for each other in the evening, to prevent them from getting lost in the shuffle the next day. Jared wrote a very nice post about that exchange on his blog here.

Lily got Zach a new Lightning McQueen car, and Lily and Zach went in together to get Anwyn a Ramona book. Zach got Lily a pack of chewing gum. Anwyn spent some time sewing stuffed animals for Lily and Zach. She found out their favorite animal, then found the patterns online and got to work. They turned out cute: a turtle for Zach and a dolphin for Lily.

After sprinkling some sparkly oats in the grass for the reindeer, and leaving a plate of cookies and a letter for Santa, the children were off to bed!

The December Holiday Season

December is a wonderful time of year. So many of our family traditions center on this time of year.

We worked on putting out our Christmas decorations the week of Thanksgiving. The kids had the entire week off of school, so we had plenty of time. We started assembling our artificial tree (we claimed it last year in NC at a RS swap exchange), but quickly had the mishap of a broken stand. It took us a few days to find a good deal on a replacement stand, but the tree was up in all it's glory during the first week of December. This year I put on the lights and ribbon, and the kids handled all of the ornaments.

December 13th was our annual Polar Express Pajama Party. This year we invited the Beck and Olsen families to join in the fun. We began the evening with some sidewalk chalk (it was a warm day), then moved inside to make bell necklaces and decorate train tickets. We watched the movie, ate homemade pizza, then finished off the night with hot chocolate. 

For Family Home Evening on December 16th we decorated our mini Christmas trees--ice cream cones covered in green frosting and ornamented with red and green M&Ms and marshmallows and coconut for snow. (I set my limits at candy trees, gingerbread houses are out of my comfort zone.)

December 21st we held the winter piano recital. I have a cute group of 4 girls for piano students this year. Each student prepared well and did a great job this year. 

 Anwyn worked on some difficult arrangements and performed her songs well: Canon in D, Angels We Have Heard on High, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

That evening we went to see the holiday lights at the duck pond at the hospital. The weather was perfect this year.

A new activity for us this year was going caroling. As part of a ward activity we were given three homes to sing to and deliver cookies. The kids thought it was great fun and begged to do more. We sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" because Zach and Lily can sing the "gloria" parts really well.

Other activities this month included attending our Stake Festival of the Nativity. The cultural hall at the church was decorated with many beautiful nativity sets (on loan from stake members). There were children's activities and refreshments. As part of Jared's high council calling over the stake music, he put together a music program for 7 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday (which meant he was at the festival for all of those hours). I helped by putting together a Primary Chorus--we only had 10 singers, but we sang Primary Christmas songs and it turned out fine. The music on Sunday evening was especially nice. All together this was such a great event. 

We attended a party for the member's of Jared's lab at UF. We had dinner at the Blue Gill restaurant. Dr. Price has a daughter in between the ages of our girls, and the children do a gift exchange, which makes it a fun event for the whole family.

We made some gifts for family and friends (our favorite peppermint pretzel kisses) as well as decorated gingerbread cookies. 

And we fit in time to watch our favorite holiday movies, in addition to the Polar Express: Mr. Krueggar's Christmas, Elf, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, and some Christmas broadcasts from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

We also enjoyed watching the First Presidency Christmas devotional for FHE on December 9th. This quote from President Monson really struck me:

"May we give as the Savior gave. To give of oneself is a holy gift. We give as a remembrance of all the Savior has given. May we also give gifts that have eternal value, along with our gifts that eventually break or are forgotten. How much better the world would be if we all gave gifts of understanding and compassion, of service and friendship, of kindness and gentleness.

"As the Christmas season envelops us with all its glory, may we, as did the Wise Men, seek a bright, particular star to guide us in our celebration of the Savior’s birth. May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with us a tender, caring heart as our gift to the Savior" (source).

Christmas Greetings 2013

 Dear family and friends,

We are a family who loves to read! Jared listens to audio books during his 25 minute commute to work, Kristi reads books while the kids play at our favorite playgrounds, and Anwyn wakes up at 5 a.m. and reads in her bed (or climbs the tree in our front yard and reads among the leafy branches). Lily and Zach can often be found snuggled up on the couch with mom reading aloud (most often picture books and Magic Tree House). Jared and Kristi take turns reading to Anwyn or Zach and Lily before bedtime. This year Jared and Anwyn worked through the first four Harry Potter books as well as the Chronicles of Narnia, while Kristi and Anwyn enjoyed the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Here are some of our favorite books and authors of 2013, along with a few other updates.

Zach (turns 4 in April): loves any books about superheroes! He enjoys the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems, and AlphaOops is a favorite picture book. He is a sweet, good-hearted boy who likes to play trains and cars and dress up in superhero costumes.

Lily (turned 6 in October): she is a big fan of the Magic Tree House series and we just finished book #30! She started Kindergarten this year and is working on learning to read herself. Lily loves to be outdoors and is a “creature lover”; she can often be found catching lizards and frogs and assorted bugs. She lost two teeth and is wiggling her third!

Anwyn (turns 9 in December): anything by Beverly Cleary, Hoofbeats and Horse Diaries and All of a Kind Family series, and Tuesdays at the Castle. She finished the last three Harry Potter books on her own by July. She is in third grade and is progressing very well as a piano player. She was baptized in January and enjoys attending Activity Girls.

Kristi: discovered the princess and dragon books by Jessica Day George, Matched series, and Gregor the Overlander series. Wonder is a book that everyone should read. Squeezed in time for 65 books this year! Kristi enjoys life and stays busy as a wife and mother and all that that involves. She teaches piano lessons and the Sunbeam class at church on the side.

Jared: tried to have a mix of biographies, histories, and fiction. He enjoyed reading about David O. McKay, Stonewall Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and Steve Jobs. He’s been particularly enjoying books by Brandon Sanderson. The big news for Jared is that he finally received his Ph.D. after finishing his internship at Duke! He now works as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Florida in the same lab he was during graduate school. He is kept busy with his church calling on the stake high council.

As a family we also enjoy riding bikes, watching movies and listening to good music (we especially love The Piano Guys, Lindsey Stirling, and Caspar Babypants). The big change for the year was a move from North Carolina back to Florida in July. We are grateful for the wonderful family and friends we have, and the sweet memories we share.

Love,

The Tanner Family

Pumpkins and Halloween

 One of our favorite October traditions is visiting the local pumpkin patches. 

Enjoying the hayride.

Racing through the hay maze

With our pumpkin selected, it was time for the carving. The kids spent a fun afternoon scooping out the pumpkin guts, and Jared is always selected as the master carver. This year the theme was "The Headless Horseman".

I decided to try making caramel apples. I've never done it before, but this recipe seemed doable. Unfortunately, my caramel didn't stick to well to the apple, but it still tasted good. 

This year for Halloween we had a witch, little red riding hood, and a spiderman or wolverine (depending on the day). We definitely got an overload of candy between the ward trunk-or-treat, Boo at the Zoo, and trick or treating in our neighborhood.

The girls weren't allowed to wear their costumes to school, so we opted for some spooky spider hair. 

And of course, Halloween wouldn't be complete without a few spooky items on our dinner menu!

Mummy dogs.

Brain jello--although Jared would happily eat this anytime of year.

Witch fingers.