Sock Party

We had a blast at our Carroll Christmas Sock party this year!  We sent out invitations to everyone requesting that they wear Christmas socks to the party and bring a pasta dish to share.  This is our little family and the plethora of socks that we wore.  What a festive bunch!  It was so fun to see everyone participate and have a good time.

 We were so lucky to have Ashton and Brandon join us just in time from Utah!  They had awesome socks.

 Keegan, Ashley, and Dylan

 Colin and Darby

 ...Even Momma participated

 Monica and Bob

 Thomasyn, Brent and baby Reya

 Cousins...Kolby, Easton, Blaise and Audrey

 Sharla

 Dylan and Michael

 After we ate dinner we had the crew participate in some Christmas Minute to Win It games.  It was so fun and everyone was really good sports.  We have quite a competitive bunch in the Carroll family and it was good, clean fun.  Here is Audrey building a Christmas tree out of 36 cups using only one hand!  And, she did it without it tipping over!

 Easton did the same thing for his team except his tipped over as he was placing the last cup on top.  Ahhhhhhhh!

 Stephen and Brent are competing against each other.  They had to pick up M & M's with a straw and no hands and then place it in a cup.  The person with the most candy in the cup after a minute won that round for their team.

 Kolby and Blaise had to put round pasta on a stick of spaghetti that they held in their mouth.  They won the round by having the most pasta tubes on their spaghetti.

 Dylan and Brandon doing the same pasta game.

 Blaise and Easton had to throw mini marshmallows into their team members cup.  The team with the most marshmallows in their cup after a minute won that round.

Darby and Ashley catching those marshmallows!

We had a great time playing these games.  Even after the official games were over everyone kept trying to do them.  There were other games that I didn't photograph such as bouncing a ping pong ball into a cup, rolling a quarter into the tines of a fork, and placing a cookie on your forehead and trying to roll it into your mouth without touching it.  We had a great time and maybe we'll make this an annual sock thing!  I had a blast watching everyone else have fun.

Decorating the Tree

 The kids get ornaments every year from Grandma.  These are just a few photos of adding them to the tree.  Dad helped us put Dallin's ornament on this year.

Dallin received a cute little Gopher Golfer ornament this year and it's officially on the tree!

Reunited

We've been awaiting this day for a while.  The day when Easton would have his brother, Landon back in Georgia.  We picked up Landon last week just in time for the Christmas holidays.  His early 6:10 am arrival was super early for a Saturday morning but we were super excited to pick him up.  He did grow a few inches while at BYU Idaho since he left us in August.  We are looking forward to spending the next month and a half with him while he prepares to leave on his mission.

Nativity

I love decorating my Christmas home with nativities that I have collected over the years.  Seeing all the nativities around helps me remember the true meaning of Christmas.  This amazing, unique nativity arrived from Brazil this year thanks to Dallin.  I sent him on his mission with a request to find me an authentic looking nativity from Brazil that I could add to our collection.  I just fell in love with this when it arrived.  It's just perfect...another display depicting our Savior's birth and a nice remembrance of my son serving his mission in Brazil.

A Teenager!!!

 Happy Birthday to Easton!!!!  We officially have another teenager in the Carroll household with our newest 13 year old.  Not so sure how I feel about that.  Easton is quite excited to be a little bit older and to carry the title of teenager.  The kiddos always start their morning off with their favorite birthday cereal.  Easton loves Lucky Charms, so healthy!

Easton opens his presents

What a super cool dude!!!  New sunglasses to wear on those bright mornings when we are driving to school.

Easton picked Longhorn restaurant for his birthday dinner.  He ordered the Flo's filet...his favorite!

Free birthday Sundae at Longhorn, THANKS!

And Another Concert

Stephen and I participated in our Stake Choir Christmas program this year.  We have done this for many years and we still love it.  We start practicing in September, meeting every Thursday evening for two hours to learn our songs.  It's fun to share our love of music to the community.  This year I was asked to help with the decorating part of the concert.  I've done it in the past and it's a lot of work.  It really sets the tone for the program in helping the spirit of Christmas be felt.

 This is a picture with my partner in crime, Karen Galt(far right) who helped with the setup and Pamela Gates(center) who is the conductor of the choir.

 The sister missionaries and the Elders were a huge help while we were getting things in place.  I just love seeing them in action!  It makes me think of Dallin doing his thing in Brazil and Landon who will soon be doing his thing in North Carolina.  Missionaries are great!

Advent

Do you see anything wrong with these pictures?  I think we have a little lack of Christmas excitement going on around here.  It's December 17 and it would appear that somebody forgot to update the advent calendars.  I guess we have finally hit the time in our household where we are just a little too old for advent calendars and the Christmas countdowns.  Sad, but true.  I remember the days well when the little ones would wait patiently for their turn to pick something out of the calendar pocket.  With four children it had to be spread out to be fair.  Easton has all the calendars to himself this year, he doesn't even have to share.  He gets to pick out of the pocket everyday but it's just not happening.  Here's my theory....when you're too old and cool to keep up the Christmas countdown calendar then you're probably too old for Santa to come visit.  Grateful for the advent calendar memories over the years but I suppose I have one less thing to take out of the decoration box next Christmas.

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was the theme of our Relief Society Christmas social this year.  What a beautiful and inspiring evening we had with the sisters in our ward.  I'm grateful to have such an amazing group of ladies who work with me on the committee who helped make this evening so special and memorable.  As we planned around our theme we focused on the angels among us in our lives who make a difference, who act with the true Christmas spirit and give of themselves.  We prepared a dinner of "angel" hair pasta with either a red sauce(homemade by an awesome Italian guy in our ward who brewed his famous recipe all day long) or a creamy homemade alfredo sauce.  The ladies could choose from grilled chicken or meatballs. A fresh spinach salad with strawberries and poppy seed dressing and buttery breadsticks was a delicious addition to their plates. The ladies were each given a menu at the beginning of the evening where they were able to select their menu items and then one of our committee members plated their food in the kitchen and served it.  The meal was absolutely delicious and it was enjoyed by all.  After dinner we were treated to an amazing program where different ladies shared Christmas stories with examples of "angels" who helped and served others in need at Christmas time.  The experiences shared were uplifting and touching and the spirit of Christmas was definitely felt.  After each shared story we all joined in singing different Christmas hymns.  At the end of the program we were blessed to hear a "Silent Night" cello/flute duet shared and we were able to sing with them.  What a beautiful way to end the evening.  A strawberry angel food cake dessert topped with whipped cream was served at the end and the sisters seemed to linger a little longer than usual, enjoying each others company and the feelings of Christ like love and compassion that had been felt throughout the evening.

These are the angels in the process of being made for the centerpieces.

Nine short angels competed!

And nine tall angels finished!

These sweet, little angels were made for each sister who came as their little party favor!  They turned out so cute!

A small, angelic children's choir started our program by singing "Away in a Manger." So sweet!

The program and menu choice card