Brothers Night

The tradition continues for another year.  I love that the boys feel like Brothers Night is as much a part of Christmas as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  They are all necessary parts of celebrating Christmas.  This year was so busy we barely squeezed it in.  The big decision of where to eat for dinner resulted in a heavy debate until we unanimously agreed on Din Tai Fung.  The wait was 2 hours.  "No big deal," we thought.  The brothers can do their shopping and then the table will be ready.  Oh, how wrong we were!  

The boys shopped.  And checked out lots of stores.  And made their purchases.  And Randy got all his Christmas shopping done (December 23rd for the win).  We went back to the restaurant and waited another 45 minutes.  The boys were starving!  I was panicking thinking about how many dumplings they'd eat because they eat a ton even when they aren't starving.  Just when we were ready to forget it and walk down the street to Shake Shack, we got our table.  Nothing beats eating dinner at 9:30pm! There wasn't much talking, just a whole lot of eating in a record amount of time.  It was a late night for all of us.

Inflation finally demanded we change the rules for Brothers Night.  The boys had a $40 spending limit for their gifts this year because you can't buy much for $20 and you definitely can't find it at the mall!  Also, I think next year I'll just tell everyone to buy a hoodie.  That's pretty much what they all bought anyway :)

Straight to the Nike Store obviously

So much waiting...Waiting for Randy to shop.  Waiting for our table.  Waiting in lines.

They always seat us at the same table

Henry loves dumplings but not chopsticks!

Brother hugs on Christmas Eve after opening their brothers gift is always so fun!  They really are so thankful, even if they don't always like the present.  It's always nice to know my boys love each other, even when they don't think they do.

Christmas

It's a good thing we've had the most boring month ever so I can still blog about December.  I'll be brief.  My kids loved Christmas despite all my talk about setting the bar low, no one needs anything, let's save our money, etc.  I must have really made it sound like they weren't getting anything because they were all surprised and said it was a great Christmas.  Yay for them.  

Christmas Eve was full of traditions--delicious dinner with English crackers, caroling, talent show, nativity, and talking about the Savior.  We had fun and then the kids went to bed while Randy and I wrapped all the presents that weren't from Santa.  Normally the wrapping and attention to detail is Pinterest-worthy but I finally got smart and realized my kids don't notice any of that stuff.  In fact, next year I might even put all their gifts in trash bags.  They'll probably love it.

Henry displayed his many Mario coloring pages.  He LOVES coloring and we are all just thrilled he doesn't ask us to choose which color to do next because that was a terrible phase.

Parker made quite the entrance through the front door as Eminem was blaring through the speakers while he performed all sorts of cool yo-yo tricks.

Landon tried to guess where each French fry came from.  He only messed up on two.  Only Randy would be willing to drive around to every fast food joint near and far so his son could eat their fries for a family talent show.

Ethan juggled again.  He's actually really good!

Randy sang again.  It was awkward again.

I predicted the future by doing a cool math trick that no one cared about but me.  Story.of.my.life.

New matching pajamas.  Again!  White Santa, black Santa, and brown Santa for the win :)

Brothers Gift Exchange is always the best

We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, at the most delicious chocolate cake ever, and called it a night.  

Christmas morning

The only picture I took on Christmas Day because Marcus called me right after this.

Christmas morning started at 8am.  It felt glorious!  Marcus called us shortly after we started opening presents so it felt like we were all together.  Randy bought me a fancy carry-on suitcase.  He loves it.  I bought him a bidet.  I love it.  The boys got more hoodies, Nikes, video games, and some random things they didn't ask for that I thought they'd like and for the most part, they do.  By 5pm I was ready to take down the Christmas tree and declutter my house.  So instead I took my Grinchy self for a long, solitary walk while I caught up on Marco Polo with my sisters.  It felt like the right thing to do, and it was!

Brothers Night and other December Happenings

The 7th Annual Brothers Night was a success!  I love this tradition and I think my boys love it even more.  It gets talked about all year long.  In fact, before we found out Henry was a boy and I was optimistically thinking he was a girl, the boys had long discussions about how to do Brothers Night with a sister.  It was that important to them.

The boys drew names and then we were off to dinner at Red Robin where the boys ate so many fries that by the time their meals arrived they weren't hungry anymore.  Except for Marcus.  He was having one of his bottomless pit moments and was able to eat all of his and some of everyone else's. 

 Henry's first taste of real food.  He sucked on that fry long and hard.  Then Randy saw what was happening and put a stop to that!

After dinner we drove over to Target where each boy grabbed a shopping basket and spread out like they were on a secret mission.  Landon filled his basket with Legos so even though everyone saw what he had, no one knew which box was the one he was buying.  Ethan found exactly what he wanted and ran through the store to purchase it and get it in a bag before his brother could see it. 

 twinners!

Sunday night we went to the Festival of the Nativities where hundreds of nativities are on display.  There is live music, lots of artwork on display, and each kid gets a clipboard with a list of things to find.  It's an amazing experience to witness.  We also went to the Discovery Center to learn a little bit about our family history.  I think the workers were relieved to see us go.

 

 I hosted a little Cub Scout Christmas party where we played a few games and then decorated gingerbread {graham cracker} houses.  Half way through the decorating I realized this is the only time my boys will get to do this {because I'm not doing it again this busy Christmas season} so I took a picture of them to document that they got to do a fun Christmas thing, even if it was part of a Cub Scout activity.

 And no post would be complete without a pic of Henry.  He is still the cutest and is looking more like Marcus every day.  I bought him these little pj's to match the Christmas pajamas Randy bought all of us last year so we wouldn't have to buy more this year.  I thought I was being so thrifty!  Then Randy went ahead and bought everyone new pajamas anyway.  Oh well, at least I tried.

Brothers Night

We had another successful Brothers Night for the books.  Luckily this was the night before I ruined my back so I was able to enjoy it.  As soon as Thanksgiving was over the boys started asking when we'd have Brothers Night.  I love that this is a tradition they love and anticipate.  We went to Red Robin for dinner and started things off with our favorite appetizer:  The Tower of Onion Rings. 

The Tower was devoured so fast I nearly missed a picture of it

After dinner we drove to a nearby LDS church to see the Festival of the Nativity.  The entire building is decorated for Christmas.  Rooms are filled with collections of artwork and hundreds of nativity sets are on display.  In the chapel there are musical groups performing Christmas music and while we were there it was a group of flute players.  There is so much to see and experience and is such a good way to celebrate the Savior's birth. One room was all set up with a backdrop and costumes so we could get a picture of our family dressed in nativity costumes.  The boys loved it.  Except for Parker.  He cried and cried and wouldn't come into the room until I let him stay in his own clothes and held his hand.

How cute are we?

Wise Man

Wise Man with a horn

A super excited shepherd boy

The boys in the room full of artwork about the Savior.  They had clipboards with a list of things to find throughout the building which kept them occupied and interested

After the spiritual part of our night we were off to Target so the boys could pick out their presents for each other.  It always takes awhile because there are a lot of decisions to be made and of course lots of interruptions as the boys get distracted by the stuff they want for themselves.  Good times were had by all!

Parker was determined to buy his brother a pink teddy bear.  He lost that battle.

"What?  You mean I can't just play with toys I want for myself?"

Brothers are the best!

Brothers Night: A Christmas Tradition

If you asked my boys, they'd tell you Brothers Night is their most favorite Christmas tradition.  They've been talking about it non-stop in the days leading up to it with much anticipation and openly telling each other what gift they would like.  You can read the details about brothers night here. 

This year the restaurant of choice was I-Sushi, a sushi restaurant with a sushi-go-round.  It's been a long time since we've eaten at one of these places and Randy and I were probably more excited about this than the kids.  I'm glad all the boys love California rolls and even tried a few unknown items as well. 
After dinner we set off for Target.  Each boy knew exactly what to do.  They quickly grabbed their own basket and made a beeline for the toy section, quickly grabbing random items to throw in their basket to confuse other brothers as to what the actual gift might be.  Ethan took a long time trying to decide on the perfect gift for Landon while Parker pretty much played with toys the entire time.  It was a fun night and gets everyone excited for Christmas Eve when the boys get to open their gift from their brother.

So much sushi.  And cheesecake.  Apparently for our family they go together.

Bean was on a mission to get the best present possible for Landon.  I think he examined every toy on the shelf

Parker was more interested in playing with toys than shopping

In the meantime, I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything ready for Christmas before driving down to Utah for a few days, and getting back just in time for Christmas Eve.  You might wonder what would possess me to do such a thing but for the last three years my Dad has a tradition we refer to as The Christmas Bus.  Everyone gathers at his house, eats pizza, then waits for a school bus to pull up to the house.  The bus takes the family into the city, first to a homeless shelter where we drop off treats, gloves, and hats, and then on to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.  On the bus ride home they drink hot chocolate while listening to the Polar Express.  My boys have been anxiously waiting to live close enough to Utah to attend this grand event and are over the moon excited to be a part of this tradition for the first time.  Utah has a couple feet of snow so the trip will be a blast, assuming we make it there in one piece.  I've got to practice putting chains on my tires before we head out and then I'll be ready for anything.  I love a good adventure every once in awhile.