Merry CHRISTmas!!

Christmas was soo much fun this year.  I love the peace, joy and comfort that it brings into our home! The kids merely enjoyed all the gifts they got and the email that "Santa" sent them from the north pole.  It was a email that told them if they have been "naughty or nice" for the year and what they need to work extra hard on for the coming year. 

So in the Medrano household the poor kids have to wait until daddy gets home from work to open presents but they do get to open what's in their stockings. This year, they had to wait until after church, which started at 1:00.  They didn't do too shabby though, I think it's cause they're so used to waiting on daddy.  Anyhow, I hope that your Christmas was just as special as ours!!    

Christmas Eve "Ayling Style"

For Christmas Eve we always spend it with the "Ayling" side of the family! This year my clever sister Tammy came up with a "Minute to Win it" game that can keep us all occupied.  So each family who were there this year came up with their own competition like how many marshmallows you can fling through a wreath in a minute, or how high can you stack the cards in a minute, or how many big marshmallows can you stack on top of eachother in a minute, or get the cookie down to your mouth from your forehead with only using your facial muscles in a minute, or my favorite which was how long it takes to pass the orange with only using your chin and neck.  You get the gist right?! Of course, I forgot the most important thing to our gathering, my camera:-( So just imagine the loads of fun we had! Actually, my sis Tam went ahead and sent me some pics that she got! She didn't get a lot, but like I said before just imagine!

I know these next two pics just looks like nothing, but it's actually us passing the orange to eachother lol.

For some reason I could not get the date out of the pics or I couldn't edit the red eye.  Oh well:-/

All that matters is we had a good time!

Christmas Caroling

Every Christmas season us Ayling sisters get together with our families and bake a bunch of goodies to take to families that we go caroling to.  We're missing 3 sisters this year but do know that we love and miss them! They're there in spirit:-) 

We had a blast creating memories for our kids!



Christmas Happenings

A few of the things we've done for celebrating Christmas so far!

Made these cute snowman cupcakes for Arieanna's school Christmas party,

went to visit with Santa at our ward Christmas party

and bought these adorable Santa diapers for Sam!!

More to come....



Creating Memories

Samuel wasn't feeling so hot today, so we all stayed home and did our own little Sunday School lesson.  Manuel came up with something on the spur of the moment and we merely enjoyed ourselves spending quality family time together!

It's soo funny, cause when Sam doesn't feel the hottest or even when he gets hurt, he still smiles!

I love spending time with my family!



A Journey to Bethlehem

My sis-in-law invited us to go with her to...

When we got there, we had to get a number and wait until our turn.  It was nice to listen to the entertainment they had while we waited. 

When it was finally our turn, they had us meet in a room where they intoduced us to Josiah and Rebekah who were our tour guides.  They took us back over 2,000 years ago when Christ was born.  It was amazing to actually go through and be part of such a wonderful event!

Here's a few little clips that Manuel got.

Thanks Yanet for inviting us, it was a great way to start off the true meaning of Christmas this year!

Bringing in the Christmas Spirit

After having a fun filled Thanksgiving spending it with our family and friends, us Medrano's came home and got the big ol' tree out!  It's tradition!

This year, I wanted to do something a little different for the kids.  Since every year they come home with new ornaments from school or just inherit them from G'ma Ayling, I got them their own tree to decorate!

Here's the finished product downstairs with all their Christmas bears from G'ma Ayling.

And, here's how I spruced up the mailbox.

Just a little wrapping paper and a homemade bow! Oh and don't forget the hot glue to hang the little sled sign.

As for the front door, I took an old wreath I had laying around and fixed it up to the best of my ability. It went from looking like this....

...to this!

Can you tell I love snowmen!? Well you will now when you see the rest of the decor...

These little guys actually sing and dance! We got this from my momma too.

This is where our stockings will hang as soon I get more hooks.  I'm also thinking of making some new ones this year if I get around to it.  If not the old one's will have to do. ( Notice more snowmen?)

And now to the lights outside.  These are the best pics I can get of it.  I sooo want to fix it up a little more, just little details here and there but only if I can get around to it too.

I just realized that I need to fix the candy cane lights lol and the angel with the star on top the roof. Oh well, you get to see 'em like this!