Mother/Daughter Date

 Claire had a Birthday party to go to, so I got to have a fun date with Camille. We went to Kneader's and ordered some of their peppermint desserts. This is Camille's excited face at trying them:

Band Concert

 Camille has been loving band! She once told me, "How come I love band so much?" She's so cute!

She is playing the saxophone just like Ben. It's fun to see her in this beginning state!

Quilt for Camille

 Child #1: Can you please take me to Target so I can finish Christmas shopping?

Me: Ask your dad. I'm so busy now and completely exhausted. I have no time!

Child #2: Mom, I need more deodorant.

Me: What do you think I am- made of money? There will be some in your stocking.

Child #3: I want a Christmas quilt!

Me: Of course I'll spend a hundred dollars in materials and 20-plus hours during the busiest month of the year to make you a special Christmas quilt, my little princess. Anything for you, sweetheart!

Backstory:

After Audra made her beautiful purple and blue quilt for fair, I decided I wanted to use the same pattern for a Christmas quilt. Our 4H helper, Eileen, was incredibly kind and gave me several yards of Christmas fabric to use. I did put together a Christmas quilt for Ben and me, but I had to admit: It didn't look very Christmas-y. While I am grateful for the kindness and generosity of Eileen, I simply didn't like the colors. To me, it doesn't look like a Christmas quilt, it looks like a winter quilt.

So I was wanting to do a quilt with all the colors I got to choose- pure red, green, and white- the perfect Christmas colors. So, when Camille asked for one, I didn't even blink an eye- I was in.

And, I LOVE it. It's exactly what I wanted to make.

Camille was so sweet when she saw it. She gave me the biggest hug and said, "thank you so much, mom. I love it!"

But, yes, she is absolutely spoiled!

Crawford Service

 I love getting my kids involved in community service. I love service, but when I can get the kids involved- it's even better. Audra couldn't go as she was in school, but this was a big homeschool win.

This year we helped with a holiday shop. This was for the students at a very low income school who could come and "shop" for donated gifts that were collected to give to their grown-ups in their house.

We got to go help set up the shop and then help the kids shop and wrap the gifts for them.

Claire and Camille were awesome helpers! They helped bundle gifts to make them more full and pretty for the kids. They had a lot of fun and want to do it again next year.

They wrapped all of these mugs with cookie mixes:

Here's what the ladies side of the gifts looked like:

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Parade of Lights

 Audra marched in the Parade of Lights, which gave us a great excuse to go downtown to see it! I have been wanting to take the girls to go see it for a couple of years as it is a big tradition here, but we haven't had the opportunity- we were so glad it worked out this time.

We took the light rail down, which was perfect.

The weather was very warm, we almost didn't need our coats, so that was also nice.

We met our good friends, the Callisters, downtown which was a lot of fun.

You can't tell, but she is the third person in the row closest to us. We were lucky that we were on the correct side, but unlucky that they didn't perform their song by us.

Half of Audra's face made it on TV, but she really did march well.

She LOVED marching in the parade! She had so much fun with the lights and everything. Marching band has been such a blessing for her, and we are do proud. It was so great to see her marching down the streets of downtown Denver!

Ward Christmas Party

 It's a long story, but Ben and I got roped into planning the ward Christmas party. There were only 6 of us planning. It was A TON of work, but I think it turned out great.

The theme was "Joy to the World" and we had families volunteer to decorate a table with either a place they have lived, or sharing their family traditions.

We plenty of food (way too much leftover) and our main goal was accomplished: getting the ward members to mingle after 18 months of not seeing each other.

Ben and I came home EXHAUSTED! We put countless hours into making the party happen. It was awesome, and now we want a break. We are so glad it is over! We will not be planning next year's party!

Our international Santas- Father Frost (Dez Moroz from Russia) and Australia Santa:

Here is our board. In doing research, my mom sent me the story of how the Olaveson's came to the US. I discovered that I am actually from Norway- NOT Denmark! I have always thought we were from Denmark. I remember my Grandma High talking about it. But, I must remember wrong, because everyone else in my family seems to know we are from Norway. Well, we had already made the poster before I found out the deep family secret, so we still presented Denmark:

This was one of my favorites: Christmas breads from around the world. We got to guess where the bread was from, and then lift the picture and it told us the details.

Christmas Carol

 We were very sad that Audra had school and couldn't go with us, but Ben took the day off work and we went downtown with Claire and Camille to see The Christmas Carol. We went a few years ago, and it was great to be back.