Peppermint

My sister gave us an Elf on the Shelf as an early Christmas present.  We named her Peppermint and we have had so much fun with her.  An elf on the shelf is a helper elf that helps Santa to know if the kids in the house have been naughty or nice.  The elf travels back to the North Pole each night while the kids are sleeping to report on their behavior.  The kids can also whisper what they want in her ear.  Each morning when she returns, we have to find her in a new spot.  She is quite mischievious and likes to hide and to play.  Some days we were looking for her forever. 

hanging from the curtain rod, playing with the wind chimes

in the laundry

in the fridgem drinking a yogurt

playing uno with friends

good hand

playing with the nativity

holding baby Jesus

making a mess with the toliet paper

hiding in our Christmas wreath.  This place took forever.

playing in the girls' kitchen

she pulled the advent calendar out and was catching us up.

In Jonas' carseat.

on the computer.  She was looking at the website of how many days until Christmas!

playing the piano

drinking pop

playing in the stroller

Eating a cookie in the cookie jar.

Here are a few of her hiding spots.  Each morning the girls would come in my room anxious to find Peppermint.  They would talk about her hiding place all day and tell their friends, and each day when they were naughty, we would remind them Peppermint was watching and would report back to Santa.  I think it was more effective then just telling them Santa was watching without them being able to see Santa.  We love our elf on the shelf and can't wait until next year!

Mullins Family Christmas Party

This year Steve's family got together at Golden Corral, in one of the side rooms, and had lots of food, fun, family, and presents.  Steve's parents were there, his Uncle Tom and Aunt Sally, his half-brother Sean, Sean's new wife Renee and Dylan (Sean's son), and Steve's sister Annie and her 3 kids Castor, Jaylee, and Terry.  I think that is the biggest crowd Steve's family has ever produced, his family is quite small.

All the Mullins' grandkids.

Our small family.  We are cute!

Uncle Tom and Aunt Sally

Sean and Renee

We love grandma!

Jonas is always so happy.

We are so grateful for family and I love spending time with them.

Christmas Prep

 

Our ward party with all three kids asking Santa for toys.

Kiana and Maile looking at the nativity.  This one is so pretty!

Here are some pictures of the pre-Christmas things.  Steve humors the girls and puts up lights on the house.  I think his display gets better every year.  We also had fun putting up the tree and getting it perfect and then the next day we bought some new furniture.  With our space so limited, the tree ended up by the window in the dinning room.  We only got to see Santa at our ward Christmas party this year, but we were happy with that, and then we also made our annual Chirstmas visit to temple square to see the lights.  A lot of different events all packed into one!

Maile wanted pictures by every light cluster she saw!

Kiana touching the door of the temple.  One day she will go inside.

The Christmas story told from the scriptures.





Maile touching the temple. One day she can go inside too!



Christmas card 2011

Our annual Christmas card:

  As the holiday's draw near, we reflect on the past year and all our blessings.  Our greatest blessing this year is our new addition, Jonas Christopher.  He was born May 17, 2011 and has brought us so much joy.  The girls adore him and Steve has another man around the house.  Jonas is such a happy guy!
  Kiana started kindergarten and she is doing awesome and enjoys reading.  Maile started preschool and she loves her teacher, playing with the other kids, and doing crafts.  I thought with them gone, Jonas and I would have a lot of time to ourselves, but with helping in school, doctor appointments, church callings, and being a "soccer mom," I am never home.  Steve still works nights and it is hard for us all to have time together.
  The girls just finished their ballet production of The Nutcracker and now dance everywhere they go.  Maile performed as a mouse and a snowflake, Kiana as a snowflake and a Mother Ginger dancer (from under the skirt)!!  Kiana also improved in soccer and their team dominated the competition.     
   We are enjoying this Christmas season where we can celebrate our Savior's birth and know all our blessings come through Him.  We are healthy and happy and we hope this finds you well. 
                                                             Love The Mullins Family
                                                                Steven, Kimberly
                                                    Kiana (6), Maile (3), Jonas (7 mo.)

The Nutctacker

Kiana and Maile started seperate ballet classes in the fall.  They have been loving them and Miss Melissa at Swan Studios.  They tend to dance everywhere they go now and Maile thinks she always needs a tutu on! 
They have been practicing hard and were in 3 different performances at the beginning of the month.  They first danced at the Senior Citizens Center for a practice run, then for families at the Junior High School and later at a work party for Walmart (who spoiled them with a fun gift bag.)  Anyone that wants to sit through the whole performance, we of course recorded it!  I think they have learned a lot and had a lot of fun.  Now the question is what extracuricular activities Kiana wants to cut out, she is one busy girl.



So precious!

The girls wanted make-up on like everyone else, all we had was glitter chapstick.
We threw some on their lips and eyes and called it good. Don't they
look shiney?!?

She was beaming!

I wasn't able to get a lot of them during the performance since I was recording for them to watch later, but we got a lot before and after.  Maile was a mouse and got to dance with the Mouse King and the Nutcracker.  Both girls were snowflakes and they danced with the snowflake fairy.  Kiana then danced with the Sugar Plum Fairy (I think) where she came out from under her skirt.  It was so fun watching them, my princesses looked so pretty.
At the end, we had some flowers for them, to congratulate them, but they were no where in sight.  I think they were a little confused what to do.  They were changing out of their clothes (so I didn't get a picture of them in their other outfits) and just walking around looking lost.  When I found Kiana, she was so sad and about to cry wondering why she didn't get flowers like all the other girls.  I didn't want to ruin the surprise so I just told her to go find her Daddy.  Wow, what a smile!  She was so happy to get them.  My girls are sweethearts! They looked so pretty up there. Kiana and Maile, we love you!  You did awesome and we are so proud of you!!  Thanks to all our family that came to support them.