The Annual MacKay Family Gingerbread House Contest -2016

Rules for this year:

Theme: Superheroes

All houses are constructed before the contest

Obviously, food items are required, but anything goes as far as extra elements

The kids paired with an adult to build and the adult creations were judged but Jason's cousin Ashley and her boyfriend--(Dawn told them not to include her in the judging, otherwise I'm sure they would've won!)

From top left going clockwise:  Spiderman(Dawn & Sid), Batman's cave,Gotham, & Police Station(Jason & Me), The Avengers' Air Ship(Shannon & Kevin), Iron Man(Davis & Becca). 

Funny story about Shannon and Kevin's creation-- A few days before the contest, Shannon and Kevin had everything ready to go.  They had put long and late hours into this thing.  As you can see, it has a lot of detail work.  But then, little Lincoln came along and in spite of Shannon's ninja reflexes, he launched a little basketball and... complete destruction!  Lucky for them the date for the Gingerbread House Contest was delayed a week.  I remember Kev talking about it in church-- his description was priceless!

Lots of building.... and LOTS of snitching!

I have to say, I was dang proud of our creation!  It was a lot of candy and a lot of work, but it turned out way fun-- check out the stalactite cave, snowy broccoli trees, secret river entrance, etc!  

And... WE WON!  Woohoo!!

Merry Christmas

I wish I had better photos of Christmas day, but it's always such a wonderful chaos.  We did our stockings before church, then came back and did presents.  I kindof love a Sunday Christmas-- I got to sing "Jesu Bambino" for the ward and we all gave special remembrance to our Savior.  It was a wonderful feeling.

One of the sweetest memories was little Suzy.  Since Jason and I had kinda spoiled ourselves over the last few months with a new flat screen tv and some dearly needed new couches, we decided to only give each other stockings this year.  As everyone was opening presents, little 2-yr-old Suzy noticed that Daddy wasn't opening any gifts!  She was so precious.  She asked him about it and tried to give him one of hers.  It was a sweet moment.

Sunday Christmas.  They're growing tooo fast!

I really wanted to focus on memories, not just gifts, this year.  So, Santa gave each of the kids a special "date with  mom" this year.  The week or so after Christmas I went out with each child and we did something fun-- just the two of us.

Brook and I went to Color Me Mine.  She picked out this doggy bank, and all of the colors.  We painted it very carefully and enjoyed every minute-- I think it must've taken us a couple of hours, but we didn't notice.  Love this little girl's face.

Ethan and I went to Kid to Kid, where he got to pick out any 2 toys he wanted!  He immediately zoned in on this little tiger with the "goo-goo eyes."  And of course, what kid wouldn't want a dinosaur!   He picked out his tiger so quickly, I kept asking him if he was sure about his choices as we walked around the store.  He was, and still is, SURE.  Kitty-Junior, or Kitty Joon-Joon, is a special favorite with Ethan now.

Braden and I went to Lazer Quest!  Thinking back, he probably would've enjoyed a similar trip to Kid-to-Kid more.  The first game, Bray was pretty nervous and there were a lot of older kids who just didn't make it very fun.  Bray wasn't too into it, so we played some rounds of air-hockey before we did our second game--Groupon gave us two games and no other options.  The second game had a lot more small kids, and Braden finally got into it.  It was fun when he began to take the lead and we worked together.  Love this kid.

For Jake's date-night, we went to see "Fantastic Beasts"-- the Harry Potter off-shoot.   Of course, he had read the book!  It was so fun, listening to him tell me about all of the creatures that popped up on screen--kid after my own heart, talking during movies!  Ha!  Giant pizza in the food court, is a must:)

MacKay-grams December

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree..." I added some photo ornaments!  I can't get over this picture of 2-yr-old Ethan sitting on Santa's lap.  He is NOT so sure about this situation!

Our cute neighbors gave us these boots and little sister LOVES them!

Playing outside-- this is our neighbors toy car!  They are sweet to share with us!

I love how much Link and Suzy love eachother when we go to ballet with Bella and Brookie.  They race, climb, giggle, and --- hold hands!

"All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!"  This is soooo going on the tree next year!

We took family photos when Jesse and Whitney were here for Thanksgiving-- look at these cuties!!

Obsessed with her new "phone" aka packaging.

Love this cute little Mini-Mouse!

Cheese- E!

For the ward Christmas party, they had an ugly sweater design contest for the kids, and Ethan won for the Junior Primary!

Someday their pounding will turn into duets... right?

Have a Holly Jolley Christmas!

Crochet gifts for the 3 amigo babies-- Avery, Lincoln, and Teancum... I had to do one for Ryker too so he and Avery would match!

Superhero swings!  Love it when these twins play together!

Lunch with cousins = happy kids.

A mother of one of my voice students, Melody Preth, made these for the girls for Christmas!  I couldn't believe it.  I love the expression on Suzy's face too-- she loves being like her big sis!

This is Lilly.  She is VERY special to Brooklynn and is her constant companion these days!

Sometimes the kids build something wonderful and we just have to take a picture before we put it away.

More cute boots from our neighbors-- cannot get over the cuteness--fuzzy bunny boots, fuzzy vest, and hello-kitty shirt!  AAaa!

Working with the Young Women is so cool.  Sarah McClellan is the president and she had the great idea to just do a night of secret service-- something small that doesn't have to cost money.  Hillary Davis--my Mia Maid adviser had this idea to put positive messages on sticky notes and stick them in random places.  It was so simple, but so uplifting.

So, my friend Trisha Luong's husband is Vietnamese, and during a playdate at her house, I discovered that she makes her own Pho!!!  So OF COURSE I asked her for her recipe!  (the kids ate Ramen-ha!)

Brookie likes to do her own hair.

At the park in December.  Ahhhhh.... I love Vegas.

It started with this funny face.

Then we all started laughing and I got shots of these funny faces.

Daddy was working late, and we couldn't leave him out.  So, we texted back and forth and got all of these crazy faces!  HAHA!  I love us!

The 12 Days of Christmas - WOW!

We had the most AMAZING 12 Days of Christmas givers! 

 Each gift was so thoughtful and HOLY COW GENEROUS!  

This warm, homemade bread came with new towels, a set of measuring spoons, spatulas, and a bowl.  Other gifts included a beautiful basket full of new Christmas books, a craft box filled with craft activities, $50 gift certificates to Outback Steakhouse, and tickets to the Las Vegas Festival of Lights Show-- seen below.  I am still just flabbergasted that someone would do this for us!

Holly Jolley Christmas