Today my sweet grandpa Gene went home to be with Jesus and to be reunited with my grandma.  This picture was taken of them on their 65th wedding anniversary (the same day as Kate and Ryan's second birthday) and was the last anniversary they would spend together here on earth.  

Its always hard to say goodbye to someone you love but we are so blessed to know we will see both of them again.  The holy spirit is our great comforter and what joy and peace it brings my heart to know these two are reunited today in heaven.  They lived a life of love and service to one another and I know my grandpa missed her so much since she'd been gone.  Their marriage was such an inspiration to me (and so many others) and their legacy will live on in each of us (and there are quite a few in our family).  

Thank you for all you've given us over the years, you precious two.  I'm a better person to be your granddaughter and so proud of it!

Merry Christmas 2013!

 What a wonderful Christmas this little family had!  We had SO much to be thankful for this Christmas - our family, our health, our many blessings, and most important of all the gift of our dear Savior.  Here's a little recap of our Christmas celebrations...

 We started out in Stillwater, on Christmas Eve with our annual Bell Family brunch.  The food was especially good this year (or maybe I was just extra hungry???) and Santa even showed up to hand out the first gifts of Christmas (just like on The Polar Express)  Needless to say, this crowd was pumped!

 The 3 girls got matching Frozen hats with Elsa and Ana on them.  This was a special gift for them since they all went to see the movie together on Thanksgiving.  Apparently Disney didn't see fit to market a boys hat from the movie (hello??? Wouldn't an Olaf hat have been adorable?) so Ryan got a Monster's Inc cup instead, but he didn't seem to mind too much.

 On Christmas Eve afternoon, we cruised on down to Edmond to celebrate Christmas with the Mills family.  Kenneth got a very nice pic of all of us in front of the tree before wrapping paper and ribbon covered the floor.  Everyone was looking at the camera and smiling so nicely, except for Ryan, who was obviously busy with more important Jedi business.

 Christmas morning watching the Sleeping Beauty movie that Santa brought Katie.

Merry Christmas from Matt, Jess, Kate, and whichever Jedi fights with the green light saber!

Christmas movie night grand finale!

 Our final movie night was held the night before we left for Christmas in Stillwater.  We saved the best for last and enjoyed some delicious hot cocoa while we watched The Polar Express.

 Ryan and Kate have become particularly obsessed with cocoa this year, so they were very excited for this treat (not to mention the 10 marshmallows and candy cane stirrers in their cups!) 

All Aboard the Polar Express!!!

Put on your ears, it's time for CHEERS!!!

 I am a little behind in posting this (didn't realize that Matt had already loaded them to the computer for me!) since Ryan and Kate's 4th birthday party was November 24th, but better late than never, right???

So my babies wanted to have a Mickey/Minnie birthday party this year, which seemed a very good choice since we had such a blast on our Disney trip this year.  

Instead of cake, I opted for cupcakes.  I didn't really love the Mickey/Minnie cakes I was seeing, so I borrowed this idea from Pinterest.  I ordered chocolate and vanilla cupcakes from Walmart all iced with white butter cream icing.  Then I added regular size and mini Oreo's to the tops to make the Mickey/Minnie heads.  The Minnie bows were a little more labor intensive, but not too hard.  They were made with Airheads cherry candies that I microwaved for just a few seconds and then shaped into bows and let cool.  If you are considering taking this project on, I have 2 words for you: vegetable oil - just oil your fingers a tiny bit and the whole candy shaping process is SO much easier (thanks for the idea, dad)!

 My other little DIY project was the Mickey Mouse head topiary.  This idea was also one from Pinterest via ETSY.  On ETSY they were being sold for $40 each.  Well after buying the Styrofoam balls (why the heck are those SO expensive, anyway?!?) and the 5 (yes, 5!!!) bags of Dum-Dum suckers, I know why the $40 price tag.  But it was a real crowd pleaser!

 There were Mickey ears for the boys too!

 We had the kids' party at Jumpn' Joeys Fun House.  This was our very first destination party.  The kids had a BLAST!!!

 We were SO blessed that both of our grandparents got to come party with us all weekend long - they are the BEST grandparents in the whole world!

 Ryan got a Thor costume as a gift, which he had to put on at the party, of course!

Happy Birthday, my sweet 4 year-olds!  Where has the time gone???

Christmas movie night #3

 A few days ago, we woke up to find that our elf, Buddy, had drawn us a picture.  It didn't take Ryan and Kate too long to figure out that he was suggesting we make green chocolate chip cookies for a Grinch movie night.

 The kids were SO excited about making these cookies!  I had seen a recipe on Pinterest to make these from scratch, but that's not really how I roll, so I bought a bag of the dry, pre-mixed ingredients and just followed the instructions.  Then we added the green food coloring.  I probably should have added more green, but too much coloring freaks me out a little bit.

 Everyone enjoyed the cookies, fresh from the oven.  They also really liked the original Grinch cartoon.  It took me some searching to find it in order to DVR it, but it was worth the hunt.  I'm not a huge fan of the new Jim Carrey remake, one because its long, and two, I think Jim Carrey is kind of freaky (particularly so in this movie).  Sometimes its nice to just enjoy the classics! 

Christmas Train 2013!!!

 This past Sunday, we got to go to the Christmas Train in Dry Gulch, USA.  What a special trip it was!  

With all of this yucky lovely snow we've been having, we weren't sure if the road conditions were going to let us go.  But in the end, God blessed us with clear roads and zero precipitation, so we made it!  Although it was cold and we had to big time bundle up, it was still a wonderfully magical experience.

 Since the kids were able to stay up a little later than last year when we went to the train, we were able to do more things there.  In addition to riding the train, we rode the carousel, the wagon ride (pulled by a tractor instead of horses) and the little tiny train (twice).  We also got to see Santa and a puppet show - both inside, thankfully.  

Going to the train is such a special experience, not only because its magical for the kids, but also because it sets aside time for us to remember the true meaning of Christmas - not just the birth of Christ, but also his death and resurrection that sets us free from sin and death.  It gives us a chance to stop and remember to quiet our hearts and "prepare him room" as the Christmas Carol reminds us.  

I am so grateful that we got to experience this as a family once again!  And I am really grateful to the awesome people at Church On The Move that volunteer to work at the Christmas Train - they may be the friendliest people you will find other than those that work at Chick-fil-a!

Christmas movie night #2

 As you may or may not have heard (like if you were living under a rock or something) old man winter has paid us a visit over the last few days.  We got snow - LOTS of snow for Oklahoma, and snow that is sticking around.  So Friday morning, like any good mama would do, I spent a solid 25 minutes bundling up my kids in multiple layers so we could go play outside.  I think we were outside about 3 minutes total before we go so cold we had to come back in - but don't they look adorable???

 Since we got all this snow, it seemed like the perfect night for a Snowman movie night.  I grew up watching "The Snowman" and the kids love it too, as it is one we already have on DVD.  

For our movie night snacks we made snow ice cream (SO easy and fun to make) and snowman cookies (Also SO easy as they were pre-sliced/pre-decorated)

 Our ice cream ended up a little more like a slushy, but it was still tasty!

Snuggled up under a blanket with a good movie - perfect place to be on a super cold night!

Christmas movie night #1

 This past Monday night marked our first official movie night of the Christmas season at the Mills house.  Our Elf, Buddy, left an early Christmas gift under the tree for Kate and Ryan.

 After Matt read them the note, they opened up the box.  Inside they found new Christmas pajamas and a new DVD, Veggie Tales' Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas.  This is the newest Veggie Tales and has a new okra character that is voiced by Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty - who my kids immediately recognized.  SO funny! 

 After they put on their pj's we snuggled up in mom and dad's bed to watch the movie.  Afterward, "Santa" asked each of us what we wanted for Christmas, and even let sissy sit in his lap.  Anyone who knows Ryan knows how much he LOVES to dress up!

  It was a very fun family night!

Viva Las Vegas

 Matt had a conference out in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, 

and I was SO thrilled to get the chance to go with him! 

We stayed at the Tropicana this time (that's where the conference was) 

so it was a new view of the strip for us.  The weather was perfect and we were able

to visit with some of our family and friends that live out there, as well.  The first night

I was there (Matt had to go ahead of me) we had dinner with my Aunt Mary and Uncle Mike.

We had a great visit, but I forgot to get a pic, so you'll have to take my word for it!

Friday, I had a spa morning - my favorite way to spend a morning while Matt's in meetings!

Friday afternoon, I met up with my cousin Kyle and his wife, Trisha, who were also in town

for a conference.  We did a little shopping and catching up while roaming around the

Forum Shops at Caesar's.

                                               

Friday night Bethany and Lindsay Luebbert rolled into town on their way to California, so

we met up for dinner.

Saturday Matt and I walked around and shopped some, and then met up with some fellow

Cowboy fans to watch our team put the hurt on Texas.  

Why yes, that is Beth and I waiving the wheat in Vegas - because you gotta be true to your school regardless of where you're watching the game!!!

 Saturday evening we had dinner with our friend Russ and Claim Jumper.  Matty was SO happy because he loves that place and we hadn't been in a long time.

 We try to do something new every time we go to Vegas, so this trip we went to M&M world and the CocaCola store.  It was fun to look around at all of the different things they can slap those logos on.  We even got our pic with the CocaCola polar bear.  He looks sweet and cuddly, but don't be deceived - a mere minute after this picture was taken, he took Matt's hat off and bit him on the head!  Matt was complaining of head trauma for several days after and I'm still not sure he's over it!

And lastly, Matt did some light hearted reading to end the trip and learned what to do

"When the fun stops" and how to get your gambling addiction under control

which is an important life lesson for us all.