I have to be honest. It was kind of a boring Christmas season. The boys are busy, and they didn’t really want to do any of our normal advent activities. Not having Halle around is the worst! I need my adventure buddy. Everyone over here is perfectly happy to spend all their time on the computer. Having said that, we did squeeze in a few fun, festive things.
Look how fancy my charcuterie board is for the Relief Society Christmas party. I was quite proud of myself. 
The Erie Country Christmas Parade. It was SO COLD this year. SO COLD. We got pizza from Blackjacks after and went and sat inside a church to eat it so we didn’t perish in the cold. 
The Deacons helped unload all the food from Black Rock Gives back to the Erie Food Bank 
Dash’s favorite spot is still under the Christmas tree 
Rusty made a quick trip to Mountain View 
We went and saw the Nutcracker in Ft Collins this year so Halle and Lauren could come. Halle and Lauren also went to a special Christmas service at the local Presbyterian church. She said they had a beautiful Bell choir. 
Mave could not decide what snack she wanted to get, so she ended up with no snack. This made her very unhappy for the second act. 
Another month, another cookie kit. Blake was also commissioned to do a custom birthday party this month. He made 12 mini boxes with a firetruck theme. He sold 20 Christmas boxes. That means he made about $640. After paying for ingredients and packaging he ended up with $520. Not too shabby! 
Halle is done with Finals! She survived her first college finals and did great. We celebrated by seeing Forbidden Broadway. It’s a funny parody on many of the popular plays. It was hilarious. We enjoyed some food at the Cheesecake factory after. 
These boys started their Christmas break with an out-loud reading of Josh’s seminary white elephant gift from Will: an Among Us Novel. 
Blake got to be a shepherd at the ward Christmas party. It was themed “a Night in Bethlehem.” And it turned out so great! We had delicious pita, fun little games, and an amazing array of desserts. 
Halle and I spent an afternoon decorating cookies and dipping chocolates. It was the first time we’d tried to do homemade fondant centers. I give it a 6/10. They were sooooo sweet. Maybe we’ll try again next year. Maybe not. 
The gang’s all here! Loved seeing these cute faces home from college. They had a great time skipping sunday school so they could catch up. 
Merry early Christmas to Halle! I don’t know who was more excited for this–Rusty or Halle. And it didn’t disappoint. So cute. So funny. 
Dinner under the Tree 2022 
Best Sunday of the year–Christmas Bingo! We did rounds this year. First was all the little dollar store trinkets. Next was candy. Then $5 gift cards. Then Christmas socks (always a favorite) and finally blackout. Max won this year! His prize was a burrito Squishmallow and and $15 Chipotle gift card. 
BanksFamilyFive 