Moments 12.2018! We had a blast celebrating the most wonderful time of the year!

I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of all the shenanigans that went down in crazy town (i.e. our life in a nutshell).  So here it is for December 2018!

Recipe love:

Here are a few must-share recipes from the month of December from my favorite spots around the web!

Sugar Cookies & Icing from Sugar Spun Sam {Made these this year and they were great! Especially the icing Pictured above}!

Brussels Sprouts Salad form Paleo Running Momma {Bring on the salads}!

Mexican Alphabet Soup from House of Yumm {My kids would have so much fun with the letters}!

Strawberry Brownies from Also the Crumbs Please {Never met a fudgy brownie I didn’t like}

Black Bean & Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole from She Likes Food {All my favorite things}!

New Recipe Videos

Here are the videos we produced for you in December! More to come in January!

Nativity Cake

This is a how-to-video showing how to make this simple Nativity cake topper! I also share some of the ways we keep Christmas Christ-Centered!

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Gave the post for Ritch’s favorite Christmas cookie a little facelift and video!

Cinnamon Chip Scones

A nostalgic, all-time favorite recipe of mine!

A few of my favorite things…

Here are a few products I have used over and over again in December!

Brushed Fleece Robe

I have been wearing the same robe every single night since I had Mara. Since she was born in the spring, a lightweight robe was perfect. Now this baby girl is going to be born in the dead of winter, so I wanted a warmer (but still not too cumbersome) robe to wear during our late-night nursing sessions. I almost didn’t buy this robe because it doesn’t have pockets…but I’m SO glad that I did. It’s the comfiest, softest robe EVER, plus it’s super cute!

Comfy Pajamas

I wear the same pajamas every night. They are 8 years old. They have a hole in them. It was time to move on {however reluctantly I may have done so}. These PJs are SO soft and comfy. I usually sleep in a tank top so I was a little worried, but I love them! I bought them in black, but I think I’ll be adding these cute flowered ones to my collection before baby girl arrives.

OPI Strengthening Nail Polish

I absolutely ADORE this OPI strengthening nail polish. My nails are not what they used to be (probably because my body is a little depleted from growing/raising 5 babies lol), and regular nail polish only seems to damage them more. This polish is worth its weight in gold. I have it in clear, Hawaiian Orchid and bubble bath and love them ALL. The colors are very neutral and perfect for any occasion!

I also have to take a moment and mention this Essie Speed Setter. I always finish my manicures (if you can call them that lol) with this speed setter. Not only does it make my nails dry super fast, but it adds shine and increases the longevity of the polish! LOVE It.

Life with my tribe

December was a great month full of Christmas fun and lots of family time! Here are some of the highlights…

Deer Valley Date Day!

This month Ritch and I had were gifted the BEST date day at our favorite place, Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT.

They arranged an amazing day for us! Ritch enjoyed skiing while I cozied up by the fire in the lodge {because🤰🏻}. We sat and talked for hours before enjoying the most beautiful dinner at the Mariposa restaurant. Every part of our day was absolutely perfect, and it was such a great little escape for us before this baby girl is in our arms in a few short weeks.

We’re so grateful for Deer Valley’s hospitality, and our awesome friends who watched our kids so we could get away! We even snuck in a little Christmas shopping before heading up into the mountains! It was the best day ever!

Bethany’s Piano Recital

Bethany has been playing piano since she was 4 (when she learned how to read). I don’t have a musical bone in my body, but my hubby is a musical stud. I always wished I knew even a little bit about music, so I vowed that all my kids would at least learn how to play the piano starting at a young age.

Well, Miss Bethany is an amazing pianist. She practices for 30 minutes every day and really understands the mechanics of it all. This year she played “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” for her recital song and did a fantastic job. After playing herself, she did a duet with Ritch and it was beautiful! I’m so proud of her!

Mara 20 months!

My baby is 20 months old, and I am so not ready admit that she is not really a baby anymore. I still give her a bottle and snuggle her to sleep at night, and she still sleeps in the crib (something that will be changed in the next week or so).

I am feeling all sorts of emotions about having another baby girl while Mara is still my baby girl (if that makes sense). I know I will need to be very intentional about not making her feel like the baby took her place in my arms!

At this point Mara is basically one of the kids. She wants to do everything the rest of them do all the time. She also prefers walking over riding in the stroller, and acts like a big kid as much as she is able. It’s adorable to see her mimicking her older siblings.

She has aded some new words to her vocabulary….some of my favorites include: shoe, cow, belly (and she lift up her shirt and pats her belly as she says it), bottle, and baby!

Christmas Fun!

We took full advantage of the Christmas season and got to as many festive activities as we could! We started with our favorite, looking at the windows at the Grand America Hotel downtown SLC.

It’s really the perfect activity for families with little kids. They decorate windows inside the stunning hotel, and the kids walk around and admire them!

Every year they also make an incredible gingerbread house made entirely out of food. The kids get a kick out of looking at all the little details, and learning how much flour, sugar, butter, chocolate, etc. went into making the beautiful display!

Not only is the entire thing inside, but it’s all FREE. They even give the kids a cookie after they’ve looked at all the windows. I highly recommend putting this on your list if you haven’t experienced it before!

South Jordan Tree Lighting

We thought we’d take advantage of this local event to see if it’s something we’ll try again next year. Honestly, much like most events thrown in our town/neighborhood, it wasn’t executed terribly well. They gave away free hot cocoa and cookies…if you wanted to stand in line for two hours.

There are so many kids out where we live that I feel like people who plan these things always underestimate the turnout, and what it would actually be like to attend the event with a family of young children. One carriage giving rides for a whole town isn’t something we had the time to wait in line for! LOL!

Overall it was OK, but we might try to go to a different tree lighting next year! The kids had fun, but it was hard to explain to them why we weren’t going to wait 2 hours for hot cocoa when we could be home and I could make them some in 10 minutes! LOL!

Christmas in Color

THIS is our favorite event of them all. We purchase tickets in advance and eagerly anticipate going every year! I make everyone a cup of hot cocoa (with marshmallows of course), we pile into the car and go enjoy the display!

It lasts for about 30 minutes and is absolutely awesome. Plus we never even have to get out of the car (like I could’ve worn my slippers if I wanted to lol)! As a family with a lot of little kids, this is the perfect, low-key event that we enjoy during the holidays!

Christmas Morning

We had the BEST Christmas Day this year. We woke up, opened gifts, and then played all day long! Ritch spent at least five hours building legos with the older two kids, and Naomi and Mara enjoyed reading their new books and playing with their new toys.

As always we made a birthday cake for Jesus and we finished reading our advent book (Bartholomew’s Passage). It was a wonderful day, and one I will remember forever!

Recipes I’m Making on Repeat

Here are a few recipes we enjoyed in December!

Homemade Pizza Dough and Sauce.

Pineapple for me and Bethany and Pepperoni for everyone else!

Flourless Peanut Butter Blossoms

I made these to take to a church party. SO easy and yummy! I used Reese’s instead of making my own chocolate for the sake of time!

No Knead Bread

SO easy and always delicious!

IF YOU MAKE SOMETHING FROM JOYFOODSUNSHINE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS! DON’T FORGET TO RATE THIS RECIPE AND LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! ALSO, FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK ,YOUTUBE AND TWITTER FOR MORE RECIPE INSPIRATION AND A GLIMPSE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIFE!