Time With "My Kids"

I went to Shannon's to spend the night with the kids while she and Arnold had a work Christmas party.  We wanted to go see a movie and go drive through Christmas lights.  I wanted to take them to Temple Square but the air quality was too bad and we have to be really careful with DJ's asthma so we couldn't go down there.  We decided to go see Arthur Christmas.  We went to Jordan Commons (my favorite movie theater), got our popcorn, cotton candy and drinks then went into the theater.  The movie was super cute, I loved it.

 I know I've said it over and over again, but these kids have my heart.  They fill spaces in my heart I didn't know were empty until they came into my life.  I cry with each one of their accomplishments.  One, because we don't live as close as I wish we did so I can see them.  And two, because I am so proud of them and the awesome little people they are.
Noah is such a tween but he still gets excited to see me.  He will still let me love on him and still wants to show me stuff he can do.  Elizabeth is such a sweetheart.  She does have a sassy side but she is the sweetest girl.  She's doing so well in dancing and started tumbling.  She is working on her back handspring and aerial.  She's so much fun and I love love love her giggle.  DJ is still my little boy for the moment.  He is growing up and I hate that.  He is such a fun kid.  He has a major shoe fetish and looks so cute in his skinny jeans.  He still wants to play with me and first thing in the morning when we wake up, he wants to play and build his car ramp and jumps.  He still wants me to hold him and I always will.
I hope that we will get to be parents one day but if that is not in our plan, at least I got to be something close to that with these kids.
After the movie, we headed down to Thanksgiving Point to drive through their Christmas light display since we can stay in the car and not be exposed to the bad air.  We stopped at the Maverick and got some hot chocolate for everyone.  We pulled into the lights and listened to Christmas music as we drove through.  I've never been there before and it was pretty cool.

 After driving through the lights, there is the story of our Savior's birth with pictures by Simon Dewey that I love.

We got back to Shannon and Arnold's and relaxed in front of the TV for a while.  DJ fell asleep on my lap as we watched monster truck movies.
I came home Sunday morning after DJ, Lu and I built car tracks and spent some more time together.  It was such a great weekend welcoming a new little life into our family and spending time with "my kids."