Christmas vacation

We spent December 26-29 at the cabin. Spence was really excited about the used snowmobile that he bought and fixed up.  It also looks just like Kev's.  I thought they needed a brothers picture.

We were happy that Megan also came up to the cabin with us.  Addy and Halle loved that she spent time making lots of snowballs with them.

We had some down time watching movies and warming up inside the cabin.  I always enjoy seeing the cabin decorated for Christmas.  Thank you Aunt Deanne for that.

I gave Kev a huge puzzle of Lake Powell for Christmas.  We spent hours putting it all together.

The roads had good snow for using the wooden sleds.  Mckenna and Parker had fun sliding down the roads together.

I enjoyed pulling both Halle and Hayden around the cabins on their sleds.  It was good to hear them laughing and having fun together.  We only had one collision which left Halle with a bloody nose.

We had enough snowmobiles this year for the whole family to snowmobile up at Smith and Morehouse.

It was beautiful when we got to Mud Flats.  We played around in  all the powder until the sun started to go down.

Halle rode around on the snowmobile with me.  We took this fun snowmobile selfie.

Mckenna was riding with Megan and they got stuck a few times.  Spence always came to the rescue.  We were all impressed that they got stuck at an angle like this!  They were coming up out of the ditch and must have sunk in.

There was lots of powder to play in that high up in the mountains.  If you look closely you will see Addy behind that burst of powder. 

Megan took this great family pic of all of us.  We had a fun time but missed having all the cousins with us this year.

Christmas Day!

We were happy to wake up the next morning and see everything covered with snow.

Parker was thrilled to see his new gun from Santa.  It is a Ruger 10/22.  Kev has taken him and Hayden shooting a few times in the fields behind our house.

Mckenna was happy with her new pair of Vans. She immediately put them on and wore them all morning.

Halle surprised me with this bottle of mango juice.  She picked it out and paid for it with her own money.

Hayden bought Parker this backscratcher.  

Mckenna gave Parker this Bob Ross t-shirt.  Parker is always talking about Bob Ross.  We all thought the shirt was funny.  The kids were really thoughtful with the gifts they bought each other this year.  It made my Mom heart happy.

Addy giving her big brother a hug.  It was a fun and peaceful morning at home.

I gave Halle a mermaid tail blanket.  We had bought one for her friend Maddi back in November.  She really wanted one too.  I loved seeing how surprised she was on Christmas morning when she got one.

Kev pretending to shoot Parker's gun.  I think he is going to enjoy it as well.

Hayden was jumping up and down when he saw his 3 in 1 Lego Set Santa had brought him.  It was just what he wanted.  He happily built his Lego Camper that morning.

We had our traditional waffle and Nutella breakfast that morning.

In the afternoon we went to celebrate Christmas with Dad and Loni.  We had a delicious dinner with ham and funeral potatoes.

It was fun having some of Loni's family visiting from California.  I hadn't seen Theresa in years and it was fun hanging out with her.

I chugged the last of the Martinelli's.  I also couldn't get enough of the green olives.

It is always a highlight to have Grandma there with us.  We are wearing the crowns from our English party poppers.

The kids opened more presents from their grandparents.

My Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Wayne were also visiting from Iowa.  It was fun to have a house filled with family.

Parker received all kinds of BYU apparel.  Grandma Loni started working at BYU this year and made use of her employee discount.

We entertained ourselves with handstands, somersaults, and I even did a cartwheel for the first time in years.  Loni's brother-in-law Garth pulled out his guitar and sang some blues for us.

Halle and I chose out this Elf shirt for Kev.  He proudly wore it all day.  It was a memorable Christmas!

Christmas Eve

It was nice that Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday this year.  We had a beautiful Christmas program at church.  Mckenna accompanied the choir as we sang Silent Night.  We took some pictures when we got home of all of us dressed up in our Christmas best.

We went later that afternoon to celebrate Christmas with Kev's family.  We had a nice ham dinner and then opened up presents.

Parker got this new soft blanket from his Grandparents.  It was great to have Spence home to celebrate with us this year.

Addy got out all the dancing and singing Christmas toys.  They belonged to Great Grandma Foster.

It was good to have both Grandma and Grandpa Grant there with us.  Parker was nice and shared his blanket with Grandma.  I gave Ken and Sue the photo book I had made of Lisa.  They were grateful to have it.  We always are missing and thinking about Lisa during the holidays.

It started to snow as we were driving home.  We were hopeful that it would be a white Christmas.  The kids opened up their Christmas jammies.  We also put out the treats for Santa.

We tried to take some pictures of the kids by the tree.  This picture sums up how picture taking really went.

The kids wanted to make a human pyramid like we did last year.  Addy lasted a few moments before she toppled over and we all fell down.

Parker is a teenager!!

Parker turned 13 on Saturday December 23rd!  We have two teenagers in our family now.  Parker and I went to get his birthday waffle.  He was nice and shared a few bites with me.

We then went to get his birthday balloons.  He chose out some cool Star Wars themed ones.  We had gone and seen The Last Jedi the day before.  We all loved it.

Parker snapped this selfie as we were driving home with all the balloons.  He laughed for a long time when he saw my expression.  I knew he was taking the picture so I smiled.  I also tried to keep my eyes on the road since I was driving.  I am glad we had this time together on his birthday.

Parker's friend Ryker came over and hung out with him for awhile.  They were playing games on the computer.  It is nice that Parker's birthday always falls on Christmas Break.  We enjoy having him home with us all day.

We had his party that afternoon with family.  It was fun having Spence, Megan, and Grandma Darlene with us.

Parker wearing his new BYU hat from his Grandparents.  Grandma Loni even taped a 20 dollar bill on it.

Parker showing off his new Vans that we got him.  Mckenna helped pick them out since she knows what is cool.

Parker got out his clarinet to give his grandparents a performance. 

Then Grandpa Ken played the piano while Parker played the clarinet.  It was great entertainment!

Parker was happy that Great Grandma and Grandpa Grant were able to come to his party.  Grandma Grant told us that she also played the clarinet when she was younger.  I am glad that Parker is developing his talent.  I enjoy hearing him play at home.  He recently had a chair test at school.  He moved to concert band and got first chair!  We are looking forward to his next concert in the Spring.

We gave Parker the Cars 3 DVD for a present. The kids all sat and watched it together after his party. His favorite movie was Cars when he was little.  It came out when he was two years old.  He always carried his Mcqueen and Mater car with him around the house.  It is hard to believe that he is a teenager now.  We are proud of the handsome young man he is becoming.  He brings a lot of fun, love, and laughter into our home.  We love our Parker boy!