Winter break

We got the game called "Speak Out" from Aunt Teenie and Peter for Christmas.  It made us all laugh.  I love these smiley faces!

One of the days we went bowling at BYU.  It was fun because we ended up being right next to the Tong family.  Adrienne was one of my childhood friends from Provo.  We had a great time catching up while bowling.  It had been years since we had seen each other. I wish I would have gotten a picture.

I always tease Kev that he majored in "bowling" when I met him up at college.  He still has his awesome bowling skills and got many strikes.  It was great having him home with us during the break. 

Kev and I went on a date night to one of our favorite restaurants called Red Rock.  One of his coworkers gave him a gift card and we were happy to use it.  Their bruchetta is my all time favorite!

We went up to the cabin on Saturday the 29th for a couple of days.  Kenna is showing off her new snow pants.  It is hard to keep the kids in snow stuff with how much they grow every year. 

The snow was good this year for December.  Kev and I spent hours hauling the kids to the top of the streets so they could sled back down.

The best and deepest powder is always behind the corral.  The kids had fun making snow angels. 

It was a quiet year at the cabin with just Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ken. Spence and Megan did come up for one day while we were there.  

Our family snowmobiled across the street and over by the river.

There was lots of powder to play in.  I took this picture of Kev in the air. I like to refer to it as, "Kev breaking the sabbath".  It was Sunday and we skipped church to stay at the cabin.  We don't do it very often.

Hayden was hitch hiking for a ride.

Parker is getting good at snowmobiling.  He is excited that he gets to go snowmobiling with all the Grant men this year in February.

The stream was frozen over and the kids had fun trying to ice skate. This was Mckenna's attempt at a pirouette on ice. 

We snowmobiled up the canyon to meet up with Preston and Melissa.  We went on a long ride up the mountain.  The snow started to come down hard.  It was so cold and I could barely see where we were going.

We were grateful to come in their beautiful cabin to warm up.  Melissa's dad Todd even made us some homemade hot chocolate.  The kids had fun playing with cousins and the dogs.

The next morning we went up to Mud Lake Flats by Smith and Morehouse.  It has become a fun tradition.  

It is beautiful up there and also very cold.  We only managed to get stuck a few times.

On New Years Eve we went to our neighbors the Frosts house.  The kids all somehow ended up wearing light blue.

We had fun playing games and eating snacks until midnight. We love our neighbors!

We went outside at midnight to watch Ben light some fireworks.  It was fun to see this view of our house with all the Christmas lights.

Christmas is here!

We went up to my Grandma's apartment to spend Christmas eve. 

Grandma bought us all Chinese food to make things easier.  We loved it and might even make it a new Christmas Eve tradition.  My favorite was the walnut shrimp!

I loved the expression on Loni's face as she opened her presents.  All my siblings and I always buy them group gifts each year.  One of Loni's gifts was the Book of Mormon journal she had been wanting. 

Kayley gave the most thoughtful gifts this year to all my kids.  Parker loved the R2D2 phone charger she got him. 

Grandma read the Christmas story book to the kids and talked about the true meaning of Christmas.

It was nice to have my brother Greg there with us.  He was happy because I scratched his back most of the afternoon.

We went back to our house and the kids opened their new pj's.

Kev read some of our Christmas books.  Our new family book this year was a Norman Rockwell Christmas.

Kev joined the kids in making our Christmas pyramid.

I'm very grateful that our kids sleep in on Christmas morning.

Halle was excited about her new Lego set from Santa.

Mckenna had already put on her new Vans from Santa.  I think she has about six pairs now!

Parker with one of his big presents which was a metal shooting target.

I always love the thoughtful homemade gifts from the kids.  Hayden stitched this for me at school.

I surprised Kev with a memory foam pillow.  He had really been wanting one after he tried out mine.  Kev's favorite gift was the new shelf for the Traeger.

The kids happily playing while I started on breakfast.  Mckenna and Parker had fun looking at their new Disney pins. 

We always go all out for our Christmas breakfast.  

In the afternoon we went up to Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ken's house.

The kids got to open more presents. It was fun to watch Kev's parents open up their presents too.

The girls and I enjoyed just chilling and watching A miracle on 34th street.

It was nice that Great Grandma and Grandpa Grant came too.  Especially since Grandpa was not feeling the greatest.

Hayden was showing all the cool things he can create with his new magnatiles.

We all enjoyed a yummy ham dinner together.

Parker is 14!

We celebrated Parker's birthday on Thursday December 20th.  It was his first day off on Christmas break.  I took him to get his birthday balloons.  He chose out an Avengers mylar balloon.

I made Parker a chocolate cake with nutella buttercream frosting.  It was my first time making this frosting and it turned out good.  Parker and I enjoyed licking those beaters clean.

Halle came up with the idea to decorate the family room with paper lanterns and snowflakes.  Hayden made this Parker sign and hung it from the ceiling. 

We were glad Great Grandma and Grandpa Grant came to the party.  They were cold so I got my heavy fleece blanket and tucked them in.  It was funny because Grandma didn't want me to take her picture but Grandpa put on his best smile.

Parker was excited to open up his presents.  He got a new mountain biking helmet and gloves.  He is looking forward to getting into mountain biking in the spring.  We also have some great trails by our house.

Grandma Loni gave him a new BYU hoodie.  He loved it and lived in it for the next few days.

Parker officially turned 14 on Sunday December 23rd.  We brought him breakfast in bed that morning. A big shout out to his Dad for making the breakfast.  

Parker opened his favorite gift after church.  He got his first cell phone!  He couldn't wait to text his friends and join Instagram.  He now sends me text messages telling me that he loves me.  I hope he always stays this sweet. 

I made him his favorite dinner that night which is cheesey potato soup with rolls.  We also had sparkling martinelli's for the occasion.  It has been a memorable year for Parker. He has loved having his Dad in YM's with him.  They both had the best time at scout camp. Parker is getting close to being an Eagle Scout.  He also got his braces on this year.  We love to hear him play the clarinet and piano.  He brings lots of laughter and fun to our family! His happiness is contagious.  We love you Parker!