December 2019

 The month of December is so magical when kids are around and this year was no different. We had a lot of fun baking and decorating treats, getting ready for Christmas, and snow. We went on our trip to Utah for Savanna's wedding and the kids had several playdates with their friends. Summer started out the month with a little bit of sickness and had to say home from church. Most of the other kids also got slight colds and Brynlee ended up with an ear infection. I went to a party with some friends, I took Brynlee to the dentist for her tongue tie evaluation and she also passed off everything she needed to for speech so she is officially done.

 The first morning that it snowed, my girls were literally outside building a snowman before school. Miriam hated all of the snow gear and begged to take it off. She was much happier when I took her inside.

 We had a ward breakfast at church this year. It wasn't like our usual party and none of us were super crazy about the change but we did get a visit from Santa and we had some good food. Also I didn't have to bring anything. Brynlee wouldn't sit on Santa't lap or even take a picture standing next to him this year. Miriam sure liked sitting up there.

 We had a baby shower for my sister in law Heather to help her get ready for the birth of baby Briggs. The girls cut out a lot of paper snowflakes that we used to decorate the house. We played some fun games and ate way to many snacks and had a fun time.

We made gingerbread houses again this year which was a lot of fun. All the girls did a really great job at decorating their houses.I tried to help Miriam make a cute little tree but she just ate off all of the candy I would put on it. Haha. It was a fun night full of lots of love and adventures. 

We made Ornaments for our tree this year. Annalyn had a Christmas music concert at school. I took my sister Heather with me so I could have some help with holding Miriam and entertaining Summer while I watched Anna. I got to go to Anna's party at school. They decorated Christmas trees. I helped a friend make gingerbread houses and assemble them for Kyla's class that morning but I had to miss Kyla's party so that I could got to Brynlee's school to watch her class sing some Christmas songs. My mom went to Kyla's party and said she had fun getting to hang out with all of the kindergartners that day. Kyla did get to celebrate her half birthday at school this month so I got to go in and watch the class sing to her. She requested donut holes so she got to pass them out to all of the kids in her class. 

We had a super great Christmas. Annalyn lost another tooth and got another visit from the tooth fairy. We went to the library and did all of the other normal weekly things that we like to do. Miriam had her 15 month check-up. She is good and healthy. The girls did lots of crafts, we went on a sleigh ride, and had a lot of fun this month.

Sleigh Ride in the Mountains

A few days after Christmas I got a call from one of our amazing neighbors, the Bendalls. They had rented a sleigh ride where they got to feed some wild elk up in the mountains. At the last minute one of their sons couldn't make it so they said they had just enough room for our entire family to come. It sounded like a super fun experience so we jumped at the chance to go. Joel had kind of wanted to stay home that day and work on a project but we were able to convince him to come. 

The ride up to the mountain took about two hours. Miriam slept for most of the ride so it was pretty uneventful. We didn't see snow until right before we got to our destination. The kids had fun playing in the snow while we waited for our turn for the ride. We all piled in the sleigh and had a pretty fun ride. The weather was beautiful and it was just overall the perfect day to be outside enjoying nature. Our driver gave us some fun facts about the area and about sleighs. 

We had a nice good ride and then we came up to a little clearing where there were a bunch of wild elk. They have obviously been fed a lot because they came right up to the sleigh and ate the hay that we gave them right out of our hands. The kids all got to feed them and several of them even touched one of the elk.

After we ran out of food we headed back for the cabin where we had donuts and hot chocolate and listened to someone play some music for us. Miriam started to get antsy on the way back and kept trying to get down. She wanted to run around in that sleigh so bad. Eventually she took off her shoes. She had snow boots on and they were a little big. I was desperately trying to distract her and keep her entertained when she grabbed one of her shoes and threw it over the side of the sleigh. We had to make a quick stop and then one of the people in the other sleigh was nice enough to jump out and rescue her shoe. Haha!

We stopped for pizza on the way home and then watched a movie and got ready for bed that night. This was an exciting day and a lot of fun. We are grateful for wonderful neighbors that were kind enough to include us on their family adventure. 

Christmas 2019

Christmas 2019 was full of lots of love, fun, craziness, and laughter. We started out our celebrations with a party at Aunt Joanna's house. There was all kinds of delicious food, a Christmas Jeopardy games, Crafts for the kids, and we even got a visit from Santa. When Annalyn saw Santa she said, "That Santa looks familiar. He has a long face just like Uncle Travis." Haha. All my girls, except for Brynlee, sat on Santa's lap and got to get a present. They got a new lawn chair with their name on it. It was a super fun night with lots of fun and family.

Joanna invited us back to her house for Christmas eve for the annual Tacos and fun. Josh's family was not able to go that night which is why she had the other party earlier that week. We had lots more fun and then went home to get ready for bed. This year our girls all made gifts for each other and we let them open up those gifts on Christmas eve. They all ended up making their own gifts for themselves so everyone got four things. Brynlee tied blankets for everyone, Annalyn had her dad help her to make signs for everyone, I helped Kyla make pillow cases, and Summer made coloring books. They sure liked those gifts and it meant a lot since they all worked so hard on making them. 

Annalyn woke up at 3:30 in the morning wanting to open presents. I made her go back to bed but then Brynlee and Summer were up around 4. Kyla also woke up pretty early to see the presents. Miriam woke up around 6:30 but by then Summer and Annalyn were still sleeping. They woke up around 7 and we forced Joel to get out of bed so we could open presents. The kids were spoiled with all kinds of great gifts. Summer got a cry baby that really cries and some make-up. Brynlee got a drone, Annalyn got a baby doll with a carseat and some fake turtles. This year Santa delivered the right present which she was pretty happy about. Kyla got a microphone that really works, Miriam got a baby doll and a stuffed animal. We got a Nintendo switch for the family which has been a lot of fun to play together.

After we opened up all of our presents we went over to grandma Sherry's house. We opened a few presents for them and then ate a yummy Christmas dinner with them. My dad got the girls an electric scooter. My older girls have had a lot of fun on that thing. I am sure we will use is a lot more once it gets warmer. It was a super fun day. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the time we got to be with family. My brother Josh got to call and it was fun for all of us to talk to him and hear all about the mission. 

I sure am grateful for our family. I love getting to live close and visit with them often. We feel pretty blessed to have all of these wonderful adventures. We are also grateful for all of the generosity of those around us. We are also grateful for our Savior. I love the magic and love that surround Christmas time.