Happy Sweet 16th Brinley!

I could not have predicted how this little bundle of energy would have grown into such a beautiful young woman.  It's been an amazing 16 years since Brinley joined our family on December 27, 1999. I knew the moment she was born that her temperament was very different from her older brother.  She had her own opinions but was willing to let him lead out.  As young siblings, the two of them rarely had a squabble and now that they are teenagers, their relationship continues to be void of conflict.  How refreshing!

Brinley's 16th birthday fell on a Sunday in 2015 but we celebrated it over the course of a few days.

Left-overs after church - the delicious reuben sandwich she has become fond of.  We really celebrated by busting out a bag of potato chips and opening a bottle of sparkling cider.

Opening her presents...

No real surprises since she picked these items out and didn't open them on Christmas morning.
Sweater/scart, sweater-boots and a gift card to Ross.  She really appreciated the cash from grandparents as well!

Not sure what flavor of jelly bean Erica got - but it was nasty!

Erica and her boyfriend, Steve, drove up for the afternoon and visited us at our house before joining extended family for Sunday dinner hosted at Chris & Julia's place.

A game of "Bean Boozeled" - became intense.

After a lovely meal of tuscan soup, salad and breadsticks (like Olive Garden), we sang Happy Birthday to Brinley.  My weekly meal assignment is usually to bring a green salad but this time we brought dessert - two mud pies.  Peppermint/mint and cookie dough.  .

Brinley, Anna and crazy Jack.

We also made and brought cupcakes for the younger cousins who might not appreciate mud pie:)

There was a houseful and we enjoyed our time together before parting separate ways.  Brandon and Stephanie jumped on a plane the next morning, Erica and Steve drove back to Salt Lake after dessert. Cam and Bob & Janene and we returned home.  Thanks Chris & Julia!

Stephanie, Brinley, Erica

Birthday celebrations continued but not until after Quinn's oral surgery early Monday morning.  We loaded him up in the car at 5:15am and were home by 9:00am.  One tooth removed with a spacer put in, one tooth capped and another one filled. It was an insurance nightmare but hopefully the hard part is behind us now.  Quinn did well and slept a lot that afternoon.  Wish he would have inherited his father's teeth however!

I don't know who appreciates Brinley's birthday tradition of having Chinese food more - Brinley or the rest of the family.  

It's certainly nice for me NOT to prepare a meal following the intensity of the holidays!

Sure love these people...

Tuesday morning - it became official.
Brinley completed the requirements to receive her driver's license.

And Aaron and I were finally able to take her out to eat.  We opted for lunch instead of dinner since she was out of school.  And there were evening plans in place already....

Nobody has been counting calories around here - that's for sure.  After a delicious lunch together, Aaron dropped us off at Ross so Brinley could use her gift card while he ran a few errands - and picked up the cake for her surprise birthday party held that evening!!

I snapped this group shot while people were trickling in (before Brinley arrived).

There were 20 friends that joined us for the evening.

Brinley came through garage door and everybody jumped out yelling surprise!

Aaron took Brinley and Jantzen to clean the bathrooms/garbages at the office while I got everything ready for the party.  The decorations and snacks were simple enough.  Aaron and I kept this on the low-down so not even our own kids knew what was happening until I asked them to help me blow up balloons.  They were as surprised as anybody that their parents would do such a thing....

The kids mixed and mingled and snacked until it was game time.

Aaron and I spearheaded a few games including a wrapping paper game.

Adam - "The Thinker"

They boys' team didn't exactly understand the rules but still won prizes for 'most covered'.

Caroline - a penguin

Bekka - The Statue of Liberty

Duct tape and wrapping paper and imaginations.

Brinley - a birthday candle.  She even blew out the flames.  Her team won prizes for originality.

Lots of laughter with the paper plate game.  Everyone followed a series of instructions while drawing a specific picture on a paper plate that had to remain on top of their heads until the end.

Some real artists in the bunch...not!

After the games, we gathered to sing "Happy Birthday" to Brinley and served cake and ice cream.

The rest of the evening they did what teens do.  

Talk and laugh and talk and laugh some more.

Happy Birthday Brinley!

We love you.

Merry Christmas 2015

Finding this box of cereal in my closet nearly destroyed the magic of Christmas for Quinn.

Fortunately, quick thinking and a series of events saved us from a disaster.  

It's quite the story - for another day.

 Delivering the "12 Days of Christmas" gifts required strategy and skill this year.  

Face masks all around!  On Christmas Eve, we caroled to our chosen family and the surprised looks on their faces were priceless.  It was something their children and our children looked forward to each evening leading up to Christmas.

 The days prior to Christmas were filled with activities.  Aaron took the children to do baptisms at the temple one morning.  Having recently turned 12, it was Anna's first experience.

 It was kind of Anna to volunteer her gingerbread train for a group project since making gingerbread houses didn't make the cut for me this season.

 Putting on the finishing touches.

 While visiting my friend Annie, she showed me the Christmas tree her husband made out of a wood pallet.  He drilled screws in for the lights and ornaments to hang from.  It was a clever space-saver in their small abode.

 No shortage of holiday goodies around here.

 Aubrey, Madison and Brinley - hanging out at our place making sugar cookies.

The gingerbread train lasted all of two days before I told the kids it was about to be thrown out.  

Final attempts at salvaging anything worthwhile...

 Being pulled around G-ma and G-pa M's yard by 4-wheelers through the deep snow was loads of fun.  Nice to have so many cousins in town. Earlier in the week we enjoyed Sunday dinner with Bonnie and Bryant's family who were on their way to Yellowstone for a few days.

It's sad that nobody took a single picture during Bob's 70th birthday festivities (Dec. 23).  The adults (Bob & Janene, Aaron & Heather, Cameron, Brandon & Stephanie, Chris & Julia) celebrated by going to dinner together while Brinley and Anna babysat the younger cousins (Jett, Jagger, Jack & Penny, Greta & Faye, Quinn & Elsie).  Afterwards, everyone (but Julia and me) went to see the new Star Wars movie.  Tanner and Jantzen joined up with the mover-goers for a late night while I put Quinn and Elsie to bed and started wrapping (again).

Jack, Jantzen, Jordan, Greta, Tanner, Faye, Elsie, Anna, Quinn

 Christmas Eve was spent at G-ma and G-pa M's.  We enjoyed having Brandon and Stephanie's family from Florida and all the 'locals' contributed various dishes to eat. Jordan drove a long distance to join us for silly games before delivering our Sub-4-Santa gifts.  Being part of the delivery is a Christmas tradition highlight for him.  It was especially exciting because the homeowners pulled into their driveway minutes after the kids carried packages up to the doorstep.  Not knowing how it would play out, we silently cheered as we watched the kids emerge from the shadows.  They had circled the property and jumped a fence - through deep snow!  And yes, Jantzen was wearing shorts.

Quinn - wiseman, Jantzen - donkey, Greta - angel, Tanner - Joseph

 After acting out the Nativity story and saying our good-byes, we left for home. 

 The children were super excited about their Christmas Eve gift - new bed sheets.  

Well, maybe not super excited...

Aaron set up tomato cages and inner tubes as part of his "trap"

 All of the kids slept in the bonus room together (tradition).  With their secret plans, they kept themselves occupied in that room - all hours of the night.  In fact, their laughter woke me up at 5:30am!  After telling them to go to bed, we all slept until 8am.  A new record for us.

It took them at least 10 minutes to get through Aaron's barricade at 4am.

 

The line-up at 8:15am.

Quinn was the first to dump out the contents of his stocking.  

And the only one to dump out the contents of his stocking.

The others prefer to slowly investigate each treasure...

Santa brought Star Wars cereal - how did he know?

 From youngest to oldest, we went around the room watching each child open their gifts.

 Then it was time to follow the clues for their big Santa gift.

It was a Star Wars themed Christmas for Quinn this year. 

Elsie only requested ear-muffs and overalls which Santa delivered.  He really surprised her with a karaoke machine - the gift she didn't know she always wanted!  Elsie has a beautiful singing voice.

Basketball tickets for a Utah Jazz vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game on March 14, 2016.

After enduring our Florida trip with an old, broken handled suitcase (duct tape failed us!), Santa brought a new piece of luggage for Brinley.

And two pieces for Tanner.  

They will be put to good use as he leaves for a 2-year mission in late summer 2016.

And the bright blue color will make them a whole lot easier to keep track of while traveling.

 It looks like Quinn made quite a haul this year.

 Tanner and Quinn - dressed up together.  

Yes, this giant owl costume doubled as Christmas Eve pjs for Tanner.

Along with a new personalized wallet and ball tickets, Jantzen was especially excited about the remote controlled helicopter he received.  Now none of us need hear the plight of his previous helicopter again...

 It's wonderful to be out of the "toy" phase with children.  We are in to a sports phase with most of them.  They either received basketballs, a tennis racquet, running shoes, or a gymnastics mat (thanks Santa to Anna).

 Love how Elsie lined up every single item from her stocking?

 G-ma and G-pa M gave a personalized item to each of their grandchildren (similar to what G-ma and G-pa P do each year).  Here Tanner is reading Quinn's special book where his name appears and he is one of the characters in the story.

Breakfast ring(s) and eggs.  Check.

I scored two used Star Wars costumes ($10 for both) through a local online garage sale site.  

The perfect gift for Quinn.  He loves to dress-up.

After a leisure morning together, we bundled up and hit the sledding hills at the sand dunes in the afternoon.  It was nippy outside but the face masks made all the difference.

After our sledding adventures, we returned home to make our Christmas dinner of reuben sandwiches and potato salad.  We missed having G-ma and G-pa P around to join us for a repeat (they always have reubens the night before) but we'll see them soon.  

Decidedly, this was our best Christmas yet.  There was a tangible feeling of peace that lasted all day long.  Maybe knowing it was Tanner's last Christmas at home (for a few years anyway...) made it all the more special for us.  Throughout this Christmas season, we felt the spirit of Christ more fully in our home and that was the greatest gift any family could receive.

Merry Christmas!