New Year's Eve

For New Year's Eve we started out at the movies with my family. We saw Mary Poppins Returns. We very rarely see movies in theaters but saw three this Christmas. The kids were loving it! After we got home we had some time to kill before starting the evening festivities. I was surprised when Tad crashed on the couch.

After naps and some down time we went to Holly's. My kids were so excited that we ended up planning something with cousins. Us adults hung  out in the kitchen chatting most of the night and barely saw the kids. They were having tons of fun playing games. It was the best kind of night. We called the kids down and did sparklers and said happy New year at 10 so we could start driving home. We had intended on letting them continue the partying when we got home, but they all fell asleep in the car so we were able to call it a night around 11:30. Happy new year!!

Sledding

Alicia really tried to convince me to go up the canyon and sled with her the Friday after Christmas. I was feeling a little traumatized after our previous sledding experience where there was NO snow. Finally I convinced her to wait until Saturday so that Kris could come too and we headed to her house Friday to sled on her little hill.

 Saturday morning we headed up the canyon bright and early. We were excited to see that there was snow! The kids had so much fun! They went non stop for almost four hours before they showed signs of getting cold and being done.

All of them were going non stop and were getting gutsy towards the end forming chains and going over jumps. 

We got a new sled this year that you stand on to go down and Addie got really good at doing it and even went over the jump.

I was worried that Harvey wouldn't get into it because last year when we went he refused to even try it. He didn't even wait for us as he got out of the car. I just looked over and he was on a sled, sliding down the hill on his stomach. 

Everyone had so much fun we decided we definitely needed to set up another time soon to come again.

Christmas!!

I love the excitement of Christmas! The kids woke up bright and early and then headed into our room at 6. We started with stockings then the presents under the tree. They were so excited about everything, I loved it!

After presents we had breakfast and played for a bit before leaving to meet up with Holly's family at the theater to watch the Grinch.  I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this movie, I was skeptical of another remake but it was really cute. The kids all liked it too.

After the movie it was back home to play some more. We had a nice relaxing day of playing together. It was even warm enough that they were all able to try out the new bikes and electric scooters.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning we invited Bensons over for breakfast. It was nice to be able to get together, hang out and play games.

After breakfast were able to go to Ralph Breaks the Internet with Alicia's family. They took us as their Christmas gift to us and we were really excited to go. It was a lot of fun.

After the movie we headed home, had dinner, gave out Christmas pjs and then put out cookies for Santa. Then it was off to bed in preparation for the next day's excitement.

Back to Bethlehem

The Sunday before Christmas we got together for a Back to Bethlehem family night. I love to be able to get together and read the Christmas story together and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas with Thompsons

My mom held her first annual reindeer games the Saturday before Christmas. Unfortunately Demzi was sick. She was sick enough that she actually volunteered to just stay home. We left her home and promised to bring back any prizes. At the party my mom had planned a bunch of minute to win it games and then she ended by giving each of the kids their gifts. Everyone but Harvey got a Lego set. It made for a quiet day of building when we got home. They were all so excited to put them together and play. I am really impressed with how fast they got them all built. Harvey was in heaven with his PJ Masks toys. That is his newest obsession. It was so much fun.  

Addie's Art

Tad's Christmas Program

The first grade put on a little Christmas program. The kids had learned a handful of songs and poems to share with parents. Tad's teacher even had her kids each take turns playing bells. It was a fun way to end school for Christmas break.

Country Christmas

We went to the Country Christmas down at Young Living Farm with our family and Holly's and Heather's family. We had a lot of fun at this last year so were excited to do it again. It was such a nice day, not too cold, so we were able to check off each of the places on the list. The kids made sure we didn't miss any because they were having fun going from place to place getting their little prizes. We ended the day with the live nativity. It was so crowded last year we didn't get to stay for this part but this year it was in their jousting field so we could actually see it.

Christmas Concerts

Addie is in choir and band so right before the break they each had their concerts.  The first one was the choir concert. Choir for 7th graders is only a semester but Addie has had a lot of fun and looks forward to being able to do it again next year. For their concert each of the groups sang three songs and then one combined with all of the choirs. Their first song was sang as they walked in with candles in the dark. It was a little tricky and I'm pretty sure there was a few trips along the way but it turned out great. I was probably most impressed with the 7th grade choir of all the groups. When they combined choirs there wasn't enough room for all of them on the stage so they had to line the walls. It was cool to hear them all together also.

The band concert was their second one so far this year. They played two songs and it was amazing to see how much progress they have made just in the couple months since school has started.

Tad's Art

Coding

Our school started a coding club this year. Liam has been really excited with all that he has learned. They put on a showcase for the parents right before Christmas break to show their stories that they were able to create. It was fun to see what they have been working on.

Happy Birthday Kris