Sledding, Cousins

We all had a total blast today! It's weird to not see my kids for half the day, but they've just been taking off with their cousins and having fun! We went sledding this morning just outside the cabin and Brad and I went snowshoeing for a bit to the lake. Kade probably spent 6 hours outside sledding. He had said he wanted to sled until bedtime but a gnarly crash and hunger finally brought him inside. Tenley had been with Elly and Maila pretty much non stop. They play with their dolls most the time and it's so adorable. Ryder was back to his normal happy self today since he got two good naps in a real bed. It's been really nice to be in a big house that accommodates the whole family and it's a great way to celebrate the new year. 

2015 was a really fun and exciting year! We had Ryder, Brad graduated from Dental school, we moved out west, went to Disneyland and Kade started Kindergarten! This next year probably won't bring with it as much change but we're looking forward to it!

Quiet Moments

It's been a long day. We got the kids out of bed at 7 and started our 10 hour drive to Bear Lake. The kids did pretty well on the drive but Ryder still needed a lot of attention. We finally made it to the cabin with the fam at 7:30! And now at 5 minutes to 11 I finally have all three kids in bed and sleeping for the moment. Ryder has been crying off and on for the past hour. Hopefully he sleeps the rest of the night. I always stress about a crying baby in the middle of the night with a house full of people. There's no where to go that you won't bother someone!

The drive did have some fun moments though. It was a beautiful winter wonderland in New Meadows! And the stars driving through the canyon just outside of Bear Lake were so bright and gorgeous! Plus we saw a moose in the middle of the road, which scared us at the time, but it was actually really neat to see. Hoping for some quiet the rest of the night!

Pillowcases, Lists

The kids' sweet babysitter came over today to give them pillowcases she had made for them for Christmas. They love them and were so grateful! They're excited to bring them on our big trip! We are driving to Bear Lake tomorrow. It's a long 10 hour drive but we get to be with ALL of Brad's family and we are so excited! The kids especially can't wait to play with all of their cousins. We are hoping for good driving conditions!

We had a lot of groceries to buy today to take with us and Kade was so helpful. He crossed things off the list for me and kept me updated on what we had left to buy. I was so grateful for his help.

Henry and Mudge

For Christmas Brad and I got Kade a set of Henry and Mudge books. Kade hadn't read any of them before but he loves them now! They're all about a little boy and his dog. He likes to stay up late after I put him and Tenley to bed and read his books. They used to have a Christmas tree in their room and those lights helped him to be able to read. But I finally took Christmas town today so I gave him his own little reading light. It's amazing to think that just one year ago I was teaching him how to read, and now he's reading level two books! And he'll even read the books at night to me and Tenley instead of me reading to him and Tenley. I'm in awe at his passion for learning.

Blog Books

Brad got me the sweetest gift for Christmas this year. He printed out two years of my blog. He spent a lot of time formatting it to get all the pictures to fit and I was so thankful for the time and effort he put into them. They look amazing and it's so nice to have it printed out in a book to enjoy. I love it!

Christmas Day

Our kids slept in as normal again this year. I expected them to run into our room by 7 but we didn't seem them until 8! They were excited to run out to see their presents from Santa. After presents we had a delicious breakfast, video chatted with my parents, then cleaned up and got ready for the day while the kids played with their new toys. Kade even got to try out his new scooter outside since all our snow melted. We went to the Simmons' house this afternoon and had a fancy Christmas feast with them. It was a wonderful day and I loved having little Ryder with us for his first Christmas.

Christmas Eve

We had a fun evening with the Simmons tonight and Kents parents, Grandma and Grandpa Simmons. We made fruit cocktail, a Ricks tradition, ate a yummy dinner, lots of sweets, drank yummy slush, and the kids acted out the Nativity. It was fun to be with the family celebrating the birth of our Savior together.

Snow

I was surprised to wake up to a few inches of snow this morning! It looked so beautiful. We were getting a little bit jealous of all the snow our friends and family have been enjoying so we were excited to play in some of our own. Then we stayed inside and made sugar cookies all afternoon. Sugar cookies are time consuming! But delicious ;)

Brad gets really creative!

Elves, Movies in Bed

We heard a little knock on the door tonight and the kids saw that they got a little note and treat from Santa's elf, Freddie. It said that they are on Santa's good list and that they'll be getting a visit from him in a few days. They thought it was pretty neat! Then we decided to watch a little movie with the kids in our bed and it was so cozy! Poor Brad fell asleep though. Today was the craziest, busiest day that he's worked yet. I guess that's always how it is at the end of the year. But now he's done until after Christmas and we're so excited!

Calm Babies

We had to go to Walmart today for some groceries and it was so crowded! It was a little crazy getting around with Kade and Tenley each hanging on to the sides of the cart but they were patient and so was Ryder luckily. By the end of our shopping trip he was basically lounging back in his seat he was so chill. I love having such a calm baby!

Don't mind the pink binky...it was all the store had when I was in a pinch and I've seemed to have lost all his blue ones :(.

Primary Talks

Tenley gave her first talk in primary today and she did a really great job! She spoke about the second coming of Jesus and I loved hearing he say at the end that she loves Jesus and she's excited for Him to come again.

Bowl Games

We were so excited to watch BYU and Utah play in the Las Vegas bowl game today but the first five minutes of the game dampened our spirits pretty quickly. It was still fun hanging out as a family.

Ryder has a bad habit of throwing all his food into the floor. We've been trying hard to teach him not do to that so today he kept putting the food on his head instead. Doesn't he want to eat?!