Getaway Cabins

For several years now we’ve had the New Years tradition of meeting up with the Hobson’s at a cabin. I’m so glad that the tradition was still possible this year. There aren’t as many of us, but we’re still here with family. It is beautiful, we have a lot of yummy food, and there is a lot of snow to play in all weekend long. We are so excited for this getaway! It will be a great way to start off the New Year. I’m working on getting Luke to sleep now and then the rest of us will try and stay up until midnight! 

New Games

We got several new family games for Christmas and the kids have been enjoying playing them. Tenley and Ryder’s favorite right now is Kid Charades. Kade really loves Uno Flip. They’re excited to play them with their cousins this weekend!

Books

Every time I put Luke down for a nap or for bed we have to read his favorite books. There are five of them right now. Ryder likes to join in as well. Even though it takes me over 15 minutes to read all the books, having him so still and quiet in my lap for that long makes it worth it. It’s one of the best parts of my day.

Cute Kids

Maybe it’s Christmas time or the fact that I don’t need  to run a tight ship around here since we’re taking a break from school, but this past week has been so magical. My kids are amazing and helpful. Even Luke is the most adorable that he has ever been. It’s been so nice. I am trying to enjoy it all as much as possible.

The Book of Mormon

Kade gave us our last lesson on the Book of Mormon tonight. We read the last chapter together and discussed it. I’ve loved studying this book this year. In all the trials the faithful people faced in the scriptures, God showed them mercy in some way. And as we look back on the challenges we’ve faced this past year, we can also see where we have been blessed with mercy as well. 

New Lego Sets

The three oldest have been so busy building their Lego sets. Kade finished his razor crest set this afternoon and then they got all set up so they could “play” legos. I’m not sure how that works, but they love to do it! 

Tenley and Ryder also got to go to open gym at gymnastics today and play for a few hours. They had a blast and came back sweaty and tired!

It’s been such a great weekend. I love this little family of mine so much.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas together today! Brad and I were up a little before 8 and the kids texted me at 8:01 saying they were awake. They all slept in Tenley and Ryder’s room and I let them have the house phone for the night so I could get them when they woke up without having to worry that they might peek. We got the three oldest upstairs and then waited for Luke to wake up so we could go open presents. But he slept in so late! Brad and I decided to make breakfast while we waited, omelet and orange cinnamon rolls. We sat down to eat around 9:45 and Brad decided to get like out of bed. The three oldest were so patient while they waited for sleepy Luke. I was so proud of them.

The kids had fun opening presents. Ryder said frequently that it was the best Christmas ever. We relaxed most the day. The kids were fully entertained with their new legos and it was a pretty quiet and peaceful house. Luke and Kade did have a few light saber battles though. It was a really great Christmas.

Brad made ribs for dinner and it was delicious. We were spoiled with yummy food.

Christmas Eve

The kids were so anxious and excited all day. Tenley tried her hardest to keep busy so she could take her mind of the anxiety of having to wait for presents. She even called it torture at one point. Haha. I’d be excited if I were them. And I am excited to see their faces tomorrow. But I’ll be able to sleep just fine. 😆 

Brad ended up taking Kade and Tenley to run some errands in the afternoon while like napped and Ryder and I played games. I had one of my former young women stop by for a visit whom I love so much! It was nice to talk with her and catch up!

We had a simple dinner of Lou Malnatis pizza and salad. Our sweet neighbor who loves Chicago pizza like we do brought it over for us. It was delicious! She also brought the kids some games and puzzles. Ryder worked hard to master the puzzle!

After dinner the kids opened their Christmas pjs and we drove around the city looking at Christmas light. We got home and ate hot chocolate and sugar cookies while we watched Frosty the Snowman with the fireplace on. It was a good Christmas Eve!

Two Days

This morning was busy for me. I had to have my car in to be fixed at 9 am so I left Kade I. Charge this morning for the third time this week! It’s a good thing he’s such a big helper. He makes my life so much easier. After the car was fixed I had some last minute Christmas errands to run but I think we’re finally ready! Ryder has been so hyper the past few days because he’s been so excited! We can’t wait!

Super Glue

Kade decided to go for a run this morning with Keena. He and Brad had run over the weekend together and Kade wants to keep up his running skills so he decided to go again today. I was proud of him. He seems to enjoy running.

But then we had an incident this afternoon. Kade was downstairs using a razor blade to cut parts out of cardboard to make a mandalorian helmet. I was at the piano and all of a sudden Ryder came up panicking to tell me that Kade needed me and he was  covered in blood. I found out that Kade had been cutting toward himself and cut right into his thigh. It was about 1/2 inch long and deep enough to see his fatty tissue. He really didn’t want me to know because he knew he had made a mistake but hopefully after this experience he has learned to come to Brad or me whenever he needs help. We went to Brad’s office a short time later and Brad fixed him up with some super glue. 

The kids finished decorating sugar cookies tonight and they look great!

Christmas Break

We are taking a break from school for the next few weeks. The kids are excited about it. So excited that they woke up earlier today then they have in a long time. Why does it seem to work that way? We did have some errands to run and both Tenley and Kade had an orthodontist appointment. They’re teeth are looking beautiful!

Sugar Cookies

Tenley begged to make sugar cookies today so we did! She did a lot of the work. We actually haven’t started frosting then yet, but at least the cookies are done!

Brad and I went to the church for the zoom meeting this morning. He was conducting and I was playing the organ. There were several technical glitches, but we made it through and hopefully the spirit was felt at home by those watching!

Sunday’s are nice and simple around here and we enjoy it!

The Weekend

We’ve been having a really fun weekend as a family. I’m so excited for two long weekends coming up! 

The kids slept in late today which was good because I’m sure their bodies needed it. I was able to get some shopping done although it really isn’t a good idea to go shopping on the last weekend before Christmas 😂. 

Tonight we picked up pizza and watched Polar Express. Luke loves trains so he, and even Ryder, really loved the movie. It was fun to watch their excitement. 

I forgot to take a picture today so I’ll share this one from my brother Danny who is in St. George right now. I love Christmas lights!

Skiing

The ski hill opened today and we were excited to be there! There isn’t a ton of snow so they didn’t have the whole mountain opened but the kids were still so excited to ski. They have new rules though so Luke and I can’t hang out in the lodge all day like we used to. Which means I probably won’t be going skiing as much as I used to. So we postponed my season pass for next year. I’m so sad but hopefully I’ll still be able to ski a few times this year. Ryder only stopped for lunch today and loved the runs more than magic carpet this year which is a first. I think that little man is going to improve a lot this year. He is fearless. 

Luke loved waking up and down the bunny hill, throwing snowballs at me, and eating snow. Beside one meltdown when his hands were freezing, he really loved being outside on the hill. He also won the hearts of a nice worker in the lodge who gave him a free hot chocolate and a cookie. 

Christmas Programs

Tenley and Ryder had a Christmas program tonight and we all got to go see them sing in person which seems like a rare treat these days. The whole program was so wonderful and the kids did such a great job! I was so proud of them. They had a show this morning and tonight and they did a great job both times!

Christmas Parties

My kids seem really accident prone lately. Yesterday Tenley hit her head on a table after Kade threw her off of his back and onto the couch. It bled a bit but she seems to be fine now. Today, Kade hurt his neck somehow while jumping on the trampoline in Ninja class! I told Ryder it might be his turn tomorrow! Hopefully not... I’m just grateful that the injuries haven’t been too serious! 

I was able to get a lot of Christmas shopping done today while the kids were at school which was nice. And then we had a Christmas party with our homeschool friends. It was a busy but fun day.

Basketball

Kade had his last basketball game of the season and it ended up being his best game as well. He scored eight shots and had some great rebounds! It was fun to see him end the season on such a high note. I’m proud of him!

New Christmas Movies

I love that family night is on Monday because Mondays are usually busy with laundry and cleaning so it’s nice to have some good family time after all the running around. Kade was in charge and chose to watch a new movie called Klause. It was really and had a great feel good message. “A true selfless act always sparks another.”

Dressing Up

We had tithing settlement at the church this afternoon  so we all got dressed up in our fancy church clothes to go to church. The kids were so excited to dress up nice and go to church! That never seemed to be the case pre-coronial times. It’s funny what you end up missing when things change.

Baby Yoda

We pulled out our yoda costume this morning and Luke has been wearing it al day. He even took a nap in it and wore it to Cafe Rio when we picked up dinner. He’s adorable in it!

Our local church is putting on a drive in movie this weekend. They are playing Christmas music continually. We stopped to listen for a minute tonight and got to hear my favorite song “It Is Well with My Soul.” It’s a fun event and I hope people are able to enjoy it.

Light Saber Battles

We were hoping to go skiing today, but the ski hill had to postpone opening because they don’t have enough snow yet. We were disappointed but hopefully next Friday we’ll be skiing!

The boys played lots of fun games downstairs. They showed me their light saber battle which was fun to see.

Yesterday Kade, Luke and I got our flu shot but Tenley and Ryder didn’t want to. I decided to let them and then maybe if they got the flu this year they’d want to get a flu shot from now on. But today they both decided they should get a shot so we went and got it done! They were nervous but it went well and no one cried!

Kade had a basketball game that Brad went to. And Kade made a shot! Woo boo! He was so happy.

Peppermint Fog

We had another sunny and warm day today! It was nice to see the kids outside playing on the trampoline and riding their bikes and scooters. 

It got colder tonight thought and a dense fog rolled in. We were hoping to catch a view of the northern lights but the visibility was too low. The kids had fun playing in the fog though. And I’m not even kidding, it smelled like peppermint outside! It was very strange. The kids are convinced that Santa is coming early! Lol

Show and Tell

Tenley and Ryder were able to bring Keena into school for show and tell today. They were so excited to show him off and Keena loved meeting some other dogs. He was pretty wild, but it worked out ok.

On the way home with Luke, Kade and the dog I decided to stop at the park to enjoy this rare warm December day. It was 50 degrees at 9 am! Luke loved going down the slide with Kade over and over again. Keena loved having so much space to run around in.  I loved hearing Luke giggle. It was a great morning.

Dancing

I let Ryder choose our exercise this morning and he wanted to dance! I love dancing with my kids. We found some fun Zumba videos online and we definitely got our hearts rate up! Ryder doesn’t really follow the dancers, but I’m so impressed by his moves! He could be a great break dancer. It was a fun way to start the morning.

Christmas Countdown

We changed our school schedule up a little bit and did art and piano first thing this morning. Ryder has been begging to make a Christmas countdown so we had to make sure that got done. Luke loves joining in on the project and coloring his own paper. 17 more days!

The Christmas Devotional

We had a good Sunday at home today. We were able to watch Stake Conference from home which made it much easier to entertain the kids rather than being at the church. 

We had some friends invite us over for dinner and to watch the Christmas Devotional with them. The kids had a blast playing with their friends and I love the drive out to their house. We got to drive along the river most of the way. It was a fun night.

Brad put another star up on our house last night and I finally got a decent picture of the light!