2022

2022 has been a great year and ringing in the new year in the mountains with family has been amazing! We’ve had such a great time playing in the snow, enjoying the hot tub, and eating delicious food. I’m excited for the new year!

Playing in the Snow

We had fun exploring and playing in the snow today. Brad helped the kids build a sledding hill that they had a great time using all morning. Travis and Calli showed up and Travis made us all Thai food. It was delicous! We’ve played a lot of games and are having a great time together.

Cabin Getaways

We met up with the Murdocks and Haddons in Island Park for our New Years party today! There is a lot of snow here! It’s gorgeous. The kids got in the hot tub tonight and enjoyed the beautiful winter wonderland. 

Warmer Weather

The weather has warmed up and the snow has melted! The kids played outside and we got the Christmas lights down which is sad but I always love a new year so I’m looking forward to January and ringing in the New Year with family!

Open Gym

The boys got to have free play at their ninja gym for 2 hours today. They haven’t ever played all together there and Kade was sweet enough to hang out with them most of the time. I’m glad they got out of the house and ran out their energy! Luke was so tired he fell asleep on the couch after dinner.

Christmas Presents

We’ve been enjoying our new Christmas presents! I got to run on the beach in Hawaii this morning thanks to my new treadmill. Kade used it as well. And Ryder and Luke spent all day building legos. I’m really loving this relaxing week with everyone home!

Christmas Day

The kids weren’t too excited about Christmas Day falling on a Sunday this year but I actually loved it. We even got to drive to church all together! Our sacrament service started an our later than normal which gave us time to have our omelette and cinnamon roll breakfast. We enjoyed lots of beautiful music for the service. I got to play one of my favorite Christmas hymns, Joy to the World, and then Brad as our bishop shared his thoughts of Christmas at the end of the meeting. He shared how in Spanish ‘mas’ means more so we can think of Christmas as more Christ. I like that thought. We can always use more Christ in our lives. Having more Christ in our lives means more joy, more peace, more understanding, more love. 

We came home and finally opened presents! The kids were so patient. They loved their presents and enjoyed playing with them the rest of the day. We hung out downstairs all day and really enjoyed being together! It was the best day. 

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve. We spent a lot of time cooking and delivering gifts and then we had a delcious turkey feast for dinner. The kids opened their new pajamas and we watched a Christmas movie and had chocolate cake for dessert. The kids went to bed so excited for tomorrow!

A Ski Day

We finally got up to the ski hill for the first time this winter. It was actualy warmer there than it is in town! But it was still pretty cold. The snow was really nice and powdery though so it was worth it. Luke had made so much progress! He was skiing down the bunny hill with little help at all from me. Tenley was the leader and he followed her turns pretty well. He was worn out by the end of the day but I think we all had fun!

Simple Pleasures

I got some last minute Christmas shopping done. I’m hoping to not have to go back to the store until after Christmas now. While Tenley and I were out we picked up a cake pop and Frappuccino at Starbucks. She may be the only crazy enough to be ordering a Frappuccino on a day where the temperature high is -14 degrees. That’s my Tenley girl!

We also tried to capture the steam swirling around Ryder as he entered the house from outside with his Darh Vader costume on. It didn’t work too well.

Indoor Activities

It is cold here in Montana!! Currently it’s -27 degrees with wind chills as low as -60. It’s pretty crazy. I came in the front door from shoveling our driveway and the kids said I looked like Darth Vader entering with all the steam I had behind me and my black coat and gator. Lol. My eyelashes nearly froze together. You would think anything below freezing would just be freezing but there is definitely a noticeable 60 degree difference. It burns your skin and your throat. It is frigid! So we spent a lot of time inside today. Luckily Luke had his ninja class and then we went to the library. It was good to get out even if we had to be in the cold for a few seconds.

Tenley’s Program

Ryder missed his Christmas program yesterday, but I got to see Tenley’s today! She played her flute in the band and sang with the choir. I loved it! She did a great job. 

Tonight I showed the rest of the family the videos of her program and asked the boys to sing me some songs since they didn’t have a program. They decided to sing me Jinge Bells while shaking their booties! Lol. It made me laugh. And then Luke sang Rudolph all by himself. He has it memorized. It was soooooo cute!

Kade’s Basketball Season

Kade had his last basketball game of the season tonight. If they would have one they would have played in the championship game but they lost. It was still a really great game! Kade took a charge from a 6’3” boy on the other team. I was proud of him for standing his ground. It sounded like it hurt! He had a great season and improved a lot! I can’t wait for next year!

Luke

Luke is still the happiest and healthiest out of us all. Although Tenley is a close second. She feeling a lot better. I joined the rest of them on the couch today. It hit me after church and I’ve been very lethargic. It should be a fun week of Christmas programs so hopefully in the morning we all wake up much better. For now, I’m so glad Luke’s smile and laughter are filling our house.

Christmas Piano Recital

The kids had their Christmas piano recital this morning but only Tenley was feeling well enough to go. It was sad that we couldn’t all be there. It was also said that Kade missed his basketball tournament game this morning. And it was really sad to remember that we should have been in Boise today celebrating our niece’s wedding with family. At least Luke got me to smile with his fun getup and his cool music! 😂 And Tenley had me smiling her her beautiful rendition of “Deck the Halls” that she arranged herself!