A New Year

It's 2018!
We went to our friends house for a little party last night (I can't believe I didn't even take one picture).  The kids were finally fever free and I felt okay about going somewhere.  We had yummy snacks, played bean boozled, and lit some fireworks.  We celebrated the new year at 10 and then went home.  I wasn't feeling the best, so I got in bed and thought about just going to sleep.  I can't remember the last time I wasn't awake at midnight on past new years.  I really can't.  It must have been when I was a little kid.  Anyway, I was still awake at 11:45, so I got up and dragged our tree over to the Dunkley's house with Allie.  There were 5 trees there this year and our tree didn't burn all the way.  It never does.  I think I'll leave it home next year because I hate to make them deal with my non burned tree in their yard.
Anyway, Allie and I were the hard core ones this year.  We came home to a sleeping house and then we went to bed too.
We had to get up early to go to Star Valley the next day.  We had a great time riding in the field (even though there wasn't much snow there), and playing on the ice at the river.  Grandpa Joe treated us to a pizza party and then we went back home.  The kids had a great time.  It's always fun to start the year off with the blue skies of Star Valley.

 We were nervous to go out on the ice at first because Mike kept breaking through.  But then we discovered that he was only breaking through the top layer and there was thick ice underneath.  So, they had fun breaking the ice apart and tossing it.

Happy New Year!

The Table

Jake started asking if we could have a ping pong table months ago.  I thought it might be nice because I want our house to be a fun place to bring friends, so we decided to get one for the kids for Christmas.  They love it.  

It's a whole lot bigger than I would have expected, but we have made it work.
Yay for fun toys!

Christmas Day

Mike and I stayed up way too late putting together a ping pong table.  I just wanted to sleep and sleep, but the kids were up at 6 trying to get us out there for the fun.
Allie said "I have butterflies in my stomach...I'm so excited!"
Then Jason said, "well, I have dragons in my stomach!" 
I guess the feeling of dragons flying around is a lot more intense than butterflies. 

 I realized that I didn't take any pictures of the kids on Christmas morning.  What a slacker I am!  Jake got some erector sets and clothes, and stuff for the PS4.  He was happy with his haul.  Allie got a doll head with real hair that she can style. She also got some skis and clothes.  She was happy too.
Nate got a race car track, nerf gun, PS4 controller, and laser tag gun.  Jason got a batman mask, legos, laser tag, and a nerf gun.  They all got some fun treats and books.  They were all really excited with each thing and we were able to breathe a sigh of relief that everyone was happy.
Everyone was excited about the ping pong table.  I am so annoyed that I didn't take any pictures!

We also woke up to some snow on Christmas morning.  The kids all went out to play and Mike pulled them around behind the wheeler.  The only pictures I got of all that were of Allie and her perfectly formed snowball.  She thought it was pretty great.

Anyway, the day was wonderful.  I had a big nap and then laid low all day because I got the fever that some of the others had earlier in the week.  The kids fended for themselves and played with their toys.  It was a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was nice.  We had sacrament meeting at 9 and then came home to face the rest of the day.  The kids had fun playing together and we cooked and baked. 

We headed to hang out with cousins later on that day.  We had the traditional Nativity scene.
Little Julia was sick, so Allie had to resume her role as Mary.  I think Nate was Joseph and the others were just random shepherds or something.  Dallin was a star.

We opened gifts and then put together a little gingerbread man.

The kids had fun.  Then we went home to get ready for Santa!

The kids all slept in the same room together.  I don't think there were any issues this year.  Allie went in there prepared with several ipods in case one died and she couldn't listen to her books all night as she slept (she still plays Harry Potter all night long). 
Jake ended up sleeping on the floor because he was afraid someone would pee on him...a very real possibility.

Christmas is so fun with kids. 

New Carpet

Right before Christmas, when life is calm and easy, we decided to put new carpet in the whole house.  (Could you read the sarcasm about the calm and easy?).  We had to do it over a 4 day period of time because we had to move everything out of each room and then move it back.  For some reason, I didn't take many pictures.  Probably because I was worried people would see them and turn me in to be on an episode of Hoarders; Buried Alive.

The boy's room was one of the hardest.  We had to take apart the bunk bed and then try to put it back together again.  Luckily we were able to do it with only one broken piece.  I don't know if that bed will ever leave that room again.

 We put a patterned carpet in our room and it looks really nice.  Not a great picture, but I am too lazy to go take pictures and then come back to the post.  I'll probably regret that later.

When Mike put the basement back together, he re-arranged the couches.  I don't know why this is the only picture I have, but it's cute to see all the boys hanging out together.  I'm sure they're playing the xbox.

There's a picture of Mike's office.

It's really hard to photograph rooms without a wide angle lens.  I can't really do the pictures justice, so that's probably why I didn't really take any. 

Anyway, we really like the new carpet.  It's so soft and cushy on bare feet.  It was a big project, and stressful to do right as we were trying to do all the holiday things, but it's so great now.  Yay for new carpet!
Woe be unto the first kid who stains it.  :)

Dance

Allie's dance studio had a Christmas show this year.  It was the first time they've ever had one beyond the one they do in the spring.

Allie danced in two songs (Let It Go and Oh, Santa) and it was fun to see her out on stage. 
We were on the very last row of the auditorium so the boys had a bit of room to explore behind us.  Go Allie!

Grinch Feast

Things are busier and busier and I don't get around to doing all the cute things I used to do when Allie and Jake were little.  I am sad about it, but I can't get bogged down in all the things I used to do.  Instead, we'll write about the things I still do.  Even if I used to do them better.
We had our Grinch Feast.  We ate Who Rare Roast Beast, Who Hash, Grinch punch, and little Grinch faces. 
I had to pull things together quickly, so we didn't do it as cute as you can, but the kids enjoyed it.  We watched The Grinch (the old version) as we ate.  They were all happy. 

Santa Ted

We've had a visit from Santa Ted for a few years now and the kids look forward to it so much.  The olders now know that our neighbor, Ted, is Santa and this year, he brought a little elf that Nate actually knew from school. 

Jason sat on his lap and told him he wanted a real motorcycle.  One like Grandpa Joe's that he can ride.

Nate told him he wanted a remote control car.

Allie wasn't sure...

...and neither was Jake.  They both just said they'd be happy with anything.

Santa Ted is a Patriots fan and he knew that the Steelers had just suffered a sad loss, so he was comforting Mike.

He tried to get all our kids to cheer for the Patriots, but none of them would fall for that nonsense. 

On another note, I think this was the first time that Santa Ted has come and the kids haven't been fighting.  They usually are.  So that's always nice.

Yay for Christmas Santas!

Art

Nate has been bringing home some gems from school.

This one says "My favorite Christmas tradition is picking off the candycans" (candy canes).
He was embarrassed about his tree and seemed to think it wasn't good.  I love it.  I also love the little candy canes.

This one says "I love the holidays because I get presins" (presents) Cool!