Saturday, we did a little shopping and ran some errands with the Ryerses. Dave ran into a good friend who he grew up with and his wife who grew up with me, the Youngs. So that was pretty fun. Then we just hung out with all of the both families that day. We went to downtown Salt Lake with the Stoddards to see the candy windows at Macy's, then over to the Conference Center for a tour, which was perfect and then saw the lights at Temple Square. Then we went back to the Ryerses to see Shirley & Jeff and Julie, Todd and new niece McKenzie. It was fun seeing the babies react to each other. McKenzie is a mover and she is famous for her pouty faces! It was such a happy night!
Christmas Eve, we woke up and got ready for church. We went to the Canyon Estates ward, the ward I grew up in. It has changed a lot since I was there but there are still a lot of mostly older couples now I know and it was fun to see them. So many great people who had an impact on me! My mom played the piano and my dad sang in the choir. It was very nice and the speakers were great. One sister talked about serving always and reveling in Christmas and what it is and what it represents. She said she thinks Satan hates Christmas because of all of the good that is done and the thoughts going up heavenward. Interesting and true. We fill the world with the Spirit as we do these things. Glory to the newborn King! I love when Christmas/ or Christmas Eve is on Sunday. Then we went and did Sydnie's baby blessing. We hung out with the family that afternoon and just chatted. We celebrated Brian's birthday next with the pinata and spice cake. Then we went to the Stoddard's for our family Christmas Eve dinner and program. We saw Mark, Mayela & Amber for the first time. First, we had soups and breads for dinner. Then we had a program, where everyone did something. The kids all dressed up and performed for us a bit. Then Cov sang "Mr. Grinch" with me, Lucy played "Jingle Bells", Cal did some gymnastics moves, and Emma played "Silent Night" on the piano, I bore my testimony, and Dave held the baby for his talent and all of the cousins and aunts and uncles and my parents did something. My mom read the story of "The last Christmas Straw" and gave us all a little nativity to go with it. It was a sweet story and she began crying as she read it and the grandkids went up to her to hug her. The Spirit was definitely there. Then we sang a bunch of carols together and it was a great night. We went back to the Ryerses, where we were staying, and got the kids put to bed, which wasn't super tricky this year. Then Dave, Randy, Brian, Ryan and I watched midnight mass on TV and hit up 7-11 and Walgreens after midnight.
Christmas morning was so nice! We got up not too early, around 7:30, so it was doable. We had to wait for Grandpa Dan & Grandma Sue to wake up, which was torture for these guys. They were so happy to finally be able to line up and go see what Santa had brought. Emma got a Project Mc2 science kit, an orbeez spa, and some hair chalk, Cal got some heel wheels and a drone, Lucy got a Hatchimal, Cov got a light up LED suit, and Sydnie got some little baby toys, socks, and bows, along with some stocking things, of course. They were all delighted to get what they wanted (Cal wanted a segway but decided the heel wheels were like segways for his feet) and were so excited and kept saying how nice Santa is. I love seeing them play with their stuff together and the excitement of Christmas. We played with our stuff for a while, then went to the Stoddard again, to open gifts with everyone there and to have lunch. It was a fun afternoon of food, playing all day and visiting - the best kind of Christmas. Aunt Christie and Uncle Rex also came over so that was good. Then we were back at the Ryerses for opening gifts with them. Everybody loved our Guess Who games we made with the family's faces in them. We've been having a ball with our set we made as well. The kids got some fun things from family. Then we played more, had a turkey dinner, and went to bed with happy feelings from a good day with family celebrating the Giver of all good gifts.
The rest of the week was full of fun with family and friends!
Tuesday, we woke up early and went to see Star Wars at 8 a.m. And yes, we did get popcorn haha. It was a great movie! The boys all sat together and Jerry & Stacy had the girls. The kids loved it! After, Cov went around with the reusable popcorn tin lid on his head and said he was the "black BB8" K2-SO. We also had sleepovers, and that was fun. Cal and Kaison are crazy fun. We all got haircuts that day. Cal got a haircut, and asked for a mullet...so Stacy kind of cut it that way for a few minutes until she cut it short. We played with the little ones, did some card and board games, art work, and had a dance party in the basement with the kids. We also went out to dinner at Cafe Rio with Meghan and Adam which was so fun since we don't see them as much as the rest of the family. We love them!
Wednesday was friend day - we met up with the gang, some of my high school friends and their families. We had breakfast at Curtis and Stacie's house and got to meet their new little guy. It was great to catch up with everyone and we missed the few that couldn't make it home. Then I met up with Keri, Calena, and Michelle for lunch at Applebees. Great ladies, glad to see them again! The rest of the day, we hung out at Grandma and Grandpas.
Dave and I got to go to the Bountiful temple together. It was beautiful. I love this temple and it's so nice to be so close. Then we just hung out with family again and played together.
Friday, I met up with some ladies to go to the temple again. It was wonderful but I didn't have time to go to lunch with them. We ran some other errands and then we headed up for our family reunion in Lyman, WY. More on that later, it was a blast!
Sunday evening, we got back for the Ryerses just in time for a New Years Eve party. We did some side walk chalk and played outside and Lucy exclaimed "It feels like summer here!" The temperatures in Scobey while we were gone topped -37! Even church was canceled because of extreme cold. Luckily, we missed out on it all. We had some yummy party food, did some fireworks (we've been holding onto them since this past summer) and learned according to Lucy that breathing in the smoke is bad for your heart, played fun games like our snowman dress up game, watched the ball drop and made lots of noise - the usual! Always fun to welcome in the new year!
New Years Day, we packed up and headed out bright and early in the morning. We made it home in one day. It was a long drive with having to stop for the baby, but our kids are troopers. I think Sydnie cried the last two hours straight, she was done! But we made it. We saw the most gorgeous, huge moon. Picture doesn't do it justice!
New Years Goals 2018
Sunday Goals -
2. Second Sunday of the month - work on family history. Find at least one name for Emma to take to the temple.
3. Third Sunday of the month - Work on Faith in God/CTR challenge for the youngers and Cub or Girl Scout religious requirements.
4. Do a service project or plan and prep for one.
Spiritual goals -
1. Read the BofM every day and the Old Testament - finish it all in a year by reading and listening.
2. Memorize the Living Christ.
3. Share an Article of Faith each month on social media and explain it.
Talent development -
1. Practice organ once a month.
2. Finish Cov and Sydnie's baby books and the 2017 album.
Physical development -
1. Sweets on Monday night and one other night only.
2. Prepare meals with more vegetables and less fat more.
3. Keep exercising 30 minutes for 5x a week at least.
4. Participate in a fitness class.
Self reliance goals -
1. Save more money. Don't buy unnecessary stuff.
2. Redo the 72 hours kits.
Other -
1. Call a friend or family member (besides Mom or Amy) once a week.
When we got home, we opened our presents from each other. Dave & I got the kids a new trampoline, which has the enclosure net, a volleyball/badmitton net, and a basketball hoop inside. They can't wait for it to warm up so we can set it up! They also got a Lego nativity, which they were jazzed about! Then the kids gave their gifts to each other. Emma had Callahan and bought him an inflatable indoor snow fort, made him a bunch of yarn pom pom "snowballs" to have indoor snowball fights with. Emma also got Cov and Lucy some little stuffed animals - a unicorn for Lucy and a gorilla for Cov. She didn't have to but said she really wanted to. Out of the $50 gift certificate she got from our downtown stroll, she only bought some lip gloss and a sequin sleep mask for herself. Everything else was for other people. What a sweetheart. Callahan gave Covey a Nutcracker that they could paint together, so they did that a few weeks later. Cov has an obsession with nutcrackers and was really happy to get his own. "Thank you, buddy!" he kept saying to Cal. Lucy (with a lot of help from me ;) ) wanted to make Emma and Jazzy matching outfits. So we made Jazzy a Peter Pan style collar and made Emma a Peter Pan collared shirt. Emma's face lit up when she saw it and has been treasuring it since. Cov helped me sew a little drawstring bundle bag for Lucy and so she could put her makeup in it. We tried to get a makeup set at our drugstore but they were out of stock. Luckily, Lucy got one for Christmas that fit in there perfectly. She went right away and put her treasures in. Hugs were all around and it was so sweet to see the thought and effort they put into each other's gifts. Wherever you celebrate it, Christmas is always the best, but it's the best of the best at home.
