Christmas Break

The day after Christmas we packed up and headed to Idaho to spend some time with family. Our first stop was Idaho a Falls to play with the Nulphs and Grandma Julie. One of the days we went up to Fat Cats in Rexburg to introduce our kids to miniature golf. We also made a day out of it by bowling. 

 (WhichI beat Matt at. Yay!)  and then we waisted our money at the arcade. 

Another day we went sledding and the kids stayed out forever even though it was freezing!

Heather and Jason introduced Matt and I to The card games Hand and Foot. We quickly became addicted. 

Our time in Idaho Falls ended when we headed to Grace for some Washburn family time. 

Christmas

Christmas Eve  day I took the kids ice skating while Matt worked. Ice skating is something they are becoming addicted too.   Christmas Eve we invited the Plaisteds over to have a waffle dinner with us. After we played some games and then jumped into bed in our new Christmas jammies. At 2 o'clock in the morning I heard some rustling in the living room. I discovered Jacks going through his stocking! I sent him back to bed however I don't think he slept much as he woke us all up a couple of hours later. He could not stand it any longer!  

We opened presents, made and ate breakfast, played with our new toys, and then headed to the golf course to go sledding. The Sandalls and Plaisteds were there which made it even that more fun.  After sledding the kids and Matt headed to the church gym to play with some new toys. They boys got new BYU basketballs and drones. 

We had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

Christmas

We got new stockings to hang this year! That was partially due to the fact that our old ones had a mishap during Christmas last year. They melted in front of the fireplace. Oops!  We had left for Christmas vacation and forgot to turn the fireplace gage down. So as the house got cold, the fireplace continually ran to raise the house temperature, thus getting very hot and melting the stockings. To be honest, I love the new stockings and and glad we got these. 

We had a great Christmas season and enjoyed all of the parties we got to enjoy with our friends and families. 

Dance!

Jemma participated in a dance clinic for a couple of days and at the end they danced at the high school basketball tournament. Emily and Jemma had a great time doing the clinic together and having an audience to perform for. 

Piano Recital

The boys piano teacher decided to have a Halloween recital. It was something different, but we all had a very fun time. The boys also did great on their piano pieces. 

Thanksgiving

As always, the holiday season approaches very quickly. 

The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to Jackson Hole for a swim meet. Bennett did very well and we were all excited that Heather, Ethan, Brogan, Kinzlee, and Grandma Julie met us there and stayed in the same hotel. After Bennett swam, we went to the hotel to eat pizza and go swimming. It was a great weekend with fun family. And to make it better, Grandma Julie followed us home and spent Thanksgiving with us. 

Thanksgiving brought many surprises. Such as the 2 feet of snow!  

And no surprise is that I didn't get any pictures of our Thanksgiving, other than the vegetable turkey that Jemma made. She was pretty proud of it! After we ate dinner, Bennett and Matt helped the neighbors out with their snow removal business while they were out of town and plowed driveways and shoveled sidewalks. They were tired and cold when they finally made it back inside. 

It was a very relaxing and peaceful Thanksgiving. We have so many blessings in our lives to be thankful for. The biggest one being our eternal family. 

Halloween

Halloween was on a Saturday this year, so we had plenty of time to get ourselves ready for the nights festivities. As usual the kids went to Main Streèt to do a little pre-trick-or-treating. When we got home we fixed dinner and invited the Plaisteds over for some soup and sandwiches. And then we headed to Indian Lookout to trick-or-treat. After begging for candy at everyone's door, we headed to the Johnston house to walk through their spooky backyard. It was a cold and exciting Halloween night!

Monster Apples

The best kind of dinner is the kind the kids make themselves. Yay!

First Lost Tooth

Jemma lost her 1st tooth!

Technically, she lost her 1st three teeth. And the dentist had to pull them out. Her bottom permanent teeth started growing in and her baby teeth weren't even loose. We went to the dentist, who gave her some happy gas to relax her. As she was giggling and dancing in her chair, the teeth were pulled. She happily got out of her chair and received her tokens for a prize and skipped out of the office. And then she put her hand to her mouth and saw the blood that came with it, and began to sob. We had to go back into the office to get more gauze and clean up her mouth. When she saw herself in the bathroom mirror she began to cry even harder. Once she calmed down, she became more and more excited to write her letter to the Toothfairy and get her teeth under her pillow. 

On a side note, if her roots are as long as these 3 were then we will be visiting the dentist office a lot more. 

Pumpkin Patch

Enough said. 

Hunting Season

This year was Bennett's first year to deer hunt in Idaho. 

The boys headed to Deer Camp and met up with Grandpa Tom and Uncle Brian. 

After hunting foe a few days, Bennett finally got his first deer. 

I don't know much of the stories up there, I only get the "What happens at deer camp, stays at deer camp"

But I do know what they boys had the time of their life. 

Repelling

Jacks went on the overnight camp out with Matt and the scouts. The activity that they did the next day was repelling. Jacks was a little nervous, but trusted that they wouldn't let him fall. He had a great day, and an awesome experience!

Student Coucil

Bennett decided to run for student counsel rep. And he made it!  

He had to write a speech to run, instead we came up with the idea to make a video. He spent the day filming and he took to class the next day. It was awesome! And the class voted him in. Congratulations Bennett!