Snow Squall

Our phones went off alerting us that there was a snow squall advisory.  I had to google it… what’s a snow squall??  Then I looked out the window and saw exactly what it was.  Wow!!  It didn’t take long until it moved up the mountain and we were covered in a snow-fog-storm.  Kind of cool looking.  (But you definitely don’t want to be out driving in it!) 

Busted

She’s a modest girl that doesn’t need any fanfare. In fact if you watch her vacuuming the stairs without being asked, she’ll run away before you can smother her with hugs and kisses. 

Merry Christmas 🎁

Christmas was magical! The kids all slept downstairs in Morgan’s room and had their traditional Christmas sleepover (except for Miles who slept in his room.. he’s getting too old and he’s particular about his sleep.) 

The kids were spoiled, like usual… I start out planning to not do much, but then I forgot and spoiled them.  Sue me! 

After opening presents, we took the kids to Mike’s offices where they found this… 

A trip to HAWAII! As they came in we handed them a drink and put a lei around their neck. They were surprised and SO excited. 

We head out the first week of April.  🥳

I got them each a Turkish beach towel- let’s hope they live up to the hype. At least they will be easy to fit in a suitcase. 

One of Will’s gifts was this fancy Pokémon set he’s been wanting… I had to hunt for awhile and pay a premium 🙄 but I got one! 

Will was so excited to open it. He asked if we could open it together without anyone around. He was so nervous.  So we found some time to sneak off and open it. 

This was the BEST part of the day for me… and Will! Watching him open Pokémon cards is the cutest thing ever. It’s a whole process; open the pack face-down, take three cards from the top and move them to the bottom (so the best card in the pack is last), then flip around and look at the cards one at a time.  He gets so anxious as he gets closer to the last card in each pack. 

Then something UNBELIEVABLE happened… he got to the last card of one of the packs and he turned over the super rare shiny Charizard V. It’s the collector card for this set, and it’s super rare to get one.  He started shaking and saying “I can’t believe this! I can’t believe this!”. According to Will, it may have been the best thing to ever happen to him. It took him the rest of the day to settle down and breath normally again. 😉 Cutest thing ever! I’ve never seen a happier boy. 

We ordered a collector box to keep it in perfect condition and now it sits proudly on his desk. 

Will bumping into friends while trying out his new fancy-leather light orange basketball. They are the new thing. Matthew got one too! 

We caught some bug over the Christmas break (possibly Covid- but who knows), so we hung at home all week after Christmas. 

This is my favorite picture of Ivy playing around with the filters on Morgan’s phone. So cute 👹 

Ivy was the sickest, poor little thing. Miles cuddled her and rubbed her back like the caring big brother he is. 

A few years ago the older kid and I started having a Hunger Games Marathon over the Christmas Break, and this year we kept the tradition alive.  

Sicko Ivy slept most of the break away. Other than fighting some virus, we had an awesome Christmas! 💕 

Christmas Eve 🎄

I love our little nativity sets! This year we added the white porcelain one in the back that was my Grandma and Grandpa Thomassans.

Christmas cards are one of my favorite parts of December.  We are missing some that were delivered to our old address, but it’s been years now people… get your addresses right or you don’t make the wall. 

Our little name tags turned out cute on the tables. 

Lining up youngest to oldest to see that the Julenissa left in their shoe. 🧝 

Boondocks gift cards!  

The cousin gift exchange.  Always a hit! 

We changed up the left/right pass game and did this instead:

Katie and Brent brought Bailey. 😍

Our first Christmas without my dad… It was hard for all of us, but he was there celebrating with us! 

Then home to Christmas Jammies from William. Mike and Miles got a hat since they are lame about pajamas. 

Tomorrow’s Christmas!!!  

December happenings…

Ivy is obsessed with William, and the older kids are obsessed with making it fun for her.  They helped with that part of December and made it such a fun experience.  Here’s a few of places we found William this month:

Is that mini chocolate chips I see?  🤣

Christmas shopping with friends!

The ornament we made this year with the activity day girls.  They turned out so cute! 😍 

Morgan helped me address 190 Chrimas cards. I was so grateful for the help; and Morgan has the cutest handwriting!! 😍

Santa came to the ward party again! 

Ivy went Ice Skating with the Mickelsons - all that roller skating this year paid off!!  

Meg playing Christmas duets with her piano teacher. 🎶 💕 

We took the kids to the giving machine in City Creek.  It only took us a minute to decide what we wanted to get…  

We decided to buy a family a reliable toilet.  We all felt that was what we would want if we didn’t have one.  

Grandma and Grandpa Dehner stopped in for a few days after the basketball tournament.  The kids loved seeing them! 

Grandpa helped Ivy with some homework…

It’s been a great December so far!!  

Miles’ Basketball Tournament🏀

The high school team had a 3-day tournament in St George.  Mike and I really wanted to go, so Morgan very generously watched the kids for us while we went.  She’s the best!!  She got everyone where they needed to be and took care of all their needs! I’m so grateful because it was so fun for Mike and I to go watch Miles. 

Miles did great! The sophomores and JV teams went undefeated (3-0 for both teams)! 

This is me being mean and compiling some screenshots of Miles taking a ball to the face. 😂I probably laughed harder than I should have as I put the video in slow motion and watched it about 100 times. He wasn’t hurt so I felt okay about laughing. 

He even got a little JV time! This went in by the way!!  

Grandma and Grandpa were coming to visit during this time so when the tournament came up, they decided to stay with Aunt Diana and come watch Miles play.   It was fun to have them come join us! 

Matt takes care of all Miles’ hydration needs! He’s the best! 

On the way home we decided Miles needed some freeway practice so we had him drive the last 2 1/2 hours.  It was his first time driving like that on the freeway and he did great! (A little terrifying a couple of times, but that is to be expected!)  He’s feeling so old to me lately. 😭