New Years 2019

First things first.

Get the bacon wrapped sausages into the oven....

Next...help the youths get ready for the dance.

The three amigos are going as Harry, Ron and Hermione...a decision only reached after much agonizing and dozens of "helpful suggestions" provided by their super smart moms.

Mathew decided on a classic tux look...he can be whoever you want him to be! James Bond? yes! Fred Estaire...you guessed it.

The rest of us settled in for a puzzle. We actually completed this one. That's a first!

We always celebrate Regina's birthday...it can be a real bummer to have your birthday over New Years.

The Guenthers and Flynns were chaperoning the dance, so we had to settle for red party cups instead of their fancy plastic champagne flutes we use every year... so it really had that kegger feel.

Goodbye 2019!!

Everly's talk

She read it!

Good riddance

As much as we love the magic...we need all of this OUT OF HERE.

It's got to go! I crave vacuum lines and clear surfaces!

Shopping spree

Grandma Jean sent them gift cards for Christmas...they'd already burned holes in several pockets and we knew we needed to get our shopping on....pronto.

I'd say they landed on three things: Barbies, fuzzy blankets,

And rootbeer!

Let's hope DHS never has a reason to peruse our photo albums....

Christmas Day 2019!!

Territories were laid. I love Mat and Meg sitting in the corner hanging out and waiting for Dad to come down.

He was taking quite a while...there was time for a quick puzzle.

Permission was granted to explore the stockings!

Everyone freeze! We need to put up the star! Eefie's turn!

My favorite thing about this year was the way the kids stepped in over and over to help each other out. Anna on standby to help with any difficult words...

Everyone one watching with smiles as Everly pried her massive unicorn out of the Santa bag....

I made the mistake of giving Laney a Tamagotchi....it was the worst gift ever. It was beeping and she couldn't understand the instructions. She cried for at least 15 minutes and yelled, "I hate that thing!"

Mathew did his level best to help her learn about it and see that it could be fun. In the end, he agreed to adopt it.

She LOVED her wolf statue, though! She's just not a techy kid...lesson learned!

I got a watercolor kit.. I'm so excited to try it out! Mark did his research and got me things I didn't even know I needed! Love is in the details!

Mark got lots of Rogue and Cubs gear...

And we got to enjoy watching the kids have a fun morning.

Anna got her stylin boots and a massive pile of scrunchies.

Mathew got the Vector...an adorable little robot. He was a little excited!

Megan had a hard time making a wish list this year, so I went with my gut and got her this cute chalkboard calendar....it's exactly what her organized, color-coded heart needs!

Ethan got a DNA kit...that boy loves family history...if only we could give him the gift of Viking ancestry!

He spent most of the morning reading through the genealogy book that Grandma Jean sent us.

Everly got so so so many Barbies (borbees). She is set for the day!

We kicked around and played with our toys the rest of the day....Mark and Mat talked computers and we all snuggled down in our new fuzzy blankets (we gave each other SOOO many)

Mark and I snuck in a quick workout...

And the girls were engrossed in their Barbie dramas.

It was a wonderful Christmas!!

Christmas Eve Activities

The Guenthers texted on Christmas Eve morning and floated the idea of going up to the visitor's center to walk around and take some time to focus in on the Savior. We thought that was a great idea! And Ethan was excited to meet up with Elder Broburg again. Those two seemed to bond when he served in our ward.

We spent the rest of the day waiting for the day to pass....and making pork barbacoa. It's the perfect Christmas Eve meal...plenty of time to do the work and always lots of leftover we can eat on Christmas day!

Bingo time!

 Mathew wins first!

Dwight Schrute t-shirt and cotton pants that are cool enough that they can go from seminary to school. I searched high and low for those.                                                 

Ethan gets to take his turn as "the caller".

Next up....Megan!

All she needs is oversized and supersoft. Check and check!

My turn! Mark knows I love grey and stripes!

Laney loves her snow leopard footie pajamas!

Ah! A tie! Anna and Ethan win together....so they open together....

 Everly is doing so great...she didn't even get teary when she didn't win until the second to last....mermaid footie jammies are her reward!

And finally...Mark almost got a black out before he won.

Well worth the wait for Rogue gear.

I love this tradition...I'm so glad everyone is home to play ❤️

Mark read them the night before Christmas and then Luke 2.

The were off to bed and warned not to come out. Santa needs time to set up...he's not a miracle worker!

Mark went off to bed, but I had one more little surprise to make for his stocking...

Sweet dreams!