This year we had two Christmases – one with the Grandkids Thanksgiving weekend and then of course one in December. I always love the cozy feeling of Christmas and the gifts are fun to plan and give, but my favorite part is being surrounded by and having fun with our family. I hope our children and grandchildren will always want to come home and continue making wonderful memories with each other.
This year we gathered at Pat & Wally’s for a yummy smoked turkey dinner. Loren, Ann and kids came from WA, Madeleine came from CA and the other kids came from Provo. 😉 We packed the weekend full with a trip to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, decorating for Christmas and then celebrating Christmas with the Grandkiddos since they won’t be here for Christmas. You can never have too many Christmases, right? See Christmas for those pics…
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We had a great holiday with family and friends. My favorite parts were having the “big” and the little kids act out the nativity on Christmas Eve and of course, talking to Elder Brown on Christmas Day! Oh, and there was that time that we played in the snow making snow angels and sledding down the neighbor’s hill. Fun.
This year we took Elliot and headed to sunny AZ to celebrate Thanksgiving with Tess and Trevor. Madeleine joined us from San Diego. We were a small group but pretty much filled up their apartment! It was fun to “see the lights” at the Mesa Temple. Kinda crazy to celebrate the holiday with people in shorts and sweatshirts.
Just a few pics of the kiddos in their new Easter outfits – complete with sunglasses! This year Alan’s parents invited us to Easter dinner at their house. I was thrilled since I had to speak in sacrament meeting that morning!
The next weekend was General Conference and the kids came and had a sleepover at our house. Totally fun to have a houseful after so much quiet. In keeping with tradition (meaning we did it with Kenyon), we gave Emmy a bath in the kitchen sink. She loved it!
Clark is currently serving in Corsicana Texas. He is doing well and working hard. He and his companion have hard days and good days. They are really enjoying the ward and the people they are teaching.
I always love all of Christmas, but for sure the best part of Christmas Day is talking to our missionary! Clark looked and sounded great! He was wearing his Dollar Store singing Christmas tie.:) He was kind of missing the snow – it was in the 70’s in Dallas! We sure appreciate the families in his mission that helped him have a great holiday.
Loren, Anne and the kids were in Idaho for Christmas this year. We celebrated with them before they left – Kenyon didn’t mind opening a few presents early! This was Emmy’s first Christmas and I was excited to give her her first baby doll. It’s been a few years since I got to give anyone a doll for Christmas. Of course she loved it…how do we know? Because she immediately put it in her mouth of course!
Who says missionaries don’t get to dress up? Elder Brown and companions surprised their ward members by sporting mustaches at the ward Halloween party.
Of course, besides breakfast in bed (which I did get!), Mother’s Day is all about talking to your missionary. It was especially fun to chat with him and finish with, “See you in 10 days!” BTW — the guy in the picture sitting next to Tess is her fiancé, Trevor. 🙂
Celebrating this year with some of Tess’s friends and of course all of our kids. Alan’s cheese fondue was at its best and of course fresh fruit dipped in chocolate is so delish. I have a feeling 2015 is going to be a great year! We have a lot of great events to be looking forward to…should keep us very busy!
