Family History, Live!

Tonight my grandparents came over to celebrate Jackson's birthday. We ate dinner and had some cake and ice cream and then enjoyed listening to them share stories from their childhood and courtship.  I loved hearing about the time my grandma crashed her family's car when she was only 12.  And how my grandpa had 2 new cars before he graduated from high school.  They talked about their siblings, their parents, Grandpa's proposal, their early years of marriage - so much neat stuff!  I wish I lived closer to them to hear their stories more often!  

Star Wars!!!

Thanks to Santa's Christmas Eve present last night, we all got to see Star Wars today! Everyone also got a cool Star Wars shirt to wear to the movie. There was a whole lot of excitement and anticipation!

We made sure to arrive nice and early to get good seats. We were pleased with our seats and seriously, everyone loved the movie! Rex got a little nervous at a couple of points and climbed up onto my lap, but he couldn't look away. 

The Nativity Cast

The tradition continues, and this year Evan passed the torch to our family to organize the Nativity.  Matt went to work on costumes and came up with the best beards ever!  I love traditions and I love seeing our kids get excited for those things they remember so fondly.  

Family vs Grandpa's Team - 2015

This fun little tradition started 4 or 5 years ago.  Grandpa invited his full house of visitors to come play in a friendly scrimmage against his high school team.  This year, Cameron got a chance to play too.  Though he preferred to be the scorekeeper, he subbed in a few times and tried his best.  Donovan was aggressive and seemed to have a great time.  Matt was a beast and didn't take a break during the whole scrimmage! I just looked good, it's what I do.  

Visiting Greatest Great Grandparents

The memories I have of my grandparents are all so happy.  I loved going to their house for dinner every Sunday.  I remember some of the sleepovers I got to have there.  Grandma would make great breakfasts and take us with her to church.  I got to sit at the kids table in the dining room at Thanksgiving.  We used to play baseball in the front yard and Chris was automatically out if he hit the ball into the garden.  Sometimes the adults would join us and to play Octopus.  When I got a little older, I got to join in the games the adults played at family gatherings.  I always looked forward to having cousins come from out of town.  I loved going there for Christmas, and meeting Grandma and Grandpa at parks for Easter.  I couldn't begin to elaborate on all the wonderful memories I have of my amazing grandparents.  But today was so perfect.  I loved watching Grandma and Grandpa interact with my kids.  Grandma taught all the kids how to play Yahtzee, and sat down and played with them.  Grandpa made everyone popcorn with such care.  It was a perfect day and I was so grateful to have some special time with my grandparents.  

Driving to Reno, 1st Attempt

We had it planned out perfectly. I would pack the car up and get the house all ready to leave while everyone was at school. Matt would finish grading his finals and get home before 12. I would pick up the elementary school kids before their lunch, then get the middle schoolers at 12:30. We would be on the road before 1:00 and get to Salt Lake before 9:00. 

Then we got to Wyoming. I-80 was closed from Cheyenne to the Utah border due to high winds and blowing snow.  Cars and trucks lined the highway for miles ahead of us and behind us.

We decided to wait it out. And that was boring for a lot of people. 

But we were having a blast up front. Matt was feeling particularly sassy with my sunglasses on.  

And then after 2 hours of waiting, we gave up and decided to go another way and just drive as far as we could. But then the traffic from Wyoming to Denver was bumper to bumper the whole 100 miles so we only got as far as our house. I could tell right away that Rex wasn't feeling well. He had a fever of 102 and didn't want to eat anything. We are putting him to bed and making our decision about when to make our 2nd attempt in the morning. 

Donovan's Holiday Band Concert

I got some pictures of the whole band and Donovan playing his horn, but nothing afterwards, and nothing closer up.  Maybe by the spring concerts I'll be better at getting pictures.  We hadn't heard Donovan practicing very much leading up to this concert, but it seemed like he was playing at all the right parts.  It's a good thing his instrument doesn't stand out too much.  

Working on His Day Off

Last night when we were watching the news, the forecast for today called for 2-4 inches of snow. No big deal. But when I woke up this morning, there was already at least 6 inches of snow and it was going to continue all day. And school was canceled!! 

I don't have any pictures of the kids playing in the snow. Mostly because they didn't play in the snow. They went to the Montroy's house and played Magic the Gathering for most of the morning. Then they hung out inside for the afternoon. 

But Matt worked on his day off and shoveled the foot of snow off our driveway. What a mighty good man. 

A Date with Donny, Basketball and Matt's new car

I got to take this handsome boy out for a joyride in Matt's new car tonight. We drove up to Boulder to watch the BYU basketball team play CU.

We met all these cool people there! And they brought their closest friends, aka all their kids. Although it would have been fun to have Matt and all our kids there with us, sometimes it's nice to get some alone time with each of our kids once in a while.  And of course, it would have been the best if mom and dad and Jen + family were there too!

BYU got off to a slow start and couldn't quite get back in the game. CU won 92-83. 

A Week of Crepes

This story started on Sunday. We have a long standing tradition around here on Fast Sunday that involves making giant pancakes for lunch. We are working our way up to longer fasts, but for now, the kids fast until after church. We broke tradition on Sunday by having waffles instead because we had just enjoyed pancakes the day before at the Ward Christmas Breakfast. Cameron does not like to break traditions. At all. He was so upset that I found myself offering all kinds of ways to make things up to him. I finally offered him his choice of breakfasts all week long.  And he chose crepes. For the 

 entire week.  Here is a happy Cameron on day 2. 

2015 Ward Christmas Breakfast

I don't have very many pictures from this morning, but here is what we captured from our annual Ward breakfast.

Matt had to work a few basketball games this morning so the kids and I partied for him. This year the children's nativity came at the beginning of the breakfast. Our family provided a beautiful angel and two perfect shepherds. This year all the primary children prepared the week before by writing down a service they would offer to Christ this Christmas season. Then at the breakfast they each walked to the manger and placed their paper in the manger. When all the kids finished setting their offering in the manger, they handed an ornament to each member of the ward.

Following large plates of pancakes (covered in strawberries, syrup and whipped cream) and large stacks of BACON, a couple of our kids found Santa and shared their wish list with him. It's a little bit sad that these kids are getting older. And Matt thought it was sad that he missed the one time that there was bacon. 

Donovan the Wrestler

Donovan has been working on his communication with us this year.  We have had several moments of frustration when we didn't know he needed to study for a test, or that he was supposed to be at a church activity at 6:00 instead of 7:00, or that he joined the wrestling team and needed to be picked up at a meet sometime between 4:00-6:00.  That last one didn't cause as much frustration though.  We were surprised and then more surprised.

He had a pretty successful season, if you can count 3 practices and 2 meets a season.  At his very first meet, Matt and I show up with absolutely no knowledge of the world of wrestling.  Watching the kids go before him made us pretty nervous for him.  And when we looked over at him, we could tell he was feeling nervous too.  But he took his 86 pound body and wrestled his way to an overtime victory!
The second meet was a district tournament where he had 2 matches.  He battled hard during his first match, but was eventually pinned in the 3rd round.  He looked a lot more confident and poised during his second match which he dominated.  He was ahead 12-1 before he finally pinned his opponent and secured his spot as the 3rd place winner in his weight class.  This was definitely a new experience for Donovan and I think he was glad he tried something new.

Dressed for Success

Can I start out by saying that I think Cameron is freaking adorable?

Yesterday he came downstairs for breakfast wearing a white Sunday shirt, a blue tie, jeans and his Sunday shoes. He even put on a belt. Cam told me he felt like dressing up a bit, so I squeezed his cute little cheeks and told him I thought it was a great idea. 

Today he came downstairs wearing this:

He said that he got so many compliments yesterday that he wanted to dress up again today. ❤️

Howie's First Band Concert

This year we have our very own trombone player in the family. Howie tooted his horn very well tonight in his first band concert. I was enjoying watching him so much that I forgot to take any pictures of him during the concert. But I caught him with a couple of his friends afterwards. I will be sure to do better next time!

1st Class for Howie

Tonight Howie advanced rank to 1st Class. This was pretty challenging for him because of the swimming requirement. Matt worked with him for several days to help him finish the swimming portion and he finished strong!  He was very relieved to have that part behind him. 

He did a great job leading the flag ceremony. This was a combined Boy Scout and Cub Scout Court of Honor/Pack meeting, so he got to lead in front of a pretty large group. And Howie did it all without looking at any notes. 

Then he got to do his favorite thing and pin his mom. 

Howie with his proud mom and hot, new Scout Master. 

Howie's 11-year old scout leader, Brother Reynolds, helped him quite a bit!

Although Donovan has gone as far as he can go until he finishes his Eagle Project, he earned the 14er Patch. Now if we can just get him to work on his project.....

Losing the Locks

There was a time that Rex had long, curly hair. I loved those cute curls. I mean, just look at them:

And then I thought it was too long so I tried to trim it myself. And that was a bad mistake.  I did such a bad job on his hair that I agreed to let Matt fix it. And he fixed it, but the curls didn't survive. 

Howie is 12!

Once again, we get to celebrate this wonderful boy.  He continues to be a source of joy, laughter and peace in our family.  I often look at this young man and smile.  He works hard, he doesn't complain, he is grateful and gracious.  He notices when people need help and always jumps in to lend a hand.  He is the newest deacon in our ward, a big middle schooler, and quickly moving through Boy Scouts.  Oh how we love Howie!

Today he requested doughnuts for breakfast, BLT's for lunch and hamburgers for dinner.  

Matt made him a pretty hilarious Dungeons and Dragons themed treasure hunt.  This made Howie's day!  I would like to insert here that Matt is awesome. 

Howie overcame some strange creatures and found his presents in the garage.

Howie loved his new watch from Grandma and Grandpa Bentley.  He has been timing things all day long!

We loved getting some new clothes.  Or at least acted like he did!

And he's excited to use some of the new hiking and camping gear from Grandma and Grandpa Marshall.  What is not pictured are all the sharp items he got - a hatchet, a knife, a machete and something else that I can't remember right now.