December 2019
Olsen Family Party
Kim and I were in charge of the annual Olsen Christmas Party this year. I was knee-deep in finishing up my homework for the semester, so I let Shandra take my place in the planning phase of the party. It was decided to keep things simple for everyone involved, but it still turned out great! They asked everyone to come wearing their favorite headgear, and pretty much everyone complied. Barb definitely was the winner with her huge curls made from pool noodles. Even Grandma joined in the fun with a huge ribbon that had lights that blinked.
We ordered a bunch of simple craft products from Oriental Trading for the kids to do - however, I believe there were more adults than kids at the crafting table! We had a soup and salad bar with lots of yummy soups and chilis. Strangely enough, my corn chowder disappeared first. The dessert table was covered in some of my very favorite treats, Dennileigh made Carmel Rice Krispie treats because she knows that I can't ever stop eating it until I get sick.
We found some simple games to play with balloons, cups, and ping pong balls and had relay races. It was tons of fun. At one point Ben gathered his team together and gave us a pep talk that was worthy of a Super Bowl team! Ben and Casey and Rob all tried to get away with a little, sly cheating, but Kim kept everyone in line. Simple and crazy is definitely the way to go for family activities like this.
Finals Week for Eagle Gate
Finals week again, it is always such a bittersweet time. This semester for the first time I had students fail and will have to repeat classes. That makes me so sad! However I would much rather have them repeat a class than to have them go out into the world of nursing without the knowledge they need. The graduating class this semester is such a great class. They are very cohesive and are very in tune with the needs of the entire class. They work together, they help each other when someone struggles, they rejoice and celebrate together when one has a special occasion or happy moment. They even joined together more than once to reach out and help others that are not part of the class. They are a special class and I will really miss each and every one of them. They will bring much to the world of nursing!
Liberty University
I finally completed all of the homework to finish off my first semester at Liberty University. I even completed it early so that I wouldn't have to worry and stress all week. Each day of the week I checked several times to see if my work was graded. One class graded the work early in the week and I was thrilled to see that I got an A in the class. I started to wonder when the other class didn't post my scores. I have had teachers take a long time to grade things before, so I didn't stress too much. However, two days after the end of class I saw that my final grade was a C! Needless to say, I was not very happy with that grade! Then it struck me - perhaps some of my work didn't get submitted correctly. DANG, when I checked I saw that my major paper for the class had not been submitted! I was devastated because I know that it is my responsibility to assure the work had been submitted correctly. Without much hope, I emailed the instructor and told her what had happened. I explained that I was not requesting any special treatment, but I wanted her to know that I had completed the assignment on time and that I have a good work ethic. She surprised me with a note explaining that she could give me credit with a 10% penalty for a late submission. Needless to say, I was more than grateful! But then her next words absolutely shocked me! She wrote, "I just graded your final paper, posted the score, and made the adjustment to your final grade (an A instead of a C). I am so glad that we cleared this up. And, I want to tell you that based on what I’ve seen of your work in our class, when you finish your coursework for your doctorate and are choosing a chair for your dissertation, I would love to be considered for the chair of your dissertation committee. Just let me know when that time comes and you are interested.
Christmas Elf
Little Miss made such a cute little Christmas Elf in her red and white outfit! She wore it to church and made quite the fashion statement.
Packers Party
Jen and Janzen invited several couples up to Mantua to their new house for a night of goodies and games. We have really missed them since they moved from the ward so we were eager for the get-together. We carpooled up there with the Hepworths, we haven't visited with them for quite a while so it was great to spend some time with them.
Packer's house was gorgeous! Exactly as I knew it would be. There were yummy snacks and lots of laughter. The Hepworths, Herzogs, Moyles, Lindseys, and Lindsey and Chase Smith were all there. The Wildings couldn't make it. We played The Meme game which is similar to Bubble Talk. It is a great party game, but some of the cards needed to be censored and removed. Then we exchanged white elephant gifts. Crazy Kim! He had a huge pumpkin that never got carved at Halloween, and wrapped that up for his gift! Johnny had the misfortune of having to take it home. The funniest gift of the evening was received by Nancy. She opened what looked like a small jewelry box and found a necklace with "some kind of stone". Then Chase (who creates replacement teeth as his career) said, "It's a tooth". Nancy got this strange look on her face and then immediately dropped the box. Apparently, Chase has a bottle full of human teeth and used one to make her necklace! It was so funny! Jen ended up stealing it because she works in an orthodontist office and thought her coworkers would get a kick out of it.
Meetings in Murray
One day I had meetings in Murray and Shandra's car was in the shop so I decided to drive her to work. It was great to have a driving partner again. When she first started working at Primary's I was doing clinicals at the University of Utah so we would carpool together. I really enjoyed those long drives. It was so fun to talk about medical things together. So, even though she needed to be to work long before my meetings started and my meetings would end much sooner than she would get off work, I was happy to carpool with her. We talked all of the way down and the time passed very quickly (and there wasn't any traffic that early in the morning). I dropped her off and then drove to the Murray Campus. Since it was so early, I turned off the car and just listened to music and fell asleep. I woke up early enough to go get breakfast but to my dismay, I found that my battery was dead! I guess I hadn't really turned off the car - DANG! Oh well, I wasn't too worried about it because I assumed I could get someone to jump the battery, if not, I do have roadside coverage. After a long day of meetings, Randy was gracious enough to help me. I drove up to the hospital - and I only had 4 hours to wait for Shandra. Luckily I brought my Kindle. It turned out to be a very relaxing afternoon, and then I had the pleasure of the ride back home with Shandra. I miss those carpooling days.
Kalel Concert
Kim and I were able to go to Kalel's Christmas choir concert. Shandra got someone to watch Little Miss so that we didn't have to chase her around and all of us could enjoy the concert. I was pretty impressed. The choir leader had picked out some interesting and fun songs for the kids to sing. I find it very difficult to imagine that he is half-way through his 7th grade year! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was that age! I think he looks quite dashing in his white shirt and tie - with blue hair of course!
Payday
One afternoon I wasn't working and Kalel and his cousin, Corbin didn't have school so I called my sister and challenged them to a game of Payday. We had such a fun time! I just love playing games and it was really fun to play with Robin and the boys. I remember playing Payday with my sisters when we were young, and it is still fun! It is educational too as I made all of the players count money properly - even counting back change. It irritates me that many people don't know how to count back change these days since their cash registers do it for them.
Relaxation
One Saturday morning I was stressed about something - although I not sure what I was stressed about it probably had to do with getting all of my homework and housework done - I was fretting around the house not accomplishing much of anything. All of the sudden Kalel grabbed me and forced me to sit in the recliner. I didn't want to, but he insisted. He then made me close my eyes and I felt a soft blanket covering me. He switched on some soothing music and then leaned over the back of the chair and started rubbing my shoulders. By now, the fight was slowly leaving me. He whispered things to me about going to my happy place on the beach and listening to the soft waves. He wouldn't let me open my eyes. As I was relaxing, he placed something against my lips and I realized that it was a straw and I swallowed cold water. He then put chocolate in my mouth and he continued to prompt me to relax on the beach. It was so cute! And, best of all, it totally worked and I was able to relax. After relaxing for a bit, I was able to accomplish much more than I probably would have if I had continued fretting all morning.
He is just a cute, creative kid! I love him so much! Of course, the next minute he presented wearing my hairpiece on the top of his head. What a dork!
Goofy Glasses
Aunt Jody gave Little Miss these cute glasses to wear - she took out the lenses. Doesn't she look smart!
Eagle Gate Axe Throwing
For our annual Christmas Party, my work decided to go ax-throwing since there are only a handful of employees at our campus. Can I say IT WAS SO FUN! We went to a place in Kaysville where there was a barbeque dinner waiting for us with really yummy dutch oven food. The owner then gave us instructions on how to throw and score. There were several different games we could play. We decided to have a girls against boys challenge. Unfortunately for the boys, two of them were injured and had to make adaptations in their throwing. Dennis had to throw left-handed (not his dominant hand) and Randy had to throw underhand due to a shoulder injury. The first game was all ladies as we quickly beat the men. The second game was neck and neck until the men pulled it out at the end. I was so proud of our team as everyone (except me) scored bullseyes. I was feeling a little sad that I hadn't supported my team with a bullseye, but then for the 3rd game, we played sudden death where an ax landing in a blue spot meant an automatic win. My first throw landed right in the dot winning the game! We had such a great time! Kalel has decided that he wants to go ax throwing for his birthday and I think that is a wonderful idea! I can't wait to do it again!
Jumanji Date
That night Kim and I decided to go on a date and see Jumangi II. Again I was nervous about the quality of the sequel, but we both thought it was pretty good. I wish I had seen the first one recently because the movie built upon the last one and I was a little confused at first, but we soon caught up. Mostly I just enjoyed going out with my honey - we don't do it often enough.
Uncle Verle
On December 10 I got a text from my cousin, Max, that her dad wasn't doing very well. Luckily I was able to leave work a little early to visit. I found that my uncle, Verle, was in a hospital bed, unconscious in a room with Aunt Leone and my cousins Max, Doug, and Donna. It was uncanny how much Verle looked like my dad! What a vivid reminder of dad's last days almost exactly a year ago! I had an absolutely wonderful visit with the family and even though Verle wasn't responsive I was able to have a nice chat with him. I have always loved Uncle Verle and Aunt Leone as well as all of their family. They are some of the kindest, most fun people on earth! Verle was a huge tease! And he would just about break your hand when he shook it. I stayed for a couple of hours and when I left, they made me promise to try to come back the next day.
The next day I couldn't get away and had commitments at home, so I texted Max to tell her I wouldn't make it. Normally she responds quickly, but I didn't hear anything for quite a while. When she finally texted back she stated that her dad had passed at 4:30 - that was exactly the same time I texted her! I'm so glad that I went there the day before - and I'm really glad that I didn't go that day, they needed that time alone as a family.
The funeral was a week later. Ashley and Mark and Robin and I all went - Rox was working. It was wonderful to hear all of the great stories about Verle. Almost all of the kids spoke and told stories from their perspectives of their dad. Several times my sisters and I commented on how the stories reminded us of dad and we realized how alike the two brothers were. It was truly a wonderful service. Robin and I stayed for the graveside service as well as the luncheon after. We sat next to some cousins-once-removed who we didn't know before but thoroughly enjoyed getting to go. It was hard to leave, that family is amazing!
Linger Longer
The Sunday before church we had Sacrament Meeting only and then we had a Linger Longer visit afterward with snacks. This is the first time we have done that, and it was nice to just stay and visit with our ward family. I can honestly say that we have the best ward ever. The last few years have brought many changes into the ward, people we love have moved out and new people have moved in, although it is hard to say good-bye to dear friends, it is nice to make new ones too.
Christmas Eve
We celebrated Christmas Eve at Robin's house this year. It is nice but also weird to go to Robin's house since she bought mom and dad's house. There are so many familiar memories there, however, Robin has made a lot of changes to make it her style of house and it really does fit her. I'm glad that she was able to keep the house in the family, especially since she wanted it so much. Anyway, she asked that all of us wear our Christmas PJ's to the party. It was so fun to see everyone's PJs! I loved it! However, not everyone was thrilled with the idea. Ashley felt that she had to spend too much money to get the pajamas she wanted and she knew that Mark and Tristan would probably never wear them again. And poor Mark! She accidentally got a size 3x for him - they drowned him! Kenzie's husband, JD, refused to wear his until the whole family ganged up on him and practically forced him to wear them - but only for the pictures! I do Christmas pajamas every year, so it wasn't a big deal for Kim and I. I was thinking about getting Kim a Grinch shirt, but couldn't find one I liked (he has so many already that I have to be very picky) but then I came across this one that has a picture of Grumpy with the words, "Is this jolly enough?" Kim loved it! So he didn't hesitate to wear it.
Shandra and kids all had penguins on theirs. Skylar tacked sequined Christmas appliques on their sweatsuits that were very cute. Overall I thought it was fun!
We had our traditional turkey dinner complete with pie. Afterward, we played a game of house afire dice game. Everyone seemed to have a good time. After the game, we had our traditional reading of the biblical Christmas story with mom's flannel stick figures. I really miss mom doing the reading. The task has fallen to me and I don't know if I do it justice. I love that we include it, especially since the majority of the family does not focus on the Savior during Christmas.
Next up was the opening of the presents. Everyone seemed to enjoy their gift - especially Tristan who received a gag pen that shocked you when you clicked it. Of course, almost everyone had to try it. Taylor's son who is only 2 1/2 for some reason liked it and kept shocking himself! Tristan also received something called a "fart bomb" that he threw into the room. Immediately we all covered our noses and started gagging! IT WAS AWFUL! It stunk so bad! We raced to open the windows and doors and Corey grabbed a can of Frebreeze to try to neutralize the smell. Eventually, it started to dissipate, either that or we started getting used to it, and we were at least able to stay in the room. However for the rest of the night whenever someone would walk into the room they would comment that you could still smell it.
Christmas/Condo
Since Kalel spent the night at his dad's we decided to wait until we got up to the Wolf Creek condo to open presents. Christmas morning we lazily got up, packed our bags and then spent most of the day hanging out at Kim's mom's house. We arrived at the condo just after dark. Kim was very festive and brought Christmas lights which he strung throughout the entire condo, even the master bedroom! Little Miss loved the lights and had a blast wearing a short strand of battery-powered lights. Jody had a cute little felt Christmas tree that she loaned us that we hung on the wall and then placed presents under it. I really loved that we scaled down the number of gifts so that they were easy to transport. I have to say that Christmas at the condo is the BEST!
One morning Kalel and I went for a walk just around the condo complex and we saw tons of deer! I guess that they are so used to humans that they didn't even flinch until we got really close to them.
Alice Blessing
Lexie and Alec blessed their new little baby, Alice, while we at the condo. Kim joined other members of his family to drive up to Idaho Falls for the day to celebrate the special day with them. Isn't she adorable!
Misc
Tasha continues to amaze us all with her talent with cookies. Here are a few she made this month.
I can't believe the books! They look just like the books, I had a hard time believing they are cookies!
Kim's Memes
Here are a few of the memes Kim collected this month.
Kim and I were in charge of the annual Olsen Christmas Party this year. I was knee-deep in finishing up my homework for the semester, so I let Shandra take my place in the planning phase of the party. It was decided to keep things simple for everyone involved, but it still turned out great! They asked everyone to come wearing their favorite headgear, and pretty much everyone complied. Barb definitely was the winner with her huge curls made from pool noodles. Even Grandma joined in the fun with a huge ribbon that had lights that blinked.
We ordered a bunch of simple craft products from Oriental Trading for the kids to do - however, I believe there were more adults than kids at the crafting table! We had a soup and salad bar with lots of yummy soups and chilis. Strangely enough, my corn chowder disappeared first. The dessert table was covered in some of my very favorite treats, Dennileigh made Carmel Rice Krispie treats because she knows that I can't ever stop eating it until I get sick.
We found some simple games to play with balloons, cups, and ping pong balls and had relay races. It was tons of fun. At one point Ben gathered his team together and gave us a pep talk that was worthy of a Super Bowl team! Ben and Casey and Rob all tried to get away with a little, sly cheating, but Kim kept everyone in line. Simple and crazy is definitely the way to go for family activities like this.
Finals Week for Eagle Gate
Finals week again, it is always such a bittersweet time. This semester for the first time I had students fail and will have to repeat classes. That makes me so sad! However I would much rather have them repeat a class than to have them go out into the world of nursing without the knowledge they need. The graduating class this semester is such a great class. They are very cohesive and are very in tune with the needs of the entire class. They work together, they help each other when someone struggles, they rejoice and celebrate together when one has a special occasion or happy moment. They even joined together more than once to reach out and help others that are not part of the class. They are a special class and I will really miss each and every one of them. They will bring much to the world of nursing!
Liberty University
I finally completed all of the homework to finish off my first semester at Liberty University. I even completed it early so that I wouldn't have to worry and stress all week. Each day of the week I checked several times to see if my work was graded. One class graded the work early in the week and I was thrilled to see that I got an A in the class. I started to wonder when the other class didn't post my scores. I have had teachers take a long time to grade things before, so I didn't stress too much. However, two days after the end of class I saw that my final grade was a C! Needless to say, I was not very happy with that grade! Then it struck me - perhaps some of my work didn't get submitted correctly. DANG, when I checked I saw that my major paper for the class had not been submitted! I was devastated because I know that it is my responsibility to assure the work had been submitted correctly. Without much hope, I emailed the instructor and told her what had happened. I explained that I was not requesting any special treatment, but I wanted her to know that I had completed the assignment on time and that I have a good work ethic. She surprised me with a note explaining that she could give me credit with a 10% penalty for a late submission. Needless to say, I was more than grateful! But then her next words absolutely shocked me! She wrote, "I just graded your final paper, posted the score, and made the adjustment to your final grade (an A instead of a C). I am so glad that we cleared this up. And, I want to tell you that based on what I’ve seen of your work in our class, when you finish your coursework for your doctorate and are choosing a chair for your dissertation, I would love to be considered for the chair of your dissertation committee. Just let me know when that time comes and you are interested.
What an honor to have her volunteer to be the chair of my committee (honestly I'm not sure what that entails yet, but I'm still honored!
Christmas Elf
Little Miss made such a cute little Christmas Elf in her red and white outfit! She wore it to church and made quite the fashion statement.
Packers Party
Jen and Janzen invited several couples up to Mantua to their new house for a night of goodies and games. We have really missed them since they moved from the ward so we were eager for the get-together. We carpooled up there with the Hepworths, we haven't visited with them for quite a while so it was great to spend some time with them.
Packer's house was gorgeous! Exactly as I knew it would be. There were yummy snacks and lots of laughter. The Hepworths, Herzogs, Moyles, Lindseys, and Lindsey and Chase Smith were all there. The Wildings couldn't make it. We played The Meme game which is similar to Bubble Talk. It is a great party game, but some of the cards needed to be censored and removed. Then we exchanged white elephant gifts. Crazy Kim! He had a huge pumpkin that never got carved at Halloween, and wrapped that up for his gift! Johnny had the misfortune of having to take it home. The funniest gift of the evening was received by Nancy. She opened what looked like a small jewelry box and found a necklace with "some kind of stone". Then Chase (who creates replacement teeth as his career) said, "It's a tooth". Nancy got this strange look on her face and then immediately dropped the box. Apparently, Chase has a bottle full of human teeth and used one to make her necklace! It was so funny! Jen ended up stealing it because she works in an orthodontist office and thought her coworkers would get a kick out of it.
Meetings in Murray
One day I had meetings in Murray and Shandra's car was in the shop so I decided to drive her to work. It was great to have a driving partner again. When she first started working at Primary's I was doing clinicals at the University of Utah so we would carpool together. I really enjoyed those long drives. It was so fun to talk about medical things together. So, even though she needed to be to work long before my meetings started and my meetings would end much sooner than she would get off work, I was happy to carpool with her. We talked all of the way down and the time passed very quickly (and there wasn't any traffic that early in the morning). I dropped her off and then drove to the Murray Campus. Since it was so early, I turned off the car and just listened to music and fell asleep. I woke up early enough to go get breakfast but to my dismay, I found that my battery was dead! I guess I hadn't really turned off the car - DANG! Oh well, I wasn't too worried about it because I assumed I could get someone to jump the battery, if not, I do have roadside coverage. After a long day of meetings, Randy was gracious enough to help me. I drove up to the hospital - and I only had 4 hours to wait for Shandra. Luckily I brought my Kindle. It turned out to be a very relaxing afternoon, and then I had the pleasure of the ride back home with Shandra. I miss those carpooling days.
Kalel Concert
Kim and I were able to go to Kalel's Christmas choir concert. Shandra got someone to watch Little Miss so that we didn't have to chase her around and all of us could enjoy the concert. I was pretty impressed. The choir leader had picked out some interesting and fun songs for the kids to sing. I find it very difficult to imagine that he is half-way through his 7th grade year! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was that age! I think he looks quite dashing in his white shirt and tie - with blue hair of course!
Payday
One afternoon I wasn't working and Kalel and his cousin, Corbin didn't have school so I called my sister and challenged them to a game of Payday. We had such a fun time! I just love playing games and it was really fun to play with Robin and the boys. I remember playing Payday with my sisters when we were young, and it is still fun! It is educational too as I made all of the players count money properly - even counting back change. It irritates me that many people don't know how to count back change these days since their cash registers do it for them.
Relaxation
One Saturday morning I was stressed about something - although I not sure what I was stressed about it probably had to do with getting all of my homework and housework done - I was fretting around the house not accomplishing much of anything. All of the sudden Kalel grabbed me and forced me to sit in the recliner. I didn't want to, but he insisted. He then made me close my eyes and I felt a soft blanket covering me. He switched on some soothing music and then leaned over the back of the chair and started rubbing my shoulders. By now, the fight was slowly leaving me. He whispered things to me about going to my happy place on the beach and listening to the soft waves. He wouldn't let me open my eyes. As I was relaxing, he placed something against my lips and I realized that it was a straw and I swallowed cold water. He then put chocolate in my mouth and he continued to prompt me to relax on the beach. It was so cute! And, best of all, it totally worked and I was able to relax. After relaxing for a bit, I was able to accomplish much more than I probably would have if I had continued fretting all morning.
He is just a cute, creative kid! I love him so much! Of course, the next minute he presented wearing my hairpiece on the top of his head. What a dork!
Goofy Glasses
Aunt Jody gave Little Miss these cute glasses to wear - she took out the lenses. Doesn't she look smart!
Eagle Gate Axe Throwing
For our annual Christmas Party, my work decided to go ax-throwing since there are only a handful of employees at our campus. Can I say IT WAS SO FUN! We went to a place in Kaysville where there was a barbeque dinner waiting for us with really yummy dutch oven food. The owner then gave us instructions on how to throw and score. There were several different games we could play. We decided to have a girls against boys challenge. Unfortunately for the boys, two of them were injured and had to make adaptations in their throwing. Dennis had to throw left-handed (not his dominant hand) and Randy had to throw underhand due to a shoulder injury. The first game was all ladies as we quickly beat the men. The second game was neck and neck until the men pulled it out at the end. I was so proud of our team as everyone (except me) scored bullseyes. I was feeling a little sad that I hadn't supported my team with a bullseye, but then for the 3rd game, we played sudden death where an ax landing in a blue spot meant an automatic win. My first throw landed right in the dot winning the game! We had such a great time! Kalel has decided that he wants to go ax throwing for his birthday and I think that is a wonderful idea! I can't wait to do it again!
Jumanji Date
That night Kim and I decided to go on a date and see Jumangi II. Again I was nervous about the quality of the sequel, but we both thought it was pretty good. I wish I had seen the first one recently because the movie built upon the last one and I was a little confused at first, but we soon caught up. Mostly I just enjoyed going out with my honey - we don't do it often enough.
A couple of days later, Shandra and Kalel went on a date to see it too! I love how they spend time together.
On December 10 I got a text from my cousin, Max, that her dad wasn't doing very well. Luckily I was able to leave work a little early to visit. I found that my uncle, Verle, was in a hospital bed, unconscious in a room with Aunt Leone and my cousins Max, Doug, and Donna. It was uncanny how much Verle looked like my dad! What a vivid reminder of dad's last days almost exactly a year ago! I had an absolutely wonderful visit with the family and even though Verle wasn't responsive I was able to have a nice chat with him. I have always loved Uncle Verle and Aunt Leone as well as all of their family. They are some of the kindest, most fun people on earth! Verle was a huge tease! And he would just about break your hand when he shook it. I stayed for a couple of hours and when I left, they made me promise to try to come back the next day.
The next day I couldn't get away and had commitments at home, so I texted Max to tell her I wouldn't make it. Normally she responds quickly, but I didn't hear anything for quite a while. When she finally texted back she stated that her dad had passed at 4:30 - that was exactly the same time I texted her! I'm so glad that I went there the day before - and I'm really glad that I didn't go that day, they needed that time alone as a family.
The funeral was a week later. Ashley and Mark and Robin and I all went - Rox was working. It was wonderful to hear all of the great stories about Verle. Almost all of the kids spoke and told stories from their perspectives of their dad. Several times my sisters and I commented on how the stories reminded us of dad and we realized how alike the two brothers were. It was truly a wonderful service. Robin and I stayed for the graveside service as well as the luncheon after. We sat next to some cousins-once-removed who we didn't know before but thoroughly enjoyed getting to go. It was hard to leave, that family is amazing!
 |
| Maxine, Doug, Diana, Leone, Donna, David, and Jay Verle Parma was on a mission and unable to attend |
The Sunday before church we had Sacrament Meeting only and then we had a Linger Longer visit afterward with snacks. This is the first time we have done that, and it was nice to just stay and visit with our ward family. I can honestly say that we have the best ward ever. The last few years have brought many changes into the ward, people we love have moved out and new people have moved in, although it is hard to say good-bye to dear friends, it is nice to make new ones too.
Christmas Eve
We celebrated Christmas Eve at Robin's house this year. It is nice but also weird to go to Robin's house since she bought mom and dad's house. There are so many familiar memories there, however, Robin has made a lot of changes to make it her style of house and it really does fit her. I'm glad that she was able to keep the house in the family, especially since she wanted it so much. Anyway, she asked that all of us wear our Christmas PJ's to the party. It was so fun to see everyone's PJs! I loved it! However, not everyone was thrilled with the idea. Ashley felt that she had to spend too much money to get the pajamas she wanted and she knew that Mark and Tristan would probably never wear them again. And poor Mark! She accidentally got a size 3x for him - they drowned him! Kenzie's husband, JD, refused to wear his until the whole family ganged up on him and practically forced him to wear them - but only for the pictures! I do Christmas pajamas every year, so it wasn't a big deal for Kim and I. I was thinking about getting Kim a Grinch shirt, but couldn't find one I liked (he has so many already that I have to be very picky) but then I came across this one that has a picture of Grumpy with the words, "Is this jolly enough?" Kim loved it! So he didn't hesitate to wear it.
Shandra and kids all had penguins on theirs. Skylar tacked sequined Christmas appliques on their sweatsuits that were very cute. Overall I thought it was fun!
We had our traditional turkey dinner complete with pie. Afterward, we played a game of house afire dice game. Everyone seemed to have a good time. After the game, we had our traditional reading of the biblical Christmas story with mom's flannel stick figures. I really miss mom doing the reading. The task has fallen to me and I don't know if I do it justice. I love that we include it, especially since the majority of the family does not focus on the Savior during Christmas.
Next up was the opening of the presents. Everyone seemed to enjoy their gift - especially Tristan who received a gag pen that shocked you when you clicked it. Of course, almost everyone had to try it. Taylor's son who is only 2 1/2 for some reason liked it and kept shocking himself! Tristan also received something called a "fart bomb" that he threw into the room. Immediately we all covered our noses and started gagging! IT WAS AWFUL! It stunk so bad! We raced to open the windows and doors and Corey grabbed a can of Frebreeze to try to neutralize the smell. Eventually, it started to dissipate, either that or we started getting used to it, and we were at least able to stay in the room. However for the rest of the night whenever someone would walk into the room they would comment that you could still smell it.
Christmas/Condo
Since Kalel spent the night at his dad's we decided to wait until we got up to the Wolf Creek condo to open presents. Christmas morning we lazily got up, packed our bags and then spent most of the day hanging out at Kim's mom's house. We arrived at the condo just after dark. Kim was very festive and brought Christmas lights which he strung throughout the entire condo, even the master bedroom! Little Miss loved the lights and had a blast wearing a short strand of battery-powered lights. Jody had a cute little felt Christmas tree that she loaned us that we hung on the wall and then placed presents under it. I really loved that we scaled down the number of gifts so that they were easy to transport. I have to say that Christmas at the condo is the BEST!
We stayed at the condo for a full week, came home on New Year's Day. It was wonderful! I just love family time. Shandra was even able to be there most of the time as her work was slow and she got called off.
Kalel is SO cute with his sister. You can tell that he absolutely loves her, and she adores him. It is so fun to watch them together.
Kalel got a magnetic dartboard for Christmas and we had a great time playing darts. It wasn't the same as throwing darts with points, in fact, many times the magnets wouldn't engage and the dart would just slide all the way off the board. But it was still a lot of fun. We even let Little Miss have a few tries, she thought she was so big!
Little Miss's latest favorite activity is to pull her pants down and walk with them around her ankles! It is hilarious! I'm not sure why it is fun, but she seems to enjoy it!
Condo time is always filled with lots of games and laughter, and you can see by the pictures that this trip was filled with both. Cyn was able to come up and stay for one night which just added to the great times.
Alice Blessing
Lexie and Alec blessed their new little baby, Alice, while we at the condo. Kim joined other members of his family to drive up to Idaho Falls for the day to celebrate the special day with them. Isn't she adorable!
Misc
Tasha continues to amaze us all with her talent with cookies. Here are a few she made this month.
I can't believe the books! They look just like the books, I had a hard time believing they are cookies!
Kim's Memes
Here are a few of the memes Kim collected this month.
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