Christmas Travels

 We traveled to Illinois and Iowa to see extended family the weekend before Christmas.  The trip became quite the adventure when our van began having trouble early on in the trip.  We ended up spending a lot of time at this hotel in Bloomington because of it, but we tried to make the best of it.  We were so glad we could visit all of our grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, and cousins despite the van trouble.

The best part about staying in a hotel is the swimming pool and hot tub!

 Cute cousins!  They all slept with rollers in their hair the last night they were together giving them all gorgeous curls.

The only group picture we got.  We were missing two cousins :(

 Dallin enjoyed seeing his cousins too!  He was nice enough to share his new Legos one afternoon.

Silly boys!

Aren't the glasses cute?  They all got a pair at a pizza arcade and wore them the rest of the trip!

 Cousins in Illinois

When we finally made it back home a few days later than planned, we were happy to find that Santa had made it to our house while we were gone.  Everyone enjoyed getting the things on their wish lists and a few surprises...like this giant panda bear!  Some of their favorite gifts at home this year were:  Trenton got Dr. Dre Beats headphones, Owen got two Micro Charger play sets, Ashleigh got a doll nursery center, and Dallin got a handmade LEGO table.  Merry Christmas!

Tooth Fairy

Owen lost his first tooth on December 21.  It was a bit of a surprise because it had only been loose a few days.  He was so happy to lose it and was excited to leave it for the tooth fairy.

Here is Owen's letter to Santa he wrote just a few days before Christmas to try one last time to get an iPod for Christmas.

National Jr. Honor Society Induction

Trenton was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society this month after his application was accepted by a team of faculty.  We were told that 150 students qualified to apply for membership, of which 120 turned in completed applications, but only 92 were granted membership.  We are very proud of Trenton's accomplishment and hard work.  His grade point average and community service qualified him for the honor.

Preschool Christmas Program

Dallin was so cute in his preschool Christmas program.  Dad was even able to come watch him perform.  They sang Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and a few 

 Love the hat!

Santa came for a visit while we were eating our cookies and punch after the singing.  Dallin loved talking to Santa.

Best Day Ever

Owen called yesterday his best day ever.  It was definitely one of the busiest Saturdays we have had in a while!  The day started with a breakfast with Santa at church and was followed by an afternoon playdate with a couple of friends.  Owen and Trenton got afternoon haircuts before we took our friends home.  This was followed by a trip downtown to a candy making class.  

 Ashleigh couldn't think of what to tell Santa she wanted for Christmas, so she told him she wanted an iPod, which she already has.  She played with his beard the entire time she sat on his lap.

Right before we headed to the church for breakfast, Owen announced he was going to ask Santa for an iPad because maybe he would get lucky.  We explained that sounded a little greedy considering how many presents Santa has to give and how many children in the world have so little.  He decided just asking for an iPod would be a little better.

Dallin panicked right before we left for church because he did not know what to ask Santa for.  He could not think of anything on his wish list, but when I mentioned super heroes, he decided that would be perfect to ask Santa for.  He loves Captain America at the moment.  He loves to say "Boom, boom, fire power!" as he runs around the house.  I was so happy he wasn't afraid to sit with Santa.

 Owen and Ashleigh were treated to a fun and unique candy making class downtown after having such a great couple of weeks at school.  The class turned out to be a lot of fun for them.  They designed their own lollipops by filling a tin pan with all sorts of candy...skittles, M&Ms, gumballs, smarties, tootsie rolls, marshmallows, red hots, and gumdrops.  Once the tin pan was filled, a hot corn syrup mixture was poured over the candy and allowed to harden.  They were allowed to add some food coloring to make designs in the corn syrup as well.

 While waiting for the lollipops to harden, everyone got ice cream sundaes and took turns making their own cotton candy.  Owen made lime and Ashleigh made orange.

The finished lollipops!  They are huge and quite heavy.  It is going to take them a month to eat through them!  The grins on their faces show how excited they were about taking home a giant lollipop.  They licked them the entire ride home!

Family History Project

Owen was asked to make a family history poster for school, highlighting his family tree and a county from which our ancestors lived.  This was quite the project for a first grader, but I think it turned out great.  Owen chose to highlight Germany where several of our ancestors are from.  His favorite food from Germany is pretzels!

Buddies

We said goodbye to our rent-a-dogs earlier this week.  Owen and Dallin really loved playing with them each day.  Owen was particularly fond of Eddie.  Eddie loves tug-of-war and cuddling, so everyone took turns spoiling him.  We are all a little sad, but very relieved to have a little less stress around here.

More Snow Fun

The kids got another snow day yesterday after we received another 3 inches of snow overnight.  Owen and Ashleigh worked for hours building a large snow fort.

Dallin loved being pulled around the yard on the sled while he ate snowballs.  They decided we could make snow cones out of the snow, so we got our shaved ice syrup out and had snow cones instead of hot chocolate!

Owen was determined to make it "snow" by throwing shovels full of snow in the air.  He thought we would enjoy being snowed on, but that got old after having one shovel full of snow dumped over your head. 

Snow Day!

 We had our first snow of the season today, which meant a snow day from school!  It took a few hours for the snow to make it here because the morning started with freezing rain and sleet, but by late afternoon we had six inches!  The kids enjoyed the chance to break out their snow gear and sleds.

 Owen came up with the brilliant idea to ride the sled down the slide.  Luckily, no one injured themselves before they got bored with it.

 Dallin didn't want his picture taken, but I snuck a picture anyway.  He was so excited to wear his "new" boots and snow pants.

Our cousins, Eddie and Tessa, even seemed to enjoy the snow.  Who wouldn't when you're sporting such snazzy sweaters?  The kids will be sad to see them go back home in a few days.  They have been such good dogs for us!

Happy 14th Birthday, Trenton!

Trenton turned 14 yesterday!  We went out to dinner to celebrate and Trenton chose Bravos, which we had not been to for a long time as a family.  We had Mom's strawberry angel food cake that Trenton had chosen for his birthday cake for dessert.  For his birthday, Trenton received new fencing shoes, several shirts, hoodie, and Batman movies.

Cute boys!

We were being silly later and that's when Trenton showed us his impressive muscles.  He can almost beat Dad in arm wrestling now!