white christmas!

This year for Christmas we decided to do something completely different and have our own quiet Christmas away with just our little family.  We rented a small house up in Pinetop (up in the White Mountains of Arizona) and hoped it would snow so we could experience a real white Christmas.

We drove up the afternoon of Christmas Eve.  We were packed about as tight as we could be!

We were worried about weather and traffic and thankfully neither happened.  The only bad thing was that about 5 minutes before we arrived in Pinetop I realized half of Christmas presents were left in the closet!  I was devastated...I worked so hard for a month to buy and wrap all those things and make sure everything was ready! But thankfully all our kids are old enough to understand that Santa isn't real.  They were very consoling about it and kept reminding ME that presents weren't what Christmas was really about. And seeing how packed the van was, I'm not sure they would have even fit!  I'm sure someday it will be a funny family memory...

We settled in and enjoyed sitting around the fire and relaxing, eating snacks, doing a puzzle, playing games, and watching movies. 

We couldn't have timed it better...the snow started falling just a few hours after we arrived! The kids were so excited they just had to go outside!  They quickly learned that shorts and t-shirts and bare hands were not appropriate snow clothes!

The next morning was AMAZING!  We woke up to about 6 inches of beautiful, freshly fallen snow!

We didn't make it to church (they plowed the street, but we didn't have a shovel or snow scraper), so we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional together.  We opened the few gifts I had brought and talked with Grandma and Grandpa Park who are on a mission in Ukraine.

Then the kids just had to go outside and check out the snow...they LOVED playing in it!

 It wasn't snowing this hard, they just liked throwing it in the air!

They were fascinated with the icicles.  This picture of Natalie makes me laugh...she was holding it, but apparently at just the wrong angle for the photo!

 They loved eating the fresh snow and trying to catch falling snowflakes in their mouths!

 And of course snow angels!

The rest of the evening was again spent relaxing, finishing the puzzle, watching a movie, eating, and talking with Grandpa and Grandma Carlson.

The next day we went to a nearby sledding hill.  The kids had a great time, but quickly learned how much work it was to climb up to the top each time and how cold 12 degrees really is!

I love making memories with my family.  It was a Christmas we will all definitely remember, so I consider it a wonderfully successful Christmas! 

we finished the book of mormon again!

We finished reading the Book of Mormon again as a family! 

I don't do these posts to brag, but mostly to keep track of how many times we have read it together and how long it has taken us.  This was our third time and it took 2 years and 3 months.We read a page each day and discussed it using the Book of Mormon BYU class study guide.  It took us a bit longer this time because we started sharing our personal "ponderizing" scriptures and holding a family council each Sunday instead of reading. 

horse trail ride

Natalie is part of the Equine Club at school and they did a one hour trail ride as an activity.   I even went along for the ride and didn't die in the process.  It was a fun afternoon together and she was so happy!

 

tyler gets his tenderfoot!

Tyler finished his Tenderfoot rank.  With new (harder) scouting requirements, it now takes longer for boys to earn their rank advancements.  Plus with a major ward and stake realignment this year, changed leaders, and records transferring it was a rough start for Tyler.

These are his two (very tall) 11 year old scout leaders Brother Larsen and Brother Ross.

Also at this Court of Honor, Brandon received his first Eagle Palm for earning 5 additional merit badges beyond the 21 that are required for earning an Eagle Scout.

I also managed to get a few photos of both of the boys in uniform, as well as one with Kevin before he was released from Young Men.

We are so proud of both of these boys and are so grateful for dedicated scout leaders. 

spanish video

One of Brandon's assignments for his Spanish 1 class was to create a group video.  I'm not sure the exact requirements, but these four freshmen boys hung out at our house for two afternoons to create this masterpiece. They were honestly the most polite teenage boys I've ever met.  My kids always pick such great friends!  And it was fun to observe and eavesdrop on Brandon with his peers.  In case you don't speak spanish, the premise is a boy who wants to ask a "hot girl" to prom.  The first scene is with the boy's mom and Brandon plays the girl's dad.  Here's the final product (complete with outtakes at the end)!

piano recital!

Another piano recital DONE!  And I wasn't even a complete train wreck of nerves this time!
This recital had mostly beginning students.  It was fun to hear how far my kids have come! 

I think everyone was a bit shocked when little 9 year old Natalie sat down and blew them all away! She has been playing for 3 1/2 years and is now in Level 4.

Tyler makes me crazy every time...I don't think he played his songs perfectly once in the month of memorizing them and then he busted out this performance at the recital! He is 11 years old (almost 12) and has been playing for 4 1/2 years and is in Level 5. He truly loves to play and it shows in his body when he performs!
Their piano teacher also wanted both of them to perform in the O Holy Night quartet (if it sounds familiar, it's because Brandon played in it 3 years ago and Tyler played in it last year). She put them with her own two kids Max and Tatum who are their good friends. And wisely she put the boys on one piano and the girls on another so there wouldn't have to be any practicing together (at least at my house where we only have one piano)! I literally practiced this with them almost a hundred times over the past month. It was amazing to hear it all came together so well!  (Tatum was in between softball games)

girls weekend!

It has been two years since my friends from BYU and I got together and had a girls weekend so we decided it was time!  We chose Phoenix this time, partly because I live here but also because Steph's brother has a huge, beautiful house here that he lives in alone that we could use.  A free car plus a free place to stay means more money to play!

Thursday I picked everyone up from two different airports and three different flights.  Jenni was the last one to arrive so we made her a poster and thoroughly embarrassed her at the airport!  Finally all together once again! We proceeded to stay up way too late chatting!

Friday morning we all donned our "active wear" (inside joke) and grabbed breakfast at U.S. Egg.  It seemed like an appropriate place since it was Veteran's Day!

Then it was off to Tempe Town Lake!  After a fiasco trying to park (we didn't realize there was a Veteran's Day event there), we ended up parking across the lake and walking across the bridge.  It was a beautiful day and a nice view!

We decided on kayaking and it was so fun and relaxing!  Steph and I took the only double kayak available and the others had singles.

 Not a great picture below, but the only one that shows all five of us!

Some of the girls went to a spa in the afternoon for massages.  I decided to run home and visit my family and take a nap! After dinner at RigaTony's, we headed to Jesterz Improv comedy club.

L to R: Amy, me, Brooke, Jenni, Steph

Another late night staying up talking!  The next morning we had a terrible breakfast at a nearby cafe!  It will forever be joked about.  Then it was off to the Mesa Temple (that's the only temple here that rents clothing).

That night we had a wonderful dinner at Grassroots in Phoenix.  We had a quiet little corner all to ourselves on the patio, the weather was perfect, and the food was delicious!  They even gave us a free dessert!

It was the perfect last few hours together, as we had to drop Amy at the airport that night (she left her four month old baby)!  The other four of us of course stayed up too late talking again, and Brooke and I only got a few hours of sleep before I had to take her to the airport very early in the morning.

Jenni, Steph, and I made a valiant attempt to go to church.  Apparently it was Stake Conference and after going to several different buildings to try to attend a Sacrament Meeting, we gave up and went to brunch.  We get credit for trying, right? Then I dropped them off at the airport.

I love these ladies so much!  We don't keep in touch as well as we should, but as soon as we get together it's like no time has passed.  I can't believe it's been 23 years since we were all nervous freshman away from home for the first time.  Our friendship has even outlasted the BYU dorm buildings where we met (they were torn down several years ago)!  Our conversations are much different now (we're all parenting teenagers and we have 23 kids combined!), but these ladies never cease to amaze me and make me want to be a better woman, wife, and mother.  That's what true friends are and I'm so blessed to have them in my life!