Random 2022 closing thoughts

The kids (mainly Liam) ask Alexa random questions:

Dani's funny autocorrect:

 

Singing in the New Year at the Browns

This year, we held our New Years Extravaganza at the Browns. They just moved into their home this year, so we were excited to ring in the new year there.

As always, the food was plentiful - 3 fondues and lots more. Jared always says it is the day he eats the most in the whole year!

We played a bunch of rounds of One Night Werewolf and other games

And the highlight - Karaoke with the new karaoke machine!

Jared and Eric even dressed up a little for "Barbie Girl"

We hardly had time to ring in the new year because we were in the middle of singing

And we just kept going 

Everyone wanted turns!

It really is fun to spend New Years with the Browns. We let loose and have so much fun together! We look forward to what 2023 will bring us.

Dani turns 40 - and we celebrated in style

Dani turned 40 this week. Dani's influence is felt so strongly in our family in her testimony, her charitable love of her family, and how she devotes her life to serving others. She is Jared's best friend and inspires all around her to be their best.

Through all of the emotions involved, we still found a time to celebrate Dani's birthday on Christmas day at Nana's with a DQ cake. 

The big party was an 80's themed karaoke party!

We found some neon 

There was a lot of denim, crimped hair, and overall awesome styles.

Jared found 80s themed treats and snacks - pizza pockets, Doritos, loaded tater tots, and more. Jared also found lots of candies - Dots, Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, Dunkaroos, Pop Rocks, and more.

We also had an 'adult beverage' bar, including mojitos and "Cuddles on the Beach" (aka virgin Sex on the Beach).

There were some pretty awesome duets

Sid even made an appearance, in town visiting family.

 

Playing in the Snow

Santa brought snow shapers - they were used right away! Liam created a duck army and left it out front to guard the house.

We got some snow right after Christmas! Since the family was still here, we had a big crowd to go sledding.

We went with the cousins over to the Dulle Park hill.

Boys being together meant we tried lots of different stacks of riders. Some were more successful than others - this one didn't go very far!

There were many contests - the last one morphed into who could ride snowboard-style.

We got to the hill late in the afternoon, so we stayed all the way to dusk.

We had a sunny day to go over to Perfect North - dare we call it a ... perfect day?

We were all over the hill throughout the day. It was a lot of fun skiing with T!

We were among a lot of people with the same idea - but it was a great day!

 

Christmas Eve

After the snow fell, the temperatures dropped quickly and it was COLD. But, it was Christmas Eve, and tradition calls for the Strikes' recipe grilled shrimp, and Jared was assigned to be the shrimp griller.

So, he bundled up and grilled shrimp in the snow! It took a little longer for the grill to heat up, but it got done and the shrimp were delicious!

 

Christmas Eve was with the extended family including the Lesans, so there was a grand show with a variety of different musical numbers.

Cora joined the girls' chair

Vicki joined Claire and Dani for a girls musical number.

The 12 days of Christmas, including actions, led by Camie and Matt. Everyone did the actions - even Grandpa John got into the actions!

Jared and Dani found a moment under the mistletoe, orchestrated and photographed by Kate, of course.

We had a grand nativity scene with Kate as Mary.

and some lively Wise Men.

Food was great as always, and we enjoyed time with family and friends. We missed Papa - our hearts were heavy, but we had a lot of fun memories.

We opened matching Christmas pajamas late at Nana's before heading home to get set up for Christmas morning.