New Year's Eve 2015!!

On New Year's Eve, we headed down to the cabin again to spend a few days. We actually spent the week with the Williamsons, and had gone tubing at Soldiers Hallow the previous day. It was 9 degrees outside though, way too cold to snap any pictures. We still had fun tubing and eating at Dairy Keen in Heber. When we arrived at the cabin, James and some of the other guys took the kids out to snowboard and ski. It was about 0 degrees, and some of them had a horrible time and came back crying! They soon forgot when they were rushed off to a delicious dinner at La Jolla Groves where all of the cousins were very well behaved. For our party, we did our traditional "hourly countdown bags" which each contained a surprise or activity. It was SO much fun! We did face painting on all of the kids, and some of the adults were great sports and let the kids paint on them. I was not one of those good sports :)

We had balloon races where you blow up a balloon, tape it to the straw on the string, and let it go so the air inside propels it. Of course, James had to amp it up a bit and tied the string all the way to the loft on the third floor! Some of the big balloons were so powerful that they made it all the way to the top.

We served the whipped cream pies with a hidden Jelly Belly hidden inside. The trick was to eat the "pie" without hands or untensils, and the first to find the Jelly Belly was the winner. The really funny trick was that the beans were Bamboozle Beans - some of them were nasty flavors like skunk, dog food, or grass clippings! Steven actually tasted his and said it was soap flavored. He was greatly displeased! I owed him one though since he shot me with a rocket at the restaurant the day before!

Minute to win it: get the Oreo in your mouth without using hands! The Uncles all did it afterwards and I got some fun video clips.

Grandma and Grandpa had a few fun games for the kids like Cow Tip. Grandpa Joe was running a fish linking game that Blaze was very good at...he was only beat by Jackson!

Alanna brought her karyoke machine and she and Kaia sang Frozen songs. And then the Uncles got in on it and we put in the Teeny Bopper CD. Andrew is quite the rapper, and we've got some great video footage to use at his wedding luncheon someday. Grandpa Joe sang "Take me out to the Ball Game", painted face and all. I don't think we could've asked for better entertainment!

Tons of glow sticks, Laughy Taffy, and Tootsie Rolls make for a great party too!

We rang in 2015 with Sparkling Cider, rootbeer floats, star cookies, and sparklers. It was so cold outside that our Sparkling Cider was frozen and slushy after sitting out on the deck for two hours. I'd say it's the best Sparkling Cider I've ever had though! That's got to be the way we drink it from now on. This was definitely one of the most fun New Year's we've celebrated with the kids!

Post Christmas with the Willies!

On December 29, the Williamson grandparents came to town and invited us all to their cabin in Sundance for a post-Christmas party. We had dinner, made gingerbread houses, and opened gifts. Miraculously, we finally had a good snow storm that brought in enough snow for boarding and sledding! Thank goodness!

The fun part of making gingerbread houses is eating the candy, of course!

Drum roll....here are the interactive wands the kids will get to use at Harry Potter World this coming June. They came with a map of the places they can be used to "cast a spell" on drinking fountains, for example, to make it turn on. Grandpa Joe told us that the Universal Studios site had to declare that the "magic" only works in the park since some people were under the impression that the wands actually performed "magic" anywhere! The kids are SO excited to use them!

Watch out for these little wizards!

Alanna, Blaze, and James each got a snowboarding helmet. They have been very useful as we have been up at a resort every weekend this year so far.

It doesn't take much to excite this kid, especially when it comes to Curious George! He also happens to LOVE the game of Memory, and he often can beat James and I at it. I love to see how competitive he gets.

 

Looks like you're never too old to have mommy help you with your helmet!

Jackson lives in hoodies these days, so we are glad he's adding to his collection.

Sometimes it takes a few shots to get all of the kids looking at the camera! What a fun night we enjoyed with the Williamson family!

Christmas Morning 2015!

Why are we dressed up in silly costumes on Christmas morning you might wonder? Professor Snape and Professor Trelawney had to stop in and escort the Williamson children to their Harry Potter World orientation! We do look pretty spooky!

As soon as Jackson and Paul saw us, they knew who we were and asked if we get to go to Harry Potter World for vacation this year! They had to read the invitation letter to find out!

They are awaiting their Christmas Breakfast at Hogwarts.

Jackson also immediately asked if they could get the interactive wands for the park. Just wait...

Blaze asked Santa for a robot monkey. This cutey patootie is what he got. He named her Baby Banana, and he has and Alanna have been taking excellent care of feeding her, tickling her, changing her diaper, etc. She has been much loved by the whole family!

 

Alanna LOVES to sing. But she needs some help and lots of practice. Santa brought her a karyoke machine with a CD of songs from Frozen, and a teeny bopper CD. She has been practicing lots.

 

Paul was thrilled to finally get the guitar he's been asking for! These kids are going to be making all kinds of racket!

 

Jackson can hook up his Ipod to his Snap Circuit creations and watch them interact and light up to the rhythm of his music. Santa also brought him a new disc drive to fix our Wii that's been broken for a couple of years.

The perfect Hogwarts Christmas grub...chocolate frogs, plenty of special Christmas candy and treats, and homemade eggnog to wash it all down with.

Yuck! I couldn't bring myself to eat one of these! They will be a great addition to our annual Halloween party though.

Of course, everyone listed chocolate covered cherries on their list for Santa.

Sibling gifts

James got me a new phone! I didn't come right out and ask for one, but he knew that the one I had was dying and needed to be replaced. He talked me into getting a Galaxy S5, which I was really hesitant about. I don't need a fancy phone, just one that functions. His reasoning was that "your friends will all think you are really cool!" Yep, I have made so many more friends now that I can flash around my new phone! I think he just really wanted to play with it :)

Paul was so proud of himself for saving up his money to buy James some Cheetos - his favorite.

For some reason James totally looks like Shrek here!

Paul's much awaited running shoes! His class does a "fun run" every morning, and he usually wins. But not in his new shoes - he's saving them for when the ground isn't wet!

I love this little bookworm!

I got James really good with this one! I actually did get him Real season tickets, and they added this 2011 canvas pictures along with them. I just wrapped up the canvas and when he opened it he thought he was getting season tickets. I told him I just thought he'd like to hang the pictures in his office, and that I didn't buy him tickets.

I asked James's parents for a few kitchen items, including some exciting silicone spatulas. I thought they may as well be a surprise for James! Now the kids call them James's spatulas and they run around the house trying to spank his butt with them.

They all decided to get each other slippers this year. So cute!

Uncle Andrew prevails again! He gave the kids each a giant jaw breaker that lasted for days. Of course, they were a Christmas favorite this year. How does he always know what they will love?!

Here we go...later on James really opened his tickets. He admitted that I got him good. That made the surprise more exciting though. I think it's the best gift I've ever bought for him... he can't wait for soccer season!