December

December was a little up and down. I'd feel really good about how Christmas prep was going, and then I'd be super stressed out by it, ha ha. But for the most part, it was a good month. We never did get any more snow, which was disappointing. And actually we had quite a few warm weather days which was strange for December. And some rainy days. Weird. Anyway, on to the pictures.

Jackson's play group has been a real struggle so I always appreciate pictures of him smiling.

When I picked him up from Cade's house he had to show me his hiding spot behind the couch.

My parents took each family on an experience this year. We got to go out to eat at Golden Corral with them and then went to the movies and saw Wish. It was pretty dumb. But a fun outing anyway. And then because our outing was so cheap (everyone else did either Luminaria or the Ice Castles), we also got to go to Nickel City after Christmas. Fun Christmas present!

Our elf Buddy stepped up his game this year. Because Kallie decided to be in charge, ha ha. It was fun seeing her creativity.

Finally made it to the Orem Temple Open House right before it ended. 

Jackson insisted on a picture up at the top of the stairs outside the library. I love having little kids that are excited about things like this.

Another play group success picture!

The pond outside was absolute glass one day and was just so stunning. I never tire of our view.

Jackson still falling asleep all over the place. I absolutely love it.

A crazy day in church where Mckinley was down on the floor with Jackson and Tyler and Kallie were both laying on the bench, just a couple weeks shy of being in young mens/young womens. It was just so funny to me I had to take a picture.

Ava got a visit from Santa and Mrs. Clause at school.

School Christmas sing. One of my favorite events to attend!

Tyler and Kallie wearing the ugly Christmas sweaters I borrowed for them for their ugly Christmas sweater song. They really didn't want to wear them!

We got to go see Wonka with Agents United. I loved it!

School Christmas class parties! I love the Christmas week of school. This year the kids went to school all the way up to the 21st, which was a Thursday. They had a half day that day, and then Friday off of school and Christmas was Monday. Then two full weeks of school off after that. School doesn't start up again till January 8th! We usually go back right after New Years. I'm loving it. And we are going on a cruise during the first week of school, so this is a really long break and I couldn't be happier!

First grade Christmas singing concert.

Ava's class party.

Jackson actually participated for the first time ever!

We went swimming at the Provo Rec on a whim the Friday before Christmas and it was the most fun time I think we've ever had. The place was empty and it was just awesome!

My aunt Rebecca died unexpectedly a week before Christmas. They think it was a blood clot about a month after having knee replacement surgery. So I went down to Mount Pleasant for her funeral which was 2 days before Christmas. It was absolutely beautiful and the most amazing funeral ever. Really great to see family.

My mom's generation.

Later that evening we hosted my family's Christmas Eve dinner at our house and had a really great time!

Riverwoods and the Aquarium

The Monday after Thanksgiving break the kids and I attempted a Christmas Market for Orem City but it was way too crowded so we skipped it and just headed to Riverwoods. Brandon was going to meet us there but ended up not being able to make it.

They didn't have their regular Santa when we went, but it's always nice to go early in the season when there is no line!

We had fun looking at the lights and taking lots of pictures.

The last day of November we finally got to use our PBS Adventure pass to go to the aquarium. This is the first time they've offered free tickets for the kids to get in to the aquarium so we definitely wanted to take advantage. I'm so glad we did because the aquarium isn't on there for next year.

We went with Kristen's and Amy's families so it was a little slow going but we had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the virtual reality experiences.

I love making memories with these kids!

Jackson and I went with Amy and Kristen to Christmas Around the World at BYU. We had a good time.

The kids got another snow day on Saturday! They went out and built a big bench out of snow. They were out there all afternoon. So much fun! 

 

November / Thanksgiving

Tyler and Kallie were dying about missing their wax museum while we went to Canada but their teacher ended up moving it to the next week so they got to participate after all. They didn't have to memorize anything like Mckinley did but it was the first time we were able to go in and see a whole classroom full of kids dressed up and it was really fun!

Tyler had a cool electronic recording of all his information.

I ordered him a wig from Amazon last minute and it was just so great!

He said he couldn't smile because of the sticky mustache but I made him attempt it. I have laughed out loud so many times looking at this picture.

Tyler is playing indoor soccer for the first time ever and it's really fun to watch!

Kallie's friend Addie hosts them for the funnest parties all the time. They did a friendsgiving together.

And while she was gone, we went swimming. Attempted the Provo Rec but the whole kids pool was under construction so we headed to Orem instead. They had a new playground we didn't even know about.

The diving board is always a fun time. Tyler has made friends with Merrick, a boy in our neighborhood, and still tries to hang out with Alex when he can.

This was so funny to me watching Brandon freak out when Jackson jumped into the 13 foot deep pool. Of course Jackson had no idea how deep it is, but it really doesn't matter too much if he can swim. :)

Jackon's little play group has been a real struggle for him but he's good with it when it's at our house. We hosted the boys the day before Thanksgiving break so had to make some cute turkeys with their names on them.

Kallie has quite the fun set up in her room. She's growing up too fast!

Thanksgiving break was so much fun. Ava and Jackson got to go play on a bounce house with Ava's friend from school. 

Then I dropped Kallie and Mckinley off at the mall on their own for a while and went back to get them. We did a little shopping and got to see all the fun gingerbread houses.

Love seeing this cute tractor in the neighborhood whenever we drive by.

Our mattress sleepovers don't happen every Friday night like they used to, but Brandon did get them out for Thanksgiving break and the kids were pretty excited about it.

Thanksgiving morning we had the whole day till 4:00 at home so the kids decorated for Christmas and Mckinley and I went out for a freezing walk by the lake. We were going to go with my family but because some people had just come down with Covid we decided to go with the Salmon's instead. Nice to have back up and to be able to change plans easily.

As soon as we got over there before we even started eating Jackson sat down on this couch and was looking really sleepy. I asked him if he was getting ready for a nap and he said no, but clearly he was.

We had a good time.

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up to snow!!! It was magical. The kids and I went out sledding on the golf course. Brandon totally would have come with us but he had hurt his back pretty bad somehow and really couldn't move much all weekend. Poor guy. But we had so much fun in the snow! It was such a fun day!

After playing in the snow we went to Classic and played on the bounce houses with some cousins. Ross and I played cards while the kids jumped.

And then we had bought tickets to go see Trolls that evening which was super cute and we had such a good time together! This is such an amazing stage of life with no babies and we can just have so much fun going on outings!

We headed over to the mall so Brandon and Tyler could see the gingerbread houses.

Cute Jackson spent quite a while figuring out the buttons on his white shirt.