Christmas 2021

This year for Christmas, we decided to do a family vacation instead of gifts. Our friends told us about this amazing 9000 sq foot house at Bear Lake that they rented last year the week before Christmas.  I didn't have any fun ideas for Christmas gifts, and it sounded like so much fun, and all our kids loved the idea of that instead of presents.  We were hoping to go the week before Christmas, since all the kids were out of school, but 2 of the dads were unable to get the time off, so we are doing it Feb 10-13.  I'm so excited that we ended up doing it in Feb. because if it was in December, it would be over, and now we have 6 weeks to look forward to it.

 We celebrated with our kids during the day on Christmas Eve,  so they came to our house for a yummy lunch.  I did ham and cheese sandwiches, and everyone brought something delicious to go with it. All our kids and grandkids were able to come as well as Lani and grandpa Cline.  It was so fun!

I had a great time shopping for white elephant gifts, and we did that before we ate.

Parker and I were twinning.

After lunch, the kids opened their cousin presents and then put on the nativity.  They organized it and did it all by themselves.  It was so sweet, it was our best one yet.  We all joined in singing the Christmas songs that go along with it.  I'm so grateful for my Savior and all that He has done for me.  I love this time of year!

Early Christmas morning, I went over to Krista's house to see her kids open their gifts.  I knew that they were getting a kitten for Christmas and wanted to see how excited Sophie was when she saw it.  She was THRLLED!

After that, I went back home and got Mike and we visited Josh's family.  

Then off to Jordan's house.

Our 3 littlest kids are getting kinda big!

Then we stopped by Jamie's house

Our last stop was Krista's again, Mike had to meet our grandkitty.

Fun times

One of our favorite things to do when our kids were little, was to choose a family to "Pixie" during the holidays.  They loved ringing the doorbell, leaving something fun, and running.  It's not as easy anymore, since so many people have doorbell cameras.  We have a sweet family in our ward who the dad lost his job back in July and hadn't been able to find one.  I decided I wanted to make their Christmas a little more fun.  Every night for a week we took them a fun treat.

I had Katie and Aida help me deliver one night.

I had the boys help me deliver another night..

And then after they went sledding, they delivered another night.

I had to deliver the rest so I had to disguise myself too.  I wore Mike's coat and a black covid mask and pulled the hood over my eyes.  We were pretty sneaky and didn't get caught!

When two of my dear friends found out we were doing it, they donated to the final night, and we were able to give them SEVEN $100 bills.  I hope that helped make their Christmas a little more merry.  I also found out the best news, their dad got a  great job a few days before Christmas! Prayers are answered for sure!!!!

I know a lot of people hate Walmart, but it's so close to me and the prices are better than most stores, so I go there ALOT!  (sometimes, multiple times a day)  We have some cute greeters at my store that I have gotten to be good friends with..  I baked some big cookies and took them over to them to wish them a Merry Christmas.

The day after I took them, one of the greeters told me she had a co-worker take a picture of her with the cookie I made her to send to her supervisor to let her know that her customers appreciated her. 

I thought it was so cute, I took a picture of her picture with my phone.

It's always nice to be appreciated.

 

Fun Christmas Crafts

Every month, Home Depot and Lowes give away craft kits for kids.  

They had so many fun ones this month. 

 I was able to get a bunch of them and do them with some of my favorite kids!

My activity day boys made the cute cars.

I got to do them with some of Ric and Kathy's grandkids

Thank heavens Ric was there to help.  We had Taylor, Devin, Paige, Calvin Lucy, and Jack.  It's definitely nice to have an assistant!  Thea couldn't come, so I stopped by her house and she painted an ornament.

I also did the cars with my cute boys.

These girls made the Christmas train.

They turned out soooooo cute!

I mailed some of the little gingerbread houses to these cute kids in Oregon.

I LOVE how adorable they turned out!

I love these tiny girls that live in my neighborhood.  

They made darling ones too!  

Thanks Home Depot and Lowes for all the fun Christmas Crafts!

Jamie went to Pinners Conference, and learned to make these cute trees, so I got the stuff to make them and Hailey and Libbie were able to come and make them with me.  (Molly was on a mini vaca with her family)

Mike wanted to do his a little different, and they turned out very cool!

These girls made the cutest Christmas pancakes.

We put the batter in bottles like Sophie is holding and 

it makes it so fun to make all kinds of shapes.

Mike's surgery update

When we went to see Dr. Shumway, the end of November, he told Mike he could finally put weight on his foot.  Hooray!  He had to continue wearing his boot for 2 weeks, and then he could graduate to a smaller brace. He is still using the walker, and it still hurts, but we are grateful that the surgery is done and he is on the recovery end of it.

He also had cataract surgery on both eyes in the last few months.  Quite a year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Since we celebrate Thanksgiving the Sunday before, Monday morning I got up early and decorated my house.

Last year I added some red and black buffalo checked things to my Christmas, and this year I found a cute table runner to match.

I LOVE Mom's precious moments nativity on my piano.

It's all so cozy.

I'm so grateful we redid our fireplace a few years ago.

For the last few years, the church has being doing the Light the World campaign.  It has made my Christmas Season so much fun.  I'm very excited to start that this week.

Projects with the boys

Every month, both Lowes and Home Depot pass out little kits for projects that kids can make.  I have been collecting a few of them, and showed them to the boys on Thanksgiving.  They couldn't wait to have a sleepover so they could build some of them.  As soon as they arrived, they wanted to get started.

They built these cute jeeps, (and Logan also built the army vehicle)  The next morning, they went with me to Home Depot and got the kits to make these cute gingerbread houses.  

They did such a great job.  While we were waiting for the paint to dry, before putting on the stickers, they had a great time building with Legos, Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys.

Logan had seen an advertisement for IHOP's Winter Wonderland pancakes and really wanted to go.  Since Mike is still not leaving the house much since he has to use the scooter, I am a little leery of taking 4 boys anywhere by myself.

They had so much fun helping to make them.

 

Thanksgiving 2021

We have so much to be grateful for this year.  We were able to gather with all of our family, unlike last year.  Even though Covid is still running rampid, since most of us have had our vaccines, we feel more comfortable being able to get together.  I loved how everything looked. So glad I took pictures before, because once everyone arrived, it was so wild, I didn't take any pictures. 

Finally, Mike's post op Dr. visit

2 weeks after Mike's surgery, he finally got to go to the doctor and take off the HUGE splint and bandage that he'd been wearing since surgery.

They were able to do orthoscopic surgery, so he just had 4 little holes instead of a large cut.

They put in 3 large screws.

Now he has a sporty boot that he can take off to shower, Hooray!  

Just 4-6 more weeks with no weight bearing.  😑