Activities Leading up to Christmas

December flew by so quickly that looking back I can't even remember many details.  But, the kids got to do some fun Christmas activities.  We had a parade in Rigby, my parents had the kids over to help decorate their tree and make treats, went to our ward party, played in the snow, and ate until they were sick on Christmas Eve.  We didn't take pictures of everything but, here are some pics of some of the fun.

This parade is really fun and the weather this year was amazing!

Those are camels with three wise men

Lots of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house:

Santa.  Brayden was sick and he and I stayed home.

 Christmas Eve Activities.  Aunt Joyce Brought the Gum Drops for building and I bought an ugly sweater cookie kit the kids decorated. (I couldn't get the kids to cooperate and look at the camera.)

Gorgeous December Sunset

We had days of foggy weather and the trees we so coated it looked like snow.  So pretty.  This is my kind of winter wonderland.  

Family Photos 2017

A big thank you to Carley for having me get this family of ours together spur of the moment for some pics while we were there for Thanksgiving.  A big thank you to Myles for taking the time to take our pictures! These boys are not easy to get pics of.  I love how they turned out!  We just love this family of ours!

 Fun Silly ones:

I took these pics but Myles fixed them up for me:

Hailey 13

Conrad 11

Jackson 9

Brayden 7

Caleb 4

 Some other fun ones I got.  Brayden was really hammin' it up.  I had a whole bunch of him.

Hailey's Voice Recital

Hailey has a new voice teacher and December 14th she had her first voice recital. She worked really hard on her songs and it paid off.  She did amazing!  This video is from that although, it doesn't quite do it justice.  (It starts out quiet and she gets louder after a bit, so hang in there.)

Hailey also got to sing yesterday in Sacrament Meeting.  Hailey's old voice teacher helped her choose "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear". I wish I could have recorded it because it was awesome.  She was beaming from feeling happy about how it went and all the compliments.  It's so fun to see Hayes find something she loves that she'll be able to develop and continue on into adulthood.  We love you Hailey.  You're beautiful inside and out.

Thanksgiving 2017

Our Thanksgiving adventure began Wednesday morning. We got everything packed up, dropped the dog off at my parents (I forgot to leave dog food, oops), and began our drive.  The kids did awesome on the drive and we only had to make one really quick stop.  When we got there we met Earle, Carley and her family at Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner. The kids had a great time playing with cousins and staying up way too late.  But, how often do they get to play together so we let it slide until they were all pretty grumpy. I may have regretted that later though.

Thursday morning I went to my first spinning class.  It was a hard workout, but I was glad I went.  Then we went back to Carley's and got to work. Earle came over while we were finishing up.  It was nice to see him.  Sometimes family lives too far away.

We had a pretty good spread of food and definitely ate our fair share with more to spare.  Carley was even so nice to make a Frog Eyed Salad out of Quinoa so I could have some.  We had a good laugh at that because her friend said it tasted the same but, she must not have had good food in awhile because it didn't.  HAHA!  It was ok though because we still had plenty of other things.

Carley and I went to another ab class on Friday and then we went shopping.  It was a lot of fun and we found some good stuff.  Then off to the roller skating rink we went.  It took two years of reading, but we finally finished the Book of Mormon and the kids earned a roller skating party.  Hailey was the only one who had been before and the other kids took a bit to get going but by the end they were all pretty good.  Caleb even figured out how to get around by himself.  Even with all the bumps and bruises they had such a fun time that they all wanted to go again the next day.  I think this will be our new family Thanksgiving tradition.

Afterward we drove out to Caldwell and walked through a light display.  It was really pretty.  The kids loved it.  The weather the whole weekend was amazing too so we didn't have to freeze as we did all of our activities.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the fun.

Saturday Myles took photos of our family and the kids.  I'll post those later when I get them.  We went to Earle's for a visit and then back to Carley's for more yummy food and the Boise State game.

It was really great to be in Boise and spend time with family. We also got to visit Helen (Bo's grandma that will be 102 in February).  She is a sweetheart.  The kids love seeing her.  I am always amazed that even though the kids don't get to see her often they still have so much love for her and give her a big hug when they see her. I just realized I forgot to get a pic with her. :(

On our way back we stopped at Gini and Dan's and they made us a delicious dinner.  The kids loved it.  It was fun to see them for a bit.  Although, I may have been a bit grumpy at that point after listening to the kids fighting for two hours in the car before we got there.  :)

This time of year is always so great.  I feel like Thanksgiving kinda gets forgotten these days.  But, if we take some time to ponder our blessings, that's what is truly important.  As always, this year I have many things and people to be grateful for.  Our family, our health, our many comforts in life, way too many "things" to post.  I want to focus on what I try to keep as the center of my life.  That is my Savior.

It seems that at this time each year I ponder our Savior and His goodness.  As I ponder my knowledge and understanding of Him it is always a bit brighter and I know Him a little bit more. The scriptures say we'll learn line upon line and that is how I see my growth.  I can't see much change until I look back over the years.

This year I've taken to heart that He is truly the only way to peace and joy in life's of ups and downs.  Life is such a great blessing, but it can be hard.  As we strive to live the Lord's teachings those hard times will be a bearable and we will have the strength to overcome anything that comes our way.  I don't mean that He'll solve any problem as soon as we ask for help.  But, as we invite the Lord to take our burdens on himself and as we yoke ourselves with Him, we will become stronger and better capable to deal with trials as we go through them.  As Satan tries to drag us down by any means he sees fit, our focus on the Lord and His light will always overcome.  Light can always displace darkness that comes into our life.  Our Savior is our true light.