Side Trip

Tony and his family just moved to Grants Pass, OR last month. We decided to take a detour and visit them. We met them for dinner and had a tour of his new office. He bought a Chiropractic practice therr last month. We had a great visit.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was lovely. Santa did a good job hiding the kids' stockings. It took the kids awhile to find all the stockings.

Barbie and Mike opened their gift (a Meyer lemon tree-they have to pick it up in Phoenix).

The kids arm-wrestled and played a stick game while the grown-ups relaxed.


Then we all got ready to play. We decided not to go skiing because the weather was horrible. The older kids went tubing with Grandpa Mike, Mike W., Todd, and Andrea. The younger kids went ice skating. We had a wonderful time. Despite the blizzard on Mount Bachelor, it was sunny and crisp as we ice skated. I even took Chloë in her shoes on the ice.

Since the bad weather from Monday's ski day did not bother Olivia, I did give Olivia the choice between skiing with Dad and I or ice skating. She chose ice skating. Olivia was very determined from the minute she got on the ice that she was going to do this. She was all smiles, even when she fell. She quickly jumped up like nothing had happened! Grandpa Mike said her determination was very obvious, and a great quality to have!

Sam also loved ice skating. But he soon learned how much MORE fun it was when I pushed him around the ice rink. He laughed and smiled. It was fun for both of us. I am grateful my sisters and mom were there to help with the kids so I could have time with all of them.

Daniel has hardly ever worked overtime. I can only think of about 2 or 3 nights he has stayed passed 6pm. But this month he has been working on a case which is very different than his normal patent prosecution work. Unfortunately, he had to work while we went ice skating and played in the snow.

Silly girls!


It looked like everyone had fun tubing. We will go when the kids get older!

I don't think Chase gets much happier than this!!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional Nativity dramatization from Luke 2 and 3 Nephi.

Here is Chase as Samuel the Lamanite on the wall. See the arrows NOT hit him.

Sam and Seth are throwing arrows (tin foil balls at 'Samuel the Lamanite')

Loula was baby Jesus.

Chloë was an angel along with Kira and Olivia.

Here are the actors.

I can ice skate

Here goes Olivia!

my ski day

By Sunday I was totally sick with a sinus infection. I could hardly breath. It was no fun. At least the rest of me did not feel bad. Monday (yesterday) I started taking medicine and rested in the lodge with Todd and my mom while the others went skiing.

I went snowboarding for a half a day during the winter Olympics in 2002. But other than that it has been over 10 years since I skied/snowboarded. So I was so determined to go skiing today even if I was sick. I went skiing with my dad, while Daniel stayed home to work. I had a great time. I bought all the right gear, so I was not cold at all despite the blizzard.

The visibility was only 3 chairs in front of us on the lift. The mountain was covered with think new powder. Evey time my dad and I tried to make a smart decision, we got into more trouble.

At one point we were tree skiing-- meaning we were lost in the trees with no people in sight making our own ski tracks. I was sure we were not too lost. It was only really bad when my dad ran into a tree and lost his ski. We found it and continued.
Twice a young skier came whizzing by to let us know we were still near the ski runs! Anyway, we eventually side stepped up a mountain and back onto a run!!
We were exhausted, so we went back to the lodge to share our adventure and get some food.

After two long days of skiing, Sam opted for playing with his race cars (which went with him to ski school) in the lodge instead of going down the slopes one more time.

SKI SCHOOL!

Sam and Liv were very excited to go skiing.
Olivia just loves her cousin, Kira. She would not do anything unless Kira was doing it. (There were only a few exceptions). I will admit, it was a little frustrating at first, but I adapted. Plus, Leslie was good about helping me get Kira and Olivia on the same page most of the time.
Kira was getting fitted for her skis, so Olivia would not take a picture with us.

You can see it on Sam's face!
He says, "I love you skis!"

Before the kids started their afternoon class, Sam took one run with Daniel and then everyone came in for lunch. It was a BIG morning!

Everyone had a nice day, even though it was snowing like crazy!

Another day full of cousins

On Sunday we just hung out and let the kids play. On the way to church Daniel did a 360 in the snow as he turned into the church parking lot. It was unanimously decided that we needed new tires.



Barbie and Mikie enjoy their youngest grandbaby.

Chloë gets along great with her cousins. All she needs is food and attention while coloring.


That evening we went to a rest home and sang to the people. It was a great experience for all of us. On the way home Andrea was in a snowball fight with the boys.
When all was over, it looked as if the boys won. Poor wet Andrea!

Snow Play!

We had a wonderful Christmas break in Bend, OR. My parents treated everyone to a ski trip at Mount Bachelor. We had fun playing with our cousins from the moment we woke until it was time for bed.

One of the boys' favorite activities was SNOW BALL fights. They said the snow was too dry for good snowballs. So they had to use shovels and trashcans to really attack the opposing team! You can tell they had a great time!

Jim and Leslie brought snow shoes for a different kind of adventure. One day Jim took dad. Leslie said it was a great workout. I believe her, she is very fit.

Of Course, Daniel brought his frisbee and played with his nephews in the snow.

Our first morning we spent exploring the area around our cabin.

High Desert Museum

We decided not to ski on Saturday and just play in the snow. Then we found out about the High Desert Museum. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. There we saw animals and exhibits that were interesting to the kids and adults.
Here we are in a teepee!

Merry Christmas

Daniel and I would like to wish our friends and family a Merry Christmas and hope it is full of the true Joy of Christmas with Christ always in our thoughts.
Our blog is usually closed to the public so if you would like an invitation just let me know.

Peter and the Wolf

After a moring of playing at the park and watching Dad and his friends play Ultimate frisbee, Sam and Liv and I went to hear the San Francisco youth symphony play Peter and the Wolf. I hope to continue this tradition with our kids. The symphony also play some Christmas music so the kids can sing along! It is great. We went with our friends Miles and Mandy.

Grown up Friends

Before the holidays really got going, we invited some friends over had had a BLAST!!!

There was so much laughing and yelling I could only stop playing for a minute to get a picture.

I am pretty sure you have never played Yatzee like we play Yatzee!