Christmas Traditions

As a young family, we are trying to establish some Christmas traditions. Slowly, I think we are succeeding.
First of all, we go pick out our Christmas tree.
After perusing the rows, we all come to agree on the perfect tree. How long will it take before we don't all agree?!?!
Then, we take it home and decorate it. The kids love pulling out all of the ornaments and telling us which ones they remember and which ones are their favorites. (Except for Addy, who has no idea what we are doing!)
For some reason, the tree gets an awful lot of ornaments down low and in front, but the rest of the tree is lacking.
The ladder does help, a little bit.
Addy's motto on life, "Anything you can do, I can do better".
The Dad helps also!
Addy finally got the hang of it and the bottom branch of the tree was very populated with ornaments, for about a day. Then, they slowly started to fall off and be placed on higher branches. Hmmm, how did that happen!
I'm not sure which is cuter, the finished product or the three in front of it!
Putting lights on our house is a tradition my husband would probably like to pass on. However this year, he was rewarded with a "my house is beautiful" from Addy. How can you resist that! (And no, that's not a weather vein, Chad likes to see how many dirty looks he can get from cars that drive by wondering what Dad lets his kids on the roof!)
We also like to go see the lights on Temple Square, even if it is very cold!
One of the events the kids look most forward to is Chad's Christmas party at work. They are very family oriented.
They had cookie decorating,
Crafts and coloring with the athletes,
And, you can't forget the annual family picture with Cosmo!
We also like to go to Aunt Jenny's house to make gingerbread houses. (The mess is much better over there!)
He designed it himself. Do you think he's a chip off the old block?It's always more fun when you are with the cousins!
Plus, then when the girls don't want to make their's right away, they can hang out with Kalin,
or have some sips of their favorite beverages.
Emily actually crashed on the couch before she made her gingerbread house, so we had to have another session the next day. (So I got the mess at my house anyway!)
Since we already had one mess, we continued the tradition of making and decorating Christmas cookies with the masses. Friends, neighbors, cousins, come one, come all!
Addy figured this out quickly and loved it!
She especially loved Morgan's help!
I'm not sure if Mason is pondering his next move here, or just really bored!
It was a tight contest to see if more frosting made it on the cookies, the table, the floor, or in their mouths!
Sprinkles,
sprinkles,
and more sprinkles. Doesn't this look appetizing?
This one looks much cuter! I think this was Morgan's (and Addy's) creation!
No wonder we get so worn out before Christmas even happens! Oh well, bring on the rest of Christmas!

Champions at Last!

In our annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition, we spent the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving at the Spanish Fork Dodgeball Tournament. We were a little nervous that they were going to cancel it because the "Storm of the Century" was supposed to hit that night. (Thankfully it missed Spanish Fork and didn't quit live up to its billing.) The storm outside held off, but inside there was a flurry of dodgeballs and dodging men!
The pre-game strategizing was the beginning of great things. (Although it could have actually been a discussion of who got to sit out first. The old guys seemed to fight over that more than they did over who got to play!)
The guys hit the ground running and didn't slow down all night. This was the beginning of a great (and long) night!
However, the old men definitely feel all of that exercise the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that!
Every now and then, the line waiting to get back in the game got pretty long. But, they adhered to the old wisdom, "never give up, never surrender" and eventually advanced out of pool play.
While waiting for the rest of the tournament to begin, the youngsters decided it was their turn. I think it started as girls on boys, I'm not sure how they justified that, but they didn't seem to care!
I guess if Emily hides far enough back, they can't hit her and the girls will never lose!
One day Cole, you too can join the Bengay Brigade!
The Bengay Brigade continued to play well and eventually made it to the championship game.
Before the championship game, they had a meeting of the minds, or at least a meeting to tell them, "it's only a game". Like that worked! (And yes, the team they are playing looks significantly younger and they have uniforms!)
And they're off!
Chad had to recruit some younger guys to help his team compete. Thankfully the nephews are in high school and eligible to play. Kalin and Colton both proved themselves worthy! (And they inspired Kevin to turn in his best performance in years so as not to be shown up by his sons!) Although it should be noted that it was one of the old guys on the team who recorded the winning shot!
Game, set, match! We are the champions!
It was a long night (it always lasts way longer than I expect), but it was well worth it!
For the winners, a giant sub sandwich, a 12-pack of Mountain Dew (they probably needed that several hours before!), and a t-shirt. Who knew winning was so rewarding?!
And for the young fans, a trip home to bed!
Tune in next year to see if they can defend their title!

Happy Birthday to Me

Since I'm getting old, birthdays aren't nearly as much fun as they used to be. However, this year my kids were so excited for my birthday that I had no choice but to get excited!
They designed, wrote messages on, and signed a card for me all by themselves.
They helped Chad decide on some presents and wrap them. (Lucky him!)
They were good for their Dad while their Mom went off and got pampered with a massage, shopping, and peace and quiet! (No picture of this.)

And finally, they helped their Dad (Did I mention, lucky him?) frost my cake, which I must say was delicious! We took the cake over to celebrate with Kalin. He sure does have a lot of candles on his cake!
Happy Birthday to me! Thanks Chad, Cole, Emily, and Addy for a great weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. So great, that we forgot to take many pictures!
We did get to enjoy an excellent dinner and company.
Even if an Indian showed up!
Addy was cutting molars and did not have such a great Thanksgiving. However, she perked right up when Grandma brought out a popsicle to make her mouth feel better!
We are truly thankful for all we have been blessed with, but most especially we are thankful for our family!

First Snow

The week of Thanksgiving, we got our first real snowfall and the kids couldn't wait to get outside. The only problem was, it was COLD!! So, I stalled as long as possible to avoid going out, but the girls could only be distracted for so long. By early afternoon, they were so persistent that I suited them up and we headed outside.
Even Addy, who really had no idea how to play in snow was begging to go out! (This is a common theme for her. If everyone else wants to do something it must be worth it!) I'm not sure she was quite as excited when she actually got out there! But she was a trooper and played for quite a while with the big kids.
The girls had a great time just running around in the snow at the beginning, trying out their boots and snow pants.
Then, they decided it was time for a snowball fight. Thankfully the snow sticks to their gloves when they try to throw it, so they are not great shots!
When they tired of that, they turned their snowball-making into snowman-making.
By this time Cole was home to help them get the snowman assembled.
Even though the rest of us were fully dressed in snow gear, Cole thought it was nice and warm and decided he did not need a coat. He is truly his father's child!
Isn't our snowman cute?
After the snowman was finished, the girls decided it was time for hot cocoa and Cole went off to sled with his buddies. Thankfully they have a sledding hill they like that is within sight of the house!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!