December 2010

My dad came to UT to spend Thanksgiving with us.  That meant a lot to us.  It was so nice to have him here, even though it was only for a few days.  It was freezing cold, but dad was a pretty good sport about the weather.

Doing science experiments.

Since it was so cold we didn't do much.  The boys went skiing.  I think we also went to the Museum of Ancient History...that's one of Arden's favorite places.
It was just nice to have him here and to talk.  The children loved playing with him. On the last evening he spent here, Arden snuck in bed with him to spend one last night with his Lito.  Arden was pretty sneaky because we didn't even hear him go down the stairs.


Then, the month of December came...and with that...festivities and other things.  Arden played futsal for the first time.  It was torture for me to watch him play, but he had a lot of fun.  We know it's good for him...so, we'll keep doing sports for a while...at least. Also, the cousins had a sleepover during the winter break...there was even a hyped up blizzard that never came. Also, Arden had a blast with his volcano eruptions.
We try to have a Christ centered Christmas, so we don't go all crazy.  We do however participate on a variety of family events and activities.

We made gingerbread houses with the cousins living in UT.  That was fun...our kids and Helen's kids were in candy heaven. We also attended our ward (church's) Christmas breakfast.  There's of course the company dinner.  That was really nice.  Hmm, we decorated the Christmas tree as a family.  We also tried to take a decent family portrait to send out with our Christmas cards...notice the word tried. After about 35 shots, we gave up and this was the best we could do.

The Night Before Christmas:
Christmas Eve was so much fun.  We of course had dinner...I believe it was  shepherds pie, rolls, salads, pies, and more. Helen and Mary put together a talent show, where people performed musical numbers on the piano and other various performances.  Mary and Helen stole the show with their viola and violin duets of Christmas Carols.  It was a lot of fun to sing along. Also, the children enacted the Nativity.  There were lots of animals, shepherds, and all the other Nativity personages. After, all of this...it was time to open presents.  With so many children...it was a madhouse.  We all loved it.


While all of these festivities were in full force...we were persuaded to pack our bags and go to Mexico.  Yes!  We counted the money from the Paka and G-ma's piggy bank and on Christmas Day very early in the morning we loaded the van and drove to California. This was the most spontaneous trip I have ever taken.