December 24- Christmas Eve! a Hayride and lots of fun!

On December 24, we got to go to a friend of my dad's house and he took us on a hayride with his 2 HUGE clydesdale horses.  These horses were giant!  It was pretty fun--very cold, but fun.  Well, except for the part when Lexie fell off.  Yeah, sure, that wasn't funny at the time, but now it's freakin hillarious!  Story--she was being annoyed that we were riding for so long, so, being the 21st century parents that we are, we gave her an ipod to watch Dora on.  Hey- she stays quiet and doesn't scream at me- don't judge me...you don't have a "Lexie"  Anyway, she, of course, dropped/threw it off the hayride.  Matt leaps down to get it (we were only going like 3 miles an hour if that), and just leaves Lexie to sit on the haybale herself.  (I was on the other side of the wagon)  Well, do you remember from my previous post where I stated that lexie is like Randy from A Christmas Story when she is in her snow gear?  She really is all puffy and can't really move much--which turned out to our advantage.  She turned to go after matt and fell off! In the middle of the road.  Almost by the wheel of the wagon.  Thankfully, mostly in part to her puffiness, she wasn't hurt- just scared.  Holy cow- all of us were totally freaked out, and Matt felt like the Parent of the Year.  It's all good--it's Lexie.  She was bound to fall off at sometime in the ride.  ;)

Later on that evening, we had pizza for dinner, read the Christmas story from the Bible, opened our Christmas pajamas, and left food for the reindeer and Santa.  I just love Christmas Eve- it's so magical!

December 23rd-Matt takes the kids skiing/snowboarding

On December 23rd, Matt took Brian and Sydnee up to the ski resort called Bogus Basin to go skiing/snowboarding.  Brian did snowboarding and Syd skied.  Matt stayed with them and took them up and down the bunny hill.  They really liked riding the magic carpet! I think they had fun- it was pretty cold, and it was a first for both of them.  They said they wanted to go again, so it must've been a decent experience! 

December 22- Swimming at the hot springs and Derrick's birthday!

On December 22, we went swimming at the Hot Springs.  Kate, Easton and I didn't get in, but eveyone else did.  I will tell you that it was STINKIN COLD!!!  The temperature was in the 20s, so just sitting on the side was cold, but if anyone needed to get out of the pool, they would freeze to death. HA!  I didn't get very many good pictures because it was so steamy and hardly any turned out.  After we went swimming, we went back to mom's to have Oreo Delight for Derrick's birthday.  :) Happy Birthday Derrick! 

December 19th- church!

On December 19th we went to church with mom and dad. The kids got to wear all their new Christmas outfits.  Kylie and Easton weren't there yet, so that's why they aren't in the picture with mom and dad.  We took the picture of the girls the next Sunday.

December 18th

Idaho had SO.MUCH.SNOW!!! It was great fun for us to be able to play in it while we were there.  The kids made a snowman, went for 4wheeler rides, and had a ton of fun just playing outside in it. Lexie looked like Randy off of A Christmas Story-she was so puffy in her snow clothes! :)  Bella was a little wary at first, but she did kind of like the snow (yes, we had her in a pink sweater so she wasn't too cold).  That night, the little town of Sweet had a nativity play and a hayride that we went on.  FUN!

Trip to Utah/Idaho- DEC 16-17

Here we are...back in the car again. HAHAHAH!  Dec 16th we left for our trip at 3 am.  We made it to Durango about 6pm.  We stayed overnight in Durango, and then left for Utah the next morning about 7.  We got to grandma's at 245pm, then had to get back in the car again and headed to Idaho at 4pm.  We were going to stay overnight at grandma's and just drive to Idaho on the 18th, but there were big storms coming in and we didn't want to drive in bad weather.  The kids were amazing, again! YAY!  Even Bella was super good.  Thank heavens.....   our hotel in Durango was awesome, and I'm sure we will be staying there again.  Other than Lexie puking in Price Canyon (where the ice waterfall pic was taken), it was a thankfully uneventful trip.  :)

December 14-Sydnee's Gingerbread Man play

On December 14, Sydnee had her first Kindergarten performance!  Her class put on the Gingerbread Man play.  She was the little old woman (one of the MAIN parts of the show), and worked REALLY hard for weeks on her part.  We put her in a little dress, with a cardigan and apron, put powder in her hair to make it white-ish, and gave her a little handbag and glasses. She did awesome!! I just couldn't believe it...my little shy, attached, nervous little girls was up there singing in the microphone ALL BY HERSELF!! No tears, just excitement! I was so proud!!