Cabin Trip - Happy New Year!!!

We have gone up to the cabin for New Year's Eve almost every year since we were teenagers. Last year we weren't able to go up bc the kids had dance and basketball, but this year we made sure it worked out so that we could go. Unfortunately Brayden had practice all weekend so we arranged for him to stay home with one of his bball friends. Our new Tahoe isn't quite ready to haul a bunch of stuff yet (we don't have rails on the top nor do we have a hitch carrier) so we decided we would need to take 2 cars which meant the girls each invited a friend. I was surprised we were able to find friends on such short notice, however we weren't able to find one for Brielle. 

Josh, me, and 7 girls headed up on Thursday night and made it up there around 9:15. We didn't have water for the first night but got it all fixed in the morning so we were able to turn all the water on. We have played games non stop, watched movies, and spent time sledding outside. We knew it would snow the whole time we were up here and snow it did! We got well over a foot of snow while we were up there. Steve, Kay, and Rachael came up on Saturday evening and spent the rest of the weekend with us. It was a great trip and a much needed get away!

I had sent the younger girls to bed around 10:45 on New Year's Eve, but Rachael's baby was crying so much they couldn't fall asleep. So I let them come back upstairs and count down to the new year. They all got pots and pans out and had fun banging them at midnight. 2022 was a great year full of ups and downs. We can't wait to see what 2023 brings!

 

Brewer Christmas Party

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Brewer family which meant Ryon and Jana wouldn't be joining us for our family Christmas party. Fortunately this year they had a wedding to come down to so we were able to plan our get together while they were here. It was fun to hang out again all evening with them. The kids always love spending time with their cousins!

 

Airborne

Tobi mentioned she was going to take her boys to Airborne,  so I asked the kids if they wanted to go and of course they all said yes! We scrambled to find a friend for each of them and headed down to Draper to play. They all had a blast and could've jumped for another 2 hours if we could've stayed lol. I didn't get the best pics bc the kids never stopped moving long enough for me to get any!

 

Christmas

It always takes weeks to prepare for Christmas and it's over in the blink of an eye. It's fun as the kids have gotten older bc they worry less and less about the presents and have been enjoying the whole season and being together for it all. We have 9am church which meant either we had to get up really early to do Christmas or wait until after church. The kids all voted to sleep in and wait until after church, so I had to cover everything up with sheets so we could still have the "shock" factor that the kids look forward to every year. 

I loved starting the day at church listening to all the pretty music, however I destroyed my back yesterday getting everything ready so I spent the second half of sacrament meeting laying on the floor at the feet of all my kids bc I couldn't sit any longer. After church we headed home, took a few nice pictures, then let everyone change while we finished getting everything ready. After a family prayer we were able to still line the kids up and have them turn around on the count of 3. I did that every year growing up and the kids have loved this tradition.

After opening up the bulk of the presents the kids were able to exchange the gifts they got for each other, then they opened their gifts from Santa. They were all excited for the gifts they got and there were even a few moments of shock...Brooklyn got Nike Panda Dunks that are impossible to find, Brayden got a "Date Idea Box" full of gift cards to use on dates as well as a CarPlay system for when he gets Josh's car in a few weeks (he was sure he knew all his gifts), and Brynlee got a Ukulele and has played it non stop. 

We all made crepes together and spent time with my parents while they stopped by to visit. Later in the afternoon the Ericsons all came over and spent the evening playing and exchanging more gifts. It was a wonderful day and I wouldn't have changed a thing. 

I had forgotten to wrap the gift I was most excited to give the kids lol. So after everyone left I was able to give the kids each a little book with pictures from this past year of dance and basketball. They have loved looking through all the memories. I'm hoping to be able to go back and make a book for each of their past couple of years. We have our family journals (this blog printed into books) but I wanted them to be able to have something a little more personal full of just their memories.