New Years Eve

We decided to use our passes to the St. George Rec Center to play racquetball.  The courts were all being used and we didn't have a reservation so we played pool until one of the courts became available.  The kids had fun playing racquetball until Ethan hit me with a ball and he got nervous.

So we went to play in the arcade area.  The kids had a rough game of air hockey.  They couldn't agree on rules and Courtney accused Ethan of cheating.

When we left the Rec Center it started to snow.  Can you see the little snowball on the windshield wiper?  It's on the right of the center above the right tail light of the truck.  It's super small.

But before we got to Bluff Street the snow had turned into this.

So we stayed home and ate dinner.  There was a seafood sale at Harmons so I got crab and shrimp.  It was a feast and so much fun.

There was a multi-stake youth dance but the kids didn't want to go so we stayed up until midnight and went to bed.

Dentist

In an effort to avoid missing as much school as possible, the kids have their dentist appointments over Christmas break.  They both did a great job and didn't have any cavities.

Ethan is almost too long for the dentist chair!

Courtney is going to have to get a tooth pulled soon.  She has 2 teeth that are missing.  One of the baby teeth under where the missing tooth should be just isn't going to come out without help and they can't do braces until she gets that tooth out.  But the dentist said it can wait until probably May when they are ready to do the braces.  Poor girl has a messed up mouth with her missing teeth and things growing in sideways.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We have some fun traditions that we always try to do on Christmas Eve.

We make Christmas cookies for Santa, we read Christmas stories, we eat Pizza Hut pizza on a blanket in front of the Christmas tree, we play the chimes, and we open Christmas pjs.  So much fun!!

Courtney took over making the cookies for Santa.  She did a great job!

 Ethan read "Davey's First Christmas" to us and Bryan read the account from Luke.

The kids matched in their Christmas pjs.  I was so happy when Ethan asked me one night if I would make their Christmas pjs this year.  I haven't done that for a few years because they wanted me to buy them.  But I was thrilled to make the pjs.  Ethan even got shorts!

Christmas morning arrived bright and early.  We told the kids they had to wait until 6:30 am and they were up bright and early trying to get us up.

They got to see what was in their stockings and their gifts from Santa.  Then after a while Grandma and Grandpa Oman and Aunt Leigh Ann came over and the gift opening began.

Courtney was happy to get all her stuff.

Knives from my dad.

Courtney found this shirt and thought it was hilarious!  Just in case Ethan wrecks on his bike and someone finds him.

Courtney got this warm bunny socks that she loves.

Santa took pity on poor Courtney and bought her an iPhone 7.  Ethan got a Nintendo switch which he thought was awesome!

It was an awesome Christmas with lots of fun stuff!!

Christmas lights

We always like to take a drive around to look at Christmas lights and stop by the Temple to look at all the lights.  There weren't as many lights this year as in years past but it was still nice to walk around the Temple.

We took the traditional pic of Ethan and Courtney under the arch in the back corner of the Temple grounds.

Courtney bragged that she could carry Ethan so he decided to take her up on it.  She's pretty strong!

Run Run Reindeer

We like to participate in the Run Run Reindeer every year to get our Christmas holiday going right.  Five years ago we had a major snowstorm that began during the run, so we are always hopeful it will happen again.  This year was great weather for a run.

Courtney and Bryan ran it while Ethan and I stayed to cheer them on.

Here they are getting ready to start the race.  So many people dress up for this race and it's hilarious to see them all.  Courtney and Bryan went with their regular running clothes.

Here comes Courtney to the finish line!

Bryan is in the black just off center.  

When they finish the race they get donuts, Chick-filet, hot chocolate, and other stuff.  The sun was right in their faces when I took this pic so Courtney's face is a bit weird.

The runner with her medal...which is HUGE!!

Taking a bite out of the cookie on her medal.

Christmas Caroling

Ethan's friend invited him to go Christmas Caroling with him and a group of friends.  I wasn't sure what to think but Ethan was excited to go and spend time with his buddies.  They had a blast!  When he came home he was full of stories of their caroling antics.  They had 2 part harmonies going and even had dance moves.  I am impressed!!

I am so grateful that he has a bunch of kids that are good influences in his life.  The kid that organized it all was on the mountain bike team but the other kids were from school.  They were all good kids and they had a lot of fun with each other.  And he has a great memory to hold on to. 

I hope they do it again next year because the dance moves were my favorite!

Haircut

Courtney got a cute new haircut!  Her friend, Hayley, has an older sister who cuts hair.  So I called Emily and she cut Courtney's hair.  She cut a few inches off and it looks so cute!

Coins for Kids

We like to participate in Coins for Kids every year.  Usually we just do the shopping but this year we decided to do wrapping also.

Bryan had planning commission so it was just Courtney, Ethan and I.  We have done the shopping quite a few times and knew that they never let you in when they say they will.  So we showed up 15 minutes late and the line was FOREVER long.  It was the most people they have ever had for shopping day.  We had to stay in line for about 20 minutes before we got into Walmart and got our names. 

We were shopping for a small family who had little kids.  The kids liked picking out toys and clothes for the little kids.  It was crazy in Walmart though with all the groups.  So it is challenging but we finished in quick time and got some fun stuff.

The next morning Courtney stayed home from school and the kids and I went to the Dixie Center to wrap gifts.  It was organized chaos but we had fun.  I had told the kids we only had to stay for a little while because it was early and they were tired.  So we wrapped for 3 families.  I had a great time and I think next year I'll go by myself or have Ethan drive so they can leave after they get tired.

Yes

Ethan got out of school a week earlier than Courtney did because his Success Academy classes ended with finals at Dixie State.  He still hadn't gotten an answer for Prom but the girl's mom had told me that she would be answering him soon.

Ethan was home playing video games when I got a text from the girl asking if he was home.  I told her he was home but that I could send him on an errand if she needed me to.  She replied that she was dropping something off and needed to make sure someone was home to get it. I told her we were home.

I went downstairs to do some things and about 30 minutes later there was a knock on the door. Ethan answered it and I heard him yell "Thank you" and close the door.  He said "Mom, someone left us a Christmas pizza."  I looked at it and realized that he didn't know what was happening.  So I asked him to look at the pizza carefully.  He turned it around and realized that it said "YES" in pepperoni on it.  He laughed and said he thought it was just some random person leaving us a pizza but it wasn't.

He had a good pizza lunch that day!

Kids

What do you do when your sister won't move out of your chair? 

You sit on her!

Cookies by Courtney

When Courtney get bored, she likes to bake.  She made cookies and they turned out really well!

Here is the cute cook!

Live Nativity

It's time for the Live Nativity at Tuacahn!

Our Ward was asked to help again this year and Courtney got to be a shepherd.  She invited one of her friends and then went with her beehive group.  They had a lot of fun and it was fun to watch them.  Bryan and I went up to see them perform but we didn't participate this year.  They changed it up quite a bit so it was completely different than last year.  And it wasn't freezing cold like it was last year.

This is Courtney (center) with her cute friends:

Courtney is kneeling in the center of the pic.

Ethan was able to participate also with the Special Needs Mutual group.  Bryan and I went up to watch them also and it was so fun to see him with his special friend.  I love that we have this opportunity.  It really makes Christmas seem to be more about Christ when we participate or watch the Live Nativity.

Ethan was mad though because he was told he had to wear pants but then the robe they had him wear went all the way down so no one would have been able to tell if he was in shorts.  Funny kid!

Cakes

I do birthday cakes for a couple doctors offices.  The office manager for the two offices is my friend so she pays me to do their birthday cakes.  Usually, she gives me the size of cake (9x13 rectangle or 12 inch round), the flavor (twinkie or chocolate), and an idea of what they would like on the cake (favorite color, hobby, etc.).  Then she lets me do whatever I want to do. 

I usually start by trying to figure out how to use the hobby in the cake design.  I go to Dollar Store and try to find something that would work.  I have used ribbons, bows, curly ribbons, toys, etc. on cakes before.  It's a lot of fun to figure out what I can do because they don't really care what it looks like.  I have even used cake spray to make an ombre of the frosting colors. 

December was a crazy birthday month so I had a bunch of cakes.  She had 2 that I thought I would record.  The first was for a breast cancer survivor.  She asked for the ribbon.  The second was for a man who likes to go duck hunting.  I think I nailed them. 😀

Prom Invite

Ethan asked a girl in our neighborhood to Prom.  He was crazy busy so came up with the idea and asked me if I would help him out.  So I went to Partyland and had them do 5 balloons filled with confetti and papers saying "Will you go to Junior Prom with me?  Ethan Pack"  I split the papers up into the 5 balloons (2 words per balloon).  They had me help them fill the balloons with the confetti because I was there, I guess.

I then made a card with a balloon on it and the girl's name.  We put a fancy pin on the card so it looked like it was popping the balloon.  Then Ethan and Courtney took it over to the girl's house.  Courtney ran it up to the front porch, rang the bell, and ran!

It was cute and fun to help him do it!

Gingerbread Houses

We had to do our traditional decorating of the gingerbread houses.  The kids like eating the candy more than they like making the houses, but that's ok.  It's fun to sit around and chat.

This is Ethan's "Mom smile"...the one he uses when he really doesn't want his picture taken but is too nice to tell me no.

Christmas Service

Our Ward has the most amazing Christmas tradition.  Our Ward party is a breakfast after which we go to the Utah Food Bank and do service.  This is the second year we have done it and we love it!! 

We had a pancake breakfast where the boys all ended up at our table.  Prom is coming up in January so they are trying to figure out who to ask, how to ask them, and talking about ways their siblings have asked or been asked.  It was pretty hilarious.  A couple of young women in our ward got into it helping them figure out who hasn't been asked yet.  These boys are hilarious!

Then we loaded in cars (the boys drove themselves over in one car and had a blast with their freedom) and went to the Utah Food Bank.

The Dollar Store Distribution Center is near the Utah Food Bank.  The Dollar Store sends over boxes of stuff that they can't sell or want to donate.  But it isn't sorted at all so you can find cooking oil in with crayons.  Our job is to open the boxes, draw a line through the bar code, and sort all the items.  We work like crazy and it is so much fun to be there with everyone and get so much work done. 

This year they had the young men wrap stuff with plastic wrap and weigh it.  They had a blast doing that because they got to use machinery and scales.  They were hilarious to watch but they did a great job and worked hard.  When everyone else was finished Ethan was still wrapping a load and the guy had to go and tell him to leave it.

When we all finished, everyone went home and the boys went to Wendy's to get lunch. ;) 

Hash House a Go-Go

Yes, that is the actual name of a restaurant: Hash House a Go Go and their servings are HUGE!!

My parents let us borrow their car to go to Thanksgiving in Denver so we took them out for lunch to thank them.  Hash House had opened a few months before so we decided to try it.  Their portions are HUGE!  Bryan and I shared something and my half was still bigger than a normal portion.  The food was really good though.

Courtney got her chicken strips and fries.

Ethan got his massive burger.