Colorado Trip

We went to Arvada after Christmas.  It was so fun to see family and be able to spend some time with them.  Some highlights: SNOW!, we went tubing, went to a movie, played with cousins, went to the Giving Machines, rode the train, and lots lots more.  It was so fun! Our kids loved playing with the little cousins and I think the little cousins loved playing with our kids.  We learned that Ethan is kind of tall to play hide and seek.  The adults went to the temple one day while Ethan and Courtney babysat.  They got to change a poopy diaper, that's a hilarious story!

We had to come home right after New Year's Day so I could get back to work.

Courtney and Thomas, she was getting her baby fix. ;)


We had a lot of fun in Downtown Denver.
 

  

Ethan liked playing blocks with Clara and helping her build things.
  
Playing in the snow..


Trying to play hide and seek.
 

Thomas tried eating Courtney's phone.  I love her face!
  

Snowball fight

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

We had a fun Christmas Eve with our Christmas traditions.  We get pizza, eat it in front of the Christmas tree, play the chimes, read Christmas stories, open Christmas pjs, and then go to bed.  We actually did really well at the chimes.  We haven't even been practicing!  We each take a couple of notes and then we are able to play a tune.  I am impressed with us.

We went to bed and then Christmas morning came.  Courtney was super excited and couldn't wait so they woke us up pretty early.  Ethan was game when Courtney set her alarm and woke him up.  I could have used more sleep. ;)



Santa left the kids a note to find out what he had brought us for Christmas.  The note told them to find the new ornaments on the tree and find out where they would be getting for Christmas.  They looked on the tree and found the small round ornaments.



They then lined the ornaments up and put them on the paper that had spaces where the letters were supposed to go.  At first, the kids thought it spelled out that we were going to Denver, which actually fit, but that wasn't it. So then Courtney turned to me and said: "Are we going to Hawaii?"  I smiled and she knew it was true.  They were able to figure it out and then they got really excited!  She was so excited she couldn't believe it!

  



They were then able to open presents from Santa that had clues in it also, in case they hadn't figured it out.  Everyone got a Hawaii shirt, a flower lei, and then something else.  It was so fun!



Then the kids opened their gifts from us and each other until Grandma and Grandpa Oman and Aunt Leigh Ann arrived.  Then they were able to go to town opening their gifts!  Courtney got some personalized soccer cleats, Ethan got a new lens for his camera, Courtney got an Apple watch, and Ethan got a new BMX bike.  It was so fun!



   

   

  

   



It was a fun Christmas!

He's an Eagle Scout

Ethan got his eagle scout certificate right before Christmas!  Yeah!  He is officially done and I'm so excited.  We can now plan his Court of Honor because he has his certificate.  They have shut down our scout store in St. George so we are going to get his Eagle stuff in Denver when we are there after Christmas.

Basketball roster

It's official because she's on the roster!

More volunteering

Ethan has been volunteering at Santa Clara Elementary two days a week and at Red Mountain Elementary one day a week so he can get more service hours for Sterling Scholar.  He has been reading and having books read to him by little kids.  It's fun to watch him with the little guys.

One of the counselors at the elementary took this pic for me so he could have it for his portfolio.  He looks so huge in the tiny kindergarten chair.

Volunteering

Our Ward always goes to the Utah Food Bank to do service for our Ward Christmas party.  We have breakfast at the Church all together and then we all drive to the Utah Food Bank across town.  When we get there we are split into groups to do different projects.  This year, we were taking small packages of salad dressing and sorting them.  It was easy work so we got to chat with a lot of our friends and neighbors. The kids have a great time doing it and it's fun to have a tradition that really lets us focus on the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Ethan needed pictures for his Sterling Scholar portfolio so I took pics of him doing service.

Orchestra Concert

Courtney had her Christmas orchestra concert.  They sounded really great.  Courtney doesn't like wearing the long black skirt so she wore her pants under her skirt and pulled it off as soon as she was finished playing.  Crazy girl!

Basketball games

I didn't take a lot of pics at Courtney's basketball games but I did some fun ones of her running around.  They are getting better, although they haven't won yet.  I will put a bunch of pics from different games in here because there isn't much to say about the games.

  



    

Student Ambassadors

Courtney is part of the Student Ambassadors at SCMS which is a service organization.  They help when new students come to the school by giving tours and helping them feel more comfortable.  They also had a Christmas service project where they went to a care center to decorate for Christmas and carol in the hallways.  I got to go along because the Counseling Office is in charge of the Student Ambassadors.  It was fun to watch Courtney and her friends.  The people at the center were so touched and loved listening to the kids sing.  They were nervous at first but they warmed up and were able to get into the holiday spirit.

Gingerbread house making

For our December activities as a family, we made gingerbread houses.  Courtney just likes eating the candy but Ethan likes squirting the frosting.  It's a mess and they don't put a lot of time into it but they love doing it.