Christmas Day!

Christmas morning came early, as always.  I think the kids slept until just after 6 am.  Then we gathered everyone up and went up to look at the stockings and presents. 

Conner is happy about the straws he got in his stocking:

Micah got Legos galore:

Alan showing off his new tie:

chocolate!:

Brooklyn got her own Legos.  The set included a slide and a cat, which she was really excited about:

Love this picture.  Alan and Conner checking out their new game:

The kids drew names for Christmas this year.  Alan and Micah got each other.  Here they are giving each other a hug after opening their gift from eachother:

And Conner and Brooklyn got eachother's name.  Giving a hug:

Conner got a watch:

Reading a new book:

Micah loves Legos:

Brooklyn got some nail polish in her stocking.  She was very excited to put it on, but as soon as it was on she wanted it off - oh well:

Conner working on excavating some crystals from a block of stone:

Grandma and Grandpa turned their garage into a fun room.  There were darts and we set up their old table and played table tennis on it:

Then Uncle Andrew set up his American ninja course.  The kids had a blast trying to get through it.  Here is Conner trying to swing from one stick to another:

Alan giving it a go:

It was a great day! 

Christmas Eve

For Christmas this year we went to Grandma and Grandpa Bassett's house.  It was very snowy there, which was a lot of fun, but it made it hard to get to their house.  We were driving up their hill late at night on the way there and got stuck.  The hill was so icy that after we put the van in park and got the boys out and sent them up the hill to the house the van started to slide down the hill - with Brooklyn still in it.  Reed and I raced to get back in and stop it.  We finally got turned around and made it up the next time.  The snow did make for some fun times though - they hooked the sled to the back of a vehicle and pulled the kids around:

Alan, Micah, Breven and Becky on the sled:

Becky, Breven, Micah and Brooklyn:

Not sure how the littlest one ended up in the back with everyone using her as a back rest but she enjoyed it:

Alan in the front:

Being pulled around:

Then that night we made gingerbread houses.  Everyone gathered around the table:

Brooklyn's finished product - the roofs were tricky and we decided she didn't need one:

These two made an a couple of elaborate houses.  I love this picture:

Kyla's house - I like the skittle flower garden:

Conner with his house:

Micah's house:

Jacque made an awesome monster truck:

Alan's house.  Almost to good to eat - almost!:

Cousins:



Then we got ready for bed and tucked the kids in.  There were high levels of excitement but finally everyone settled down and went to sleep.

Pre Christmas Visit

The weekend before Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher came to visit.  It was very snowy so they went out on the island with the kids and had a snowball fight:

Alan taking cover behind a bush while Grandma throws a snowball at him:

Conner and Grandpa:

They dropped off their Christmas presents for us and we decided to let the kids open one of their gifts while they were here.  Here is Brooklyn opening her present:

It was a stuffed animal dog that kind of looks like my brother's dog Ace.  So she named it Acee and it sleeps with her now and protects her from bad guys:

A thank you hug:

Micah was next:

A new game:

Conner:

He got a telescope:

and a book that tells about the constellations:

Alan:

Alan got a backpacking backpack:

It fits!  Now he and Reed are planning a backpacking trip this summer:

Thanks for the visit!

Snow Fort!

We got a ton of snow in December.  The boys had fun playing with the neighborhood kids in the parking lot across the street.  They plowed the snow into big piles and then the kids would dig little caves and special spots and have snowball fights.  Well, after they built a snow cave they asked if they could sleep in it and I said "no".  I was worried that they would get run over (it's still a parking lot) or that they would be taken in the night or that they would freeze to death.  The kids were pretty disappointed.  So Reed came up with a solution.  He told the kids he would help them build a snow fort in the back yard and then they would all sleep in it one night.  So Reed went to an appliance store and got some big cardboard boxes.  He cut and taped them together and then covered it with a tarp.

He also got some really strong cardboard pieces to reinforce the boxes:

Reed did this part while the kids were at school, so Micah was his special helper:

When the boys got home from school they got to work covering it with snow:

Done!:

That night Reed, Alan and Conner slept outside in the fort.  Micah wanted to at first but there wasn't room for him out there so I convinced him to make a fort with his blankets in his room and sleep in that.  Alan slept outside until midnight and then he came in.  Reed and Conner lasted until 2 or 3 am.  Then they got up, got in the hot tub for a while and then came in and went to bed.  They made lots of fun memories!