Minute to Win it

The stomach flu really took the wind out of our "Christmas Sails."  We had to cancel our big Christmas Eve Minute to Win it competition, and reschedule it.  And even then, not everybody got to come.  But, those that did make it had a great time!  Here are some photos of the fun:

 At the end of the night, the coveted Chocolate Santa Trophy went to Uncle Wayne, who was the first to complete all the tasks.  Way to go Wayne!  And, we're glad you won, because you don't really like chocolate, and you shared the trophy with the kids.  :)  A classy move for sure.

a Wilde Christmas

Well, it was a Wilde and Crazy Christmas!  Complete with at least 22 people getting a stomach bug, and lots of love and laughter.  One of the things we did before the plague hit, was gather for a family photo.  I have got to say, that the photographer did a fabulous job.  I mean, look at this picture!  This was at the end of about an hour + at the park in the cold, and there are 15 children all looking at the camera and for the most part smiling.  3 minutes before this, they were running and crying and crazy.  I'm impressed.  He did a great job!

A couple of other favorites:

Christmas Morning Bliss

I love it.

Emilee received the same doll that I received when I was 6 years old.  She was thrilled!  When I was six I named her Emilee.  I told her she could re-name her if she would like.  She agreed and named her Jane.  Very fitting.

 

 This is my favorite picture of the day, zoom in on Heidi:

Anna and Elsa.  Well worth the effort!

We love Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

16 Years

We had such a fun anniversary this year!  Gordon approached me the night before, and said he was taking me away!  Since Ann and Alan were here for Christmas, it was the perfect opportunity.  We started the night out to dinner at the melting pot, a fun fondue restaurant.  It was delish and we had this tiny little private booth, which was so nice!  I surprised Gordon with our camera, which we thought had been lost, but was recently returned by a good Samaritan scout master.  He was thrilled!  And Gordon surprised me with the beautiful pearls you see there on my neck.  What a lucky girl I am!

After dinner, we went for a stroll, and then headed in for a cozy night at the Westin.  It was so fun to sneak away for the evening.  Thanks Ann and Alan!

the littlest Angel

It was so fun to watch Heidi sing as an angel in the choir at the preschool Nativity!  She was a cute little cherub and enjoyed the performance.  :)

Ward Christmas Party

I was flying solo at our ward party this year, but we had a nice time.  Here is the cake I contributed, complete with Reindeer:

 and all the kids meeting Santa.  It was so fun!

 Santa Selfie!

Aidan's Last Tooth Fairy

Aidan is our first kid to lose ALL his baby teeth.  To celebrate, the tooth fairy brought him a pack of gum along with his dollar.  Next up?  Braces starting in February to help with quite the overbite.  Onto phase two!

O Christmas Tree!

Thanksgiving 2014

It was a wonderful, but quiet Thanksgiving!  Here is a photo of Heidi at her little preschool program.  She made the cutest little pilgrim I've ever seen.

And then the night before Thanksgiving, we had a "pie party!" It was Gordon's dream come true.  About 8 families, all bringing pies to share, descended upon the house and we had a big old feast.  A tradition that will be repeated for sure!

Even Vader the puppy was invited, and enjoyed a lick.

Thanksgiving morning we put on our best Puritan running attire and headed out for the turkey trot!  Our poor old jogging stroller limped along, with Heidi, Emilee, and even baby Vader in tow!  Emilee was getting over a cough and had to ride.  We discovered about half way through the 5K that we were missing MANY spokes to our front wheel.  Made for an exciting run.  Next year they better be ready to run because I don't think the stroller's going to make it!

And then we had our Thanksgiving dinner, just our little family.  It was so nice!

And, we ended the night right.

 Thanksgiving might be my very favorite holiday!

Emilee's Dance Performance

Emilee had been telling me that they were dancing at school for quite some time.  I didn't really wrap my head around exactly what was up though, until I was invited to the performance.  They had a ballroom dance teacher doing a "residency"at the school and teaching them line dancing, Meringue, and Swing!  It was basically the cutest thing I've ever seen.  And Emilee loved it!  Kept me smiling for days!

Grammy and Grampy came!

Before thanksgiving, Gram and Gramp came for a quick visit.  We had a great time together.  Some of the things we did were:

the selecting and eating of delicious pastries

Some Tuesday afternoon Bowling:

the watching of various after school sports:

 the melting of ice off of cars, when we had some freezing rain: 

Grammy getting her first smart phone.  We are so proud!

The chopping of large logs into firewood:

and of course, going to church.

We are so happy to have grandparents that make the trek to visit us.  We miss them when they're away, but it makes the visits all the sweeter!