New Years Eve

 I didn't take many pictures this New Years Eve- only one dark picture of the polar plunge.  But we did have a great New Years.  We had the Corbridges and Christiensens over for games and snacking and Brielle had a bunch of friends over.  And some brave and crazy souls jumped in the freezing water at midnight.  Crazy kids!  (Makenna and Brayden both were out with their friends)

We had ourselves a Merry Little Christmas!

For Christmas Eve we started the day at Starwood Cafe with a great big breakfast.  Then we hit the bowling alley for some bowling fun.

That evening we had the Corbridges over for a Ham dinner and games and the traditional acting out of the nativity.

Then we opened our Christmas PJs before bed

It was the year of the Bucees pajamas.  They were a big hit.  I felt pretty proud of my pick.

Christmas morning... stockings first ;)

I had a very Mickey Christmas.  Brayden and Emmitt got me the mickey bars and that mickey shaped package contained Mickey pajama pants.  And Kevin got me the waffle maker I have been eyeing.

Everyone was spoiled and we had a lovely day.  Lots of food, games and presents.  We ended the day at the Petersons, enjoying some time together.

 

A Branson Christmas Vacation

As soon as school got out we jumped in the car and headed to Branson to spend a few days with friends, enjoying Silver Dollar City and the holiday fun.  We met the Hemas there who came all the way from Utah and also the Thodes and the Johnsons.  It was a fun group.  We stayed in neighboring rooms at the Stillwaters Resort and enjoyed hanging out and visiting and playing games when we weren't hitting the park.  We spent three days at Silver Dollar City and although it was a bit chilly it was a lot of fun!  We got home the day before Christmas Eve.

Enjoying the DELICIOUS cinnamon bread!

Taking a picture with Covid Safe Santa who was behind the glass.  Our favorite part of this story is when we all came up to Santa the cute little boy in the front (our buddy Clayton" loudly exclaimed "Hey Santa, its me Clayton". It was super cute and funny!

The moms

Brooks was our favorite part of the trip.  He is the Hemas youngest and he is HILARIOUS.  He would just walk in to our house and say "wasssup". 

These kids became the Three Amigos- hanging out together all the time and having a lot of fun being silly.  And even since we've been home Makenna and Caden have continued hanging out.  Go figure ;)

Barn swings!

In this picture you can see the phenomenon that was termed by some the "Christmas Star". It was a rare event- the closest visible conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in over 800 years.  It was pretty neat to see lined up with the star on top of the tree.  Its that little speck of light that is to the lower right of the big tree star.  That was on December 21st.

Here are the kids waiting in line for everyones favorite ride... "Time Traveler"

The park had incredible lights and Christmas Decor.  It was super fun to be in such a festive place.

Annual Gingerbread House Making

Emmitt made a car.

Brielles didn't quite turn out as she planned (Area 51 was not the original goal- it was going to be a ukulele which would have been super cool) but it served as a great stash of candy nonetheless.

Makenna made an epic village.

Brayden made the Newport Temple.