Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve the kids did their annual sleepover. Sadly Ella is not with us as she is on her mission, but they kept the tradition alive. We also watched the Polar Express.

I am so glad they like to be together and get along so well. 

I love the night before Christmas when the house it lit but calm. 

They ran down the stairs to "Deck The Halls" by Manheim steamroller 

Channing found the pickle, so she opened the first gift. 

She was excited about her Freya Skye sweatshirt. She really likes her right now and loves her music. She also got Birkenstocks, Kendra Scott jewelry, Adidas shoes, a purse, a bedspread, a scripture journal, make up and several other things. 

I was brave and got Ragnar this pack of jokes. He spent the day making sure we shared his gift. 

Cavin got the jersey he wanted and was excited about that. Brandon Aubrey is the Cowboys kicker and was really hard to find a jersey for. We ended up just special ordering it. He also got shoes, clothes, cologne, a Ronaldo jersey, a watch, and many other things. 

Deacon is easy to please. He got a sloth beanie boo, a "silent" soccer ball, a pump, a soccer ball jelly cat, a watch, some clothes and shoes, books, and a few other items. 

It's sad when they go from their favorite present being toys to clothing :( They are getting old! 

We had a nice breakfast casserole and Cinnamon roll breakfast. 

My favorite gift was Channing doing my hair! 

We went to my parents and had a nice dinner there, played games, watched football and Home Alone, and finished a puzzle. 

Some even got in a nap :)

The famous moose who plays "Grandma got ran over by a reindeer" over and over 

We made our favorite chocolate pretzels and brought them over.

We got to talk to Ella on the phone Christmas Eve, but she celebrated with the Cardenas in the Philippines. A tender mercy that this is the family that my best friend Candice knew through the pathways program and she happened to be transferred to her area a couple days before Christmas. I am so glad she had someone to share her day with. We missed her, but know she was doing what the Lord would have wanted and a great way to celebrate his birth. 

Christmas Activities

For the Christmas season, I had the kids all choose something they wanted to do as a family activity and we did it together. First, Deacon chose ice skating. We went to the Aerodrome and did our best at iceskating. Cavin was not a huge fan, but he did his best and was a good sport about it. 

We had a good time trying it out, but Ragnar was by far the most comfortable skater. 

Channing and Deacon both really needed to hold someone's hand.  We did really well together until the very end when all three of us fell flat on our backs! Ouch!

It was a fun experience and I'm glad we gave it a try. 

We also went a different night to see Zootopia 2 and to the Olive Garden for dinner. It was kind of a group decision on this one. It was a cute movie and there were lots of laughs!

Cavin wanted to do gingerbread houses. He is creative and likes doing those type of activities.

It is messy but fun! 

Channing and I also wanted to make sugar cookies, so we made several for Cavins friend party the next night. This was the beginning but both of these activities are so messy!

The next night Cavin did a Christmas light Scavenger hunt with his friends and they had a great time. They split into teams and found the houses on their lists. Then they came back for cookies and games.

I don't think I've heard 13 teenagers laugh so long and so hard for hours in a long time, but they seemed to have a great time!

Channing chose looking at Christmas lights and getting milkshakes, we didn't really take pictures of that. 

We had our ward Christmas party and Channing was an elf who helped Santa and we got to take a picture with him! 

We had a great month leading up to Christmas doing fun activities with the kids.

Musical Season

In just a week we had an orchestra concert, a band concert, and a choir concert. I am glad my kids all enjoy the gift of music, but it makes for a lot of concerts around the holidays. We even had a ward concert in which we all but Ragnar participated in. The first night the band and orchestra concert were the same night at the same time. Since Cavin is in the higher orchestra and we knew Deacons would be short, we hurried to Deacons and rushed over and made it just in time for Cavins orchestra to take the stage. 

Deacon has really adapted well to learning music and the flute. I am very surprised but he really enjoys practicing and learning to play. 

I was very impressed that none of these kids could even read music or a note a few months ago and now can put their instruments together and play a few songs. They actually sounded pretty good! 

Cavin had a solo in his orchestra and did a great job. He is a very good cellist and finally gets to play this next semester in the highest orchestra now that it doesn't conflict with football class. 

He and his brother are best buds and I love it!

I'm very grateful that my parents could join and support the kids. 

The following week it was Channings turn for her choir concert. They sounded beautiful but the songs were so boring this year :/

She has a beautiful voice and I am glad she is developing it. 

The kids have a wonderful support system and I am super grateful. 

Thanksgiving 2025!

We had a quiet, relaxing Thanksgiving day. The boys played football in the morning while I went for a long run. We then went over to my parents house to celebrate with my parents and Natalie for the day.

The boys were happy to watch football and we were happy to eat, do a puzzle, and play games. 

I am grateful my mom is kind enough to host! We have a lot to be grateful for! 

Ella's First Baptism

Ella had her first baptism in the Philippines and was very excited. Mary Joy was baptized right before she transferred to a different area. 

She was very happy for Mary Joy to make that choice and be able to be a small part in bringing her truth. 

Emerald was baptized shortly after she got to her second area. 

She is adjusting so well and learning to love the language, culture, and people. Her Tagalog is getting pretty good and I am so proud of her!

The End of an Era

Cavin has officially finished his final high school football season. We have loved watching him over the years and are sad to not have him on the field anymore. They lost in their first playoff game barely 51-47. They played well and he had an epic field goal, but weren't able to go far this year. The parents decorated the locker room for the playoffs. We had a fun time doing it. 

The game was out in Dickenson, so not very close to us. 

Cavin played well and at the last second of the half tied the game with a 44 yard field goal.

Instead of having him kick a few more field goals, they went for it each time and ended up losing the game.

He was more sad than I expected him to be about never playing on a high school field again. 

He has spent a lot of time with Coach Stump and the football program. I think it has taught him a lot of lessons, but also I am so glad to have some of his time back and his focus to be on something else. 

A few weeks after the game, we found out he won 2nd all team district award for kicker and we are super proud of all his hard work! He has had to teach himself as he hasn't had a lot of support or a kicking coach help him. Im amazed at how much he learned by teaching himself.