Sledding and Skiing

Christmas Day JD and Kiana wanted to stay the night so we loaded them up and took them with us.  The kids were all begging to go sledding just as it was getting dark so we found snow clothes that fit everyone and ran down to grandpa's pit.  It wasn't great sledding, but for the few minutes we were there they had a good time.

 The Tuesday after Christmas we had a guy in our ward that works at Kelly Canyon offer a few of his free ski tickets to Dallin, Rhett and Laiklie. (Oakley was at Ali's house)  So we ran up to the ski hill and even though it was FREEZING (10 degrees!) they skied for 5 hours.  It was a little crowded, but other than a line at the ski lift didn't seem too bad.

Our friend, Mark Fitch, took this picture of the kids coming down the hill for me.  Love it! We are grateful for good friends like Mark that are willing to spend their hard earned ski tickets on my kids and then ski with them for 5 hours on the hills.  What a great guy and a great day for the kids!

Christmas 2015

 Oh I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas.  I love everything about it! This Christmas came and went in a flash and  I am already missing it.  We are enjoying the break and hoping time slows down so we don't have to go back to school yet!

 This was the year of new bedding for their new bedrooms in the NEW HOUSE! We can't wait!!!

The kids got all they wanted plus some! 

We also spent the morning at Grandma Hawkins like we do most years.  This year Aunt Yvonne got hit in the eye with a nerf dart just before we were suppose to go to grandma's. So while Chase ran her to the ER I ran and got their 4 girls and got them ready to go to grandmas.  It all worked out just fine and thank goodness Yvonne's eye will heal just fine. 

We are so blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world and we are some of the lucky ones who know and have testimonies of the Savior.  We have been so richly blessed and are eternally grateful for Him and the gift He is to us.

Christmas Eve 2015

We spent Christmas Eve this year with grandpa and grandma Jacobson at their house.  A few of our cousins got to be there too.  Everything is better with cousins.  Maddie took charge of the nativity and everyone had a part....or two...I'm still wondering how Rhett got the part of Mary?!

 What a fun Nativity.  I love that this was a part of our Christmas Eve.  It brought the true meaning of Christmas right when we needed it.

 I love these four! Christmas takes on a whole new meaning when you are a mom.  Such a special time. 

I also love being in my parents home. There is a spirit about it that you can't feel anywhere else.  I am grateful to have spent the evening with them as we prepared for Christmas.

Grandma Party 2015

Grandma Hawkins Christmas Party!

 New Church Clothes - Everyone looking gorgeous!

Musical present game...and then of course a movie and slumber party!

These two babies had a hard time figuring out how to pass the present.  They wanted to open all of them.  

Christmas Church Clothes

 Christmas Church Clothes 2015.

 Dallin got a gray suit but it wasn't here till AFTER this picture was taken. :)

Salt Lake Trip

Ryan and I got to go with the youth from our ward on a two day temple trip to Salt Lake on Monday December 21st.  We started with a tour of welfare square and the bishops storehouse.  SO COOL! It was such a neat experience for the youth to see where their fast offering and tithing money go and to see that the church is sending much needed support to people and places all around the world. The bishops storehouse was INCREDIBLE.  It was HUGE! We then went to temple square to see the lights.

This is hard to see, but it is the only picture I took of the entire two days.  Dallin is the bottom row on the right. 

Tuesday morning we went to the Salt Lake temple at 5 am to do baptisms for the dead.  Because a few of the deacons pulled an all nighter this became a VERY. LONG. DAY. for them.  Poor dumb kids.  I'm just glad my deacon wasn't one of them! The Salt Lake temple was absolutely gorgeous by the font! It was early enough that there wasn't a crowd so we were in and out.  I love when that happens.  I got to help in the dressing room and I loved being with the young women again. We ran back to the hotel for breakfast and a nap and then decided because of really bad weather to skip the 2nd temple we had planned to go to and instead hit the 3rd which was Bountiful and right there by the hotel and then eat lunch and head home.  The Bountiful temple was also gorgeous.  It was crowded though which made it a little less peaceful and harder to enjoy.  They didn't let the adults help with the baptisms other than our YM president who baptized the youth and a couple priesthood witnesses.  Luckily they had a viewing area so we were able to just sit and watch what was happening.  Afterwards we headed to lunch and got on the road headed home.  It was nice to be able to come up over the pass in day light.  It was a great trip and I am so grateful that Ryan is in the bishopric so that we get to take part in these amazing opportunities!

Christmas Concerts

 Oakley had a choir Christmas concert on the same night as the Christmas dance recital (no pictures of the recital, darn it!).  Talk about a crazy night! and of course it was storming as we had to get from Rigby all the way across Idaho Falls to the concert.  Her teacher told her that if she didn't walk on stage with the rest of the group at 7:30 pm he would flunk her for the semester because she missed the Fall Concert while we were in CA.  So luckily we have an amazing dance teacher that pushed the dance recital up an hour so she could be to both.  It all worked out fine and Oakley rocked the dance recital hair/make-up at the concert.  :)

She has hated choir this semester, but she has LOVED having her friend Naya in there with her.  They even practiced singing different parts (alto, soprano) so they could stand by and sing with each other.  They crack me up! We will be grateful for this class to be over at the end of January though. 

 The elementary did their annual Christmas sing-along. Each class preforms a song and then Rhett and Laiklie got to sing the last song with the Drama Club that they just joined.  Laiklie is the girl in red on the back row right in the middle. Her class also did a dance.  So fun!

Rhett is the boy in the green shirt on the bottom row.  His best friend Raegan is tucked up close behind him.  Rhett and Raeg have been best friends since Kindergarten and they are each others comfort when they have to step out of their comfort zones and get up infront of a crowd.  You will always find them together in these type of situations.  I LOVE that they still have each other to snug up close to when they need each other.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

 "Dallin, do you believe in Santa?" Yes. "Well....then give me a hug."

LOVE THIS!

Laiklie believes in Santa Claus too. 

 Rhett thought he was a little too big to sit on Santa's lap this year.

Diabetes

We HATE diabetes.  Every 3 months for the past almost 10 years we've gone to the diabetic specialist for a check-up on Oakley and we will continue to do this check-up every 3 months until they find a cure.  This girl hates going because each time we go they have to draw blood.  You can't tell from that smile that they just poked her with a needle.  Oakley is so strong.  Stronger than anyone I know.  She amazes us with the way she deals with diabetes.  Is it an ongoing battle that we are trying to constantly improve at? Of course. But she is definitely our hero as she fights the daily fight!

Laiklie's Piano Recital

Laiklie started piano lessons at the end of August this year and has loved it.  I love that her piano teacher is just a young newly wed college graduate that COMES TO MY HOUSE for lessons.  It makes it SO EASY and convenient.  Laiklie loves Megan and she does a great job teaching her. She had her first piano recital on December 5th and Grandpa and Grandma Jacobson, Grandma Hawkins, cousins Kiana, Ciara and Paityn were all able to come.  Yay!

 She is looking a little nervous.

 Selfies fix that problem.  Love this little girl more than she will ever know!

They got to play on a grand piano! Such a neat experience.  Laiklie played an Indian Song. The whole piano recital lasted 20 minutes.  That is my kind of recital!! It was perfect and all the kids did a great job, even the little girl that played jingle bells a whole octave lower than normal because she wasn't sure where to put her fingers. ;)

Our Christmas Tree 2015

This year with building a new house and early snow we didn't have time or even dare try to go get a real Christmas tree so we had to dig out the fake one again.  I HATE this tree.  :( Kinda made it a bummer for me.  I tried to have a good attitude about it though.  We got it decorated and looking good.  This year was fun because I pulled out all the decorations the kids made when they were little.  We laughed and laughed at how cute they were.  I definitely enjoyed that part of this ugly tree. 

Oakley's Besties

This girl, Oakley, LOVES her cousins Ali and Macady.  Anytime she asks to have someone over it is almost ALWAYS one of these two.  She is blessed to have such amazing girls as not only her best friends, but her cousins for life!

 This is Oakley and Macady "pretending" to be asleep at 5:30 in the afternoon hoping it would make Aunt Tara agree to Macady staying the night.  Didn't work. Hahaha! Funny girls. O and M are always coming up with plans now that Oakley has a drivers license.  I love it.

 Oakley and Ali, live two hours apart, but you wouldn't know it by how often they find ways to get together.  These two share a brain, breath the same air and love each other with a love that is bigger than any I've ever seen.  They are definitely two of a kind.  Everytime they talk about their future plans (College, etc.) it always involves each other.  We have out hands full and our work cut out for us for sure as these two continue to keep us hopping. 

"A GOOD FRIEND knows all your stories, a BEST FRIEND helped you write them." 

Our First Snow

We got a pretty good snow storm the middle of November and this girl was SO EXCITED to play in it.  She made a nice snowman that sadly got rained away just 2 days later. Darn it. :) We have got a lot of snow since then.  We got a nice storm on Thanksgiving and several more inches added to that over December.  We got snow early enough this year we are going to have to rake leaves in the spring. Ugh!

These little boys wear me out!

Dallin and Rhett are busy, busy, busy! I think I say "you boys wear me out!" atleast once every day! And it is the absolute truth! They have spent a ton of time in the canal since they let the water out this fall.  They not only trapped and shot the beaver, they have found great big trout stuck in the ice that they have caught and brought home to practice their fish gutting skills.  Talk about a bloody mess left on my porch. :( They have caught minows in puddles they brought home for pets (I finally had to flush them down the toilet one day while they were at school.  Only took them two days to notice they were gone. Hahaha!) and now we have snow they have been out sledding and snowboarding in it.  If I can't find them here by the house I know this is where I can find them.  I love these two boys and I love the days that they are best friends and tromp off together to find an adventure.