Christmas in Logan

Even though we had just spent a week together for Camille's wedding, it was great to get together again for Christmas.  We had a delicious Christmas feast, then started opening gifts from each other.  I'm not sure what the secret ingredient was, but it felt peaceful, calm, fun, loving, and sweet being there.  We learned that blowing fishy kisses on the balloons made our whole lips tickle.  

Cambrie got new snow pants for her ski trips.  

And Grandpa gave her a book of Christmas stories since she loves reading.

Kelton got a sweet baby bomber jacket from Grandpa, 

And some gloves from Grandma so he can play in the snow with his sisters. 

I received new pans!  (I was very jealous of Camille's shiny new kitchen accessories).  

The girls recieved art kits from Grandma Stratford.  They were a perfect compliment to the book of Grandpa Stratford's paintings I got.  

McKenzie got a super fun crystal LED nightlight, 

and some fun Uncle Jake time. 

We also stopped by to visit my Grandma Johnson.  The kids loved Grandma's amazing village under her tree and loved watching the ice-skaters skate across the pond. 

 We took a quick picture of them with Grandma Johnson, and I was very impressed that they were all smiling!  (I just need to add a little note here saying how much I love each one of my grandmas.  They are amazing women!)

 Before we left the kids helped Grandpa play with his new helicopter.  Kelton kept trying to chase it and thought it was the coolest thing he saw all night.

Ski trip with 5!

While in Logan we took the whole family up to Beaver for a ski day!  My mom, Camille, and Ryan came to help with the chaos and it was great.  The girls started the day on the magic carpet.  After two runs it was clear that Cambrie was ready for Little Beav and took off with Camille.  

McKenzie was determined to learn how to ski and did a great job listening to anyone who would teach her.  

Kelton hung out with all of us as we passed him around, up and down the little hill. 

He liked riding on the magic carpet, and really liked it when we let him stand on our skis as we slid down the hill.  He didn't have a complete snowsuit and you could tell he was getting cold.  I took him up to the lodge to warm up and have a snack. 

 Maybe a half hour later Cambrie came inside to warm up.  I kept expecting McKenzie to show up soon but she never did.  Camille and Ryan finally showed up and I went to find McKenzie.  She and my mom were still on the magic carpet.  McKenzie was refusing to take a break until she was good enough to go on the big lift.  I laughed at my daughter's determination, then promptly took her on the big lift so she could get some lunch!  She did great.  There were some areas that were a little steep, but for the most part she skied in control the whole way down the mountain.  She was so proud of herself.  

While the kids ate some lunch with Grandma, Ryan, Camille, Jeremy and I took a couple adult runs.  Christmas break hadn't started for the local kids yet, and it had been snowing all day so the snow was actually fabulous.  We found some untouched powder runs between the trees and I was in heaven.  I may only get to go skiing a couple times a year now because of the craziness of having little kids, but those runs totally make it worth it.  The rest of the day we traded off on Kelton duty, kid duty, and fun runs by ourselves. Before we knew it, it was 3:00 and our ski day was coming to an end.  I wanted to take one last family picture, but that required all of us to hit the bottom of the lift at the same time.  My mom and I took all three kids to the magic carpet to wait for Jeremy, and when he didn't show after about ten minutes, we decided to wait for him on Little Beav.  I watched other parents with babies in backpacks skiing down the hill, and I crossed my fingers that they would let me take Kelton up without a backpack.  He sat on the lift, held still most of the time, and then I held him as we skied down with the girls.  I was really happy that this little resort understands families with little kids.  

We had so much fun that day.  I couldn't believe that the girls didn't complain about their ski clothes once, complain that they were cold, or complain that they were too tired.  Jeremy and I drove away in disbelief that the day had gone so smoothly.  It made me want to take them skiing again next week and as many times as they want!  

Chillin' at Nana's and Papa's

Christmas vacation isn't just about Christmas goodies and presents, it's also about chillin' with the fam.  Here is Thing 1 and Thing 2.  Trouble makers both of them.  

These two are also trouble makers.  

When Dantley isn't causing a ruckus, he is being a great uncle.  

He had the idea of building a castle for the kids out of large cardboard boxes.  He and Jeremy built a multi-leveled castle for them in the garage.  It had a working drawbridge, castle tower, and flags for each princess.  

As a thank you, I tried showing Dantley how nice it felt to have your calves rolled out.  I don't think he enjoyed it as much as I did.  He was pretty sore after a workout with Brody, and he stayed sore for days. Poor guy.   

Yummy breakfast.  

Wrapping Christmas presents.  

And a quick Christmas Sunday picture to top it off.  

Ice-Cream for Breakfast

Kelton is a picky eater.  Much pickier than McKenzie if you can believe it.  He is also our most resourceful child so far.  I came home from my swim Friday morning and saw this:  

While Jeremy was in the shower, Kelton had opened the freezer and helped himself to a tub of ice-cream for breakfast.  Is it sad that I wasn't even upset because he needs the calories?  It was also too cute to cause a fuss.

Gingerbread Cookies

I volunteered to bring the snack to McKenzie's preschool class before Christmas break.  The theme that day in class was gingerbread.  Well, I simply had to make gingerbread cookies!  My friend just gave me a recipe for super soft gingerbread cookies and we decided to try that.  All I needed to say to McKenzie was "cookies" and she was right there helping.  Cambrie was at a friend's house, Kelton was down for a nap, Jeremy was at work, Christmas music was playing, and it was simply perfect.  Miss McKenzie helped me measure, stir, roll, cut, back, and frost those two dozen little gingerbread children.  It was such a fun memory with my girl.  

As an added bonus, the cookies were delicious!

Little bits

Too many cute and random things happen when you have a house full of kids.  Here are some of the more recent pictures of them that just make me smile.

One night when I went to check on the girls before bed, I found that they had set up a hospital for all of their sick stuffed animals.  Don't worry, they were all cleared to be perfectly healthy the next morning.

It's convenient that Kelton fits in Kit's chairs.  He was giving her school books and helping her read.  I'm glad he stuck around long enough for me to snag the moment.

Playdough Olafs.  The girls were so proud.

Kelton loves Pediasure right now.  Thank heavens because he is such a pipsqueak he needs all the calories he can get.

Kelton thought it was so much fun feeding Tiawna.  The poor dog was probably stuffed from her special canine culinary treatment.

Prepping rolls for Thanksgiving, and just happy to be helping.

Playing with their cousins, who they don't get to see often enough.

Silly face?  Why not?

This should probably be included with our gingerbread house post.  We were prepping our fondant figures.

I'm not sure who was walking who that afternoon...

I think he's ready for a nap?  Don't you?

For dinner one night we decided to ditch the plates, forks, cups....and just go with it.  What a super fun dinner!

A little more Comfort-able

Jeremy's grand opening with Risas was on November 22.  We made the choice to walk away from Comfort Dental and accept the consequences.  It made no logical sense, but it felt right and that is the most important thing.  We may seem foolish or crazy to some who don't fully understand the situation, but I'm okay with that.  

The last meeting with Comfort really strained us.  Comfort offered us a plan to go home to Utah.  It's what we've been hoping for since we left for dental school.  We couldn't believe that it was really true.  They needed us to move to Kansas City and open an office there.  If we did that, then they would put us in an office in Utah in five years.  Even though it made sense on paper, it felt wrong.  Neither Jeremy and I could put our finger on it, but it almost felt like we would be selling our souls if we took that deal.  I cried myself to sleep that night knowing that I had just turned down an opportunity to live near my family.  

I still feel sad that I can't live within Sunday dinner distance of my family, but I know it's okay.  The most important thing is that we finally feel free.  Jeremy's been going to his new office for only two short weeks, but he likes his job again.  Work doesn't feel like drudgery and he is hopeful for the future, which isn't something we could say a month ago.  The funny thing is, we shouldn't be feeling happy and hopeful just yet.  Comfort rescinded Jeremy's November pay check and we are still waiting for the law suit ax to fall.  But we do.  Admist all of the turmoil we feel at peace.  His new practice at Risas is starting to grow, but new businesses always take awhile to really get going.  So if you know someone in Denver who needs dental work, send them to Jeremy's new office!  He will love you forever :)