easter

Happy Easter!

 The boys wearing their sweet hand-made ties

all was merry & bright

The holidays have come and gone and the Christmas decorations are all put away until next year.  But let me just say a few things ...

First, Christmas was magical. 

Second, Santa brought way more than we deserved.

Third, we had tons-o-fun over the break.

Here's my post-holiday wrap-up:

Bowling on Christmas Eve was super fun.  The trophy (if we had one) would have gone to my sister-in-law Robin.



Afterwards, we partied at the Thomases.



Back at home, the boys got to open their "Christmas Eve" gift.  Surprise, Surprise ... new pajamas!  :)

Christmas morning was wonderful.  A few surprises and lots of smiles.  (And Emery can no longer claim to be the only 8th grader on earth who doesn't have a cell phone.)

Then we went to the Emery's for brunch, more gift-giving, and game-playing.



The rest of the break we had plenty of time to:  go skiing, go sledding, play games, watch movies, and ring in the new year!

'Twas three days before Christmas ...

We're five days into Christmas break and the big day is only three days away.  The excitement is definitely building.

Here's what we've done to keep ourselves busy the past few days ...

Saturday:  Skied at Park City and then ate in Heber at The Stew Pot.  Wow, the skiing was superb and dinner was amazing ... homemade chips with fresh salsa and delicious french onion soup.  Mmmm.  I'm trying to find an excuse to drive to Heber again real soon.

Sunday:  Went to church and relaxed at home.  That night we watched "A Christmas Story" and laughed. a lot.

Monday:  The boys and I went to see "Despicable Me," then spent the afternoon baking our gingerbread house.  That night we delivered neighbor gifts while sipping hot chocolate.  After the boys went to bed, Ben helped me try to assemble the gingerbread house.  Whoever decided that it's a good idea to use burning-hot-and-very-sticky-melted-sugar to glue these things together was crazy.  By 11 pm, I contemplated throwing the gingerbread house out the window after dropping one "wall" on the floor and breaking it in half.  I came to my senses, glued it back together with the "melted sugar glue" and we finished the uneasy task of assembling the gingerbread house.

Tuesday:  Decorated beloved gingerbread house, and did a little shopping (much to the boys dismay).

And, here's a little of what's planned for the rest of the week: 

Tonight we'll go to Fat Cats with friends

Tomorrow night we'll party with family at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building while over-looking the lights at Temple Square

Friday (Christmas Eve!) is the Annual Thomas Christmas Eve Extravaganza (yes ... I just made that name up) where we go bowling and then spend the evening at Ben's parent's home.  We'll eat prime rib, read a Christmas story, and ring the Christmas bells.

Christmas Day we'll open presents (if Santa comes!), go to the Emery's for scrumptious brunch ... quiche, then we'll visit the Thomases, and then come home and enjoy being together.

Merry Christmas!