Merry Christmas!!!

So--for all of you that got our Christmas card--you can put your hats back on! Our "jotting down" has been few and far between these days! I thought I was on the monthly plan--but apparently-it's now becoming every other month. One of these days I'm going to shock you all (5 readers) and throw in a post before the months up! Hat's off to you guys --who are daily/ weekly posters--seriously, it's impressive! Oh--and I know these pictures don't merit the huge size--STILL working on that--I wish I weren't computerly challenged!

So--since this is like our mini journal--here is our last couple of months!

Christmas is Here! Matchy, Matchy Jammies and all! This year Mark and I even joined in the fun. We had a great Christmas Eve with the VanTassell's and all wore our new pajamas!
Long live the PJ tradition!

We have been crazy busy, and it's been so fun. November and December were filled with all kinds of adventures. We can finally say we're ready for Christmas! Woo Hoo! We made it through tithing settlement (well--still one more day-and Mark even started mid-November) We have a big ward. Mark loves this chance to meet with everyone. We also had one work/church/friend Christmas party after the next--so fun! We even made it up skiing a couple of times. Thanks Jeff and Becca for coming out to see us and ski Mary Jane with us. We all had a great time!

The kids are loving skiing more and more every year. They are so fun to ski with. Allie plows straight down the mountain with NO fear--it's actually kind of scary--but also so stinkin' cute! And, the other kids are now begging to only do Bump runs! I love it! They all beg to go back--even after a freezing/ snowy day.

We also made it up to cut down our Christmas Tree. This turned out to be double the fun we thought it would be. We tromped through the freezing snow--totally unprepared (since this was our first time cutting it down.) We forgot gloves, wore burkenstocks and pretty much froze. Not sure what we were thinking--we did bring the saw and rope though! Needless to say--We finally found our perfect tree, chopped it down and headed back to meet our friends (who were only the Mom and son--since the Dad was gone) Turns out, they were really stuck. We tried everything to get them out (5 cars, a broken tow rope etc.) and finally had to get a tractor with a wench. Mark was in the car as the wench pulled him up the mountain, and at one time both wheels were off the ground ready to roll! CRAZY! It turned out to be $25, several hours, and a life time of memories! We can't wait until next year--we even found a new place for only $10!

We also were so happy to go down and do Youth Temple baptisms at the Temple. This was Maddie's first time it was so awesome being there with both Josh and Maddie.

Another awesome Ski day--with the Browns and VanTassell's --Thanks guys. We had so much fun!

NOVEMBER

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!! Thanksgiving in Provo is always a hit! We had a great time all together. Everyone came except Heidi and Clay (they were moving into their new house.) We partied hard, and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all in four days. Rock On!!

We had such a fun time in Utah--going from one thing to the next. Here we are running the Turkey Trot--Good times running with the family. It is so fun now that all of the nieces and nephews are doing it too! Maddie and Josh did awesome in the 5k and Zack and Allie tore up the fun run! It was freezing--but worth running all together!





The Gift exchange is always one of our favorite--everyone is so creative and crazy fun! Here we are just after opening our gift from Dave and Les! Dave made us this frame--it is amazing!!! He hadn't stained it yet--but it turned out awesome! Thanks so much Dave and Les--you guys are awesome!

It wouldn't be Christmas without Mom trying to read her favorite Christmas story (The gift of the Magi) to all 70 of us -at the same time!!! Comical!!! Every year Mom's got some incentive up her sleeve to try and make them listen--This year she gave money if they answered her tricky questions! She is hilarious!!

Go BYU!! I know this is so old--but--What a blast!! Biking down to the stadium all together (thanks Bry!) was so much fun. Yes--we felt like we were back in the good old days--storming the field -jumping over Utah fans and all--What a great game. It was so much fun going with everyone!!

Since we were trying to get in New Years too--- we of course had to have the annual dance! This is the favorite event all year! All 75+ (college roommates etc) joining in to cut the rug! It just gets better and better every year! The college kids even showed us the latest craze- and Amber taught us a few moves--Now, we all rock the house! (by the way--we miss Doug and Amber and the girls living with us SO much! And wish Doug the best as he interviews for his residency here!!)

The music was awesome--of course! Plenty of MJ-and all the latest tunes!

Doug and Dan lived it up with their guitar solos!

Have a very Merry Christmas and an awesome New Year!!! We love you guys!!