More fun activities

We all wanted to see the new movie, Les Miserable.  The only day we could work it in was Thursday.  We also wanted to have lunch at Café Rio.  As usual, the restaurant was incredibly crowded. But they serve so fast that the wait wasn’t very long and we enjoyed a great lunch.  Then Tucker, Jamie, Neal and I long with the kids, drove out to Stansbury, picked up Jeff and Lynda Ann leaving Emmi and Mallory in charge of all the kids.  The movie was incredible and we all want to see it again.  We left Lynda Ann’s about 6:30 and headed to Wendy and Norms for the cousins Christmas gathering.  We called Maren and told her we were on our way so she could meet us there.  It was fun for Maren and Tucker to get to spend some time visiting with cousins they haven’t seen for years.

 

Jamie was playing Mallory’s new piccolo that she got for Christmas.  I was amazed that Jamie could remember how to play the instrument.  I played the clarinet from 6th grade through my junior year of high school and I couldn’t make one good sound on it now or even remember the fingering. 

It has been so fun to have CJ with us during the holidays.  We spent many hours visiting with CJ and catching up on his life.  Last night we were up until 2 a.m. just talking.  We missed seeing Justin and we are hoping that both of them will be able to come to the family reunion this summer. 

And, of course, sleep overs are a must.  Abby and Hayley were going to stay but at the last minute they decided that home was where they wanted to be.  Andrew went over to Jeff and Mindy’s to spend the night with Grayson. 

Tucker turns into Betty Crocker!

Tucker made chocolate chip cookies for the family and they were gone almost as fast as they came out of the oven.  I think every cookie was eaten within 30 minutes.  When the grandchildren realized that Tucker was making cookies they all came in to the kitchen every now and again to check and see if the cookies were done and of course, to see if Tucker would let them have some dough. 

The side story.  There always seems to be one!  About 11:00 that evening while we were playing Six-handed Rook, Neal leaves the table for a minute and comes back with a plate of three cookies. We all look at him and ask him where he got the cookies?  He tells us that he put them back in the oven to cook a little longer.  No one knew they were there and he scored three more cookies!

 

And the celebration continues . . .

Wednesday morning Neal and I went to the gym to work out.  On the way home we stopped by the store to pick up items to make lasagna and garlic bread.  The plan was that kids were coming over that evening to eat and play games.  The weather didn’t cooperate for the Gertsons coming in from Stansbury but everyone else showed up.  Jeff and Mindy picked up CJ at the airport that morning and so having him with us was a bonus! 

Jeff Hintze fell in the parking lot at LDS Hospital and wrenched his knee and maybe fractured his hip.  They are waiting for the results from the x-rays.  The funny thing about his experience is that he was carrying a diet coke and somehow managed to fall first on his back and then forward on his knee and managed to ‘save’ the diet coke.  Didn’t spill a drop! 

We spent the evening eating, visiting, playing Six-handed Rook and enjoying watching the kids perform for us.

Neal’s Christmas purchase for the boys

I had this picture posted but somehow when I went back to do some editing I  deleted it instead of reposting the edited version.  This is a picture of the boys wearing the new shirts that Neal bought them.  He spent a lot of time choosing the right Tommy Bahama shirt and then choosing the right color for each of the boys.  Jeff Hintze was sick Christmas Eve so we had to take the picture without him.  His shirt was black.  All looking pretty fine.

Christmas Day visits

We started at Lyndsy and James and from there to Jeff and Mindys and then to Maren’s and last to Lynda Ann and Jeff’s.  It was a fun day traveling around to see what each family got for Christmas.

Grayson made Neal a bird house. 

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Maren’s home:  Brock and Boston got battery operated cars. 

Very creative!

Andrew got a fun toy.  I didn’t get a picture but Mallory was very excited with her new piccolo!  She played it for us while we were there.  She is incredibly good on both the flute and the piccolo. 

This is kind of what Neal and I felt like Christmas night when we finally arrived home.  Tired, but very, very happy to be the parents of such a great bunch of kids and the grandparents to a great bunch of grandchildren!

Peyton dressed to play in the snow.

More pictures:

This is the box that Lyndsy made me and the dish cloths and casserole carrier from Mindy and last but not least, the picture of me on the elephant in China that Maren had printed and framed.  Loved them all!

Christmas presents given me . . .

A book from Jamie and Tucker.  A new bathrobe from Lynda Ann and Jeff.  I might add here that Lynda called me one day and said, “I just finished your Christmas present and I may throw it at you on Christmas Eve!”  Apparently it gave her some grief.  You think?

An apron and a picture of me on the elephant in China from Maren and Greg.  BYU and Utah blankets from Tucker.

Lyndsy and James gave us a darling box with pictures all over it.  I’ll get a picture of it and get it posted.  Jeff and Mindy the casserole carrier (another picture to post) and they gave Neal a movie gift certificate. 

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas Eve and I think everyone went home happy and hopefully feeling the love that we all have for each other.  I love you all and hope this next year will be filled with memorable and fun family adventures.  Thanks to all my children for a wonderful Christmas!

Just some fun random family pictures.

Jamie reading the Christmas story from the bible.