Christmas

We got to spend Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson...even though I managed to not get a single picture on Christmas of them. It is so crazy getting pictures sometimes.

They opened their stockings.

They got new beanies.

Grandma gave Dylan an Imaginext Penguin--loved it. Can you tell the boys love Imaginext?


Blake got a batman hat from Grandma.


Grandma got them each a lego set, which we put together that day.

We got this sweatshirt for Dylan. He is the worst at wearing jackets, etc. Hopefully he will be excited about wearing this one.

We got Blake some clothes. These kids are growing so fast.

Uncle Robert and Aunt Sarah got them each an Xbox game.


To go with their new Xbox!! Thank you Santa! 

When we bought the house, they left their Xbox, but it died a couple months ago.


They were very happy.

Aaron got a new smart watch. My folks gave us a new shower head. Aaron got a BYU cupcake pan and keychain. Aaron got me a stun gun--no surprise they are legal in TX, so don't mess with me while I am running. He also got me a space heater, a hat, scarf and gloves. And he got me a programmable pressure cooker. It is fantastic. You can make soup, yogurt (yes, I have made that and it is good) and about 1 million other things. Aaron's mom loved the idea so much that she bought one for herself. Aaron's dad liked Aaron's new watch so much that he bought one for himself. I also got new running shirts, baking mat, a brush for my wheat grinder--cleaning that thing is a mess. Aaron's folks gave our family a book on Nauvoo which goes into detail about all the sites there, which is a great reference. My folks gave the kids a book about the Provo City Temple...plus pictures that my mom has taken of it throughout time. Back when it was a meeting house all the way until its completion of the temple--there are about 10 pictures. It is pretty awesome.

Later in the day, Aaron's sister, Tiffanie and her family came over. We ate turkey and lots of other yummy stuff. We played games and talked.

That night it started to snow---a little. The boys were so excited. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We love you all!

Christmas Eve

The kids needed to get out and even though it was chilly, we bundled up, went on a walk, and played at the park.





Amy was organizing and cleaning out some old stuff and found their old Super Nintendo. Aaron decided to hook it up and see if it worked...and it did, so we let the boys play with it. We advised Amy not to through it away. It is still hooked up if anyone wants to go play.

Later that night we went over to the Riggs' house. They are family friends. They have a son, Justin, who is Aaron's good friend. He was there with his wife and 5 kids. It was great to visit with them. We then went home and got ready for Santa to visit.

Denver's Museum of Nature and History

Our museum passes got us into the Denver museum for free and Amy and Gregg had passes, so we all went.


Keagan, Brian, Blake and Dylan had a great time together. It was fun for Blake and Dylan to play with cousins. 





It was a fun trip.

Denver Zoo

The kids woke up nice and early to make sure they could exercise with me..what a treat.

Amy and Gregg bought an organ so were waiting for it to be delivered. They played in the snow.


They have been trained to throw snowballs at dad.

The delivery guys needed help getting the organ into the house, so Gregg and Aaron helped...nearly broke their backs. After that fun adventure, we went to the zoo. It was a nice day for Denver folks--in the high 40s, but for us it was still coat weather. It ended up being the warmest day while we were there.




Aaron's sister, Tiffanie, lives close to Amy and Gregg so they met us at the zoo. They foster the little girl, Violet--she is tiny. Dylan is pretending to sleep. He was super tired, but didn't take a nap.




So we hadn't seen Tiffanie's kids in awhile and we were surprised at how tall they were. The girls quit gymnastics and grew 8 inches in that year that they quit.

Roadtrip to CO

The next morning we left at 4:30. Blake didn't sleep at all in the car, but Dylan slept a little. It was a 12 1/2 hour drive. We went through Oklahoma and Kansas instead of through the panhandle because we heard it can be nasty when the weather is bad. The kids great. They got a huge thing of legos from us that they opened the day before (1500 pieces) so they brought some with them and had fun playing with them.

As we came into Denver Blake asked, "What are those walls?" Um, Blake, those are called mountains. Yep...Texas is flat.

We got to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house and the kids wanted to check things out at their house. They found family pictures and picked out where Aaron was. We thought this picture of Aaron looked a lot like Blake. We went on a walk and  then ate dinner.

Pre-Christmas Opening of Presents

Sunday, December 20--we had the kids open up most of the presents--especially the big ones because we left for CO the next day and we didn't want to transport presents. I took most pictures on my other camera so someday I will post more pictures.

Uncle David, Aunt Kristi and their cousins Seth and Kaleb got them some Batman Imaginext. They loved them...it fit inside their backpack so they took them on our trip.

Uncle James and Aunt Shannon live in HI, so they sent us some cookies from HI. (Which are yummy! Side note...Aaron used to work with the owner's daughter of the cookie company)

They also sent them Hawaiian shirts. 


Great-Grandma sent them "handsome shirts"...this is what they call these shirts.
Grandpa and Grandma Bass bought this for the kids when they were out in October. Wow...they love this. They also took the vehicles in their backpack for the trip to CO.

We then had to pull the kids away from their new toys to go to church. The primary kids sang the prelude music. They sang 4 songs and the last one was the best..."O Holy Night". I had to get permission from our Bishop to have them sing that song, but it wasn't hard to convince him. They worked really hard on that song--it is a hard one--but it was so cool to hear them sing it. Aaron participated in the program..he was the Innkeeper. They did "The Innkeeper's Story". It was a great program...a little different twist.

BYU Bowl Game

Saturday, December 19 was the BYU bowl game. BYU played Utah, which for those who do not know, are huge rivals. We have some friends in the ward, the Schwarz (we went to their house for Thanksgiving) who are huge Utah fans, so it was only fitting that they come over and we watch the game together. They brought snacks and then we had hamburgers after the game. The kids did pretty well, but they eventually got bored and went outside to jump on the trampoline. It was a sad outcome so we won't talk about it, but it was fun to have friends over.

Blake's Class Christmas Party

December 18 was Blake's class Christmas party. Before the party, Dylan and I started to pack for our trip to CO. Proof is in the picture...it is much harder packing with kids around to help.

Blake's party was at 10am. They first did a book exchange.

They made an ornament to take home. 

They ate an ice cream cone as a snack.

And  then they were done by 10:45 and parents were encouraged to take their kids home. Blake was very concerned that he would miss something important so we had a chat with his teacher and she assured him that he wouldn't miss anything. So he came home with Dylan and I. Here Blake is with his teacher, Mrs. Sias. I know I've said it before, but she is a fantastic teacher.