Preschool

In November, some girls in my ward asked us to join their preschool group.  Addelyn is already in a preschool at Bethlehem Lutheran on Mondays and Wednesdays, but the church girls was on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  So, we committed!  I thought it would be a good way for me to get to know more people in the ward and hopefully make some new friends.  I knew that Addelyn would love having more friends to play with.  It has been a lot of fun!  I taught for the first time this month and it was fun having them all over and teaching them about the letter "M".

Our First Visitors!

We were lucky enough to be on our friend's, the Apkers, route of touring Oregon.  They were doing a whirlwind trip to find prospective jobs in small towns.  How lucky are we to live in a small town?!  We had tons of fun having them here, it was just a little too short of a stay.  We played games, showed them around Hermiston, and had lunch.  Yay for such fun first visitors!

Getting a good picture of Locke and Addy was next to impossible. :)  

Kennedy's Birthday

Our niece, Kennedy, turned 2 on January 4th. We went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. It was all the girls' first time being there and I think they had a blast! Addelyn loved riding on the cars and that they actually moved! We played games and got prizes and then went to Costa Vida for dinner. Yum!

New Years Eve with Friends

After getting home Wednesday from Utah, we decided to leave town again on Saturday. This time we went to Eugene, OR to be with our dental school friends! We had such a good time! I love seeing these girls so often. It was fun to be reunited and to finally see the beauty of the Smith's home.  We had fun talking, catching up, getting in heated arguments over Scatergories, staying up til midnight on New Years Eve, going out to dinner without kids, eating good food, and being with friends.

How Addy spent New Years Eve night... sleeping like a baby!

Our awesome Shrimp Boil that the Smith's made for us!  It was delicious!  You eat without plates or utensils... so fun and yummy!

Making yummy midnight snacks on New Years Eve.

Happy New Year everyone!  We hope that this year brings you all great things and that you accomplish any goals that you have set for yourselves and/or families. 

Christmas Celebrations

As mentioned earlier, we went to Utah for Christmas.  The drive to Utah was so great!  The roads were perfectly clear.  We got there late Friday night and were there until early Wednesday morning.  On Saturday we met up with our friends, The Jacksons, and had some lunch while Addy and Alexa picked up right where they left off.  It was great to see them and catch up!

 Fred accompanied us on our trip.  

 Besties since birth.

After we got home from our visit with friends, Addelyn took a fake nap and then got up so we could go sledding in my mom's backyard!  Addy was so excited!  It was her first time in large amounts of snow.  She did lots of snow angels, snow ball throwing (in daddy's face), and sledding.  She was in heaven and even stayed out longer than some of my brothers. :) 

 Sunday, we went to church and then came home and relaxed and played games.  The Christmas Program was amazing at church.  Their ward choir was amazing!  My aunt Beth and her girls came down from Draper for dinner.  It was good to see them!  Her girls have grown so much!

Christmas Eve we ran a few errands and then got ready to party.  My dad came over in the afternoon to spend Christmas Eve with the family and make the yummy food!  We made finger foods, cookies for Santa, read the Nativity from Luke 2, opened pajamas, and played games.  It was a great Christmas Eve.  This Christmas has been so much fun seeing all of the joy in Addelyn's eyes when we talk about Baby Jesus being born and Santa. 

Addy reading the Nativity with Papa. 

After the Christmas Eve Traditions it was off to bed with a certain little girl.  Santa came and was very good to my family.  We all went to bed and had dreams of sugar plums.  

Christmas morning Addy was up at 7:30 and made sure that she woke everyone else up and they were ready to open presents!  We had a great Christmas day.  I think everyone was very pleased with how well Christmas turned out this year.  There were many anonymous givers that made my family's Christmas magical.  Thank you!  Christmas day was spent relaxing until the infamous prime rib dinner.  It was as delicious as ever!

We had such a great Christmas and loved spending it with my family this year!  We don't get to see them enough.