Playing in the snow

Annie and Noah are out of school for winter break, and we didn't have anything planned today (I love days like this!), so the kids had time to play out in the snow.

Christmas festivities

One of the things we do every year before Christmas is sleep out under the tree one night. The kids absolutely love it.

It's always a terrific night's sleep for me and Chris, too.

One of the Saturdays before Christmas we go out to breakfast, then we visit Santa at the zoo. This year we ate at First Watch - YUM.

We were expecting Hudson to break into tears at the sight of Santa, but he didn't! He's the first of our kids who hasn't.

Brig, on the other hand, refused to even go near Santa without Chris. He wouldn't tell Santa what he wanted (Santa can read minds, right?), although he did stretch as far as his arm could reach so he could get the candy cane Santa offered, then he ran.

We had to visit the reindeer before we left. Brig wouldn't get into the picture - I think he was still traumatized by Santa.

Happy Birthday to me

Our good friends, the Shupes, had a job interview, so we watched their three older kids for a few days. That means we had a big party for my birthday!

Chris was so nice, and he bought me a cake and two of my favorite kinds of ice cream. The kids designed the plate for me.

Days 7-9

Absolutely no pictures!!

We did have a great time with the Christiansens. They have four kids also, and our kids had a blast together. We went out to eat, they took us to a great ice cream place, and we caught up on each other's lives. But our family was all starting to get sick, and Chris and I didn't sleep well for the last three nights of the trip. So I completely spaced taking any pictures. It was a great trip, anyway.

Day 6

We said goodbye to our family (sniff sniff), who all went back to Utah and Illinois, and we planned to stay for a couple of extra days in St. Louis. Our friends, Tyler and Angie Christiansen, are doing residency there, and we haven't seen them since we all graduated from med school 4 1/2 years ago. Before we got to their house, we stopped by the Science museum. What a cool place!

This T-rex roared and moved it's head, which scared the kids a little. Brig wouldn't even get close to it.

This picture cracks me up.

Day 5

Today we went to the arch. We were expecting temps in the upper 40's or low 50's, so we just brought jackets with us on the trip. It was sooo cold!! We were frozen by the time we walked to the arch from the (faraway, but cheap) parking garage. But it was worth it. This was my first time in the arch, and it was amazing!

I must admit, I was a little nervous about going up so high (I think I'm developing a bit of altophobia in my old age), but once we got up, I forgot about being up so high, and just enjoyed the view.

With Ariah, Shelleen, Shimayne, and Sharene


After we put the kids to bed that night we played games in one of our hotel rooms. I was having flashbacks of my college days, staying up late, eating junk food, and laughing so hard that my stomach hurt. This was one of the treats that Mike picked up at the gas station. Have you ever seen such a big rice krispie treat?? Me either.

Day 4

Today the twins, Enoch and Elijah were blessed. It was wonderful to be at church together!

Annie (she told me she doesn't know why she's in the picture), Teah, Tenny, Elijah (I think?), Donovan, Enoch (I think?), and Trey.

Annie and Hudson with their Aunt Shimayne. Our kids have the greatest aunts and uncles!

After church we ate lunch, then cleaned up and drove to St. Louis for a couple of days.

Day 3

First thing this morning we dressed up in our team shirts for family pictures. Go Aggies!!

So we didn't get any "perfect" pictures of the four kids together, which is pretty typical. But that's fine with me - the pictures we have are telling of the stage we're in. I thought the kids' faces were pretty funny, though.

All the teams!!

After pictures we celebrated Treytion's 6th birthday at Golden Corral, then we spent the rest of the day at the church again.

Annie, Noah, Trey, Brig, Tenny

All the guys (and Shell-what a woman!) played some basketball. Brig really wanted to join in. Despite being run over a couple of times, he had fun with the big boys.