Memorial Bike Ride

With so many schedules to accommodate, it is hard to find time to celebrate as an entire family but we had a few hours on Sunday evening so we squished in a fun BBQ and smores.

We had to purchase a new mat for our 14 year plus tramp. It is so springy and bouncy. Girls had a great time jumping. Love the air shot Bria!

Another successful marshmallow roast  Charcoal anyone?

Later in the evening, Jaren, Cindy, Kylar, Kaylen, and Gelsey all came over for games and laughter. We always have an enjoyable time and stay up way way too late. Kaylen, Malia, Bria, and Ada all slept out on the tramp under the beautiful stars. Such great holiday traditions.

Snow Cones.

 Malia got this nifty little machine for her birthday last year. Every once in awhile she will pull it out and use it.

Our annual bike ride is usually in the earlier hours but once again work just didn't allow it. Bria with her new talent of riding a "two wheeler" wanted to join us.. We loaded the Yukon with 7 bikes and headed to the fun path that parallels Legacy Highway. It was a HOT HOT day but we did it. Bria and Ada pedaled their hearts out for 2 miles and took a break in the shade while the rest of us rode for a few more miles. It was fun to race each other and enjoy the outdoors.

Before.......

and After

So proud of my girls. They pedaled and pedaled and never gave up.

Some years we go a lot further this year was more about just being together. We did get 8 miles in so that's not too bad.

Mountain View Corridor

About 9 years ago I thought it would be fun to ride bikes from Taylorsville to West Point, about a 60 mile trip. Corby and I got the girls settled and we took off at 6AM. We arrived at his parent's house around 2 PM. Wowsie, it was long and hard but so so fun! My older girls thought it looked like fun and asked if they could join in the following year and that my friend is how it became a tradition.
The last few years since Bria and Ada have joined our family, we haven't done that long of a ride for obvious reasons.

 Bria had to jump in the photo and so begged to join us. Sweet dear little Bria you have no idea what we are about to embark upon, actually neither did we at this point;)

I love how we all look like bugs, helmets save brains but oh they are so uncomfortable and awkward.

This year I thought it would be a great idea to ride the new trail that parallels the new Mountain View Corridor Road. Corby volunteered to hang back with little ones while Malia, her bff, Avery, Teesh and myself set out to conquer the unknown. Corby dropped us off at 5400 south where the new road begins and we were off. Right off the bat is a pretty steep hill 9% grade for over a mile. Going down it was fabulous, we caught wind like no other. I caught some serious air and flew like a bird. There was a water treatment plant along our path, pee eew, smelled horrible. We reached our half way point, Jaren and Cindy's house in Herriman. We filled up our water bottles, took a bathroom break, fueled our bodies with calories and hit the road jack.
We started off the way we began, energized and ambitious. I started hearing complaints of sore bottoms but nothing out of control. The wind was blowing us all over, it came out of nowhere, but never fear we are strong girls who achieve goals. We were hitting all our milestones I had set and thought we would be nearing completion in 30 minutes or less and that is when the hills began. Going down the hills feels great, but going up is a completely different story. 9% grade let's talk about that. It was amazingly hard. I stayed strong and remained on my bike using my gears for my benefit but the three partners had to walk several times(now their bikes might have something to do with it, I have a really nice road bike and the girls have the equivalent of a Huffy!Need I say more). I had to laugh more than once as both Avery and Malia asked if I would trade them. I so would have if my knees would not have given me black eyes with each pedal.

During our ride, I had to giggle as I would see Malia ride "no hands" and Avery would scream, "Malia, stop doing that, you are scaring me"

Our goal was not obtained but considering the obstacles that we faced we were super happy to have just finished. 26.3 miles.

Well done little partners, let's do it again in another year.

Christmas Morning....oh dark 30

We had an unusual Christmas morning this year. Usually we are up at oh dark 30 but Bria and Ada slept in till 8:30. Normally I am waking my children up because that is what Christmas morning is all about waking up early. This year we have all been feeling a little yucky so the sleep did us some good. Anyway, Santa came and provided some great surprises for everyone, even though Bria our special 5 year old, unwrapped Christmas a week and a half ago. I'll blog more about that later (See post Character).
Our tradition for Christmas morning is to designate someone to be Santa and distribute the gifts to the rightful owners. We preheat the oven for our quiche and all settle in amongst our pile of gifts. Santa gets to tell the order we go in and one by one we each open a gift after eying what the one before us received. I love this method because it makes Christmas a bit longer and everyone gets to see what others are receiving or gets to see their face as they open the gift you gave. I have never been "a go overboard with Christmas" kind of gal. I set a budget on a sliding scale according to age and pretty much stay within the perimeters I set for myself. I know I sound like a control freak but budgets are important to me. Each girl receives about 5 gifts and there might be a few family gifts.

Our first glimpse of Christmas morning

Malia was our Santa this year. Each of the girls had fun unwrapping their gifts and acting surprised for my benefit(which was so kind)
Santa always sends the girls on a scavenger hunt to find the final gift. Santa had some brain cramps this year and didn't do the best job with clues but it's the thought that counts right? I love this part of Christmas morning the most, seeing these gifts opened up  are typically the best gift of the season in terms of wants and desires.

Here is Malia opening up her BYU sweatshirt. She was given one for her birthday but it was stolen at school so Santa brought a replacement.

Sierra received OPI nail polish and some very much needed makeup items. She also received a makeup brush set from Victoria Secret.

and Teesh received slippers(my old ones) which is why she is laughing. I crack myself up with my humor. She loves my old ratty slippers so I wrapped them up and gave myself her new UGG slippers and gave her my old ones. Her face is priceless. She is such a good sport to go along with my shenanigans. I eventually gave her the new slippers and happily took back my ratty ones that I have severely missed.

Malia actually received two surprises this year. The second was a 4th generation IPOD touch. She was thrilled.

Bria received a doll with matching clothes. I loved seeing this because it brought back memories of my Christmas mornings. My mom made me multiple outfits that matched my dolls and I loved it. Now I am not a seamstress, like my dear sweet mother, so the elves helped produce the clothes and everyone was happy. Here is Bria with her new nightgown and baby in arms.

Ada also received matching clothes with her baby. She looked at the outfit and informed us, "My baby doesn't want to be matching with me" and promptly went to get a different dress as to make sure there was no matching. 

Enjoying our gifts! Teesh received a laptop but I didn't get any pictures and Corby got two new coats. One casual and one dressy(he so needed them, his coat is almost 20 years old)
All in all it was a great Christmas yet again. I think we are blessed beyond measure and have so much to be grateful for. I received Clarissa and have been loving getting familiar with all her features.

Merry Christmas

Deliciousness! I put some spinach and mushrooms in a portion of this creation because there are some family members who don't appreciate the finer things of life. This stuff is so yummy, but takes an hour and a half to cook so we only eat it occasionally.What a great day! Now I am relaxing on the couch until New Years. I did all the shopping, wrapping, cooking, preparing this year.  Corby has been studying for a beast examine and needed the extra time to study. I am looking forward to the rest of the time off regular schedules and seeing my husband a bit more. He takes his examine on Friday the 28th, fingers crossed!

Christmas Eve

As far back as I can remember, we have always done fondue on Christmas Eve. It is the perfect meal, not a lot of prep and everyone basically does their own cooking. I grew up with only steak to cook but as the years have progressed we have added a cheese fondue, chicken, shrimp, and salmon(some years). I cut the meat into bite size pieces, marinate it, bake potatoes and cut up vegetables and french bread. When it is din din time, we place the different kinds of meats on plates accessible to all on the table. Everyone dresses their potato with all the yumminess they offer, sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese( I opt for a sweet potato)

Dinner is fairly time consuming but it is always good conversation while we cook our meat one small piece at a time. We get to together with Jaren and Cindy each year, every other year with their kids. This year was their kids so it was quite the crowd and we invited Grandma Hansen too. Jaren has 4 kids. Cindy 3 so altogether 12 kids! Holy Moly.

This is the host Jaren and Cindy, caught Cindy with a mouth full.

I took this picture a little late, but hey better late than never. We usually use Tostada ready made cheese in a jar for our cheese fondue. This year I felt adventurous and made gourmet cheese fondue. It was awesome, so awesome I didn't get a picture before it disappeared. It was pricey so we won't do that every year, but every once in awhile will work.

,

Corby happy to be here and Gelsey not so sure, merry Christmas Eve.
Sierra, Gavan, and Teesh all enjoying our fondue meal. We sure do love spending time with our cousins. Gavan and Teesh are only 5 days a part.

After dinner, we all dress up and act out the nativity scene. Jaren put Teesh in charge and all the children participated while the adults sat back for the entertainment.

Gelsey is Mary, Gavan Joseph, Ada baby Jesus and Talia the donkey. Teesh read/told the story of how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to pay their taxes and how they could not find a place for Mary to have her baby. Eventually they were able to find a stable where Mary had baby Jesus amongst the animals.

Kaylen and Bria are sheep coming to see sweet baby Jesus.

Sierra is the angel warning the three wise men to not go back to King Herod telling him where he would be find baby Jesus.

And the three wise men (or women) finally brought gifts to baby Jesus. Love the sheep head right front and center. Don't miss Malia she is right behind Sam in purple and green.

When the nativity tradition had ended, Jaren and Cindy pulled out gifts for all their family members to open on Christmas Eve. We opted out here because we don't have many gifts. They all got new pajama bottoms. Bria was a bit sad that she didn't have a gift to open so Jaren let her open his and I said if it fits, she could have them. As hard as she tried she wasn't able to make 2x fit her little 5t body. Thanks for the laugh as you tried though sweetie.

We said prayers, put kids to bed and settled our little ones on the couch to watch a Christmas movie while the adults played games. We love Five Crowns, Slide 5  and Mormon Bridge. I couldn't resist taking a picture of my little munchkins relaxing on the couch. 

Before our game had ended, Bria was not acting herself and sure enough she had a fever. Malia has been ill the past few days so I knew someone else would most likely come down with it. We gathered our stuff and headed home. It had been snowing all day but luckily the drive was great. What a fantastic day! When we arrived home we helped Santa with his work and made it in bed by 1AM.
Not a bad day at all...... family, food, and entertainment, what more could you ask for!

Elf on the Shelf

My friend, Misty, had this elf hiding in her house last year. I was so impressed with it that I adopted it as a tradition for our family. Watching her children get so excited talking about their elf I wanted that for our family as well. I went to Hallmark and purchased the book and the elf and brought it home to allow the fun to begin.
So the story goes like this.......an elf comes to your house and watches your behavior then at night flies to the North Pole to report to Santa the good and bad she sees. When the elf returns, she will hide in a different spot so it is your job to locate her the next morning. The little girls have just loved this fun holiday tradition. When they first wake they do nothing until "Elfie" is located. They know not to touch "Elfie" or she will lose her flying powers and  not be able to report good behavior to Santa dear. Elfie has been spotted in all kinds of places in our home.

The girls wake every morning to find where Elfie is. She seems to find the funnest places to land and watch. One morning Elfie brought a treat from the North Pole, Jelly Belly candy canes, delish.

Good thing we found Elfie before someone made breakfast, it could have been a bit hot for her.