Git Along Lil' Doggies

It was time to move the cows to a different pasture.  Never mind that the kids were playing in a Christmas concert in an hour and a half.

Honestly, I don't think we would have been able to get it done without them.  Hudson and Dalanie each had a 4-wheeler.

Ruby had a few stick to keep them from going down some driveways.  It was so fun to watch the kids contribute in such meaningful ways.  We got done just in time.

Birthday Girl Ruby

We started celebrating Ruby while we were still with the Parish family over Thanksgiving.  Grandma bought her this little cake and surprised her with "sewing supplies."

She was dying to make something, so we decided to stitch together two green felt triangles for a Christmas tree.  She whip stitched them together.  By the end, she wasn't as excited but still pretty proud of her creation.

Traditional Hard Times cinnamon roll.  Dalliance called and came down with me to get them.

Since Ruby has been so into drawing lately and all of her friends share colored pictures with each other, we decided to have an ART party.

First the played pictionary and they couldn't get enough.

Instead of bringing a present, we had them bring a picture for her.  It was fun to see their personalities in their drawings.  Of course September had a picture of a pony.

For her actual birthday, we went up to Leo's Place and played arcade games.  After the deliberations about what to get with all of their tickets, they much have been pretty worn out.

More Fun and Games

For those of us that had to get out and get some fresh air, we took a little walk in the freezing cold weather. 

Deidra taught us how to make candy canes.  Well, as well as you can when you don't have a candy thermometer.

Dalanie sure didn't want to miss out on the pulling fun.  It was under cooked, so it was more forgiving like that.

It is definitely a skill a person has to develop.

There were presents to exchange, notice the puke bowl was never too far away.

The cousins were so excited to share the gift they had carefully selected for one another.

Mom had been busy finishing up a quilt for each family.

Mine already has a home in our bedroom.  She made it to match our current bedspread and it looks great.  As an added bonus, the embroidered squares were ones that my Grandma JoAnn had made.

It seemed as though people were dropping like flies.  During the night you could hear rushed footsteps, flushing toilets, and a working washing machine.  Hudson seemed to have been the first to come down with it.  So all fingers were pointing at the poor kid already laid up with a broken ankle.

The party split when some left to go to the Aggie football game.  For those left behind, we went to the Ogden light parade.  Despite the cold, it was a fun environment full of holiday excitement.

We walked through the freshly lit city center.

There are all sorts of little buildings decorated with holiday flare.  The Grinch was easily a favorite.

We found a fun burger joint to fill our empty tummies and warm our frozen fingers.  

Aunt Deid convinced Dalanie to go to the football game.  She got a picture with Big Blue and an awesome coupon book.

Cool Runnings Thanksgiving

With Hartwells moving not happening until the middle of August, we were out of time for a reunion by the time they got back.  We decided to make our Thanksgiving get the reunion, and I was nominated to be in charge.  We had a Cool Runnings Bobsled theme.  Nik was kind enough to personalize a logo that I liked for the shirt.  I was really happy with the way they turned out.

There was a big snow on our way out of town.  Before we got to Fort Hall there were over 17 slide offs that we counted.  We questioned continuing, but our sources ahead told us to keep coming.  It was a white knuckled drive and took an hour and a half longer than normal.  We pulled into the rented home in Eden past dinner time.  It wouldn't have been as bad, but we were in charge of dinner and people were hungry.  I was past the point of sheer exhaustion and snapped once we were there.

I was determined to not let that define the experience for people and put myself to bed early.

Dad was in charge of coming up with a bobsled for the Turkey Trot/ Bobsled adventure to take place before the feasting.  It was a brisk morning, but everyone got out to participate.

Dad found a wheelchair so Hudson wouldn't have to watch too much from the sidelines.  Brent enjoyed trying to plow people over with it.

It was the bobsled's maiden voyage, so Dad had some kinks to work out.  It was temperamental enough that he took the responsibility of steering the vessel.

Not know exactly what a real bobsled should be like, the kids loved it and were all smiles riding in it.

Some of the fiercest competitors had a snow angel contest.  June won for the least amount of clothing between her backside and the snow.

The Smiths

The Hartwells

Grandma and Grandpa, the original gang

The Hillmans

Things got official when we decorated the sled and the kids each got to add their name to it.

Coloring was the perfect way to keep the kids busy until the food was ready.

There was a bit of delay when all of the potato peeling plugged the disposal and drain.  Never fear- WEPCo to the rescue.  He had plenty of moral support cheering from the ground.

In honor of Senka and his lucky egg, all of the kids got to decorate their own lucky egg.

Mom and Dad were responsible for a devotional and group activity.  We got to construct with spaghetti noodles and marshmallows.  The kids thought crunchy spaghetti was pretty tasty.

We watched Cool Runnings the evening and even had a dance party.  The kids were dancing fools.  The adults even shook it.