Fe's Visit

Last month my little cousin Fernanda came to visit us from Brazil for a few days. It was so good to see her.
We watched a few movies, did some shopping of course, and ate a lot of burguers and fries.
Friday night we all went out together. We had some Italian food for dinner and then went to Gracie's to play some pool. My sisters and I aren't very good, I always like to team with Amos so we can win, Maybe I should say, he can win.






On Saturday we had a girls day. My little sister Sarah is getting married in may, so we went shopping for wedding dresses. I'm not sure who had more fun, Izzy or Sarah. I think Izzy was just as excited to try on dresses as Sarah was.

Sarah had a couple of appointments. She found "the dress" and it's absolutely beautiful. I can't post any pictures, she doesn't want me to.




That night we all got together to play games. The boys played Catan as usual and the girls played what we call Stop. Fe had to play by our rules, and as usual I won. Not by much this time. I guess I will have to play by her rules when I go visit her.



On Sunday we went to Park City. It was a little cold. We kept walking on the sunny side of the road.

It was a very fun week. Hopefully she will come in may for my sister's wedding.

New Year's Day

Every 1st of January we get together and cook Japanese food with my mom. We all love the food, and it's always nice to have an excuse to get together with my family.

Jenn was very kind to offer her house again this year. It makes such a mess. We all try to help cleaning up, but I'm sure she's still left with a lot to do.

This year my dad and Joanne decided to stay an extra day and eat with us.

Poor Jon had the worst job of them all, grating ginger; while Alex was busy reading all the rules for his new Catan game.

My mom of course, explained to Joanne and Leslie all the traditions and foods. She is so cute!

Even my dad was helping! Who knew he could cook something other than "gororoba"!

Leslie's B-day

Between my family and Amos' family there are a lot of birthday's in December. We celebrated my dad's on the 30ht and Leslie's on the 31st.

This year we just planned dinner and games at our house. It was fun to have everyone over. Amos and I stayed up past midnight for the first time in a few years.


Of course Cam and his cousins played video games all night. He's still showing them the games he got for Christmas. What is it with boys and videogames???

Izzy and Crystal played with their rollerblades. I'm pretty sure that was Izzy's favorite Christmas present.

Dad's 60th Bday

Last December my dad turned 60 years old. His wife Joanne planned a surprise party at the Desert Star Playhouse. It was a lot of fun. My kids loved it!

All of my siblings came, well except for Camilla (she was in Costa Rica), and most of Joanne's kids. I think this was the first time since their wedding that we've all gotten together.

We watched "The Nutcracker, Men in Tights". Cam and Izzy were laughing so hard. I wasn't sure they were going to like it. We will definitely take them back for another play.

Thanks Joanne for planning this. We all had a lot of fun.

Snowboarding season

Last Sunday we went snowboarding for the first time this season. Izzy didn't want to come, so it was me, Leslie, and the boys.

I finally have some pictures of me on the board. I'm always the one taking pictures. It was nice to have someone else taking them. Thanks Leslie!

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

This year we decided to go the day after instead of before Christmas. I was surprised by how many people were there.

My whole family decided to brave the cold and come walk around Temple Square.

Cam and Izzy always have a great time with their cousins.


As usual we had dinner at Squatters with Cody and Trish, Rusty and Kariann, and Leslie.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Cameron was surprised, like he wanted to be; and Izzy got the things she most wanted out of her outrageously long letter to Santa.

On Christmas Eve we got together with my family. We don't get together until 9pm. Then we have a big dinner and gift exchange.

This year it was a my house. I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday! I start thinking about what I'm going to cook weeks in advance. My family likes to try new recipes, so every year all the sisters pick something different to make.


I tried talking my family into having a little talent show. I wasn't very successful. Izzy and I played a little duet, and Cam played a song on his own. Joanne wrote a poem about the time the kids spent with them in ND. Jenn read a Christmas story. We also sang some Christmas Carols. It was a lot of fun. Maybe next year I can talk more of my siblings into it.


We also had our traditional gift exchange. We do it a little different than most people. We don't tell each other who we have. Then on Christmas Eve we all have to say things about the person we have, so everyone can guess who it is. Is really fun. We've done it for so many years that is hard to come up with something new.


On Christmas day we had dinner with Amos' family. We went to Rusty's house. It was the first year we were able to get all the siblings together at the same time on Christmas. It was nice to be able to just relax and enjoy each others company.