3 Girls and a Guy

CHRISTMAS BREAK IS OVER!!!!!! (Sad!)

We love sledding every Christmas Break. It's free, good exercise and gets us out of the house for a while. Up by my mom in Daybreak there are a couple different areas to choose from. We went to the easy hill, but there were a couple of jumps the kids enjoyed. I did not enjoy the jumps. They made my insides hurt. The kids ended up taking off coats because they were hot. They also raced each other. Who knows who won.

One night we went to Lyle's for Taco night. Jenni and Kevin were in town from Kansas and Kevin was cooking. Kevin always cooks fabulous food in Lake Powell and he was volunteering again. It was so much fun to see them and talk about Lake Powell this summer. Lyle made pork tacos and Kevin made real tacos from Mexico. It was a yummy night. The kids played Wii and the adults sat around and talked. We can't wait for Lake Powell this summer!!!

My friends from the Ridge. Heidi Fleming is now in Arizona, but when she comes for Summer or Winter Break we meet up for lunch. When Heidi arrived, Anne and I were already seated. Heidi asked for a table with two blonds. She forgets my hair is dark now. We talked for 2 1/2 hours. We missed Heidi Roberts. She dogged us and went with the family to Midway. Rude. I love these girls. Anne teaches my girls dance and they've always been good to me. It's the only ME TIME I took the whole entire Christmas Break.

This is a new Family Home Evening tradition. Thanks to Tawny. My kids loved it. We all wrote nice loving notes to each other, read a cute message on the Dove chocolate and made toasts. They loved it. My kids have tried to be nicer to each other this Break. That night they played games together, played gymnastics, and Renn and I sat back and watched. We loved it. That's the best feeling in the world to see your kids playing with each other and getting along.

With no friends around and no cousins, we made our fun with our little family. We headed to Classic one day to get some wiggles out. Grammie gave us some fun money and we decided to use it. We stayed for 4 hours. Wow!!! The kids skated, scootered, danced, played games, did the new Blast Off, and ate snacks. Alex was so funny to watch. She kept falling on her behind while skating. Abby was a natural. Adri fell a bit too. Alex and Abby danced on the rink. They did Cha Cha slide, Hanna Montana and more. It was so fun to watch them get down. Abby was shaking up a storm, while Alex was a little more reserved. I loved watching them have fun, help each other out, and play so nicely together.!!

It was a sad day when we took down the Christmas decor New Years Day. My house is so empty. I don't like it. I need more decor, but then I have to dust it and I don't like that either. My girls were not very good helpers. They helped for 15 minutes and then were done. I was glad they were out of my hair. That's my Christmas tree box and it's ready to go in the garage for another year. It's so handy. We love that tree. That day I cleaned all floor boards, dusted, vacuumed and washed all the walls upstairs and down. I got so much done. Love that feeling. Rennie helped me a bit.

We had to take a break and get out of the house for a little while. We went to see Princess and the Frog with some neighbors. It was such an awesome movie and had great messages throughout. The kids were so good at the movie and stuffed their faces with popcorn. Dad even came with. Amazing!!!

We did more sledding. Renn took them this time and they had a blast. The Smith girls were home and they went with. They each took a turn on the snowboard thing. Abby was the best at it. They went over lots of jumps and were gone for 3 hours. I got a lot done at home with all the kiddos and hubby gone. It was a much needed break. Renn took the kids over to my moms and they all sang Happy Birthday. She said it was the best present all day. They also went to the big hill by my moms and it's DANGEROUS. They all went down it and saw blood all over the hill. I'm glad they all got home safe.

Grammie's b-day is on Jan 2nd and Abby's in on New Years Eve. We always have a combined family party. This year I insisted it was at my house. Grammie can't throw her own party. I snuck behind her back and assigned my brothers food and told them to come over here. I then told my mom and it was too late for her to change the plans. It was a nice Sunday afternoon. We all wrote nice memories about Grammie and Abby, ate lasagna, Heavenly Cake and the kids had a candy hunt in the basement. Next year my mama will be 60!!!!! What will we do then. Abby's birthday is over. She has had at least 4 bday parties now. Spoiled girl.

My kids really learned to play more together without friends and to enjoy one another. Many times I would find all four watching movies, playing wii, playing house, playing board games, playing gymnastics, playing dance, playing beauty salon and no friends were over. There were not very many friends and no cousins around Christmas Break and it was okay. It warmed Renn and I's heart everytime we caught them playing together and being nice to each other. I loved this Christmas Break. I will love them being back in school also because inthree weeks they will be home again. OFF TRACK!!!