Fun from Christmas Eve until New Years Day 2010-2011

Christmas Eve at Dirk and Deb's.
Christmas Eve at Debbie's house. We had a great dinner at Robintino's, which is a tradition for our family. Then we went back to Dirk and Debbie's house for hot chocolate. We called mom and dad and did Skype so we could talk to them and see them at the same time. The kids all opened their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa that night so Grandma and Grandpa could be a part of our evening.
Jake and his funny pose...New Year's Eve
We finished level 36 and we were starting level 37 on Jenga before our tower fell! That makes us experts (the box says!).

Our lost puppy....

When we came home from our Christmas dinner, our little 6 month old puppy, Mamie, was not in our backyard. She had dug out under the fence. We spent the rest of Christmas night looking for her to no avail. The kids were devastated. That night they made flyers to post around the neighborhood. After church on Sunday, Ben took the flyers and posted them everywhere and also slipped one in the door of the vet that is out here. Monday morning at 9:00am, the phone rang. It was the vet's office and a nice man had brought Mamie in to them that morning and dropped her off!!! The vet's office knew it was our puppy because Ben had dropped a flyer off there and they got it when they opened that morning. We were so thankful to the family that took care of her over the Christmas holiday. The top picture is of Ryan the day we got her back. Needless to say, the whole family was very, very, happy and relieved!

Christmas Day-Saturday, 12/25/2010

Every year Benj gets me a new Nutcracker for Christmas since I like to collect them. This is the Nutcracker he got me this year!!
Christmas Morning!!!! The best morning of the year!!!! We had a very nice Christmas this year. We opened gifts and then went to Grandma Kathy's for her traditional Ebleskiver breakfast. Yum! We usually go to my (Becky's) parents house after, but since my parents are serving a mission in New York, we went back home. We rested and watched "The A-Team" which was one of the gifts Santa brought. Josh had to work Christmas morning, but came home that afternoon to open his gifts. Later, we went to Dave and Emily's house for a Prime Rib dinner. It was absolutely delicious!! Merry Christmas 2010!!!

Ryan's Birthday!! 12 years old on Dec. 11, 2010

Ryan turned 12 on December 11th!! What a wonderful birthday he had. He has wanted a mountain bike with gears so he can keep up with his dad and brother when they go up in the mountains. He got one!!! He also got some games he has wanted and some new DC shoes. For Ryan's birthday, he, like Jake, wanted his favorite breakfast, Crepes!!! After, we went and saw the movie, "Chronicles of Narnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Ryan debated all week where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner. It was between Texas Roadhouse and Chuck-A-Rama. Everyday that week he would "feel"like one or the other, and he said he would decide on his birthday what he "felt" like eating that day. Chuck-A-Rama won! So, we had dinner there after the movie. We were then going to go to Thanksgiving Point to take a hayride to see the lights and hot chocolate at the deli, but Jake started not feeling well, so we did that the next Saturday.

One of the things Ryan was looking forward to the most about being 12 was receiving the Aaronic Priesthood. On Sunday December 12, 2010, Ryan was ordained a Deacon by his dad. Another thing he had been talking about for months was being able to go to the temple. He was finally 12 and we took him on Saturday, December 18, 2010, to the Oquirrh Temple for the first time. It was such a wonderful day being in the temple with our little family (minus Josh). After, we went home and changed and went to Thanksgiving Point to see the lights and then ate dinner there. It was a wonderful day!!

Ryan is such a great young man! He is always happy and is so much fun to be around. He is the comedian in our family and is amazing at imitating people. We always get a good laugh when Ryan is around!