Other January

Hailee got her first 'real' haircut:

It looked pretty much the same after.

Hailee's class went showshoeing at school:

Jace was awarded the 'citizenship' award for his class this month:

Mimi and Papa got the deluxe spa massage one Sunday afternoon- we love having them live with us!

Jace was super impressed by how cheesy his cheese sticks were... "Mom!! Take a picture!!"

While my parents are technically living downstairs, Missy stays upstairs most of the time... My kids LOVE it!  Playing with Missy is one of the highlights of their day:

Their favorite game is "Don't Get Bit By Missy" 😂

With yet another season of back to back to back ear infections, it looks like Jace is headed for another set of tubes... but at least his hearing is 'technically' good-

So now I know that he can hear me, I realize that he just doesn't listen 😆

At one of Bryson's basketball games, one of Hailee's friends was playing on his tablet... naturally, my other three kids were instantly glued *rolls*eyes*

Winter Campout

Since we had the winter tent set up for some scout campouts, Nathan and the kids slept out there this weekend.  Dallin helped set up the tent...

Jace, Eli and Hailee were all bundled up in multiple layers with lots of extra blankets for the cold winters' night 😳

I braved the weather solely for photographic evidence-

They played games and had hot cocoa and goldfish before stoking the fire and going to bed!

I needn't have worried about the kids staying warm... the little stove in there nearly cooked them out!

7th Grade Basketball

Dallin had a great 7th grade basketball season- excepting the fact that his uniform shorts were obviously meant for a full grown man 😕

 

We had fun going to his games and cheering him on!

Lunch Date

I've been trying to schedule my kids {many} doctors appointments around lunchtime so we can go out to lunch together- Today Dallin and Hailee BOTH had eye appointments!

We went to Waddell's and enjoyed huge cheeseburgers and amazing sweet potato fries... well, Hailee didn't get sweet potato fries, but Dallin and I did- so yummy!

Hailee was supposed to have eye surgery (her fourth!) at the end of last year, but I figured we could just wait until the new year and meet our deductible for the whole year! Well, I'm glad we waited because at her appointment today, Dr. Shea was confuzzled by Hailee's eyes- they were totally aligned! She's concerned about it, so we're being referred to neurology to make sure that there's not something else going on. What's one more specialist?!? *sigh*

Freshman Basketball

Bryson tried out for freshman basketball this year- I'm proud of him! It was a little more intimidating for him because it was a lot more competitive than middle school ball.

Hailee and Jace were frequently featured in the "half time show" *wink*

There were a couple of kids on his team that made the season less than enjoyable for Bryson. But, it was a good experience for him to realize that he can't control other people, he can only control himself and his reactions. I don't think he's planning on playing next year, which is a bummer, but I'm glad that he stuck the season out and finished with a good attitude.

Play Day!

Chuck E Cheese on Martin Luther King Jr Day?  Why not?!?  Bryson and Dallin went up skiing with some friends, so I took my younger three and we played all day!

 
Eli hit the jackpot and won a bunch of free tickets...

They pooled all their tickets together and split them evenly...

and still ended up with junk 😆

Good thing we had lots of fun playing games!

Overheard at my house...

Jace made a 'menu' for breakfast one morning, it included "bagin" {bacon}

Dallin: Jace, you spelled bacon wrong...

Jace: *sigh* Ya, I know... there's a 'k' in it.

New Years Eve

Scott and Dayna came into town with their boys for the last 2 days of the year- Ryan and Jesse stayed with us overnight and the kids had lots of fun- I just wish we got more cousin time!

The kids built a little burm to help them turn a corner 1/2 way down the hill... Every time Jace started down, he'd be yelling, "c'mon, c'mon... c'mon" and if he had enough momentum that he hit the burm just right, he'd follow up with, "YES!  I TURN-ED!!!"

Jace decided to try the 'snowboard' and boy was he was determined...

 Finally, try after try after try, he kinda got it!!

There was lots of cocoa and video games during the day when they weren't playing in the snow...

We had our {dare I say?} annual NYE party- we love celebrating with friends and family... and especially love that none of them want to party til midnight either!! 😉

I think we had our sparkling cider toast and countdown to 'midnight' at 9:37pm 😂  Several of the kids (including Bryson) had to get to the stake dance... and pretty much everyone was partied out- it was THAT great of a party 😆