New Years Eve Ice Skating

For more fun while my parents were here Nic & Ky came up and we went ice skating at the nostalgic Huntsville skating rink. I love this place its so small town and so fun. Liam and I didn't skate but we watched all bundled from the side lines. 

After a couple hours we called it quits. The kids were all so sad but were cold, tired, & hungry. Matt smoked us an amazing pork roast. We had a great dinner and visited. We called it an early night because honestly we were all so tired from all of our playing. Happy New Years 2018 was good to us.

Meeting grandma

Temple Square

A couple days after Christmas my parents decided to come our direction to meet Liam and to see all of us since they weren't her for Christmas. We were super bummed when Kim & Ez couldn't come since their kids got so sick. Maddi ended up staying home because she was sick and couldn't be around us anyways we'll have to look forward to seeing her next time. We decided while my parents were here we would do some fun things to keep us all busy. On Sunday night we met up and went to Temple Square. The weather was crazy it was snowing like crazy so we came all snuggled up and dressed for the blizzard but it made the temple ground so beautiful and kept some of the crowds away.

The reflection pond is always a favorite and one of the few things that the girls remember every year

It was a little crazy keeping track of 7 kids but luckily we had grandma and grandpa to help us

By this point everyone was freezing so we escaped inside to get warm, go potty, and see the Christus. While there we also talked ot the sister missionaries and got to watch a short movie about service during the holidays. We also fed Liam and changed him so he was happier after that

Our forever family. We were wishing we would have brought the carrier for Liam but the stroller id the trick while we were there.

By the time we were fairly frozen we called it a night and headed back to Nic's for cookies and hot chocolate. Grandma and grandpa also had the kids gifts for them to open. The girls all got matching pjs tht grandma made, I definitely didn't get that talent

Liam's new hat

Meeting papa for the first time

It was such a fun night spending time with everyone but we were really missing Kimber and her family.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is just so fun with kids. The excitement and toys are what make Christmas morning so fun. The girls piles are Hallie Gracie and Emery left to right. Hallie has been asking for a hoover board for a while now, Gracie has looking at this vet kit since her last birthday, and Em just loves princesses so I think Santa did great. Liam didn't really need anything but next year it will be a different story

This is Matt and I's presents

The girls play Legos quite often but they are a little more complicated so we bought some Minnie and Daisy set with bigger legos

Liam and I were happy to watch form the sidelines

Elana PJs

This girl loves everything girly...nail polish for the win

Gracie loves accessories and Christmas didn't disappoint  

Playdoh

Lip gloss

This girl is loving puzzles and is getting really good at them so we added more to her collection

These read to me books are a life saver. We have another set and she reads them constantly so these and the new princess set will be a welcome addition for her to play with specifically when Im feeding Liam

This girl loves socks and particularly soft socks so new soft socks for the win

Gracie has been asking for quite a while for makeup. We decided it was time for some play makeup and this caboodle was a blast from the past. I had some just like this when I was her age.

The girls love Leap Frog movies so we added to their collection

And some new dolls that they were missing form their collection as well

The girls both got office supply kits. They are very much into art and making letters and cards for everyone so now maybe they'll stop using mine

All of the girls wanted flow rings and they all got one in their stockings

We decided to do a scavenger hunt for our vacation gifts. The girls love scavenger hunts and take turns making them for each other all the time

Gracie's vacation gift is for Disneyland in Jan/Feb it included princess towels, a Mickey hat for Liam, and some fancy disney suckers.

Hallie's included a trip to Dugway to look for Geodes since she is currently very into rocks and gems in the spring

Emy's was for a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Fall their water park looks super fun and has locations all across the U.S. so the location is yet to be determined

I love this tradition and all the vacations we get to take the girls on

Emy was so excited to have her own set of Legos and to have Matt help to build them

We spent our morning opening gifts, eating yummy breakfast, and had grandma and grandpa to stop by. That afternoon Sure Steel had tickets to the Jazz game so Matt was able to take Gracie while one of there clients took one of his sons. Gracie was so excited and they had a great time. Gracie loved all the food and treat options.

Matt bought her a jersey and a foam finger for souvenirs 

Their seats are on the 2nd row so it doesn't get much better

Later in the game Matt caught a Jazz ball for Gracie. She said it was the favorite part of the game.

The other kids and I had a quiet night home and they were all in bed before our game partiers got home. It was a fun day and really flew by. Although it makes me sad that the girls are growing up so quickly but they are still so much fun in a whole new way. Although some times its difficult that Matt is gone a lot Im grateful for the opportunity's it does give for all of us to experience fun things.