Christmas Joy!!

We had such a great Christmas, but I can't believe how quick it came and went!! After the annual Schenck Christmas Eve party we came home and read the Christmas story out of the scriptures, had family prayer and off to bed they all went. No one woke up until about 8:00am. I heard Ridger and Ryker walking around upstairs, so then they woke Rylee and River up and they all waited on the stairs for Trevor to wake up. After opening all the presents and trying out everything, we went to see my Grandma at her assisted living home. We visited with my family and ate dinner and then back home.

Ridger felt Santa didn't give him exactly what he asked for, which is so funny because the child asked for everything(not sure where Santa went wrong). He is also already working on his list for next year, which is also funny because Santa isn't coming to our house next year!(LOL) But some of his favorite gifts were his remote control helicopter, his Leapster 2, and his Imaginext bat cave. Ridger was so cute this Christmas and loved wrapping and giving gifts to everyone in our family. He spent so much time wrapping up something that already belonged to us, or something of his that he no longer wanted!! It meant so much to him, and was soooo cute!!

Ryker really scored with Santa this year. He loved everything he got!! Some of his most favorite gifts were his Star Wars vehicle which came with lots of characters and he also got a cool nerf gun that him and River have been shooting little orange sponge bullets all over the house. He also loved the Wii fit game, which was actually Rylees gift and also his DS games and the family ping pong table.

River loved the family Guitar Hero on World Tour, his 007 game for Wii and his remote control car that climbs walls.

Rylee really enjoyed her Dance Dance Revolution game for Wii and her I-tunes gift card and new Cd's for her I-pod!!

Well another year has come and gone (even though my house still looks like it's Christmas morning) and I'm not sure if I'm happy it all went by so fast or not! Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Cookies for Santa!

Our last activity to do as a family for our "counting down" bags this year was to make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. So before we went to the Schenck Christmas party, we all made and decorated cookies for Santa! They turned out so cute, I'm sure Santa really appreciated them!! The kids put three on a plate for him, but one accidentally fell on the ground. Ryker picked it up and wiped it off and put it back on the plate with the others for Santa to enjoy during his late night visit. When we woke up Santa had eaten two, but the one that fell on the floor Santa happened to leave behind!! Ryker was so impressed that somehow Santa must have known not to eat the one that fell on the ground!! Santa knows everything!!

GOT SNOW?!?!

I can honestly say that about two weeks ago I thought there was know way in heck we were going to have a white Christmas! I am so happy to say that I was wrong!! The snow started about a week ago and has been accumulating each day.
Our family was going to go skiing on Saturday, but when we woke up that day it was snowing, so we decided to go on Monday. But when we woke up on Monday it was snowing again, so we decided to go Tuesday, well guess what? When we woke up it was snowing again!!!! Well, we decided to go anyway!!! We had the best time and I'm so glad we waited because the powder was amazing!! It was very cold, especially riding the lift up the hill. The snow was blowing the opposite direction and was freezing!! But luckily that meant going down the hill the wind was going the same direction and so it wasn't nearly as cold!! Rylee and Ridger were the first to get cold and "be done". Ryker is quite the little skier and kept up with Trevor and River, something I even gave up on!! Trevor and Ryker could have kept going all night!! What a great time we had skiing and hopefully the snow will keep coming so we can continue going all winter!!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!!

Last week Trevor and I went to New York with our friends, John and Debbie. We had the best time ever!! I absolutely loved New York!! Neither Trevor or I had ever been before, both John and Debbie had been there already. We stayed right in Manhatten, a couple blocks from Rockefellar Center.

The first day we got there we walked to Rockefellar Center and then to Times Square. In Times Square we did some shopping and just walked around and took it all in. Then we ate dinner at Bubba Gumps, and it was so delicious!!! After dinner we saw the broadway musical Young Frankenstein, it was soooo funny! After the show we went back to Bubba Gumps for desert which was just as delicious as the dinner!!

The next day we woke up and went to the Today show!! We saw Al Roker doing the weather!! Later that day we rode the subway to Battery Park where we got on a ferry to Liberty Island and saw the Statue of Liberty. This was one of my very favorite things we did!! The island was so beautiful with a great veiw of New Jersey and the Manhatten skyline, and the Statue of Liberty was so cool!! After Liberty Island we took the ferry to Ellis Island and toured it and watched a movie about all the immigrants that came through that island! It was sooo interesting!! After the ferry dropped us back off at Battery Park, we walked up to the site where the Twin Towers used to be. It is under construction right now so there wasn't much to see other than a construction site, but it was still very cool. From there we walked through the financial district, which I really really liked, and into China Town. In China Town we did some bargaining for things and had the best time. After our very hilariously scary experience in China Town we rode the subway back to our hotel. That night we saw the broadway musical "WICKED"!! And it was sooooooo amazing! I absolutely loved it!! After the show we ate dinner at a barbecue restaurant, and it was soo good!

Saturday morning Trevor and John woke up early and took a run through Central Park while Debbie and I slept in and got cleaned up. We walked down 5th avenue and shopped (more like window shopped) at all the neat stores!! We also went through the St. Patricks Cathedral which was so beautiful. After shopping we took a carriage ride through Central Park and then walked through Central Park. We were hoping to go ice skating, but it was to packed and the line was sooo long. After Central Park we walked to Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. That night we went and saw The Lion King musical. It was great. Then we got some dinner at a little delicatesan.

Our last day we split up for a few hours. John and Debbie really wanted to go to a museum and Trevor and I wanted to do some more bargain shopping. So Trevor and I took the subway back down to China Town and shopped. Then we all met up at Central Park and walked to the LDS Temple. It was so cool to see the temple just right in the heart of Manhatten!! We also walked by the Lincoln Center and Juliard. They were all so neat to see. Then we got some lunch and went back to our hotel to head out to the airport!

What a great weekend we had and we saw and did way more than I had ever expected!! My favorite things were definetly Wicked, the Statue of Liberty and just walking around watching all the people!! I loved all of it!! Trevors favorite parts were Ellis Island, walking around and seeing NYC in the rain(the first night we were there it rained really hard), and watching Debbie and me be deviant in China Town!! GREAT TIMES!!!! (: (: (:

Weekend full of Thanks!!!

We had such a great Thanksgiving weekend!! I can't believe it went soooo fast though. Wednesday was spent decorating the Christmas tree and putting up our Christmas decorations. Thursday we spent at Trevors parents house and the kids all ended up sleeping over with all of the cousins, they had a great time! Friday we went to Wolf Mountain as a family and got our pictures taken for our ski passes. (Only a little bit of snow on those hills though, hopefully we'll get some soon so we can start skiing, the kids are so excited.) Friday night I went and saw Twilight for the first time, and must add how much I loved Edward!! It took me almost half way through the movie to get used to him though.
Saturday was our annual Gingerbread house making day at the Schencks! It was so much fun, and crazy-crazy as usual. That night Rylee and I went to the Nutcracker ballet and watched my niece,Journey, who was in it. It was so much fun sitting with Rylee instead of watching Rylee. This is the first year in several years that she didn't try out for a part. While the girls attended the ballet, Trevor took the boys to the Christmas parade in Ogden and to watch the fireworks and the Christmas village lights turn on! They had a great time also!!
Sunday was the usual church and then we had a Thanksgiving dinner together with just our family and talked about all the many things we have to be thankful for!! I am so Thankful for such a great weekend with Trevor and the kids!!!

Counting Down!!

I found this idea from a blog I love to follow and decided to add it to our Christmas traditions. I bought 25 Christmas bags from hobby lobby and put a fun activity or small treat in each bag. Then I numbered each bag from 25-1,tied them shut with a ribbon and hung the bags on the railing. Each day until Christmas we open one bag as a family(counting down from #25) and do the activity that is inside. Some of the ideas that are inside are: making cookies for Santa, reading the Christmas story out of the bible, going to see the Christmas lights,making a Christmas package for Trevor's missionary brother, and some just have a treat inside. The kids are so excited every night to open a bag and see what is in each bag!!