Christmas Part 2

For my family's Christmas party my parents stuck with tradition and got all of us a hotel.  This was our first time staying at a Hilton compared to the Marriott and we loved it!  We stayed downtown Ogden at the Junction and had the best time.  We started with dinner at Olive Garden, then a scavenger hunt at the mall, and a visit to see Santa.

Then we came back to the hotel for dessert and games in our own private room.  We all went swimming and hot tubing and had the place to ourselves.

Of the girl's 28 cousins, these are the only two they live by!!  All the rest live in the North West.  But these four are super darling together and close as can be :)

The next day we went out to breakfast and then headed over to the Junction for bowling and mass amounts of arcade games.

This was such a great way to spend time together and get outside of Cache Valley for a little bit.  I just LOVE my family!

Ry was busy finishing up the last of his finals and it was a great feeling to know that we survived this first of many chapters in this new life of ours. 

In honor of the children of Stoney Brook Elementary we decided to do some random acts of kindness.   We stopped by a nursing home one evening and popped in on a random tenant.  This has been my highlight of the whole Christmas season.  The girls sang her some songs, and she cried, and we just enjoyed a great visit with this WONDERFUL woman.  We have since been back to visit her and there isn't a night that goes by that Lydia doesn't bless Carma in her prayers.  (I don't know why Lydia looks so frightened in the photos below, but she loves this woman despite that look on her face)

Is there anything better than little girl's dresses at Christmas time?

These two cousins of mine ADORE my kids.  They have been SOOOO good to them, above and beyond.  Calling them their first cousins once removed just doesn't cut it, so we just go with Aunt Kylee and Aunt Jessica.  The title "Aunt" has far less to do with the blood relation and birth order than it has to do with the commitment and connection in one another's life.  Lydia likes to call these girls her sisters.  They came over one night for a slumber party.  They played tag, hide and seek, and tucked the girls in bed.....they were in heaven!!

Another day we went to the Jump Zone with the Jensen fam.  It was really fun and we pushed ourselves really hard, or some of us did.  Granted, I was sore the next day from ATTEMPTING to do tricks, but it sure was a fun time as an adult acting like a kid.

We were so glad to have Kylee and Brody in town and see them as much as we could.  After jumping we went back and had a scrumptious pinterest breakfast before Bundy and I had to dash off to finish our long list of last minute details for Christmas.