Snow Fun, Family and New Years

Yay for winter snow!! We had a white Christmas, which was magical! And it also provided lovely white snow to sled on with our new sleds from Santa. So the next morning, Mom, Jake and I took the girls to Murray Park on this goooorrrgeous day!

Look how cute Mom is! Mom, you look like a fancy woman, and I love your bang swoop. :)

There's Jake going down with Cami in his lap, and Lexi climbing up the hill with her purple saucer on the left.

Cute little snow bunny!

That night, we left the girls with a sitter and took Mom and Dad out on a date! I had bought tickets for us all to see Savior of the World at the Conference Center Theater. Before the show, we ate at Rodizio Grill in Trolley Square. It was deeelicious!

The only dumb thing was that we were in a hurry, which is not what you want to be at a Brazilian all you can eat meat and buffet! We enjoyed all the meat skewers, cheese bread balls, and especially the juicy sweet roasted pineapple. Mmmm! Bonus: The whole restaurant is 95% gluten free!

I made such a pretty salad, and then I didn't even want to eat it. haha. Too many other good things!

Church picture the next day...the girls looked so cute and wintery!

Party on the bunkbeds! Did I tell you Cami and Lexi got bunkbeds? They sure did! We got them for Lexi's birthday, and they looove them!

I loved just having Britt's family here, and watching the kids have so much fun together. I caught them in the act of putting on a play, with Cami the Knight and Ari the Princess getting married by official Matt. :)

Grandma bought the girls cute coordinating outfits, and did their hair for them.

One day, we went to the library and let the kids slide around the ice rink in their shoes.

And then it was FREE zoo day, so we went to the zoo! I think Brittney had taken Owen to visit some old friends in Lehi that day, so Mom, Bree and I took the rest of the kids to the zoo. The animals were active and it was so cool to see the lions so up close!

Ummm I cannot get over how beautiful this picture is. Check out those chocolate and crystal blue eyes!

On New Years Eve Day, we went on an adventure down to Provo, and visited the BYU Art Museum's Norman Rockwell exhibit. It was really cool! He was a fascinating man and artist, for sure. They had all the Post covers from decades, and the girls liked this one where a little girl is showing off her missing teeth, and the little blue girl is sad that she hasn't lost any. Just like Cami and Ari. :)

Javi and Annaliese met us there, and it was a fun afternoon!

LOVE this family of mine! Cute n' colorful picture with the LOVE sign outside the musuem.

Aww what a good Grandpa.

We walked over to the Wilkenson Center, ate lunch at the Cougareat, then shopped at the BYU Bookstore. Love my seeesters!

What trip to Provo would be complete without visiting the Riverwoods and Blickenstaff's toy store? The kids love that place.

Mom and I and Cam and Lex drove to see the temple after that, and decided to check out Rock Canyon Park. 

What'dya know- people were sledding all over the place! We just happened to have our sleds and snow clothes in the trunk of the van, so we let the girls have some fun.

Gorgeous snowy mountains! Squaw Peak.

And after THAT (we really packed a lot in!), we stopped and saw Bree and Sadie at her condo. She put a cute orange hoodie on Sadie, and the girls loved seeing her reaction. Cami is pretty nervous around that cute feisty little pup!

They match and they're adorable!

For New Years Eve dinner, we had tacos! Britt and her kids (David was back in CA this week), and Grandma, Grandpa, Bree and Grandma Willes spent New Years Eve at our house.

The kids got pretty wild and crazy, dancing around and setting off whoopee cushions!

Love this kid!

The adults were a bit more relaxed. :) We settled down at the kitchen table and played Hand & Foot, our favorite! Grandma brought plenty of truffles to share with everyone.

Mother and daughter listening to something interesting.

And then Grandma Willes got a charlie horse and had to stand up. :) It happens quite often these days! She's so cute. 

When it wasn't Dad's turn, I had him work on a train game that's like a one person engineer thinking game. I don't think he loved it, but it was fun to watch the wheels working in his head.

At about 10:30, we settled in the living room and watched family home videos from 20 years ago! It was so fun to see all of Mom's videos she'd had converted to DVD's. Lexi was determined to stay up till midnight this year. She made it!

And finally, midnight arrived! Bree and I got equipped with the pots and pans and spoons, and ran outside to make a ruckus!

Photobombed!!

Snapchat from Bree. :)

The next day, Lex was pretty tired. :) She fell asleep on the way to New Years Day Bingo at the Yospe's.

The annual Bingo party was another success! Super fun, full of people, brunch food, and games and fun. We played several rounds of Bingo, Grandma provided tables full of prizes, and then we had a book exchange.

Clark is the designated Bingo Caller. He does a great job!

That night, we went out to dinner to a steakhouse place with my family.

And a last Hurrah for us was a Jazz Game on Saturday night with my parents. It was so fun and I love this picture!

And just because...one more church dress photo.

And that officially ends the Holidays! They were wonderful. I loved everything about those crazy weeks with Britt and her fam, and my parents staying with us, and all the fun festivities. We sure missed everyone when they were gone! Jake and I celebrated our 8 year Anniversary on January 4th, and he gave me these beautiful rainbow roses.

Happy 2016!!