New Year's Eve 2018

We spent a couple of hours at Mom and Dad's house eating and enjoying company and then came home and played a game or two while waiting for the new year.

As soon as we started throwing confetti, Ben hedged and didn't come up for air.

My teens/tween...

My Ben...

Happy 2019!

Park City Post Christmas

I really slacked off on the pictures in Park City!

Here are a few of my favorite trees lit up in the area...

Some of the girls...

When we arrived, we were told to look for white rabbits during our stay...that they had been showing up lately.  I was excited and often looked out the window to see if I could find one.

As I was packing up the car at dusk, getting ready to leave a few days later, I noticed two out in front of the house.

Each trip out to the car they were still there, seemingly undisturbed by my presence...

They were so pretty, it was almost a magical kind of moment.

Some of the grandkids after playing hat bingo.

Our favorite things this year...

It was actually quite hilarious because for part of my gift, I had small jars of Crio Bru, which is just straight cocoa grounds that you brew like you would coffee.  I was introduced to it in the fall and have ended up loving it and preferring it to hot chocolate.  Anyway, I was kind of not sure what to do because I wanted to include it in my favorite things but didn't want to have to buy a french press (which is what I use to make it) for everyone...especially since probably not everyone was going to enjoy it.  I seriously contemplated buying mini presses and having them shipped last minute to Park City but I was worried they wouldn't be very good quality and wouldn't work well so I ended up not buying any.

As my sister in law Becky is beginning her "presentation" she pulls out a french press!...and then proceeds to show Crio Bru!  It was crazy!  We've never had a double up in favorite things before.

Over in the kitchen, before we had started, I had asked Andy to get some ready so people could try it. As he's heating the water, Becky's husband asks Andy if he's doing that for Becky...anyway, their conversation continued until they figured out we would both be sharing Crio Bru.

Becky and I were blown away when we realized what was happening...neither of us having any idea that the other one even knew about it.

Anyway, I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than it was, but needless to say, I was relieved that Becky had bought a french press for everyone and she was happy that I had brought mine from home with some Crio Bru to share because she had wanted to do that but hadn't.

The rest of my favorite things I gave were my ornaments (always part of my gift) and sock docks...seriously a favorite thing of mine when doing laundry.

Christmas 2018

Christmas Eve we invited everyone to come to our house.

We ate dinner and then I talked Andy into letting me open one of my gifts a little early.

It's a "game" called Hygge.

Hygge is actually a Danish word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. (Wikipedia)

There's all kinds of stuff out there about it and with our Danish heritage I have kind of gotten into it.

I asked Andy for a Hygge book and this game.

It's really not a game, but more just thoughtful questions that you go around and answer.  It gets good conversation flowing and you learn things about loved ones that you may not otherwise have known.  

So we "played" that game for quite a while and then spent some time on other games and Christmas movies.  It was a very pleasant evening.

The kids aren't getting up as early as they used to on Christmas morning...which is nice, but also a little sad :(

Ben, as usual, was not interested in opening gifts but wanted to play with his iPad and the birds decorating the mantle...

His little friend Jace, from primary, was so excited to bring Ben a Christmas present a few days prior.

We "helped" him open it up and he was happy to see a new McQueen to add to his collection.

It was the perfect gift :)

The boys got a nintendo switch for their main gift...

And Abby just asked for a bunch of hoodies...

I reopened this gift :)

Some Christmas loves from Ben...

I had bought some ugly Christmas sweaters for our Christmas card but they ended up being some favorites throughout the season.

The boys playing their new switch...

My dad requested that we all send family pictures that morning.

Andy suggested we all hop on our brand new incline trainer and do an awkward family photo...

My mom has worked super hard for the last many years putting together my grandpa Kidd's history.

This year for Christmas, she had it printed and gave one to us and each of the kids.

So special!  I am loving reading it and getting to know Grandpa better.  We miss him and love him!

I had to throw this in...

something fun that came home from school :)

We spent some time at my parents' house...eating, playing games etc...

This is a picture of Matt singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...together"!

Poor guy has had this expander in that has made a gaping gap between his two front teeth and he is anxious to get rid of it :)

James came over that evening and played the switch with the kids...

Andy and I played one of our new games...not sure what to expect from it but ended up really enjoying it!

It was a fun, pleasant, happy Christmas.

So glad no one was sick this year and that we were able to enjoy each other's company!