New Years Eve!

 On New Years Eve, we invited my family up for a little Just Dance action.  My parents always hang with their friends on NYE, and one family was sick and Dan's family decided to keep little brand new, Emerie home. Smart move.  But, Darin & Kat came up for a bit and we got our groove on!  They guys have some great moves!  Brandon and Zach had a great time and Cayden (see him in the green) was right in the action!

 We took a small break for some fireworks.  That brought the neighbors out of their houses to watch!

 Then, it was the girls turn, but the boys just couldn't stop dancing, so we let them in on the action!  Super fun and we are so glad they made the long drive up to hang with us!

 We ended up with Amanda and some teenagers over at our house. We ordered them some pizza and after D & Kat left, they took over the family room.  Sydney was at Abby's house, so after she made it home, we did our last fireworks (after midnight) and burned down the house!  Our annual tradition burning the gingerbread house!

It was SOOO cold!  We had to warm ourselves by the fire :)  Good bye to a great 2012! We welcome 2013 with open arms!!  Party on!

Certified Babysitter

 Sydney went with Abigail Orison to a babysitting class on Dec. 27th. It was all day held at the Red Cross in Salt Lake City.

 When she got home, she had to show me the first aid she had learned.  Cracks me up!

Luckily, Brandon is a good sport!

And below is what we are doing today....both kiddos are down with the stomach flu.  Brandon started at 3am this morning and Sydney just started at noon.  We are tired and sad to be sick.   I have been hearing about people all around our neighborhood who have been caught by this bug and it's not fun. I was hoping we'd miss it. We usually stay pretty healthy during the winter.  Mike has already been sick twice.....by that, I mean sick enough to stay home from work. That takes some doing.  I just hope I stay well so I can take care of my family. Wish us luck!

The Day after Christmas

 These cute girls wanted to go snowboarding.  They had a sleepover at Maddy's house and then Maddy's dad took them up to Snowbasin in the morning.  There was a serious snowstorm blowing through northern Utah.  (the girls are cute even with their eyes closed!)

I had volunteered to go pick them up.  It was a scary drive!  I was in Mike's truck, so there were a couple of sliding moments on the way to the ski resort.  But, the I made it and the snow was beautiful!

That night, Amanda was busy, Sydney was busy and Brandon had an indoor soccer game in Woods Cross.  Mike & I were to go to dinner with my bros and wives for our Christmas gifts to each other and since the snowstorm was so bad we took Brandon with us.  We had originally worked out to drop him at my parent's house while we went to dinner, but because we had to drive so slow, we just took him with us so we could almost be on-time.  If we had made the stop at the grandparents, we would have missed the dinner altogether!

 We ate at Porcupine Grill.  It was fun! Great food and great company! I love this new tradition of just getting together on the 26th.  Love you guys!  We made it home driving as slow as we had made it to the dinner, but a great night!

And, here is the view out my kitchen window. I get to look at this every time I do dishes, etc.  It's beautiful covered by snow in the winter, with all the green leaves in the summer and the color of the fall.  I love it!

Christmas Day visits

 Christmas Day was a beautiful sunny day! This picture was on the way to my parent's house.  The school on the right is my elementary school. Twin Peaks!

We had a great visit with my parents and a couple of my brothers & fams were there.  Then, we went to see a movie. The girls and I saw 'Les Mis' and the boys saw 'The Hobbit' Both were great movies and a fun way to spend some time together at Christmas.

We grabbed McDonalds for dinner.  For reals....That made us appreciate how Renae always had dinner for us when we'd meet with the Arveseths on Christmas Day.

Then, we got ready to FaceTime with Mike's parents who are in New Zealand on a mission.  It was so fun! We just set up our iPad and chatted away.  We got a tour of their apartment. The kids showed them the things they received for Christmas.  It was a great Christmas 'phone call' from our missionaries!

Christmas morning

 The kiddos before any presents were opened! Merry Christmas!!

 I was so in love with this wrapping paper.....

 The girls open nerf guns??

 Oh, Amanda gets it....Brandon has a bigger Nerf gun!

 And Dad gets the biggest Nerf gun!

 Sydney gets her iPod shuffle and Amanda gets a new iPod!

 Brandon gets the Wii game he wanted! So excited! 

Sydney got a mirror that is totally 'Bling'   Every girls dream :)
We had a great Christmas!  We love to see the kids so happy!

More Christmas Eve with Gibbys

Christmas jammies and present time. We open gifts between cousins on Christmas Eve so that on Christmas Day we can visit the grandparents anytime during the day.

 Cute Cayden!  He was so excited about Thomas the train under Grandpa's tree.  

 The highlight was getting to hold our brand new Gibby baby...Emerie Ruth!  Kate is holding her.  Yep, she is tiny, but oh so cute!!!

 Elyse, Danny, Stacie and Issac!

 Cute Brandon!  Loving hanging with the cousins!

 Grandma enjoying her grandchildren...nice face Amanda ;)

 Darin, Roger & Garrett

 My honey and Amanda.....ski bums

 My cute Dad!

 Brandon excited about his 100 Pranks and Jokes book. And Sydney opening her fun gift!

 Amanda gets cute gloves that will work on her phone while she's wearing them!

We also had the grandparents open their gifts from all of us since we were all there at the same time.  Grandpa got symphony tickets and a restaurant gift card.  Grandma got a basketball backboard!  She said that's what she wanted for Christmas. There has been a pole in the backyard for years and years. Now there is a backboard on the pole and the grandkids are excited!

Christmas Eve

Here are a couple of the 'present opening' pictures from our cousin party

Here is a sweet note from our friends we did the 12 days of Christmas to....we stayed a secret, so don't spill it!

 On Christmas Eve, Mike took the girls skiing with Scott & Maddie to the Canyons.  Brandon and I went to see a movie and then he talked me into lunch at Zupas!
 Below: I LOVE this picture of the girls in the Orange Bubble ski lift!

 Mike & Sydney hanging in the truck waiting for Amanda. Sydney was plain tuckered out!
Below: B and I picked up Sushi and met Mike & the girls at my parent's house for Christmas Eve Chinese and sushi dinner!  We love this tradition!!!! Thanks Kat for being the one paying attention :)

My birthday

Really, this story is of the Sunday after my birthday.  Cute Mike forgot the cake. I told you that December was so busy. He never forgets, but he didn't remember until my birthday night that I suggested we just order pizza instead of going out.  He felt so bad. 

He got the cake the next day, but we didn't have time to eat it until Sunday.

 So, we got ready for everyone to sing and then have cake.  The mood was a little grumpy at that moment for some reason I can't remember.  Brandon kept blowing out the candles. And then, Brandon sneezed on the cake!

 Mrs Backer's cakes are a little pricey. So, Brandon got in trouble.  Then, he pouted.  I told everyone to just sing so we could cut the cake on the side B didn't sneeze on.

 Brandon got mad and went to his room.  I think Sydney and I were the only ones who had a piece at that moment.  The picture above is of me pretending to blow out the candles.  Oh my...some days!

 Here are a couple of decor pictures.  The mantel.....

And this is what we bought ourselves from Jim & Renae for Christmas....another nutcracker :)