The Foster Family!!

It was Kenna's first time being back at he cabin since her mission. She had fun sledding with her siblings. 
Halle and I went for a ride and got stuck right before coming up this lane. Kev told me to floor it and this is where I ended up. We call this snowmobile "old squirrely" for a reason. Halle dramatically slid off the back but she was just fine. 

I told the kids we needed to have a picture at the hitching post. I used to make them do this when they were little. 
Kenna enjoyed this time hanging out with her grandparents. Grandpa wanted to hear more about her mission. 

The kids made this train with all the tubes. They ended up going farther down the hill before they crashed. 
Spence and Megan came up that afternoon. Ayla was feeling better and the kids had fun playing with her. Cody, Kristin, and the kids came up on Saturday. It was fun hanging out with them too. We left the cabin that afternoon to come back home for our annual New Years party with friends. 

We had our Foster family party at Aunt Deanne's house this year. The kids loved looking at her moving village figurines. 
I cracked up when I saw Preston's outfit! He dressed up as the Uncle from the Christmas Vacation movie. He and Melissa surprised us all with the news that they are having their 8th baby in March!

We had our white elephant gift exchange. Tucker ended up with this lovely man onesie. He immediately put it on and showed off for all of us. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile!

We had the Grant family party on Sunday December 18th. It was fun catching up with everyone. 

Parker and Simon had a pull up competition going on. Everyone was excited to see Kenna again and hear about her mission!

We were supposed to have a party with Mike's family on Christmas eve but he ended up getting Covid. We got together on December 28th at their house. We opened up our English crackers and took this picture. We were missing Dad, Loni, and Kayley!

We had pizza for dinner. Aunt Amy surprised Kenna with English Scones, jam, and clotted cream. It was Kenna's first time seeing their finished basement. 

Everyone had fun playing video games. We watched the second Christmas Story that came out recently. We loved all the throwbacks to the original. 

Hayden took this picture of Amy and I talking. I'm glad we were able to spend time with them over Christmas!

Addy had her Christmas Sing on Wednesday December 14th. My favorite song they sang was "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree." She got to sing next to her friend Payton. 

Parker carried out his Eagle Scout project on Tuesday December 20th. His project was making comfort bundles for Wyatt Pages foundation. Wyatt is a friend of ours who had Brain Cancer. He came up with the idea of giving away these bundles to other kids with Cancer. Wyatt passed away in January of 2020. He was only 12 years old. This project meant even more to Parker since he knew Wyatt. 

Many of Parker's friends came over to help cut and tie the fleece blankets. Then they put them in the packages with crayons, a coloring book, and stuffed animals. The goal was to make 50 bundles and he ended up making 53. The bundles will be taken up to Primary Children Hospital by Wyatt's parents. 
We drove to the Riverwoods Mall that night for one of our Christmas family traditions. The kids went and saw Santa. Kenna was grateful that she didn't have to sit on Santa's lap. 

On December 26th we went to McDonalds and then played Monopoly.  Kenna entertained us by swinging her braids to music. I guess you just had to be there to appreciate it. We also went and saw the new Avatar movie that week. We were just enjoying all the time we had Kenna at home with us!

Kev put up a barricade so the kids couldn't wake up and see everything from above. I caught Hayden trying to peak. 
I love seeing the excitement as the kids see their Santa gifts. Halle got the Nike shoes she asked for. 

Parker was surprised to see he got the weights he had been wanting. His favorite class right now is weight lifting and now he can lift at home too. 

Kenna's big gift from us were some Air Pods. I think she was more excited about her rice steamer. I like that she is happy with practical gifts now. She made us laugh by actually wearing her Christmas stocking on her foot. We all loved opening the gifts she brought us back from England. She gave me a book about Queen Elizabeth's life that I'm looking forward to reading. 

Addy's Santa gift was a pink Instax camera. It is fun to see her taking her own pictures now. She also was happy with her AG accessories she got. 

I gave Kev this t-shirt that says, "It's not a Dad Bod. It's a Father Figure". I knew it would make him laugh and that he would proudly wear it! He completely surprised me with an area rug for under our kitchen table! He also gave me a metal head scratcher. We all love taking turns using it. We think it's funny that the most loved gift from Christmas is a head scratcher. 

Hayden gave us two liters of Dr. Pepper each. It was thoughtful of him.  I think he wants us to share with him. 
After opening presents we quickly got ready and went to church. It was a nice program with lots of beautiful music numbers. Then we came home and had our Christmas breakfast. It was fun to see the girls playing Addy's new game, "Taco, cat, goat cheese, Pizza." 

We went up to Kev's parents house for a nice ham dinner. The kids were happy to see their cousin Ayla. 

Then we took turns opening up Christmas gifts. Grandpa was grateful for his new computer chair and Grandma tried her neck massager right away. 

It was sad because Ayla was sick for her first Christmas. Spencer gave her some medicine and then she fell asleep in Kenna's arms. 

Grandma Sue and Megan taught Addy how to make stars out of fabric. Addy caught on quick and made several of them.