Snow fun!

Last weekend I wanted to take the girls sledding since we never go anywhere or do anything fun. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was out but it was still pretty cold but the girls had a blast anyway. Chandler didn't really like it. She kept saying lets go home! She wouldn't even try it with someone else on the sled. Hayden didn't really like the hike back up the hill but she loved the trip down! Greg and I even took one trip down just to say we did.

Sunday Drivin'

Since I hadn't been out of the house in a couple of days, I made Greg take us for a drive. We were sort of looking for some elk that spent last winter just behind our house. We heard they were back and we hoped to see them. We didn't find them but we found an even bigger herd not too far up the road. We also found a Moose and her calf. I love that we can find so much wildlife in our area and we don't really have to look that far.

I also thought I'd throw in a picture I took from my back porch the other night. I wanted to get the mountains in it but there's a "prefab home" that sort of ruins the shot. Isn't it purty!

I also threw this in just cause it's funny. He was dead asleep and snoring like a chainsaw. Rough life huh?

Well it's all over and I don't even know where to begin. It seems like we crammed so many things into such a short time but it was so quick that it seems like forever ago. Does that even make sense?
To start it all off the girls had their dance performance. They love dance and I am always so proud of them. I love it because we get to see not only our own kids but 3 nieces and now we have friends who have girls dancing also. Even though I wasn't a big dancer I love seeing all the girls I know doing it.
On to the Christmas celebrations. Quite a few years back, we started getting pizza and doing chocolate fondue on Christmas Eve. Back then we would melt some chocolate on the stove in a double burner, and then keep it warm on an old heating pad while we ate it. I think we did it in a real fondue pot with the sterno once and it was just a pain. A couple years ago we graduated to a chocolate fountain and the kids just love it! This year we even added another fountain because the kids are usually so packed around it that the adults can't even get close and we like it just as much as the they do! In the past we would all pile in somebodies car and go and see the Christmas lights in Spanish Fork and Salem. If you haven't seen them you really ought to. I think the ones in Spanish are similar to the ones at Thanksgiving Point. You drive through a park and it's a bunch of animated little scenes and in Salem they light up the trees and bridge and actually float light displays on the pond. It's pretty awesome to see all the lights reflected off the water.This year my dad had a surprise for us. He got a little wooden wagon somewhere and he put some hay in it and we went for a ride around the pond to see the lights and this the light parade. Not exactly a horse drawn sleigh but his 4-wheeler did just fine.
On the Averett side, instead of the adults giving each other gifts, a few years back we decided to leave the kids at home and have a nice dinner out. This year however, the weather didn't really cooperate with our plan and instead of meeting everyone in Park City like we had planned, we met at the Gateway in Kamas. Tony and Julena weren't able to make it but it's always nice to just sit and catch up with everyone without the kids to distract us. I wish we would do it more than once a year!
On to Christmas Eve. Last year we started giving the girls holiday pajamas on Christmas Eve. That way they look really cute opening presents on Christmas morning. This year they knew exactly what they were opening but it's one tradition that I hope to keep going. I've always thought it was pointless to add one more present from mom and dad to the haul that they get from Santa.
Christmas Morning was a blur. The girls came and woke us up at 7:30 which is pretty early for them. They are not early risers. (and obviously neither are we since they had to wake us) Santa got off pretty easy this year. None of them asked for anything really big this year. I'm just enjoying that while I can because I dread the coming years when all they want are big ticket items. They were all thrilled that they got everything they asked for. I made sticky buns and a breakfast casserole and by the time we got around to eating it Grandma Dixie and Grandpa Eric had ventured out in the storm to see what Santa had brought and stayed to eat with us. It was nice to sit and visit with them and none of us were in a big hurry to get anywhere because of the weather. It was a very laid back Christmas. I wish they were all that way. Later in the day we went to the Averetts and opened Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa and ate.
Friday we headed to Salem to have Christmas with the Beddoes'. Saturday we had a sledding party with my cousins in Payson. Sunday we headed back to Kamas for more celebrating with the rest of the Salt Lake Averetts that didn't make it up in the storm and then my crazy mother-in-law had her "All American sleep-over". She tries to do it twice a year and have all the grand kids stay over and they so look forward to it! I think there were 14 or so kids this year! It was cut a little short this time because super Grandma hurt herself lifting one of the babies. I think she might have been faking it and just wanted to be done! (Just kidding Dix!) Greg and I actually made it to a movie while the kids were gone. The kids aren't the only ones who love Gramma Dixie's sleepovers!
Well that pretty much covers our Christmas. I didn't get pictures of everything because I took my memory card out to upload some pictures and forgot to put it back in my camera so I hope somebody got some I can steal. I'm pretty sad it's over with. Now we just sit and watch the snow pile up and pray for an early spring! Hope every ones holiday was as great as ours was!

Photo of the week

Have I mentioned before that I hate hot chocolate? Love the taste but hate the side effects!

Another white t-shirt bites the dust!

He's comin' to town!

The girls got to see Santa at the primary party. Yes! Now we don't have to make the trek to the long lines at the Mall. When Santa came in and the kids started lining up to sit on his lap all three girls got in line but it didn't take long for Chandler to bail out. "I don't like Santa" is what she told me and we couldn't talk her into going even with her sisters there. She was very content to sit and eat cookies while everyone else sat on his lap. We watched the Polar Express the other day and she kep saying "Santa is grumpy". (It is a pretty wierd looking santa) She's said it a few times since so I knew there was no way she was going to actually sit on his lap. So I guess there won't be a picture of a terrified screaming Averett girl sitting on Santas lap this year. Here are the big girls though.