Grandma Morwood got the kids a Lego gingerbread house set this year and the kids were way excited to put it together. It looked really cool when it got all done. The kids really love their Legos.
Here is the finished product of what the gingerbread house looked like when they finished. It unfolds so you can look inside and you can fold it up to look like a normal house on the outside. The really cool party is it has lights that string throughout the house so it can light up at night. Colby has added the house to his Lego village.
Russell took the kids to the Center Street Christmas lighting ceremony. There were a lot of activities to do on Center Street all day. First they reserved a time at the new city ice rink. This ice rink was just put in last year so we have never been there before.
It is a small rink that just goes in a circle, but they all had a good time. Brooklyn loved being pushed in her stroller doing 360s on the ice and popping wheelies.
There was still some time to burn before the lighting ceremony so we went into Anderson Seed and Garden and did a scavenger hunt. We had to read a clue and find the tree that the clue was talking about. The end goal was to win a $1,500 Christmas tree.
The kids had a good time for a bit and then it was time to move on. Sadly we didn't win the tree. We went to the different vendors on the street and saw different gifts.
We walked around the different shops as well and saw the candy wreaths that the stores made. They were all impressive and had a lot of detail in them.
Once we got done with that, Tiff was off work. We picked her up and headed to the parade. The parade up Center Street included Santa and a bunch of lit up cars. After the parade, Santa helped us count down to have the Christmas lights turn on. The last thing that night was a firework show put on by the city. We sipped on hot chocolate made from a shop nearby and watched the firework show from the street.
Russell also took the kids to the Riverwoods Conference Center Holiday Market and they were able to see Santa. Brooklyn loved it and ran up and gave him a big hug.
During our ward Christmas Party Charlotte and Brooklyn were able to sit on Santa's lap too. I don't know what they told him they wanted but they liked receiving a candy cane.
The Hyrum City Christmas Celebration was a fun place to see Santa as well. I think this is the real Santa! Unfortunately Mrs. Claus was feeling sick so she couldn't make it this time.
The Hyrum Youth Council helped a lot with this event. They decorated, put together a ton of fake trees, and then handed out cookies and crafts during the event. It is fun to work with this group of kids; they are all great.
Making gingerbread houses is a fun tradition we look forward to each year. It is always fun to watch the kids use their imagination to come up with a cool house.
Brooklyn is catching on really fast too. It was fun to see her finished house. It was full of icing and lots of candy. Charlotte was the same way. Hers was full of candy all over the house. This year we made the land plots a little big and it was hard to put them where we normally put them. We were able to improvise and made them all fit on a different shelf.
Logan had the great opportunity to be in the school spelling bee. He won in his classroom spelling bee without even studying and he was excited to compete against other kids in the school.
We studied and studied for about a month to get ready for this night. Logan did amazing and made it to the top 10 before misspelling "course." He spelled "cource" instead. He did not even realize he had said a "c" instead of an "s" so when the judge said he was wrong he was really confused. When he came back down to sit by us and we told him he said "c" he said "Oh man!" He liked being in the spelling be but was okay with not moving on to the district level. Good Job Logan!!
Colby's Christmas band concert was really good. The band is getting better and better as the year goes on.
Colby is the first chair in the trombone section so we were able to see him this time while he played.
Colby has been doing a side hustle at school to make some extra money. He is selling soda and candy out of his locker. He has established a group of clients that buy his products each day. All he has to do is keep his locker stocked. Since he cannot have chocolate, he has sold all of his chocolate Halloween candy for a profit. Right now he is selling soda cans for $1 each. He figured out if he can buy the 12 packs of soda on sale he can make about $8 profit from each 12 pack.
He has made so much money that it started to burn a hole in his pocket and he had to spend some of it. He decided to buy a huge Lego fire station set and he loves it!
He has been wanting this set for a long time so when he saw it a Bricks and Mini Figs, he had to buy it. I will admit this set is pretty cool. It comes with a fire station, truck bay, and a garage, as well as a ladder truck, helicopter, squad car and about 5 Lego guys. Way to be industrious!
The Canyon Elementary Choir Concert was held on December 12. The concert was really good as usual.
Charlotte and Logan love being in choir. During the concert Logan had a few instrument parts as well as a solo. He played the whip crack in the song "Sleigh Ride." He also sang a solo in "That's Christmas to Me." He did an amazing job on his solo. I was really impressed with his voice!
Charlotte was on the front row singing her heart out. This is her first year being in choir and has really liked it.
Logan also got to be in the dance routine for "Marshmallow World." He was in it with all of his crazy friends so I don't know if it was really a dance routine or just a big pillow fight on stage. Either way it was pretty funny especially the belly slide a the end.
Colby has been playing Jr. Mustangs basketball for the last couple months. He loves basketball and is hoping to be able to try out for the high school team next year. I did not realize how good he is at basketball until I watched him play this season!
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His coaches were awesome about giving each kid playing time and teaching them different plays and skills to use in the game. Colby's team went on to be undefeated for the season. Colby loved playing but would get really frustrated because he was the shortest kid on his team. I told him he would grow eventually but for now just be the quick point guard.
Hyrum City participated in a really cool program called Wreaths Across America. Through this program and donations to it, a wreath is placed on every Veteran's headstone. The day before the event, the kids and I went with the Youth Council to place marker flags on every Veteran's grave in the Hyrum Cemetery. This was actually really interesting to read each headstone and find out which war each of these veterans had served in. The kids even thought it was cool.
The next day we went back to the cemetery and helped the community members and other organizations place wreaths on each marked headstone.
As we placed the wreaths, we said the person's name so that they could be remembered. It was a whole process but very respectful. I think it had a good impact on the kids and made them more appreciative to our Veterans. They even asked if we could do it again next year. I hope we can.
Colby, Logan, and Charlotte had their Christmas piano recital on December 16. All three of them did very well. This was Charlotte's first piano recital and she said she was really nervous. She did great though and played her two songs really well. She played "Up on the Housetop" for her solo piece and then did a duet with Aaron McKnight playing "Bring the Torch Jeanette Isabella." This duet was really cute because they were both so little!
Logan also performed well. He played "Home for the Holidays" for his solo piece and "Jingle Bells" as a duet with Ethan McKnight.
Finally Colby played a theme and variations of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for his solo and an impressive duet with Grayson Bunce called "Noel Nouvelet."
All three of the kids have been practicing a lot and wanted to do well. A week before the recital I had our piano tuned! This was the fist time our piano has been tuned in almost 25 years. It took the tuner three hours to clean, repair, and tune the piano because it was so bad. He said it was so flat that a Middle C was actually more like a B Flat! He had to tune it twice to get it right. We were laughing as he said he does a little contest in his head about which piano is the worst throughout the year. He said ours was not the worst but it was definitely and honorable mention! That being said, our piano is so nice to play now!! Now that it is in tune and the keys don't stick, it is actually enjoyable to play. The kids have been practicing more and I have even sat down and played for a few hours. This was definitely worth the price. We are now set up on a yearly maintenance cleaning and tuning so it should never get that bad again. Merry Christmas to me!
During the first couple weeks of December Russell was in Texas spending time with Traci when she graduated from Nurse Practitioner school.
Jen was planning on already going and then I had the thought to go with Jen and surprise Traci. What made it better was we got Tyler to come with us too. This whole thing was planned months before and Traci had no idea Tyler and I were coming. We did a great job hiding it for a long time. The flight out to Dallas was uneventful because we did not sit next to each other, but the drive to Longview was epic. Tyler and I sat in the front and Jen had the whole back to herself. Tyler and I joked the whole way and cranked up the tunes and sang along. I fought him on what to play on Google and messed with the maps. Jen loved videoing the whole thing.
During the whole planning process, we tried to think of a fun way to surprise Traci when we arrived. Finally we came up with one. Jen dropped us off around the corner from Traci's house and we let her go in first because she was expected. After about 10 minutes, we took a walk to her house. Tyler knocked first, and when Traci opened the door he asked if he could use her bathroom. Traci was so surprised to see him. I let them hug for a second and then I poked my head around the wall and said, "Do you have room for one more?" She almost collapsed and she started to cry. It has been almost 4 years since we have seen each other. I was a memorable time. All of the siblings were together finally after a long time.
The graduation was awesome. We yelled really loud when they called her name. Tyler said, "That's my sister!" We took fun pictures after the graduation, and then we kidnapped Traci for the rest of the afternoon.
We first went to Dairy Queen for a congratulations ice cream shake. Then we took it even further. I said we need something other than dessert food. I opened my phone and told everyone we needed a What-A-Burger. Traci said that Juicy Burger is even better. I frowned and said, "What about my spicy ketchup?" Jen had the brilliant idea to go to What-A-Burger and get the ketchup and then go to Juicy Burger. We went to What-A-Burger and I told them I lived out of town and loved the spicy ketchup and then I asked if I could I get some to go. They gave me enough to last the weekend. Then off we went to Juicy Burger. Traci was right, it was amazing. I was so full.
After eating a late lunch, Traci told us we were eating in few hours at a Mexican restaurant with bottomless chips and tortillas. Oh boy I thought. After food, we drove to random places and took funny pictures and just wasted time spending time together. The night came and more food for dinner. Long story short about the dinner that night: WOW food, and so full!
Saturday was just a fun hang out day. We went boot shopping for Jen's kids and to the gun store and did some wishful thinking. While were were waiting for the crew to be done shopping, I told Tyler that I had not been to What-A-Burger yet and I need my fix. He laughed and said, "Let's go." What-A-Burger was in the same parking lot as the other stores so we walked over. We left my dad, Jen, Traci, and Sean. After we ordered our food, Tyler made the comment, "You know Dad is going to kill us when he finds out we did not let him come with us." I told Tyler he would be fine. No worries. Well Tyler was right. Two bites into my burger, Dad is at the door with Jen. He opened the door and said, "You son of a !#%^&! You didn't tell me you were coming over here. I am hungry and that was rude. I have been waiting by the car for 10 minutes wondering where you guys went! Jen came over and had to tell me where you were."
Jen said his reaction was priceless. All I could do was laugh. The guy at the register said, "You left your dad and didn't tell him you were coming over here." I said yes. The cashier asked if I was buying my dad lunch now. I said yes I am buying the lost dad lunch. As I paid, the cashier put on the order Lost Dad. Ha Ha good times at the What-A-Burger.
That night we went to Traci's ward Christmas party. I missed mine because of work, so it was nice to go to some kind of ward party. At the party there was more amazing food and singing. We won the singing contest of 12 days of Christmas. That meant we could go for dessert first! The rest of the night was fun hanging around and chatting with Traci and the rest of the family.
The trip was done before it started. Of course it went too fast. We got up Sunday and headed out just as they headed to church. We had to make one more stop at Buccee's gas station to get some goodies and take a picture with Buccee the Beaver. We also took some fun pictures with traveling Grandma. She popped up randomly during the whole trip. We got to sit by each other during the flight back and had fun. All and all it was a great time and we made some great memories. Congratulations Traci on this awesome accomplishment!
For our last two activities as Activity Day leaders we just had fun. For the fist activity we taught the boys how to make pancakes and then we ate them. Some boys made regular pancakes and some added every topping they could to make the everything pancake. All of the pancakes were good.
Finally for the last activity we did Candy Sleigh races. This is similar to a Pinewood derby but the car is made completely out of candy. Every sled was different and some slid down the track better than others. The boys loved all of it and were excited to race each other. This has been a fun calling.
Emily is back in band now that Marching Band season is over. She enjoys being in the percussion group and is learning a lot. Her Christmas concert was the annual Mountain Crest Christmas Fantasy performance. She and the other percussionists were dressed as Christmas toy soldiers.
The Christmas fantasy program was fun to watch. It included the band, orchestra, percussion ensemble, marching band, and even some interesting actors.
Tyler and Ashley invited us to Mavis's dance recital, the Nutcracker.
Mavis and her dance group were so cute as the little toy dollies. It was funny to watch them show their personalities in their little dance.
The American West Heritage Center has been giving Sleigh Rides on the Farm over Christmas break. Well there is no snow so it is more like Wagon Rides on the Farm but still fun. Emily has been working at the Hot Cocoa Bar all week and has been making money.
She says they stay really busy making hot chocolate and filling all of the orders. She likes the people she works with though and says it is really fun.
December has flown by and now it is time for Christmas!
