The day-after-the-day-after-Christmas sledding party

Due to the poor cabin still being out of commission... we had to move the annual sledding party elsewhere.  Sniff sniff.

Vanessa agreed to host at her house in Pocatello on Thursday.  I'm glad I had an extra day to get all my crapolla together!  It was my longest stretch with all 4 kids.  A 3-hour drive, sleepover, and a 3-hour drive home, all solo!  We had to pack almost everything from snow boots and gloves to swimsuits and beach towels.  What a crazy 24 hours!  Vanessa was such a gracious host.  Her house is perfect for a party.  There was also an AMAZING sledding compound about 7 minutes from her house too!  I call it a compound because it wasn't just one hill.  There was a wide open space, with many hills of different pitches and lengths, very few trees or other obstacles.  A great place for mass sledding!  I was so proud of my kids sticking it out until the bitter end.  Of course, there was nowhere to retreat to.  No sunny cabin greenhouse, no tv with endless movies playing, no junk food on the table.  We had to sled until everybody was tired. 

Later that evening, the party headed to Lava Hot Springs to soak.  I sent Anna with her cousins, but opted to stay behind with the babies, who all fell asleep early.  That's MY idea of a relaxing evening!

We headed home the next morning after a yummy breakfast of french toast and bacon.  The drive went by pretty fast.  The boys slept almost the whole time.  Miraculous!  This trip was a great step for me, venturing out with the kiddos, by myself.  I've gotten braver.  I feel that it's only going to get easier from now on, and a lot more fun!

Christmas!

Oh, what a great time of year!  I love it!  I was slightly more prepared this year than last, but I also don't have a newborn.  On Christmas Eve morning, Bevan took Anna skiing for a few hours and then we headed down to American Fork to spend the evening with the Hawkins family.  We ate pizza, played games that involved money and candy (what could be better), listened to Lloyd's family letter, and acted out the nativity.  Baby Tommy could pull off playing baby Jesus for maybe one more year?  He was pretty squirmy all swaddled up.  It was all beautiful!  The teens were good sport playing wise men and Anna and Ellie were gorgeous angels.  It was snowing lightly by the time we left, but nothing like last Christmas Eve's blizzard!  At least Provo Canyon was open.  Hallelujah. 
Christmas morning started around 7am.  Those angels actually slept in!  The kids had so much fun with all their new toys.  Bevan was able to spend the morning with us, thanks to a very generous boss who gave up half his day off to cover for him.  It was a Christmas miracle.  We loved every minute of it!

Ackerson Christmas Party Mayhem!

This party just gets crazier and crazier every year!  Our family just keeps growing!  We met up for ice skating after lunch and had a blast.  Anna did very well on her skates and Dallin lasted 20 whole minutes!  Most of that was with uncle Allen, who was so good to stay with him.  I chased baby Tommy around and tried to keep Dallin and Drew from messing with the elevator and vending machines.  It was fun to "sit" and talk with the fam.  We then moved to Nora's house and prepped for dinner.  2 hams and 4 pans of cheesy potatoes later... I forget how much our family can eat!  The cousin gift exchange was a blast and I'm sure several Christmas wishes had come true.  The kids love getting presents early!  What I love is that everybody was there, except for Monica and Sharon.  But with skype, anything is possible!

Temple Square Lights

I can't even remember the last time we went to see the lights at Temple Square.  I know we went when Anna was a newborn, when Sharon was in town.  Was that the last time???  Goodness, this was long overdue!

We had a brilliant idea and decided to get there super early, when they actually turn on the lights at 5pm.  Well, that was the plan.  We actually made it to the square about 5:30, which isn't bad.  It was still empty and we had a great time wandering around.  The gates around the temple itself were open, so the kids were able to get right next to it, which was pretty cool!  We wandered over to City Creek and all it's amazing shops, lights and fountains.  The kids were more fascinated with the escalators.  You'd think they've never seen one before!  We FINALLY made it to the food court and dinosaur play land, which only had about 50 other kids playing in it.  They were completely worn out by the end of the night, that's for sure!  This is definitely a Christmas tradition I want to keep!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

This has been one of my favorite Christmas traditions, finding a tree!  It's still just a "me-and-Bevan thing" for now.  Maybe we'll take the kids when they get (way) older!  We found our favorite little trail up Wolf Creek Pass and started hiking up.  It always seems longer in snow shoes!  You think you've gone about 5 miles but it was actually only about 1/2 mile.  Those snowshoes!  It was so beautiful though, it was a magical place to be.

Anyway, it took some time to find "the one", and then Bevan cut it down quickly so I couldn't change my mind.  Sorry, I like our tree to be kind of full, which is hard to find in the wilderness!  I hope we can do this for many more years!

Once we got the tree set up that evening, Anna said, "Now, Christmas can start!"  What a good girl.

Anna turns 8, birthday + baptism!

How did this day come so fast?!  She was just a baby, like yesterday!  And now she's 8 years old!  She definitely got the lion's share of birthday week.  She got her own pan of German pancakes, a real friend's party, oodles of presents, BT birthday cake, and a baptism (the next Saturday).  She's been so excited about her baptism for weeks.  To make it even more special, she got to share it with her friend, Levi.  They played together since they were 2 and we've been good friends with his family ever since.  It was super cold outside but the water was warm and the spirit was amazing!  John and Heather were gracious enough to host the luncheon for the family afterwards.  It was such a great day!