Christmas... and the day after!

It went down without a hitch.  The kids all said this was the best christmas ever!  Bevan didn't even have to work, which made it extra magical.  None of the kids could sleep, they kept waking us up at 3am, 4 am, 6am, and finally 7am.  We gave up and finally went downstairs to open presents.  Church wasn't until noon so they had plenty of time to play with new toys.  I miscalculated how many batteries we would need, so that was a slight downer.  Batteries!  After church, we had dinner with both sets of grandparents and it was so nice!  Ham, cheezy potatoes, and well-behaved children that ate most of their food.  

The day-after-Christmas sledding party was also a success!  We went to the cabin early to warm it up and make treats.  The sledding coverage was decent and the kids had a lot of fun!  This is one of the lonest-standing traditions in this family, dates way back to the mid-90's, I think.  Let's keep it going!

Ackerson Family Christmas Party

This is the BEST tradition:  cousins, food, ice skating, and presents!  Thanks to Nora for hosting, again.  We went down to Bountiful early in the day to finish some christmas shopping.  It's so nice having REAL stores to shop in for once, rather than the regular amazon truck.  Eh, they both have their perks!  We got to the ice ribbon early to secure a walker for Tommy... and allow extra time for skate fickling.  It always seems to take our family longer to get moving.  By the time cousins showed up, the skating was in full swing.  That outdoor ribbon has so much more charm than an indoor rink.  Something about the snow and the trees and the christmas decorations, make it so magical and christmassy.  Of course, we were the last ones to leave, but made it over to Nora's in plenty of time for dinner and presents.  The adults played the gift card exchange game, and I'm always amazed what people come up with.  My kids loved their early christmas presents too!  

Christmas Tree

This is the earliest we've ever done this!  The kids have been asking for years to cut down the Chrsitmas tree with us, and this year, we finally caved!  It's typically a "mom and dad only" date adventure, but we decided to switch things up.  I did stew in my head about the complaints and the whining that would surely come, but in the end, they did pretty good.  We didn't have Tommy with us, the trail was packed down pretty hard, and I did bring a bag of leftover halloween candy for motivation.  It's getting harder and harder to find a good tree these days.  Or maybe I'm just getting pickier and pickier?  We did find one not far off the trail and some good possibilities for next year.  We took turns dragging it out and got it home in a good time!  

I always feel a little pitty for the tree, like I'm deceiving it.  We bring it into the warmth, prune it a little, give it a lot of water to drink, and make it feel at home.  It stayed in our living room for 6 weeks!  It started feeling like a piece of furniture.  It was so happy, it started budding out!  And then, just after new year's, it was tossed out and cut up.  I wish there was a way to plant it in the yard, but in the end, it's just a christmas tree and it served it's purpose.  It was the centerpiece of our home and did it's job well!

Birthday Week!

 This is nothing short of craziness!  7 days, 4 birthdays, lots of cake, presents, parties, and birthday wishes.  Bevan got a fancy new ski rack.  Drew and Tommy got toys, monster trucks, and a wagon for their beefy tricycle.  Anna got shoes, more shoes, and dinner + movie with her friends.  That about sums it up.  I can't believe they are all another year older, it's so hard to wrap my head around!

BYU football + Cousins!

It's been a great season for football-watching as a family!

For starters, we started buying a second ticket for the season home games.  For years, it was just too hard to have somebody go with Bevan.  The kids were too young and I was too busy.  Now, we've been switching off who gets to go with daddy and it's been a hit.  The kids are excited, especially since he will buy them a drink and a treat!  I'm glad we've finally started doing this!

We were also hosted by Paul and Stefanie to watch the Boise State game at their house.  The boys went to a model train expo during the day, but came back in time for dinner and the game.  Stefanie really puts on a football party!  Her food was amazing and the kids had fun playing with Joshua and Chloe.

The last home game of the year was another huge party with lots and lots of cousins!  We've done this for a couple years now and always turns out great.  Sharon and Matthew came into town for this which made it extra special.  There were plenty of cougar tails, bags of popcorn, and drink refills.  It got a little chilly once the sun dissapeared, but my boys never stopped moving, which kept them warm.

Halloween!

Waldo, 

Netherite-armored minecraft guy, 

Black ninja,

"Spidey" (not spiderman)

That was the lineup this year!  We pulled the costumes together in time and it all worked out.  The youth were in charge of the Trunk-or-treat/ Chili Cookoff this year, again.  It was a few days before Halloween so they were prepped for candy.  Anna and I were specifically in charge of the mummy-wrap game, but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.  We still got some good specimens.  Anyway, the candy they got from that party was NOTHING compared to Monday night!  When you have all 4 kids trick-or-treating for 2 straight hours, and they can run to every house, the candy accumulates very quickly!  They came home exhausted, but not exhausted to sort, count, and organize their candy into gallon-sized ziploc bags.  This is going to last us a very long time!

Grand Canyon

This was such a fun trip! A very special shout-out to Nora, Beverly and Lloyd for watching the kids while we were gone. This trip would not have been possible without amazing family!  We had to make every minute count. We arrived at the North Rim after dark on Sunday, under a full moon. It was creepy and amazing at the same time. The canyon itself was an abyss! It was nice to see that NOTHING at the lodge has changed in 20 years, since I worked there. Even the same green napkins. There wasn’t anybody there that I remembered, so we checked into our room, organized our stuff, and went to bed early… but who can sleep the night before rim-to-rim??? Not me!

On Monday morning, we started down at 6am with MASSES of other people, all with the same idea. North-to-South is definitely more popular than the other direction. Hmmm, I wonder why? We made great time going down: good ol’ gravity. We stopped at Ribbon Falls and had the whole place to ourselves. It’s such a beautiful oasis! We also chilled at Phantom Ranch (not so beautiful) and headed up the south rim. It was hot, it was long, but we made it eventually. Our room at the Bright Angel Lodge was so cute and it was the best night sleep I’ve had in days!

The next day felt pretty good… in the beginning. We made great time to the bottom, again, and were able to stay out of the sun until about halfway up the north side, which made a huge difference. It’s still so amazing how the layers of the canyon stack up so nicely and you hike up through all of the colors. Oh, the colors! Yes, the last 2-3 miles were VERY HARD, but it was a great way to finish! I think we’ll be back again, Canyon!