New Years Family Times

On the Saturday before New Years, we had a fantastic day. Earlier in the week, Cortney received a text from his brother who lives in California that said, "When are you going to come and visit me?" Cortney thought he was inquiring as to when he was coming to visit him in California. Then he found out that his brother was surprisingly in town as well! It was a good family surprise! On that Saturday, we started out the day with the T-Family. We took some pics and then headed to the local IHOP for breakfast. It was a lot of fun to hang out all together as a family! We did however, miss Cameron's wife, Kandis. 

We then headed to my parents' house for a fun afternoon and evening. We geared up in our winter clothes and headed to the hills for some sledding and tubing! I LOVE watching kids going down the hill and how much they love it! It's the best. 

 The kids also loved the sleighs. It was so funny to watch them go down the hill! So awesome....

 The mega train...

 My coat was way too warm. So I borrowed my dad's jacket. Ha ha!

 Mid-sledding hot chocolate break! 

 The large tube all-men run: It was hilarious! 

 We spent the majority of the afternoon sledding. When it started to get really cold, we headed home for the rest of the party. We had fun with the rest of the family (we missed Kim and Dan's Families)! We ate a Cafe Rio type dinner that was awesome!

 We commenced the annual cousin Christmas present exchange. "Cousin Hug!"

 And, my parents read us their mission call! They will be serving locally for the next year and a half! Woo hoo!

 Afterward, we hung out and played some games. We love the E family Christmas parties! For New Year's Eve, Cortney had to work again. So I headed to my parents house to hang with the kiddos...

 These crazies were burying each other in the freezing weather!!!

 We had a tasty dinner and then gorged ourselves on snacks and treats! We played a lot of fun games and then counted down to the new year. It was a lot of fun!

 We bought a big canister of cheese balls, which were a definite hit! 

On New Year's Day, we relaxed at home for a bit and then went to hang out with the sickies (everyone was sick!) at the T household. We also went to Home Depot to check out home stuffs. 

Overall this holiday season was wonderful! It was great to see all our family and spend so much time with everyone! 

Christmas!

We simply had a wonderful Christmastime! 

On Christmas Eve evening, we headed over to the T Family's house for dinner. The front door of their house was locked and our arms were full with our stuff, so we rang the doorbell. When the door opened, Cortney's sister, Amber was as the door! We couldn't believe it! Earlier in the fall, they had told the family that they wouldn't be able to come this year for Christmas. They were there as a surprise! It was very cool. The only person that knew they were coming was Cortney's dad. 

We had a very delicious dinner and hung out as a family...

The Christmas Tree salad!

Cortney played the violin for a bit...

Ha ha ha!

The Mew decided to hang out with us too!

 PJ and Nativity Story time...

Then it was sleepy time! 

Christmas day was nice and relaxing! We woke up to see what Santa had brought, ate a delicious breakfast of Baboo biscuits, and then headed to my brother's house.  

We hung out with my parents and my brother's family for awhile and enjoyed the Christmas morning. We played just dance on their new Wii - it was a party! Then we headed to my parents' house for a couple hours. We finished off the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's. 

We were really spoiled this Christmas and are really counting our blessings. We are so grateful for our families and especially for our Savior, Jesus Christ! What a wonderful Christmas season and Christmas!