December

It was a busy but fun December. I already talked about the kids' birthdays but here were some of the other happenings during the month. Definitely need to start with more cute Eve pictures. Sometimes I have to wake her up from her nap and can't help but take a picture:

Regina gave us this old Atkinder onesie they had and I thought it looked so cute:

She loves sitting inside things:

We got Nate's football pictures back and I thought it turned out really good:

Lizzie and I joined a choir that performed some songs for a nativity at a community Christmas festival. It was a cool experience. Eli also performed a song called Baby in a Manger with a group of kids. Here's our choir:

Eli's grade put on a Christmas ukulele concert. I was impressed with his music teacher managing 4 different classes and they did a great job. See if you can spot Eli:

I often find crazy pictures on my phone from these two:

Eve was so excited about the snow that she wanted to go out in it one morning:

I took this when it started to snow on Eli's birthday and she was saying, "Snow!" We were both so excited:

I mentioned in Eli's birthday post that the boys went with family down to Provo to tour the practice facilities and meet some players. They loved it!

He loves Elijah Bryant (for obvious reasons :):

We had a really good storm another day and Eli had to go run through it as we were getting into the car for school:

I just loved this sunrise one morning:

The girls spent months getting ready for their Guys and Dolls performance and they finally performed in December. Natalie sent me this picture from rehearsals one day:

She was a hot box girl and a waitress. Lizzie was a gambler and also a member of the Havana band. James got the role of the policeman:

Great Grandpa Hall's hats coming in handy again. I loved that they could do it together. I went to a showing by myself and Joe and the boys went to another night. I loved it and thought they did a great job. I especially loved watching them dance and get into their roles.

George living his best life on a makeshift bed:

Finally, the kids were off of school and we had some time to get ready for Christmas. I worked hard making treats to take around on our Christmas plates:

We ended up having our nice Christmas meal on the 23rd and Marsha came to join us. Here was the spread:

We watched It's a Wonderful Life that night. The next night we met cousins and aunts and uncles at the cemetery for another little service. It was so beautiful with the snow falling lightly and we sang songs, lit candles, and talked about family memories. Joe loved it too even if it was an ordeal getting out there in his boot:

I always want to remember driving back to Jerome afterward and singing Christmas songs together. It was wonderful. We spent some time at Chris and Regina's after that for finger food and to hang out with everyone. I loved all being together (even with Toni and the kids who were there too--Richard came later). We didn't want to leave but we needed to get Eve home for bed. The kids opened their Christmas jammies and posed for the obligatory pics:

We woke up to all this snow in the morning and it kept snowing all day. It was so peaceful and wonderful!

I loved just walking out in it later in the day. The kids loved opening their presents. One highlight was the little Pablo doll Eve got from Eli. She loved it so much and was so excited to see it! Unfortunately, our plans to go to CA the day after Christmas fell through when Donner got tons of snow. That was depressing for me but we tried to have some fun at home instead. We got to play games with Richard & Toni and kids before they drove back. We also watched a lot of movies and ate a lot of junk :).

I took the boys to get their 2nd covid shots one day (and the promised Chick Fil A as a reward). We all went to see Sing 2 one day. Eve didn't sit very well but it was a good attempt. :) Joe and I got out for our anniversary to our favorite restaurant here (Elevation 486) and then we wanted to see West Side Story but it wasn't showing until 9:30. We ended up seeing American Underdog instead, got some ice cream in between and then saw West Side Story too! I hadn't done that since my Varsity Theater days in Provo and it was fun to feel like kids again. We even stayed awake for both of them.

Sadly, Eve finished out the year with a bad rash:

Luckily it wasn't anything bad, it just looked bad. We had family over Christmas Eve night to sing karaoke and play games while the teens went to a dance. The younger ones played with some poppers at midnight. It was a fun way to ring in the new year. Goodbye 2021!