Happy New Year's Eve!

Today we got out of the house and enjoyed checking out the architecture graveyard some more.  We have been before but since the trails that we would normally hike on New Year's Eve or New Year's are very muddy with the rain this week, we thought this would be a better option, and there was still a lot we hadn't explored.  

There was what Olivier called the pirate ship!

And a cool spot with an amazing view of the canyon.  And yes, the skies were really that blue.  I can't help but marvel at how it looks fake but it was that stunning!

Yup!

Thankful for another year with these amazing kids!

And this amazing man!  Yup, we are lucky!

 

Christmas!

It is hard to believe but Christmas has arrived!  With all the craziness that still surrounds us with the pandemic and all that entails we have arrived at the holidays with our health.  This Christmas Zert, our elf, joined us again.  Some days he must have been a bit naughty because on Tuesday he got taped to the bathroom mirror!

We got a lot of rain on Wednesday and Thursday which made us glad that we weren't traveling for the holiday, we not beyond a 20 minute drive!  On Friday night we celebrated Christmas Eve with my family.  

We had the kids redo the photo from 2014.  It was funny to see how much they have grown!

And are getting tall!  

We left cookies, carrots and milk out for Santa and reindeer before heading to bed.  And Zert was keeping watch!

And this morning we discovered Santa came and left us with even more goodies!  

The we opened stocking and gifts from Santa before having breakfast.  

Anna got hoop earrings!

And Olivier got white Vans slip on shoes!

And Mason got light up wire art kit!  

After breakfast we opened gifts to each other.  Some of the gifts included an interactive rubiks cube. 

And some new sunglasses!

And a unicorn pearl necklace!

The kids enjoyed playing a new game for the switch, and they played together!  Win!

After lunch we headed to Matt's family celebration.  I love the relationship Anna has with the youngest of the group.  They often play together!

And when the other two girl cousins arrived, they all were hanging out.  Makes my heart happy!

After opening gifts, Heather started working on a puzzle that they got and it was cute to see the teamwork!

And we got a rare group photo!

Merry Christmas to all!  And to all a good night!

 

Happy to get some rain!

Before I get into this weeks activities, I realized I forgot to mention the boys got their second vaccination for COVID and on December 21st they will be considered fully immunized.  We are thankful for this, especially because there is a new COVID variant that is spreading very fast, and although being immunized doesn't mean you won't get sick, much like the flu vaccine, it should help keep you from getting really sick.  So we are all now fully vaccinated, and Matt and I have gotten our boosters.  

Now to the fun stuff!  Anna's band class has been spreading good cheer around campus by playing to different groups.  This is a video when they played for the office staff recently.  So great hearing them play!  And this week they went and played for a PE class.  Fun!  (Anna is in the front row in this video, wearing a dark burgundy jacket to the left of the flag pole.)

And we have gotten some rain!  Last week we got a decent amount and this week we are suppose to have another decent amount of rain.  Although we are still very much behind in our rainfall totals, we are thankful for everything we do get.  We have also had some very cold mornings, at least for us, where the temperature when we woke up was 30 degrees, or just below.  Makes it feel like Christmas is right around the corner, oh wait - it is!  

Nutcracker!

This week we have all been running tired after a busy weekend and we were all looking forward to a more relaxed, regular weekend.  On Saturday Anna and I enjoyed a special treat too, we went to see the Nutcracker.  And not just any performance, the one her best friend was in!  

And Anna really enjoyed the orchestra and maybe one day Anna will be in the orchestra pit and Lupe will be dancing across the stage!  

Anna was so excited to give Lupe flowers and honor the hard work that Lupe has put into this performance!  They have the sweetest friendship!  True friends!  

The week ahead is supposed to start out very wet and we are hopeful that it is the start of a wet weather trend!  
 

Family Photos - November 2021

Now that our family photos are arriving in a mail box near you, I will post some of our favorites.  Enjoy!