Christmas Day

The day didn't start out as early as I had thought it would. We were at Joe's house and the kids didn't get up until well after 7 a.m. It was fun to see the kids open their presents and see how excited they were for each and every gift. The best part of the morning came when Joe and Joy both gave each other a popcorn maker.

We went to my mom and dad's for brunch later that morning and spent time with the entire family (Dale's family excluded) eating, eating and eating and opening more presents.

After we let my mom's house we stopped by and visited Joyce and Kerry on the way home and made it home by 5 p.m. It was a busy weekend but we wouldn't have it any other way. The holidays are meant to be spent with family and that's exactly what we did.

As for Quent and I we bought a new camera as our present to ourselves.  We "unwrapped" it before all the festivities began! 

 Stop taking pictures Aunt Cindy, I've got presents to open

 Morgan's "iPod" and TJ's Leapster

 Morgan was excited to see her dad open a present

 Popcorn anyone?

 The aftermath at Joe and Joy's house -- and Yes that is TJ's Cow Pillow Pet

 Morgan and Alyssa got a stencil set from Grandma and Grandpa

 TJ & Patrick got really cool trucks from Grandma and Grandpa

 Alyssa opening presents

Morgan and Alyssa got digital camera's from Aunt Cindy & Uncle Quent. (They were the hit of the day)

Video of Morgan and TJ opening their Santa presents

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with Quent's family -- just as we have done since 2006.  We went to Christmas Eve Mass in Layton and then out to eat.  We went to Red Robin this year which was a change from past years but I love Red Robin so it was a welcome change.  We went from dinner back to Joyce's house to open presents and to talk to Nancy and her family via Skype.  After we opened presents we went to my brother Joe's house so we would be there to watch the kids open their presents Christmas morning.

Busy Weekend Ahead

Christmas will be away from home this year as Quent is not tied to the hatchery this year.  We will head south to Quent's mom's house for Christmas Eve and will spend Christmas morning with my family.  We'll be back home Christmas night.  We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and that you may remember the reason for the season!
 

Fun in Vegas

In and out in under 48 hours, in my opinion that's the perfect time frame for Vegas. We took my parents to the Las Vegas Bowl (Utah vs. Boise State) for their Christmas present from all the kids.  Jim and Melissa, Rick and Ashley, Quent and myself joined my parents on the trip.  We stayed at the Rio, hit up the famous Las Vegas Strip, a couple of buffets and of course the Coke store.  What more could you want?  Well a big ol' win over Boise State would have been the icing on the cake.  But you can't have everything right?  The game was not so good but the rain let up so we weren't soaked.  A bit muddy walking through the parking lot but dry.  The forecast was for rain all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday and was supposed to clear up on Thursday.  Lucky for us it stopped raining cats and dogs around 3 p.m. and sprinkled a little bit at kick-off at 5 p.m. the rest of the game was dry.

Thursday we stopped at the Paris Casino for breakfast and then it was go time.  Due to some road repair work from flash flooding in southern Utah we were delayed a bit coming home.  All-in-all a successful trip!

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

A polar bear made from carnations (the workers were replacing the bad carnations.)

Quent might be a True Blue Aggie, but he sure does look good in Utah Red!

New Flag Pole

Last August a member of the local scout troop visited the hatchery to see if there was something he could do to help the hatchery that would qualify as an eagle scout project.  One of the members of the hatchery staff suggested a new flag pole.  Quent had mentioned that he wanted to put in a flag pole over near our house (at my suggestion when we moved in) so that's what happend. 

Tonight the project came to a close with a flag retirement ceremony.  The flag that was retired was one that had flown on the hatchery pole for years and has faded and is no longer used.  In the 10 degree weather a fire was started and a ceremony honoring the flag was performed. 

We now have a new flag hanging high above the hatchery.  The picture of the new flag was taken yesterday.

Winter's Back

After 50 degree weather yesterday we woke up to five inches of snow this morning.  Everything is so peaceful and bright.  Here are the pictures Quent and I took this afternoon. It was a pretty exciting day, turkeys, a couple red tailed hawks, deer, and a fox.

Move over Charlie Brown

Quent and I decided not to put up a Christmas tree this year for many reasons, topping off the list is that we will not be home for Christmas.  We will be spending Christmas Eve with his mom and sister and Christmas Day with my family.  Then, when you add to the fact that we will be in Las Vegas for the Vegas Bowl the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before Christmas and the fact that we had company until the 5th of December we decided that putting up the tree for two weeks was a lot of work for such a short time.

So this year we pulled out a tree that I made years ago, dusted it off and have it displayed prominently as you walk in the door.  It may not be as sad as Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree, but it's definitely as unique as Charlie Brown's tree.

Sunday Drive

It was a beautiful day, over 50 degrees (yes in December) and Quent and I decided to head out to the Box Elder Bird Refuge to see what was going on.  Not too many birds, of course there were seagulls, and a couple of blue herons a bald eagle or two and a handful of grebes.  Not too productive for the camera but a nice quiet day for us.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Seriously!)

Quent and I went out on the town tonight.  We got all dressed up, well as dressed up as anyone in a framing community does, and went to the theater.  The Heritage Theater in Perry, Utah hosts eight plays a year all with local talent.  Tonight we saw The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which is based on a book by the same title. I remember the book from when I was a kid, we read it in school and it was and still is one of my favorite Christmas books. 

The play was well done, the costumes and the set were as expected and it was fun to see the play.  Hopefully they will host another play in the near future that we'd be interested in seeing.

Surprise!!! *You're 60 Mom*

For my mom's 60th birthday we had a surprise birthday party at Fat Cats complete with bowling and pizza.  My mom thought she was going bowling with my two nieces and then to lunch.  Little did she know that she would end up bowling with the entire family and having pizza at the bowling alley.  We were able to keep it a surprise from her, which is quite the feat as it has been in the works for quite some time.

Grandma even got in the action she bowled a frame and TJ and Patrick had a great time bowling.  Morgan and Alyssa beat most of the adults.  The winner for the day was my mom she bowled a 110 her first game and then a 184 her second game.  Mom was on a bowling league for 19 years so she was quite the bowler back in the day!

Surprise!

The cheering section

The Food!

Grandma bowls!

We took too many pictures to post here so here is a short slide show of the rest of the party ...

The Birthday Party Continues

We had to plan a birthday party for my mom, she didn't know about the bowling party and it wouldn't be like our family to ignore her 60th birthday. We planned a dinner (or fancy dinner as Morgan would call it) at Joe and Joy's house and to top it all off we decided to combine it with our annual gingerbread making party.

We had a nice dinner with roast, mashed potatoes, Sarah's salad, Lion House rolls, steamed vegetables and a fantastic brownie caramel cheesecake. A big thanks to Joe and Joy for hosting yet another family function.  We had a great time at dinner and Joy's china was the perfect plate for a great dinner.

Only half the family made gingerbread houses this year.  All the kids had fun (including Rick, Ashley, Quent and I) it's always fun to hear all the candy hit the floor as everyone is decorating their gingerbread houses.  Grandma was a bit overwhelmed but she hasn't ever been to one of our family holiday parties so it was a good experience for her to participate in our family fun!

Between Quent and I we had two cameras going most of the day/night, I have posted a few pictures and a slide-show at the bottom of our favorites!

Now for the rest of the photos...