This is how Sylvia felt after a fun filled day with little sleep and much travel the night before. She had fallen fast asleep on Cordell's lap on the floor.
Boys drying their feet after playing in the snow. As soon as we arrived at Grandma's house, the snow came down! That happened when we went to UT at Thanksgiving as well. I think Heavenly Father was watching out for us and wanted us to get there safe before the snow came so we didn't have to be stuck at any airports with the kids. I'm grateful for those simple things!
I found these two in the bathroom fixing each others hair. It was so cute. They played very well together after not seeing each other since they were babies. Sylvia had the brush all tangled up in Embers hair, but she didn't seem to mind a bit. I stepped in and they both got french braids and were off to play some more.
The flight was worth it to see grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins! Here they are looking through Grandma Smith's beanie baby collection.
Sylvia all ready to fly. This was an all night flight, so on our drive to the Portland airport, we passed a hotel and the kids asked "are we going to sleep there for the night?" Of coarse we said no, we would have to sleep on the plane. They said "are there beds on the plane?" We felt so bad. They were worn out from a fun Christmas day and now we were flying them all night. Luckily we had a nice stop at Cordell's cousin's house for a fabulous Christmas dinner and playing with cousins before the long night. When we finally arrived at the PA airport, Preston threw up in the parking lot because he was so exhausted. They didn't sleep much on the plane. We will remember this and make sure we don't schedule red eyes again if we can help it.
The kids were super excited for the trampoline and were so surprised! We told them the plane tickets to Grandma Smith's would be their Christmas this year, but with a little help from Santa, they had a fun surprise awaiting. They have been jumping on it every day after school when it isn't too rainy. We really want them to have fun in our yard and thought this might help.
Sylvia got some more additions for her doll house from Grandma and pa Tanner. Thanks!
The blue thing behind Briana's head is a rattle Preston made for her out of PVC pipe and and rice. He even wrapped it for her.
Cool boat kite from Grandpa Tanner. This will look great on the boys ceiling!
This is our new dog CoCo. She is a 9 month old lab retriever mix. We went to the animal shelter just to take a look at what they had, and she was the only one not jumping around and barking. We thought this would be our chance to get a somewhat mellow dog. She was first quite scared and didn't want to go outside, but she is progressing well and we think she will be a good fit for our family.
Preston and Sylvia made a slide out of the boxes. I love it when they have creative fun!
Ethan in the flour bin! What a stinker. I guess that is what I get for leaving it out. He had his tub polar bear "swimming" in it. I caught him before it got too messy.
...And a cardboard hut. Garbage makes great play things around here.
Sweet Briana happy to play...and sleep. What would we do without her swing?!
This is how Sylvia felt after a fun filled day with little sleep and much travel the night before. She had fallen fast asleep on Cordell's lap on the floor.
Boys drying their feet after playing in the snow. As soon as we arrived at Grandma's house, the snow came down! That happened when we went to UT at Thanksgiving as well. I think Heavenly Father was watching out for us and wanted us to get there safe before the snow came so we didn't have to be stuck at any airports with the kids. I'm grateful for those simple things!
I found these two in the bathroom fixing each others hair. It was so cute. They played very well together after not seeing each other since they were babies. Sylvia had the brush all tangled up in Embers hair, but she didn't seem to mind a bit. I stepped in and they both got french braids and were off to play some more.
The flight was worth it to see grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins! Here they are looking through Grandma Smith's beanie baby collection.
Sylvia all ready to fly. This was an all night flight, so on our drive to the Portland airport, we passed a hotel and the kids asked "are we going to sleep there for the night?" Of coarse we said no, we would have to sleep on the plane. They said "are there beds on the plane?" We felt so bad. They were worn out from a fun Christmas day and now we were flying them all night. Luckily we had a nice stop at Cordell's cousin's house for a fabulous Christmas dinner and playing with cousins before the long night. When we finally arrived at the PA airport, Preston threw up in the parking lot because he was so exhausted. They didn't sleep much on the plane. We will remember this and make sure we don't schedule red eyes again if we can help it.
The kids were super excited for the trampoline and were so surprised! We told them the plane tickets to Grandma Smith's would be their Christmas this year, but with a little help from Santa, they had a fun surprise awaiting. They have been jumping on it every day after school when it isn't too rainy. We really want them to have fun in our yard and thought this might help.
Sylvia got some more additions for her doll house from Grandma and pa Tanner. Thanks!
The blue thing behind Briana's head is a rattle Preston made for her out of PVC pipe and and rice. He even wrapped it for her.
Cool boat kite from Grandpa Tanner. This will look great on the boys ceiling!
These are the jammies I made the kids this year for Christmas. The bigger kids liked them the best. 
We had a great time sledding with some friends on Christmas Eve day. This is their tradition that we thought would be fun for us to join. Only an hour and a half drive from our house to get to the snow. Can you see how much fun Ethan was having...so not really. He was pretty grouchy the whole time. We got soft living in CA.
