Christmas Eve Jammies & Christmas Day 2023

The kids all opened their jammies together.  It is a fun tradition that everyone looks forward to each year.  The kids all loved their jammies that Margie got them, and they all look so good.

Christmas day was great.  Allie was the first awake on Christmas morning.  She woke up at 5:00 am and just watched some shows waiting for us all the wake up.  

Tony made a yummy breakfast casserole that he started in the oven while we waited for everyone to wake up.  We were all awake except Megan and she got woken up at 7:30 per her request the night before.  

We decided to eat breakfast before we opened presents.  After eating our yummy breakfast, we opened stockings and then opened presents.  The kids were all very grateful and that warmed my mama heart.  

The kids played and got dressed before we had a Clark family Zoom session.  It was nice chatting with everyone on Christmas.  Teagan announced that her and Sam are moving in together.  That is exciting.

After, we went to Margie's house where we ate lunch and then opened more presents.  Everyone loved their gifts and felt spoiled.  We hung out there for a few hours when Allie fell asleep on Uncle Tim since she was so tired.  We didn't let her sleep too long before we went back home to relax the rest of the night.  It was a great Christmas, and we are all very loved and blessed.

Kresser Family Christmas Party

We had a great time at the Kresser Family Christmas party.  

A lot of people were able to come.  Some that we haven't seen in years.  We got lucky enough to have Nana come this year too.  Tony even got to take her home after the party.  

We had lots of good food and lots of good conversation.  The girls got some kid gifts and then we did the adult (12 and over) white elephant exchange.   This game is always fun.  Some of the gifts are good and others, not so much.  But it is always a good time.  

After the gift exchange we ate pie and then cleaned up.  All the extended family went home and the rest of us stayed to clean up and put all the furniture back where it goes.  

The boys took the table and chairs back to the church while the ladies cleaned up the kitchen.  Once Tony got back from taking Nana home, we got online with Nate's kids to have all the kids open their Christmas jammies together.

Clark Family Party

We had our annual Clark Family Christmas party.  We like to do it at lunch time so that those who have a long drive don't have to drive home in the dark (and possible bad weather).

We did yummy appetizers of meat balls and a charcuterie board.  Kevin and Betsy did deviled eggs, cowboy caviar and fruit and Sherri and Rich brought pizza.  

We did a cousin gift exchange for the younger kids and then a white elephant gift exchange game for the rest of us.  These are always super fun activities.

 

The younger kids played nicely together and us adults chatted and then watched the USU football bowl game.  It was nice just hanging out together and I am so glad that we did it.  Family really is the best and so important to spend time together.

Frost Holiday Sing-along

Robert Frost Elementary had their annual Holiday Sing-along.  Each class sang two songs.  Both Megan and Allie did a great job.  Tony had a meeting at work, so he didn't make it, but luckily Margie was able to come.

Megan's class was first.  This is her last year doing the Holiday Sing-along.  She had no stage fright and sang out proudly knowing all the words.  She did amazing.  

Allie also knew all the words but seemed a little more nervous.  She sang well and it was so fun watching her.  I am going to miss these traditions when all my kids are out of elementary school.  It's so much fun to watch them shine!

Steenblik Extended Family Dinner

Tony's cousin, Julieann, invited all the extended family over to her house for a Christmas Sunday dinner.  She said that they'd provide the dinner and just asked that we bring a dessert to share.   

We made some peanut butter bars and went over to their house.  It was a nice big house up by the University of Utah.  There was lots of good food and lots of fun family members to chat with.  It has been a long time since we have seen many of these family members, so it was really nice to catch up with them.  

The girls quickly made friends with Tony's cousins' girls and had a wonderful time.  The boys hung out a little with the adults and then played in the playroom that they made in a shed outside.  Most the boys hung out there. 

After dessert we said our goodbyes and then got a picture of the kids on the swing that was on Julieann's front porch. We all had a great time spending time with extended family, and we are very grateful that Julieann hosted such a wonderful evening.  We feel very blessed!

Robert Frost Holiday Night

The elementary school had a fun holiday dinner night.  They did it last year and we had a lot of fun, so we made sure that we were able to do it again.  They only had space for 200 people, so Megan made sure that I got our name on the list so that we didn't miss out on the all the fun.

When we got there, we picked out our seats and then waited for when we were able to get some pizza, salad, and drinks.  After we ate, we had some dessert.  Once most people were done eating, Santa came, and the kids lined up.  When it was our families turn, Santa talked with the kids for a minute and then we all got a picture with Santa and the conductor from The Polar Express.   The kids all got to pick out a present and they were all happy with their choice.  It was a fun evening, and we were glad that we all got to enjoy it together.

Granger High Winter Ball

The day has arrived for the Winter Ball at Granger High.  The kids didn't do a day activity; they just did everything in the evening.  They ended up with three couple in their group and they all looked very nice, and I was pleased to see that all the girls were in very modestly dresses and looked gorgeous.  

Tyler's friend, Austin picked him up and then they both picked up their dates at their houses.  They went back to Austins house to have dinner with another couple.  Austin's parents made and served the dinner to the couples.  

After dinner they went to the dance at the school.  The school had a photo booth for the kids, so that was fun.  Tyler said that they only had a few slow songs and then a lot of songs that he hadn't every heard.  After the dance they all went back to Austin's house to decorate gingerbread houses and they watched a Christmas movie.

Tyler said that he had a good time.  He said his date, Katie, didn't talk very much except when she was with her friends at the dance.  But what can you do?  He still had fun and was glad that he went.

Ward Christmas Party

We had a great time at our wards Christmas party.  We were able to help decorate the gym for the dinner, and it was beautiful. Our neighbors Max and Donna did an amazing job painting, creating, and putting up the decorations.  

We had a chicken dinner, and then they had a video presentation, that was honestly super boring and went on forever.  But after that was done, then Santa came.  The three younger kids told Santa what they wanted (Josh said he wanted a low interest rate on his mortgage - silly kid).  Then we got a family picture with Santa.   

It is always fun to spend the evening with our own little family and our ward family.  It really is a great way to start the Christmas season.

December Happenings

These months are going by so fast.  I can't believe it is already December.  We have been having fun.  We decorated for Christmas and the house looks really nice.  

Tony has been making his famous Chex Mix and the girls enjoyed helping him make it.  They said they love the Christmas traditions of making Chex Mix and caramels every year.  

We also got a gingerbread house kit from Margie.  She kindly gets us one each year.  Tyler wasn't interested in decorating it, but the other three kids did.  They each took a side and section and decorated it however they wanted.  I had some extra candies from Halloween that I got out to add to their collection.  They all did a great job and were very creative.  

They love to decorate the house and ginger men, but I think they like when they are done so that they can eat the frosting and then the candies off the house even more.  It is a fun tradition and I like that most the kids still like to do it.  

I was able to sign up Megan and Allie for a rock-climbing clinic right before Christmas.  They said that they had fun doing it, but they probably didn't want to do it again.  The clinic was only for 6 grade and younger so that's why only the girls were able to do it.  I am glad that they were able to try something new.  It is such a fun time of the year and we're blessed to get to spend so much extra family time together!

Tyler Ask and Answer to Winter Ball

Tyler asked a girl from our ward, Katie, to the Winter Formal.  It took her a while to respond because she had to get work off, but then she finally did.  He is excited to go to another dance with a new date. 

Thanksgiving 2023

We had a good Thanksgiving.  It was a nice chill day.  We enjoyed hanging out at home in the morning.  Then in the early afternoon we went over to Margie's house to help with dinner and Tony went and picked up Nana from her apartment.  

It was nice spending time with Nana.  We haven't seen her in a while, so it was nice to chat with her.  Brennen was also there with us.  Suzanne, Tim, and Gabe went to Orlando for Thanksgiving to spend time with Cortnie and Landon and also to go to Disneyworld.  

It didn't take long for everything to be ready to eat.  We all then had a great meal together.  After dinner Tony and I did most the cleanup while Margie and Nana went in the front room to listen to the kids play the piano.  I had them bring the songs that they've been practicing.  Allie also sang Nana a song that she learned in Primary.  Margie and Nana both seemed to enjoy listening to the kids.  After they were done, Nana was able to play a few songs that she could remember on the piano.  That was a treat.  He eyesight is so bad; we were all impressed.

The kids then helped Margie bring up some more of her Christmas villages and decorations.  After it was all up, we had pie.  It was yummy per usual.  We then hung out until it was time to go.  We got to take Nana back to her place.  It is a treat to get to spend a little extra time with her.  We then went home and had a chill evening at home.  It was a nice, stress-free, fun time with family day.

20th Anniversary Trip - DCA & Disneyland: The Day it Rained

This day we started at Disney's California Adventure.  The weather said there was a good chance of it raining this day, so we took our rain gear and got going on some rides.  We were able to ride a bunch of fun rides before it started sprinkling.  We just put on our ponchos and continued on with our day.   

We did everything that we wanted to do at DCA, so we then went over to Disneyland.  This is when it started raining harder.  This made things tricky because they close some of the rides when it is super wet, so that makes other lines really long.  We went on the rides that we could and then once it got dark, we decided to call it a day.  We had tons of fun and we loved spending these days together in Dinseyland.  

The next day we were able to sleep in and then eat breakfast at the hotel.  This was our free day.  We were going to have Monday be our free day, but the weather showed rain Thursday, so we changed it.  Funny thing was that it rained worse on Wednesday and hardly at all Thursday.  I wished that we didn't have to make reservations so that we could have changed our dates once the weather changed, but it's ok.  We survived going in the rain.  It used to be that rainy days were slower, but with the reservation system people have to go when they have their reservation, so not so slow anymore.  

We went to the Disney Outlet store and walked around Downtown Disney.  We ate lunch at Tortilla Joe's, and it was super yummy.  We then finished walking around Downtown Disney before driving over the Joe's Italian Ice.  We got an ice cream to share, and it was, of course, the best.  We then went back to the hotel.  We relaxed in the hot tub that the hotel finally fixed.  Those jets felt so good on my achy feet.  I then started packing up our stuff so that things would be ready for us to drive home the next day.  The drive home was smooth, and we had such a great trip.  It was so nice going away just the two of us.  I sure do love Tony and the lives that we have built.  I am a lucky and blessed lady.

20th Anniversary Trip - Disneyland Day 2

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us!  This was the official day.  We started back at Disneyland this day.  We had a lunch reservation at the Carnation Cafe.  We really like their country fried chicken.  It was super yummy.  

It was another great day with lots of fun rides.  We were able to do everything that we wanted, sometime more than once.  We had yummy treats and walked all over the park to ride tons of rides.