Basketball Game

One of the perks of Matt's job is getting tickets to go to sports events. Although the Rockets aren't having a great year, it's still fun to go to a game. We went with my brother and sister-in-law who came down for a quick visit.

Kara, the fabulous photographer and new mommy to baby Ellery

Pictures

While my sister-in-law was in town for Christmas, she snapped some family pictures. It was so fun to have everyone here for Christmas this year.

The whole family

Just the girls

All the boys

My cutie pies

Other shots when we were taking pictures for our Christmas cards

I love these boys!

My sweet Caleb

Annual Aquarium Trip

Caleb has been asking when we can go to the Aquarium since last year it seems. We look forward to this yearly field trip with preschool. The last two years Matt has been able to take the day off work. We love having him with us!

Riding the train

The carousel remains a popular favorite!

Christmas Festivities

My parents must have been in heaven this Christmas as we had the whole family gathered together. It was so good to see Lindsey and Derrick who just got married about 6 months ago, as well as Clayton and Kara with their darling little girl, Ellery. My elder brother moved to the Netherlands about 4 months ago from living 10 minutes away from us, so we were so excited to have them back for Christmas. Cousins have definitely missed each other!

I failed at taking pictures of everything, but we enjoyed a nice dinner together. Our Christmas Eve traditions always involve acting out the Nativity story in Luke 2, chimes, and White Elephant.

Here are Gavin and Carter as wise men

Sammy as Mary and Dallin as Joseph

Drew was an angel, and Caleb wanted to be a shepherd.

Grandma and Grandpa's gift to Carter. He can't quite reach the pedals, but he still loves to ride it.

A new tradition we're going to continue. Matt and I played this game at a Christmas party we attended this year and loved it, so we introduced it to my family. A pair of dice are passed around; if someone rolls doubles, he/she has the opportunity to "dress-up" in winter clothes and attempt to open a present in the middle of the circle. It's a lot of fun!

Caleb and Carter on Christmas morning opening their stockings. Carter got a stuffed Elmo that he is quite attached to. It goes everywhere with him. A few weeks ago he caught some sort of stomach bug and the only things that made him happy were watching an Elmo movie we have or Tangled. He's especially obsessed with Tangled for whatever reason.

Caleb's big present this year. It's a little too complicated for him to build all on his own, so Matt and I have enjoyed creating marble runs. Caleb will sit there for quite awhile continuing to feed marbles and watch them go down.

Carter's big present was a little car ramp and cars.

More chunky Legos to make big towers.

Caleb and Dallin made a gingerbread house together one night, and then enjoyed eating it! I love Gavin's face in this picture. He seems mesmerized by all the yummy things in front of him!

It was so nice to spend so much time with family. There were lots of nights staying up late and playing games--our favorite thing to do. We did some Spades, Canasta, Bang!, Ticket to Ride, and lots of Dominion. We even went Black Light Miniature Golfing all together. So fun! I don't feel it was necessarily a relaxing Christmas vacation however. With finishing making Christmas projects, planning preschool, and church responsibilities weighing over me, there was no time to do my most favorite thing on a "vacation." Read! Everything else trumped reading time, but memories created with spending time with family are definitely more important!

Snow at the Zoo

Last weekend Matt took the boys to the zoo because they were making snow at the zoo! Of course everyone in the city also went to the zoo to see snow, so it was quite busy. Here are the pictures Matt captured (no snow pictures):

Carter loves the carousel!

Dancing to Christmas music

Carter's a little obsessed with the goats. The goats get a lot of TLC every time we go to the zoo.

and a kiss or two...

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It is so fun to have both of our families near so we can see both on each holiday. (Plus we love hitting up two Thanksgiving feasts each year!) We enjoyed going to Matt's Uncle Chris' house for a Thanksgiving lunch and spending time with his extended family. They are all so relaxed, laid-back, and so sweet. Uncle Chris has a large plot of land with cows and chickens, so it's very exciting for the kids.

The bull that approached us at the fence.

After lunch, there was some face painting to occupy the kids.

Caleb and Carter with their MeeMa

(Poor Carter was ready for a nap.)

MeeMa and Papa

Matt's family minus Rachael's husband. Rachael is a proud new Mama to Bryan Eugene. Matt is standing next to his younger brother. Can you believe it? Matt and his eldest sister look just alike favoring their mom, and Rachael and Patrick look just alike favoring their dad. I would never be able to guess that Matt and Patrick are related or Matt and Rachael for that matter. It's funny how those things work.

Back row: Olivia, Jeff, Rebecca, me, Matt, Patrick, baby Bryan, Rachael

Front row: David Earl, Abby, McKayla, MeeMa, Carter, Papa, Caleb, Hunter

After a Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house, some of us took a walk to get the kids out of the house for a bit. Here's Dallin, Carter, and Caleb with my dad.

Over yummy pies, we played some family games. All in all, such a relaxing day (besides all the cooking). I love spending time with family and playing games!

Meeting Baby Ellery

While in Utah for my grandmother's funeral, I was able to meet my new niece: Ellery Jean Shurtliff. It's so exciting to see my younger brother as a father. Ellery is so precious. We can't wait to see her again for Christmas!

Caleb holding his cousin Ellery for the first time at Thanksgiving.