New Year's Eve!

I don't know about you but we really enjoyed church! It's so fun to go to this ward and see people that we usually only see once a year. Our friend is no longer the bishop of the ward, but was called into the stake presidency. Fortunately, he was visiting the ward with his family so it was good to see him (and his whole family) again.

After church we went to Uncle Dan and Auntie Mary's house for their usual gathering. They were ready to feed us lunch and we were ready to eat. We do love the memories of their home and love!

Then we went back to Memere's house to hang out.

What a look!

We got this outfit from Lindsey Pilling (from home)

and had her wear it - 

but it was really small so she'll never wear it again.

So cute though.

We played lot of games together.

Just enjoyed each other.

For a nightly treat, Kemiah helped make popcorn.

It was yummy and just right!

Some people enjoyed coloring and drawing.

Naomi went to bed before everyone else,

and this is the only time I ever left her with a bottle.

She fell asleep before she finished it.

Sweet girl.

Just a game between Kevin and Marissa

What a full board.

They really enjoyed Junior Monopoly.

Same concepts but simplified.

Another favorite is electronic battleship.

They were in the other dome so get away from all the noise.

Another game - I think they used all the tiles this time.

We did stay up later than usual but not until midnight. Sleep is important so we eventually went to bed. Lots of good family fun!

A day with Pepere and Jerry

We spent most of today at Pepere and Jerry's house. They left their tree up but wevhad to be careful since it was a live tree. If you touched it at all, needles would rain down to the floor. It was decorated with very cute ornaments. We all noticed the lovely stockings on the wall, and the kids started looking for their names on the gifts under the tree.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch of sandwiches and soup.

The sparkling appl cider didn't last long.

Jerry handed out the stockings first.

She made all the stockings herself.

Lots of individually wrapped gifts inside each one.

We all received a knitted stocking ornament.

So cute.

Presents were handed out next.

All the kids received a wonderful hat!

Panda

So soft and furry!

Gray rabbit

Owl

Wolf

Baby penguin

Racoon (we think)

Koala bear

Polar bear

Kevin received socks and I received a light weight dressy scarf.

 RoseMarie received this amazingly soft and wonderful elephant,

instead of a hat.

It is truly delightful and I'm sure it will be a great friend.

RoseMarie spent most of the morning and early afternoon sleeping

in her car seat. I eventually got her out, and even shared her.

 She received a brown bear hat (not pictured here).

All the kids received two pencils with different erasers on the ends.

What a wonderful group of wild animals!

Chris showed off his new drone.

Some of us stayed inside to watch from the window.

Baby snuggles.

She's almost 2 months old.

 Sweet little baby enjoy time with grandparents.

So inside the stockings were a variety of gifts: thermal hot hands hand warmer pads, pencils, candy canes, dinosaur toys for Harmonie, Camdilyn and Naomi; music boxes for Camdilyn and Naomi; a tool thing and straw "glasses" for Ben; Poo pourri for Kevin and Chris; card games for the older kids; pony tail holders for the girls; jingle bell rings for the older girls. It really was a fun treat for all of us.

We ended up sitting down to watch Storks and then The Last Jedi, so instead of going out for dinner, we just ate leftovers from lunch. It was a very nice visit with Pepere and Jerry. Thank you for your generosity and love!

Family Memories

Kevin found a stack of old pictures.

Chris helped name some of the people in the pictures.

Ben found a book to read.

Memere tried an ice cream experiment.

She had these character molds and put ice cream inside each half.

They didn't have time to freeze hard so we just ate the ice cream out of the molds.

After the kids were in bed,

Kevin and his mom went through some family records and papers.

The three oldest kids have school work to finish up, so that's what they worked on most of the day. Th other kids played games or colored.

We made it to Massachusetts!

We decided to drive through Canada for the first time, since we moved to Michigan. We had all the birth certificates and Passports we needed so we hoped it would help cut our drive down from two days to just one really long day. I am happy to say that it worked out perfectly. The time at each boarder stop was not very long so the trip was much faster and we didn't have to stay at a hotel (that would have cost lots for two rooms) so I guess we'll be doing that more often.

Naomi was happy to be out of the car, but a little clingy at first.

Memere had set up some "snowmen" to welcome us. 

Unfortunately, we arrived just in time to go to bed.

The scarves on the "snowmen" are fleece neck warmers for us.

Or face warmers...

Or hats...

Kemiah was excited to receive her birthday present.

Memere always gives them necklaces when they turn 10.

She received two - a silver angel and a glass stone.

We are glad to be here and excited for the fun we will have. We haven't been here during winter for several years so it will be interesting to see the difference from summer activities.