Wizarding World at South Town

The Harry Potter event has been at South Town mall for a few months and we wanted to check it out before it finished. I'm not going to lie. I was disappointed. It was more like a glorified Disney Store. The walls around looked like different buildings and shops so that was cool but inside the walls was just over priced merchandise. Luckily my kids understood that they were not getting a wand for $45  (probably cost $2 to make) I need to go in the business of selling Harry Potter wands.
My kids thought it was really cool for the first few minutes and then they were good and we left and got a treat somewhere else because $5 for a chocolate frog is a little overboard.

Sienna's New Do

I took Sienna to Great Clips in October and asked the stylist to do a A line cut with a bob in the back. She disagreed and said Sienna's hair was too thin. Instead she just trimmed it. Poor Sienna's hair is just so thin that as it grew out it looked straggly. We got some good advice from Bonnie and went to Cookie Cutters to get an A line cut with a bob in the back. It looks much better now and it's so easy to do.

Monday Funday

It's been hard to get to Salt Lake to use our pass to Discovery Gateway. We had time one Monday afternoon and were able to go. We bounced all around the place but I think by the end we had done everything. No one got lost and it seemed like everyone had fun.

Grandma Collier

Marshall's grandma passed away a few weeks ago. We were so blessed to get to spend time with her and Grandpa Collier when we lived in Logan. They had us over once a week to do laundry and family night dinner. Grandma Collier was a great cook and always had yummy meals and desserts. She was so kind and always interested in what was going on in our lives. We will miss her.

I do like how funerals are a family reunion. We don't see our cousins enough so it was a fun weekend.

We also celebrated Grandpa Lowry's birthday that weekend.

Lily's Swim Meet

We went to a Wasatch swim meet to see Lily. She competed in three events, freestyle relay, 50 m and 100 m freestyle. She is super fast. It's fun to show my kids what different sports and activities are like. Plus it's fun to cheer. If you ever have a sport or activity just let us know and we will be there.

After School Art

On Wednesdays I take Lynnlee to after school art. One day she took her friend Hannah. They laughed and giggled the whole time. If Lynnlee is ever having a bad day I will just have to get Hannah because I've never seen Lynnlee laugh and giggle so much as when they are together.

New Year's 2018

New Year's Eve was on Sunday and as the year went on one o'clock church got harder. The minis and Kaden were so grumpy by 1:00 and really needed a nap. Add that with Christmas break, no schedules, less sleep, late nights and you get really grumpy kids. So New Year's Eve wrapped up at 9:30 for Kaden and the minis.

James and Lynnlee got to stay up until midnight and ring in the new year with Lucy.

We went skiing on New Year's Day. It was Kaden's first time and he liked it. He was so happy to be with the big kids and not at home with the minis. We thought he might want to go home after a few hours but he wanted to ski all day. Marshall and I traded off having him ski in between our legs to help him get the feel of it.

Christmas Break

Christmas break flew by. It was so nice having two weeks to sleep in and no schedule.
We received a package from our Japanese family, the Takahashi's. We love the soft, fuzzy hand warmers! The decorations are perfect for our Japanese room. We enjoyed the candy and treats. A huge thanks to the Takahashi's and their generosity!

My dad wore this shark head for Halloween. My kids found it and all wanted in on the fun.

We went swimming with cousins in Heber.

Then finished off the day with dinner at Dairy Keen.

Christmas Eve and Christmas

Christmas Eve was a very quiet day. We had sacrament meeting at 1:00 so there was lots of time before and after for down time. We usually get a picture of everyone in their Sunday best but this year I only got a picture of Sienna. She didn't end up wearing this church because it was bugging her. She is her mother's daughter.
The Christmas program was beautiful and such a great way to start off the holiday. It's important to remember whey we celebrate Christmas. I'm so grateful for the Savior's life.

That night we went to Grandpa and Grandma Lowry's for some great-grand kid fun. After some singing, Charlie the monkey came out and gave all the grand kids a present. It was amazing that all of my kids received their present graciously and were not shy.

We aren't huge fans of eggnog so we had hot chocolate when we got home. Notice the duct tape on Sienna's wrapped present. The wrapping paper was shiny and smooth. Normal scotch tape did not stick to it. It was like trick wrapping paper and should have been sold in a shop with pranks and practical jokes. I wrapped all of the kids Christmas pjs with this wrapping paper one night before bed. This was before I knew the tape wouldn't stick. I had all the gifts wrapped sitting at the end of my bed. As I was falling asleep I could hear all of the tape coming unstuck. So it took a lot of duct tape to keep them wrapped the next day.

The kids did a nativity and were very energetic and wild. It will be a fun video to watch when they are teenagers.

We got to have Grandma and Grandpa Lowry join us for Christmas this year. Hopefully it wasn't too crazy for them. The energy of five excited kids can be like trying to get a sip of water from a fire hydrant.

James woke up at 6:00 and patiently waited for everyone else to wake up. It took the others a lot longer to get up. Lynnlee and Sienna were the last to wake up at 7:45. They were so excited to go downstairs.

Then let the chaos begin....they moved all of the presents from the front room to the family room. Everyone took turns opening their presents and it was probably the best year we've had so far. The minis can open presents and they are excited and understand what is going on.

Santa surprised us with some smaller kayaks since the kids had so much fun last summer.

Christmas breakfast was french toast, eggs, bacon and orange juice. I set the table the night before and that was so helpful. I usually don't do that and then the kids start playing with their Christmas presents and the table is a mess. I will hopefully remember to set it the night before next year.

Sienna was pretty excited about matching her doll.

Lynnlee got a pom pom pet craft kit. Grandma Lowry helped her make a bunny.

We went to Heber later that day for dinner. The kids played in the snow and with cousins and then we came back home.