December 2023 part 2

On Christmas Eve, we got out the Christmas hats, Matix rode around the neighborhood while we loaded the car for the beach. 

The weather was perfect at the beach. Matix caught several good waves, but I only caught one on video.

When we got home, we FaceTimed with Jolie and she read Twas The Night Before Christmas to the kids. 

Straight from the beach, I made a fancy dinner, and used Grandma Evie's dishes. After we ate, the kids went to bed and Paul and I got to bringing out the last of the presents and filling the stockings.

We love being parents. It is pretty much the best thing ever. I'm so grateful for being a mom. 

Christmas morning started early, before the sun was even up, but the kids were SO excited. The kids use their own money to buy gifts for each other and we love watching them light up with excited when someone opens a gift that they bought. It's awesome.

All the pets got treats and toys too. Merry Christmas to Swishy, Snow Baby, Whiskey, Pumpkin, Mousey, and the three little kittens, Taquito, Nacho and Pancakes. 

Avia, Izzy and Pops were first to FaceTime. They are so sweet. 

Then we headed over to the Greenleaf's house for breakfast and some time with friends. 

We got back to the house and did a little work on the Healing Hut, and a lot of playing with our new Christmas things. 

Fun pics from Christmas gifts. 

Silly Mousey, hunting a lizard. 

That evening, my friend Brandi invited the whole family over for dinner. It was very sweet. The kids didn't know each other, but I was glad everyone gave it a shot. Brandi and I get along really well, but our schedules don't match well, so it's hard to see each other as often as we might like. 

Back home and more cuddles with this sweet little guy. 

Trying to mop the floors in my room as often as possible since these cute little troublemakers are clearly running the show. Can you spot them on my clothing rack?

It's a kitten world in here. I had to take pictures and videos to send to Alana so she would know where everything was when we would be off island for ski season. The kids and I were leaving earlier than Paul, but after he left, we needed pet help. 

So many extra snuggles for the kittens. We were sad to have to leave them. 

The kids and I left Paul for a week while we went to Colorado for Kent Christmas. It was Jolie's year to host, and it happened during a time we could go. Perfect. Paul joined us later in Utah for ski season. He couldn't get off early enough for Kent Christmas. The company he works for isn't good about time off. At the airport, ready to go! 

At the rental car place in Colorado, they didn't have my car, so they upgraded us for free to a luxury car, we ended up getting a Maserati and the kids were stoked, until they saw how small the car was. Probably the most expensive car I've ever driven. Once we got to Bill's house, we could unpack, and fit lots better in the car. 

As soon as we arrived, we went to Bill's house. It was especially funny because we never met Bill. Jolie showed up a bit later, and Sully scared her. So funny.

Jolie game me a sneak peek of some of the games and we chatted and caught up a little. It was SO generous of Bill to welcome us to his house for the party. 

The kids watched movies in the little theater room while they waited for some cousins to come. 

Alexandra and Chloe took the kids on this little truck around, and they had a blast. 

We played lots of games, and Avia and Izzy came over for a bit too. It's so good to see them. 

Lots of time in the swim spa. 

Jolie made signs for all the doors. Cute!

We sat by the fire for a while, and I loved the way my new ring looks! It was too cold to stay outside for too long, even with the fire. 

Lullaby and Dalis got a long great!

Jolie, Heather and I were the only sisters to go to Kent Christmas.  We missed the others, but we had a blast ourselves, and no one else would have fit anyway, we FILLED his house, and he has a big house.  And after this party, we three thought no one else should ever host Kent Christmas. Jolie did such a great job. 

We were told to bring socks and at some point, Jolie filled them with treats for us.

She found this little ice skating rink at Target, and it worked perfectly for some of Dad's little figures. 

Hidden all over the house were little point tokens. If you found them you could add them to your team total. 

Lullaby got her hair braided by Auntie Heather. She's now taller than her too! 

I baked the cookies for one of the activities. 

Jolie had taken over selling my dad's stuff, but in one of the boxes was some extra things that I had kept for myself. So she gave that back to me and I'm so glad she did. Look at this cool platter/bowl! Unfortunately, I couldn't fit any of it in my suitcase, so she mailed it to me. It broke in the process so now I'm working to piece it back together. 

Let the games begin! Jolie and Bill were ready, with a megaphone! First we played the pickle game to get our team hats, and then we did our present exchange. 

Bill bought both Jolie and I brand new books from our childhood Christmas. It was such a thoughtful gift, and I know hard to find, since it was printed in 1988. Thank you again Bill! 

The first game was building a car to race down a ramp. There were two parts for the scores. Which car went the furthest, and which car Bradley picked. Our team made ours to look like Santa's sleigh and then we put a toy car in the top (along with other toys and candies), hoping that might make Bradley like ours the best. 

We took team pictures. 

Let the races begin! Our team got second for the race, but FIRST for Bradley liking it, so we ended up with first place points for overall scores! Woohoo! Little did we know, but this would be our first and ONLY team win.

The second game was a keep your balloons from popping. We were allowed to choose a tool to help from the armory, and then Jolie set her Roomba to clean and off it went, with the attached sharp sticks!  Green team won!

The next activity was cookie decorating. I was the judge for this and gave a brief description of what I was looking for and then everyone got going. Lots of cute designs, it was really fun to see. 

I braided Rachel's hair which has super dark highlights. Turned out great. 

We played Left Center Right. Jolie gave each person $3 and taught us how to play. It was so much fun, and Sully ended up winning the pot! He was stoked!

Bill took us to the bluff in the back of his property. It was a hike for the kids, but he drove me.  

Chloe made us cupcakes, yum!

Matix and Cris won at pool. 

We played a fun white elephant that Jolie and Bill put together. Jolie made some with clues to go find the gift elsewhere, some said roll the dice, some were steals, some were silly gifts, some were really good. Bill bought all the gifts. It was super fun!

Matix had to follow a treasure map to get to his gift, which was also buried! 

Alexandra helped Solace and Alex go find theirs, by finding the spot when looking through the telescope!

One of the games was for just two from each team. Our team lost Dalis who wasn't feeling well, so we got to borrow Sully to help. Unfortunately, we came in last place at this croquet game. 

Matix and Alex came in first.

Lullaby and James came in second.

Hawk and Alexandra came in third. 

And Cris and (stand-in) Solace, came in fourth.

Next game was fishing ornaments out of the small pond. It was harder than it looked!

At the end of the two days of activities, points were totaled and the winning team was the BLUE team! Alex, Heather, Matix and Solace! Woohoo! Jolie made a Kent Cup, and they signed the bottom and dated it, in case we do it again. Jolie and Bill threw one heck of a party! 

Jolie got Paul a gift too, and I loved the wrapping paper, little yoga Santas!

After everyone left, Jolie and I both felt really tired. I assumed it was because the party was over, but as it turns out we got whatever Dalis had, and it wiped us out. Jolie and I had the worst of it to start, then I started to get better and Bill got sick, then the kids all got sick. Hawk was sick first, then the rest followed suit. We survived on DoorDash for a few days and then when we got better, the kids and I headed to see the Abbajays. Here is how we spent New Year's Eve.