Six.Two Years

 6.2 Years

• Thanksgiving was big this year. All the families were together. We started by going up to the temple to do baptisms. Janecce stayed with you and the other younger cousins and visited the visitor center. You choose to dress up for the day like the older cousins to show reverence for the temple. Afterwards, Grandpa treated everyone to Chic Fil-a. We then went to different thrift stores. You and Jessie were all about trying on all the shirts and shorts. You love buying stuff just for buying sake. It was hard to keep it in check. You ended up with reindeer mittens that matched Jessie's. We ended with kids having pizza at the Prices and the adults going out to eat. Thursday, we all met at Dusty's school for dodgeball. It was quite the crew. We started with Gaga Ball, then went inside for dodge ball, and then the guys stayed another hour and played football. I took you girls home to shower and rest up a bit. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Janecce's house. It was a great night. I had all of my kids come home and sleep in their own beds to catch up on much needed rest. On Friday, we met everyone at Silverfalls. We parked at the North Falls and hiked all the way to Double Falls. You wanted to be Ben's buddy the whole time. You ended up hking the all 5 miles. Everyone came to our house for dinner. We grilled up burgers. Our house isn't the most ideal in the winter for big groups, but we had all the heaters and both fires going on outside so most of you kids were outside eating. I stocked the frig with all sort of sodas, so that was a hit. That night, Jessie and Sonora slept here. The cousins left earlier than we thought but we gave us some family time and rest time that weekend. We did end up going back up to Woodburn on Sunday to celebrate Sonora and Jessie's birthday.
• Christmas season is here. We went to to get a Christmas tree from the boy scouts lot this year. We got the house all decorated, started the advent day calendars bought eggnog. I asked you all at the beginning of the month, what traditions do each of you like and want to continue this year. You all loved going shopping to cousins and Giving Tree and then getting milk shakes and seeing the lights afterwards. This year dad was able to join us for that. We added a new activity. We visited Storybook Lane in Albany. Our church party this year was a dinner and the primary kids put on the Nativity story. You were one of the shepherd. Dress up week was fun. All those Santa hats and wacky holiday glasses came in handy. We had Grandma and Papa over for Red Ribbon dinner. I got you slippers this year. After dinner, Papa taught you all had to play Shanghai. Grandma brought little presents for the winner and the loser to open after each round. We tried going ice skating with Ian and the Sterlings. I was super excited to find this deal in McMinnville. Well, it was not ice skating, but ice gliding. The floor was waxed. It was not nearly as fun, but you all had a great time.