New Year's Eve

 The kids really wanted to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve. Paul said he would stay up with them and make it a fun night... and I said I would give it my best shot. Haha. ) Paul made a delicious dinner of steak, shrimp, cauliflower, and rolls. It was so good! After dinner we watched America's Funniest Videos and then made ice cream sundaes and played Beat The Parents. 

In that game, the kids make a wager and the parents make a wager, and then whoever wins the game gets to have their wager come true. It adds a whole level of competition knowing that you can win the wager as well as the game. The kids' wager was that we would have pizza for dinner 3 nights in a row, and the parents' wager was that the kids would do all the dishes for 2 days in a row. It was a really fun game and we all laughed a ton while playing it.

It's mostly a game of trivia, but the last round is physical challenges. The game was won by the Ballerina Challenge, which was who could stay up on their toes the longest. It got down to Tessa and me, and Tessa outlasted me. She won it for the kids' team!!

After that we watched The Three Amigos. I fell asleep, and woke up when the movie was over. It was about 5 minutes before midnight, so I got to watch the ball drop and wish everyone a Happy New Year. :) It was a really fun New Year's Eve!! And we all enjoyed pizza for dinner for the next 3 nights. :)

Christmas Break Fun

 The kids have enjoyed blowing and catching the sticky bubbles they got in their stockings.

They loved spending their Cafe Rio gift cards.

Damon and I went over to Paul's school and helped out a little bit with changing the library decorations from Christmas to Winter. And Damon rode his heelies all through the halls of the school. :)

We enjoyed some time in the hot tub.

Tessa watched Sadie for five days and loved that. Roxanne is getting married this month and moving to Salt Lake. We're so happy for her, but also going to miss her and Sadie.

Paul went and hung out with Chad and his parents. They went to a movie, hung out at home, and left fun selfies on their mom's phone. :)

Rockwell went to Luminaria with Audrey and her family.

Paul and the kids went to a family party at Adria's house. I have been having a terrible time with my allergies, and had reactions at three different houses in a week. My best guess was pets that were making me react, and so I decided to not risk it by going to Adria's house where I know they have a lot of animals. I was sad to miss out on the party, but Paul and the kids enjoyed going. They picked up dinner at McDonalds on the way home and Damon thought this nugget man was so funny/creepy. Haha.

We got the kids an all-day pass to Hang Time for Christmas. That was a great way to spend a day over the break.

Damon loved playing dodgeball, and Rockwell and Tessa did the climbing area a couple times and thought that was so much fun.

A student gave Paul a gift certificate to a Himalayan Salt Cave at a yoga studio. We read that it's supposed to help with your sinuses and allergies, and so I thought it was worth a try. Paul wasn't too interested in going, but Tessa thought it sounded fun. So she and I went and did a session.

It was very relaxing. I have no idea if it will really help much with my sinuses, but it was fun to go have a little girls outing with my Tessa Girl and relax for a while.

Damon had his first game for his basketball season. He had a great time playing!

We got some snow on Saturday and Tessa and Damon wanted to go sledding. I didn't want to be out in the cold, so I sat in the car and read while they were sledding. It was a win-win. :)

Paul and I went to dinner and saw The Boys in the Boat. It was a good movie, and very nice to go out on a date with Paul.

Christmas Dinner

We headed up to Grandma and Gramps' house for Christmas dinner. Paul made the turkey this year, and it was absolutely delicious!

The whole dinner was yummy as usual!

We exchanged gifts after dinner. 

Damon loves his new watch!

Tessa loves her new wolf Warmie and sleeping masks.

And Rockwell loves his own Barnes & Noble gift card. We immediately planned a shopping trip together with our gift cards. :) So fun!

Paul got some new blades for the edger, and we all got to choose the pieces for our new nativity set from Jerusalem. There were some real good laughs during that. Haha! Such a funny family!

It was fun to have Chad there for Christmas again this year!