Christmas

We started off the Christmas season by hanging lights at the temple - we actually only tightened and twisted lights, but it was fun to be a part of this huge undertaking that we get to enjoy every year.

For our family, Christmas began when the girls got home.

Katie arrived first and we got to spend the day in Phoenix watching Matthew play in his last volleyball tournament.

He did a great job!

Kimerly arrived next.

We had a fun time hiking Camelback Mountain with Chase.

We had a great Christmas Eve with everyone who was in town - and missed everyone who wasn't!

After a yummy dinner, we reinacted the Nativity.

Tia, Brett, and baby Landon stole the show!

We ended the evening with a cousin gift exchange.

The next morning we enjoyed sleeping in, eating our traditional Christmas morning breakfast and then opening presents. 

 

Courtney LOVED her microphone!

And everyone had fun singing along with her.

That evening we had another yummy dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's.

It has been a wonderful week and the best part about it has been having everyone HOME.

Winter Formal

Carie had a great time at Winter Formal!

It is always fun to have Grandma stop by and see the girls off!

Travis and Carie

The whole group!

(The girls asked me to take some photos before dinner.  It was so much fun to get to meet this fun bunch of Juniors - they are all great!)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.

We have so much to be thankful for and it is nice to take a day to "Count our Many Blessings."

Haley told us about her decision to serve a mission

and then we spent the rest of the afternoon eating and visiting.

We are so grateful for our wonderful FAMILY!

Halloween

 Courtney and Daisy as Dorothy and Toto!

October Break

We had such a fun October break! It was great to see Kimberly all settled into her new home.

We arrived in DC on Saturday afternoon and went to Kimberly's house.

We then had dinner in Alexandria and enjoyed walking down Kings Street to the river front.

That evening we drove into the district and enjoyed the memorials at night.

The next morning we headed to Gettysburg.

It was fun to all visit together in the car and then see the sights of this famous battlefield.

On top of Little Round Top.

Cemetery at Gettysburg

We drove back into the city and had dinner at LINCOLN.

(It was an awesome restaurant - menu changes with the season and the floor is made entirely of pennies!)

Then we took a tour of Kimberly's speech & hearing clinic.

The next day we toured the capitol

and the Library of Congress.

After that we visited the Smithsonians.

We met Kimberly for a late lunch at school and did some shopping at the GW bookstore.

Then we took way too many funny pictures in front of the Washington Monument.

Here is an example.

We visited the other monuments and then took in a concert at the Kennedy Center.

The next morning Carie and Kristin ran the Mt. Vernon trail and then we all walked through Arlington Cemetery and saw the changing of the Guard.

We then headed to Union Station and took the Amtrak train to NYC.

We took a cab to Jon and Katie's place and then all had dinner at a cute little place called Alice's Tea Cup.

The next day we took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

As we got off the ferry at Battery Park, Courtney got pulled into a street show.  The guy did a front flip over her.  It was pretty funny!

We then visited the 9/11 Memorial and Wall Street.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and met Jon for dinner at Grimmaldi's.

On Thursday we went row boating in Central Park and then shopped on 5th Ave.

That evening we went to Mary Poppins (loved it!) and Times Square.

Our last morning there we rode bikes through Central Park.

It was a great trip!