Disneyland is Magical at Christmas

Brianhead

Today we all headed out to Brianhead. The Schultz family rented a big cabin for the week, and the Johnsons/Mortensens decided to crash the party for a few days. Actually, Amy and Todd were on their way up to Utah to see Todd's family, so they stopped for the night and some tubing the next day before continuing on their way. I drove my own car, so I stayed until Thursday, and then headed home while Todd, Kathy, and her family stayed until New Year's Day.


Early Wednesday morning, Todd M saw the stream that ran in the back yard of the cabin and was immediately outfitted for some fishing.


After breakfast, we headed to the tubing hill where everyone had a blast. I even got to go down
the hill.



























































That afternoon, the kids played at the cabin while Todd and Timmy worked on their own version of the ultimate tube run.

















Before I left for home on Thursday, everyone went skiing. For most of the kids, it was their first time on skis and it was actually pretty entertaining. Timmy, a ski instructor, tackled the job of teaching the kids how to stop and fall.







































Then they were off on the ski lift to try out their new found skills. And I was off for the long drive home.

Only in Southern California

Only in Southern California can you spend the day after Christmas at the beach. Not only spend the day, but enjoy a beautiful, warm day there. I will admit, the water was pretty cold, but you couldn't tell it by the kids. They were in and out of the water the entire time. How I love the beach.

Christmas

Christmas was on Sunday this year, so we only had time for Santa before we needed to get to church. When we got home, we continued to open presents. The kids played for a while and then Amy, Todd, and the kids joined us for some more present opening. It was a full, very fun day.

"Wingardium Leviosa"

One of my favorite presents were the Harry Potter wands that Ann's son-in-law, Nick, made for Amy's kids.

Christmas Eve

We weren't going to be all together on Sunday, so we decided to take our annual "swing picture" before Christmas Eve dinner. It seems that every year fewer kids can fit on the swing. I love this picture with Todd clowning around in the background.

The kids ate at their respective tables.

Dinner was delicious. The usual; ham, Kris' potatoes, corn, homemade rolls, layered salad, and Andrea's jello. Dessert was pie. Especially popular was Todd's homemade apple pie.





And of course, no Christmas Eve would be complete without new pajamas.

Ornaments, the next generation

I loved the tradition of ornaments for first Christmases, so of course, I continued it for my kids, their spouses, and grandkids. Here's Amy's family.

Amy

Todd M

Emma and Wyatt

Carson

Owen

And here is Todd's family...











Todd J.

Kathy

Luke

Tayson

Claire

Sophie

Ornaments

My parents bought each of us an ornament for our tree our first Christmas.


Milo's was a bird that clipped on the branch. Little by little, it became unusable, so we had to buy this replacement a few years ago.








Mine was three snowballs. Actually, I think it was the first year of styrophome, because I always tease mom about my ornament being styrophome balls.









Mark's was a glass icicle.

And Mel's was "Jack be Nimble".

Santa

Eternal Families

Friday, December 23, 2011 was a very special day for me and my family. My mom and dad were sealed together in the Newport Beach Temple, and then I was sealed to them. Our broken chain of eternal families was finally joined together. My Todd did all of dad's work, including the sealing to his parents and then to mom. It was a very beautiful experience.

Nutcracker

For the second year, "the girls" went out to dinner and the Nutcracker. This year, it was just Amy, Emma, and me, as Kathy and her girls were still on the road. We tried a new cafe, one that we won't be going back to, and then the ballet. Amy enjoyed it, Emma was enchanted with it, and I kept seeing Amy dance all of the parts. It brought back some wonderful memories.

Cutest reindeer ever

One of the best things about being retired is that I am free to do things in the middle of the week. For the first time, I was able to attend a school program. Emma and Wyatt's kindergarten Christmas program was so fun. They were asked individually what they wanted Santa to bring them...Emma wants a "happy napper" and Wyatt is counting on a pet parrot!!

Monday's Memory--my favorite present

Amy gave a talk in church yesterday. In preparation for it, she asked several people their favorite Christmas presents they had ever received. When she asked me, my first thought was the tap shoes I got when I was a kid. But then I remembered this picture.

For years, I always had the kids take a picture with Santa. We even had one with all three of us in it. But then they grew up and lost interest. Christmas morning, when Todd was a junior and Amy a freshman, I opened my present from them, and this was inside. Needless to say, I shed a few tears. They went to the mall and stood in a very long line with lots of little kids to surprise me with this photo. How I love my two kids.