After Christmas...

The day after Christmas, John and Hailey drove to Las Vegas to meet up with Hillary for a couple of hours.  She and Patrick spent Christmas with his family this year.  Patrick went golfing with his dad, enjoying the beautiful weather and Hillary, Hailey and John hit the strip and exchanged Christmas gifts.

I stayed home with Grayson so he could play in a 3-day AAU basketball tournament on his Wildcats team.  They won their first three games, winning their pool and advanced to the championships on Saturday night which they lost.  We all had fun at our respective after-Christmas events but enjoyed being together again for the last part of the weekend.

Christmas 2013!

Christmas week had lots of promise but instead, we had a few surprises...

Our Monday night FHE was our annual sibling/cousin White Elephant party with John's side of the family at the Piggott's house.  A few cousins had to work so numbers were smaller than usual but we still shared lots of laughs!

 Our Christmas Eve party at John's parents house had to be postponed this year as John's mom had back surgery a week ago and is currently in a rehab center.  As our family decided to go to dinner with just the 4 of us, we got a sad phone call that MY mom fell at home and broke her hip and was scheduled for surgery later that evening.  

Christmas morning didn't begin until about 8 am at our house when the 2 kidlets got out of bed.

We had to do an early-morning Christmas PJ pose...

Kind of different with just 2 kids seeing what "Santa" brought...

Grayson was pretty happy with every gift he received...

...and he made quite the Christmas haul!

Hailey loves animated shows and these were two of the new favorites she wanted...

...not too shabby herself!

And of course Cooper was ecstatic over his Christmas stocking full of new toys.

The best gift we received was an hour-long skype visit with Elder Tebbs, currently serving in Zacatecas, Mexico.  It was great to see him and hear him.  He's doing great!!

I've definietly missed his smile and his cute laugh!

We enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner at the King's...

...and then headed out to hang with my mom for a little while.

Merry Christmas!

My mom's best Christmas gift was getting released from the hospital after 3 days and sent to a rehab center for a couple of weeks.  Hailey and Grayson enjoyed the van ride with her...

She seems pretty chipper and seems to enjoy her new digs.  Hopefully 2014 will be one of health and healing!!

Back Together Again!

(First, I apologize that every photo was taken with my phone and the quality is fair at best...)

Hailey finished her last final on THURSDAY and drove in the snowstorm to make it back in time to watch Tiny Tebbs and the Wildcat team win the So. Davis Superleague Championship.

FRIDAY night we went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then headed to Centerpointe Legacy Theater to see "White Christmas."  Everyone was a bit tired before the show started and catnapped...

SATURDAY found us driving Hailey to Provo in another snowstorm to cheer at the BYU Girls basketball game vs. Utah State.  It was our first time attending a girls game and they are pretty sparsely attended.  We had front row seats for a change and a personal visit from Christmas Cosmo!

Only 5 cheerleaders at this game.  Hailey is 2nd from the left and they're doing the fight song.

A quick tumbling pass during a timeout.

That evening we delivered a fun treat to one of John's employees who has been working extra hard.  We are enjoying having the family back together again--even if it's only for a couple of weeks!

Catching Up--So Much To Be GRATEFUL For!

Grayson has enjoyed his new school this year as well as having so many of his friends there, however, playing on the school's basketball team has been a character-building experience for him (and me!).

  He has never sat on the bench so much in his life!  He's been quite mature about it and has even made some comments that have helped me get a grip and try and come to terms with the situation.

 I've learned a lot about myself during this short 6-week Jr. High season and realize I have a long way to go in many areas in becoming a better person :) 

 

 It's a good thing he also plays on a great competition team with a great coach and gets lots of playing time...

  I'm so GRATEFUL for Grayson's humble ability to teach me how to be a better person and parent!

Speaking of basketball, Hailey started cheering for BYU's preseason basketball games before football season was over.  

We've gone down to a few home games and besides the fact they're inside and much shorter than football games, we love watching Hailey cheer.

 

 After the games Hailey doesn't want us to leave so we go grab a bite to eat and hang out for awhile.

 

 The last home football game was freezing, a rain/snow mix and John, Grayson and I went through a gallon of hot chocolate.

 I'm glad the cheerleaders get to wear parkas, sweats and gloves when it's cold.

  Caught a quick pix on the jumbo-tron (Hailey is kneeling on front row on the right).  I'm GRATEFUL for Hailey and her fun personality as well as the fact that she loves being around her family.

 

This year was my first time hosting Thanksgiving.  The Kings brought the turkey, stuffing and gravy; dad made the rolls and pomegranate jello salad and I did the rest. 

 

It was great to have Hillary and Patrick from California with us for a few days.

 

One of 3 different pies I made this year.  Hillary helped me make this apple-cranberry one and I have to say I was quite proud of the results!

 

It was nice to relax and visit before we had to cook another Thanksgiving meal to take up to John's parents' house that evening.

 

 I am so GRATEFUL for my family!!!

 With our shrinking family--3 of us living at home--Grayson has been quite lonely and relishes the weekends Hailey can come home.  He makes sure we have activities planned each Monday night and is awesome to remind us to have scriptures and prayer each evening.

 Big milestone for Garrett as he celebrated one year in the mission field on November 28.  I don't think missionaries are supposed to play with fire, but it seems to be a tradition to burn a shirt at that milestone.

 

I am GRATEFUL Garrett will be home to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with us next year!