Idaho For Christmas

This morning we got all packed to head to Idaho. We went to the 9:00 church in our ward building. We actually skipped out right after we took the sacrament. Jorja did see her seminary teacher there. Her teacher just had a baby. I don't think she recognized Jorja.

Stockton in his Crambone shirt

We finally hit the road and headed to my aunt's house in Idaho Falls! Our car was stuffed! Jorja had my phone for awhile. She started making a 'Vlog'. It was funny. I tried to upload it, but the file was too big.

Jorja & Stockton

 Stockton & Maysen

Jorja & Preston

We made it to Christmas Eve dinner at the Fuller's. I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't take any pictures of my family that I dearly love and rarely see. I spent most of my time talking to Brooke! Yay! So fun to be with her! One day we will have to make it up to Coeur d'Alene and visit them.

Jorja drove most of the way from Idaho Falls to the cabin. I had a blanket over my head for most of the time. It was so dark. The roads are narrow and curvy. Luckily they weren't icy. Mike is a trouper. Jorja did great though. We got up to the cabin around 7:00. I LOVE it here! I'm glad my kids love it too. Bubs and his family are here as well. Jorja and Preston played Forbidden Island with Bubs. Jorja also played DVD Clue. Lincoln wanted a birthday buddy picture. Lincoln was born on Jorja's 3rd birthday.

Lincoln & Jorja

I forced the kids to go to bed after midnight. Stockton, Jorja and Preston all picked the bunkbed in the lava room. I was surprised none of them wanted a bed with Maysen. Mike and I brought up headed mattresses for four of the beds. It was so cozy!

Batting Cage and Lagoon in June

Maysen and Stockton left for Youth Conference this morning.  Mike and I walked them over to the church.  We will still in our pajamas.  We get dressed up for things around here!  Maysen is not too excited about going.  Stockton hasn't complained.  He does know that there are platforms where they are going, so that will be fun for him.

We had fun playing in the batting cage this morning.  Blake has such a good swing!  I had no idea that Skye and Larkin bat left.  I didn't expect that.  Kanyon was excellent and it was so much fun to watch Mike!

Blake

 Mike & Blake

Blake was so funny because as soon as he took the batting helmet off he would frantically look for his Dodgers hat.  I tried to get a picture of him, but he kept hiding.  This one was the best I could get. I think it is adorable because Larkin and Blake are making the same face.  Love that!

Larkin & Blake

 Skye

 Larkin

 Kanyon

 Mike

 Hard to see, but Larkin is feeding balls to her Dad

 Jorja's favorite past time

 Mike played baseball with his kids for quite awhile.

Blake

 Larkin

We piled Mike and his three oldest kids in our car and headed to Lagoon.  We had the room since we didn't have Maysen or Stockton with us.  Christen wanted to wait until Parker woke up, and I don't blame her one bit!  We went on Rattlesnake Rapids twice and got soaked to the bone!  It was great!  Especially since I was wearing my swimsuit.  I thought Skye and Larkin looked adorable in their matching My Dad is my BFF shirts.

Larkin & Skye (Blake's back & Jorja's on the fence)

Our pavilion we have had for years is being made into a giant pavilion. I'm guessing it will probably only be used for giant parties.  That is too bad.  It was in a great location.  We've been going to Lagoon as a family since I was little.  I wonder how long that pavilion has been ours?  I think over 25 years, probably more.  The new pavilion was okay, but it was next to the smoking section.  It was only annoying a few times throughout the day.  It also didn't feel as secluded as our old pavilion. It was still a lot of fun!  Grandpa was there.  He's not too happy because his doctor won't let him drive anymore.  He loves driving and has told me on many occasions that it is his favorite past time.  It sure is hard getting old.

Skye went around with Jorja and Preston for most of the days.  She LOVED all the scary rides!  Wicked, Spider, Rocket....she wasn't scared of a thing!  Larkin didn't want to go on any upside down rides, but she LOVED the twisty rides.  Musik Express, Tilt-A-Whirl...things like that. I went on Tilt-A-Whirl with her right before she left.  I told her I could ride it once a day and this was the time. I rode it with Larkin and Blake. We spun so fast!  I couldn't believe it!  I don't think I have ever had that many super fast spins in one ride before.  Larkin loved it!  Blake was terrified.  He was not happy when we got off the ride.  He is completely adorable when he is mad.  He does this growl that is just awesome.

Skye & Jorja

 Skye, Jorja, Preston

Jorja, Skye and Preston went on some rides by themselves.  I let them go before I asked Christen if it was okay.  She said, "Well, it is now!" She had never let Skye go off on her own like that before.  That is the difference between being the oldest child and the youngest.  They had a great time together.  I know they went on the train, the swings and Tidal Wave.  Apparently Preston kept saying, "What's cooking Good Lookin'?" to random people.  I'm guessing Preston might be a handful when he is a teenager.

Mike and Christen left around 9:00 or so, but they let us keep Skye with us.  We had a great time with her!  Lagoon is so much fun when the kids are this age.  Wanting to ride anything!  It was great!  We stayed until the bitter end.  Jorja, Skye and Preston were riding Wicked until the garbage cans were placed in front.  We had such a great time today!

Jorja slept in her room tonight.  Brooke and her family are now camping at Lagoon.  Jorja has been worried about Boing.  She didn't want to check on her before Lagoon because she was worried she died and then she would be sad all day.  Mike and I went and checked on her.  She was alive, but is not looking well.  Jorja has done everything. She has taken her to the vet, given her medicine.  It looked like she recovered for awhile, but that was short lived.  She has not been herself since she broke her leg.  Jorja had her out of her cage and held her for a long time after we got home.  Boing isn't going to be alive much longer. I have a beautiful picture I took of Jorja and Boing, but Jorja does not want me to put it up here.  Poor girl sure loves her frogs.  I'm glad she got a chance to say good-bye to Boing.

Christmas Eve Christmas

Mike stayed up really late last night getting Christmas ready.  He was up for almost 24 hours straight.  I think he got to bed around 5:30.  We decided to exchange presents today, but Santa is still going to come tomorrow.  The kids were great and didn't need to open the presents as soon as they got up.  That gave Mike a little extra sleeping time.  We did have a ton we needed to do this morning.  When we started opening the presents, all the kids were dressed and ready for the day.

Our tree

The kids handed out their secret Santa presents first.  Stockton had Maysen and his present didn't arrive yet.  Boo!  Too bad we couldn't find what he wanted to get her on Amazon Prime!  He ordered it last week.  I had hoped it would be on time, but nope.  Jorja had Preston and Preston had Jorja.  They gave each other basically the same thing. A Pokemon figurine.  Jorja also gave Preston a wallpaper background of Pokemon on his ds.  He loved that!  Maysen gave Stockton a Legend of Zelda ds game.  She spent a lot of time looking at reviews, she is pretty confident he will like this one.  At least he will if he gives it a chance.

Preston loving his new ds wallpaper

 From Jorja

 Jorja and Preston

 Jorja liked her present too!

 Jorja and Preston

 Stockton and Maysen

 Really Preston?  Must you always?

 Stockton, Preston, Jorja, Maysen

 Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Maysen

 Jammies from Grandpa and Cathy

Jorja, Preston, Stockton, Maysen

 Jorja got a Cold Stone card from Anne

We also got a gift card to Cheesecake Factory and a Beat the Parents game from John and Cassie.  Maysen got a PetCo gift card from Brandon.  The kids each got a book from us.  Maysen and Jorja got animal care books.  Preston got a Pokemon sticker book and Stockton got a drivers license book.  Can you sense his excitement?

Jorja, Stockton, Maysen, Preston

Jorja got presents for everyone at the dollar store, except I think she got my frame from DI.  Jorja LOVES giving presents!

Mike, Preston, Stephanie, Stockton, Maysen

The little kids are the easiest to buy for, so they had the most.  Jorja is especially easy to buy for.  I gave all the kids a calendar except Stockton.  He was a bit disappointed when I told him he didn't get this gift.  Preston opened his calendar and I said, "This is for you to keep track of when you take a bath."  He thinks he takes a bath everyday.  He does not!  Anytime I ask him to take a bath he says, "But I had one yesterday!"  Now I'm going to have him mark on his calendar when he gets out of the tub.  If he doesn't mark it, it didn't happen.  Maysen gets to mark her calendar whenever she exercises.  Jorja's calendar is for scriptures.  I'm going to write scriptures for her to read everyday.  By following that she will have the Book of Mormon read by the end of the year and will be able to receive her virtue ribbon.  I couldn't think of anything I needed Stockton to keep track of.  He was laughing as they were opening the presents and was very glad he was skipped!

The main present was given by Mike.  It is something he has been working on for a few months.  He made each of the kids an interactive thing.  Preston has a bear rug.  Mike took it and put lights in its eyes. Now when Preston waves his wand at it the eyes will light up and he will talk to you.  "That wand of yours nearly works!"  "I'm so cute I can barely stand it!"  and other such nonsense.  Jorja was given a frog statue.  Right now it just makes frog sounds when the wand is waved. Maysen was given a story book.  Mike took one of our books, glued the edges and cut out the middle for the computer.  He drilled holes in it for lights.  When the wand is waved the book lights up.  It will also say things like, "Once upon a time there was a young wizard.  Stuff happened, blah, blah, blah, The End.  Now go to bed."  It's pretty cool. Stockton's was our favorite.  Mike gave him a fruit bowl.  He drilled eyes into a couple of fruits.  One of Stockton's favorite Studio C sketches is a bowl of fruit that tops.  Mike got the sound files so the fruit talks when the wand is waved.  "Hey Tommy, are you going for a mid-day snack?"  "Bananas are full of potassium for a healthy boys died"  After awhile the banana gets mad.  The eyes will light up red and you'll hear, "EAT ME!"  Haha!  It is so funny!  Stockton loved it!

Stockton getting a fruit bowl

 Stockton and Preston

 The fruit

Mike didn't get everything finished for this morning.  He is working on an app on the tablet so the kids can do quests.  He has a bravery quest where they need to find the statue (my present) and the bear rug.  He also has it so the TV starts the quest.  Anyway, I'm pretty sure the kids are going to have a great time with this.  While I was at the store, Maysen and Stockton recorded their voices for different things to have their gifts say.

We ended up leaving for Idaho around noon.  Our plan was to leave by 9, but we were still opening presents then.  I drove the entire way so Mike could catch up on his sleep.  We got to Idaho about 3:30.  Just enough time to stop by Grandpa's.  We were meeting at Debie's house at 4:00.  There we had food.  everyone brought appetizers.  I just fought a couple of bags of pretzels.  We had meatballs, little smokies, deviled eggs, shrimp, taquitos.  It was tasty.  At 6:00 we went to Skyline Bowling.  Our family had rented out the alley.  This is the third year they have done this, but the first year we were able to come.  It was so much fun!  Stockton LOVED it!  All my kids had a great time except Jorja.  This has sen a long day and I guess she hasn't fully recovered from being sick.  I did pretty good my first game.  139.  It was all downhill after that.  Matt played a game by himself.  He kept starting it over until he got a strike on his first roll.  He had so start it 6 times.  He ended up with 184.  Tyler did awesome and scored a 212!  Wow!  That's amazing!

Matt

 Not sure what Bubs is doing.

 Preston

 Mike

 Jorja

 Preston loved changing everyone's name

 Stockton

 Stockton 'Strike dance!'

 Spare

 Stephanie's score.  (The bottom one)

 Maysen

 Stockton

 Strike dance!

 Mike doing the spare dance

 Stockton is just a bit competitive

 I love this picture of Abby!

 Preston

 Tyler & Hallie, Matt & Anne

 Ella was so proud to beat her dad.

Mike gave me a bowling ball, bowling shoes and a bowling bag as a wedding present.  Too bad my bowling shoes broke today!  They only lasted 19 years!

My poor shoe

 Matt's game

 Grandpa

 Preston

 Stockton

 Grandpa

 Tyler's game

 Stockton's game

 Stephanie and Courtney

We left bowling around 8:00 and drove up to the cabin.  It was snowing by this time.  On the way up to Idaho the roads were perfect and it didn't snow a flake.  I guess Idaho wanted to make up for that because the snow was coming down!  It was dark and slippery, but everyone made it here without incident.  We were so happy to get to the parking lot!  The Roes left the cabin yesterday.  They left the heat on for us. That was awesome!  As we were bringing stuff in we kept saying how thankful we were that they did that for us.  Usually it takes quite a bit of time to heat up!

Jorja was feeling worse by the time we got here.  She just wanted to get into bed.  Everyone else was up super late!  We found places for all 15 stockings.  It was really cute when I tucked Maysen in.  she looked up at me and happily said, "I love the cabin."  Me too Maysen, me too. Tomorrow is going to be great!  I hope the kids aren't super ornery with their lack of sleep!  Preston was already ornery tonight.  Mike was funny and said, "It takes a brave kid to be naughty on Christmas Eve. My hat is off to you sir."  And then he bowed with his imaginary hat.  I laughed so hard!  For some reason Preston didn't think he was funny.